One Big-Ass Cat

Does this quilt make my butt look big? 

Body, head & tail done...legs, ears and 36 leaves yet to go. 

As for size...it's 64" x 64"  (The pattern in the photo is 8.5" x 11)

Cat Parts

I hope you don't have a weak stomach...as I intend to show dis-imbodied cat parts.  Here's the cat face.  Ears and whiskers will be added later.

And here's a cat-tail, with some misc spots.

So here's the great irony...I really, really dislike the whole process of freezer paper applique....

But it occurred to me that I had this fancy-smancy circle cutter that I bought for scrapbooking and pretty much never use.  Turns out that it works better on freezer paper than it ever did on scrapbook paper.  Also, it messed up on smaller diameter circles, but not ones that were 2 inches or larger.

The next challenge on the project is making the cat body.

However...it was 68 degrees and sunny this afternoon.  So when Harley Dude got off work at 2:00, we hopped on the bike and headed North.  I can honestly say that I was half-way to Crouch before I realized that it wasn't Sunday (the day we usually ride) and that Stich & Snip would be open.

(I snapped this just as he was saying "When should I start to worry that you haven't shown up")

After I was dropped off, I managed to purchase these lovelies before I walked back down the hill to the bar.

(As I walked through the restaurant side, an employee I'd never seen before said "He's on the back patio"  and 20 steps further the unfamiliar bar-keep said..."You must be the wife...what would you like to drink?"  Like I'm the only biker chick in town...oh wait, I was today.)

Ok.  Maybe I bought these too.

Tragically, I found out while I was there that the Treasure Valley Shop Hop theme this year is Batiks.  It starts April 7th.  Who's driving to Baker & Halfway, Oregon with me?

Wednesday

Last night, after I'd blogged on Love Entwined, I was feeling like I was ready to let that project become an UFO.  I both love and hate the "mystery" aspect and I dread doing the same basic pattern 4 times.

So I pulled out Rita's hexi quilt that I've been ignoring for months.  I replaced 8 hexies that were the wrong color before I lost interest in that as well.

This morning, I decided to get started on the Charley Harper Challenge quilt.  I was pretty enthused about this until I realized that the 64" x64" format I'd planned was going to make those leaves 8" x 13".  And I'd already decided that I was going to make most of the leaves 3-D.  Which means the leaves will have to be quilted before they are added to the quilt.

So I did some color assignments on tissue paper of the 4 variations of green that I bought for the leaves.

I must point out that my frugality makes this project more difficult than it needs to be.  I started by splicing together those odd-shaped pieces of batting to use in the gigantic leaves.

Had I not been so cheap, I could have traced all the leaf shapes onto my light background piece, then layered the light and dark leaf fabrics (right sides together) and the batting...and just stitched away. But as my friends and I used to say in high school "We Super-heroes do everything the hard way."

I made a leaf template from a cereal box and used it to identify where the leaf would be cut out of my random batting scrap.

Then by feeling through the fabric to the cardboard template, I was able to arrange the other 2 fabrics (right sides together) on top of the template & batting and drew the sewing line on the background fabric.

Since I was placing the leaves 1/2" apart from each other, I found it was easiest to trim the batting to 1/4" before I lined up the next random scrap of batting.  I proceeded on this way using up scraps of both the light green background and the batting.

Once they were all sewn, I cut out all 3 layers with a 1/4" seam allowance, trimmed of the tips and snipped the curved edges.  I made a 3" slit in the back of the leaf  (where the center stem line will be), turned them inside out and pressed.

I wanted them to have the same kind of modern vibe as the original, so instead of traditional leaf veining, I sewed co-centric ovals shapes with a line down the center.

Time for me to get back to work....just wanted to post early enough that my UK friends could be impressed with my progress before they headed to bed.

(Editorial note...my cat is more brown than the CH Calico...and the bird is not scheduled to appear on the final quilt.)

Lap Quilting

 Here's what the quilt looks like from the top.

And here's what it looks like under the frame.