Happy Halloween and Giveaway Winner!

Posted on October 31, 2013 by nwquiltedcat

Greetings and Happy Halloween!

We are still busy handing out candy to the little ghouls and goblins here on the west coast. Here are the pumpkins that we carved last night:

Jack-o-Lanterns

I hope everyone had a safe and fun night of trick-or-treating!

And now for the Wicked Blog Hop Giveaway Winner . . . . . . .
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using a random number generator is . . . .
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Lisa of In the Boon Docks! Lisa, I will be emailing you a copy of my Pumpkin Cat Patch pattern! I really hope you enjoy the pattern, and I’d love to see a picture of your finished quilt!

Enjoy!
~Jennifer

Sunrise – iPhone Picture

Posted on October 30, 2013 by nwquiltedcat

We had a beautiful sunrise this morning in western Oregon! I took an early morning walk and captured this iPhone picture around 7:30. I wished I had my real camera!

Sunrise

As for quilty projects, I hope to work a little bit more on the Toes in the Sand BOM later this afternoon. I’ve also joined the Black Tie Boogie Blog Hop from November 19th to 29th and am planning out my rooster and chicken themed project!

Have a great day!
~Jennifer

Celtic Solstice: A New Mystery Quilt!

Posted on October 27, 2013 by nwquiltedcat

Bonnie Hunter’s latest mystery quilt, Celtic Solstice, is starting!! Her mystery quilts are great because she emphasizes using scraps and fabrics from your stash. She recently posted the colors for this year’s mystery based on Olympic paint cards from Lowe’s.

I picked up the paint cards this week. Here’s a slightly blurry pic showing Brilliant Blue (B52-6), Blarney Stone (B65-6), Bumble Bee (A13-6), and Orange Poppy (A23-6):

Celtic Solstice Colors

I haven’t participated in one of Bonnie’s mystery quilts yet, but have decided to do it this year. With the trusty paint cards in hand, I started pulling fabrics from my stash.

My quilty cat helper “assisted!” The cat kept wiggling so I only have this blurry photo to show:

Celtic Solstice Fabrics

I started pulling the neutrals which need to be whites and creams, but I don’t have many of these colors. I have white and cream solids, but need to pick up a few fat quarters with patterned whites and creams. I have enough blues, greens, yellows, and oranges in my scrap pile and stash, and I’m so excited to be able to use these in this project.

There is plenty of time to join the mystery since the first clue will go live on November 29th. You’ll also need to have several rulers on hand which Bonnie describes in her first posting on this mystery quilt.

You still have time to leave me a comment on my Pumpkin Patch Cat wall-hanging for the Wicked Blog Hop. I’ll draw a winner on Halloween from all comments received. Good luck!

Happy quilting!
~Jennifer

Wicked Blog Hop and Giveaway!

Posted on October 21, 2013 by nwquiltedcat

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Greetings and welcome to day 1 of the Wicked Blog Hop, brought to us by the wickedly fabulous Madame Samm and our devilishly delightful cheerleader, Wendy!

My project for this Halloween Hop is inspired by my handsome black and white cat and a pumpkin patch:

Black and White Cat Familiar

Pumpkin Patch

These two images combined in my creative cauldron, and I developed a wicked recipe for a quilted wall-hanging featuring a cat sitting amongst whimsical pumpkins!

Here’s a look at the completed quilt, called “Pumpkin Patch Cat.”

Pumpkin Patch Cat Completed Quilt Top

Pumpkin Patch Cat Quilt

This little wall-hanging finishes at 11.5 inches x 13 inches and can be made in a day and quilted on your domestic sewing machine. I echo quilted around each pumpkin and the cat. I then quilted stars and a moon in the purple background.

Just look at the wickedly handsome cat!!

You can add your own details to this pattern very easily! My pattern tester and sister extraordinaire made the cat solid black and added a little witch’s hat:

Black Cat with Witch’s Hat

Giveaway Details!
One lucky blog hop commenter will win a free copy of my Pumpkin Patch Cat pattern! I will use a random number generator to pick the lucky winner on Halloween, which is the last day of the hop. Be sure to leave me a comment!

You can also purchase this pattern from my Craftsy shop.

Hop on over to these fellow bloggers today to enjoy some more Halloween treats:
Grammie Q’s
Stitchin by the Lake
Quilted Delights
Buzzing and Bumbling
Vrooman’s Quilts
Life in the Scrapatch
Meadowbrook
Patchouli Moon Studio
The Nosy Pepper
Sew Incredibly Crazy

If you get lost along the hop while admiring the many wicked treasures or if you want to see the full list of participants, just click on the Wicked Blog Hop button located in the right hand pane of my blog.

Grab a tasty goblin brew and enjoy!
~Jennifer

Doxies Running Up, Doxies Running Down!

Posted on October 19, 2013 by nwquiltedcat

Woof! Woof! Congratulations to my good friend, Angie, who is getting married today! Since she loves dachshunds, I decided to make her a little wedding gift that represents the cute little dogs!

I used the “Chasing the Ball” quilt from Janet Kime’s book, It’s Raining Cats & Dogs. This adorable small quilt features 8 little weiner dogs running up and down to chase balls. I selected bright and cheerful fabrics to pop against the “doggie paw” white background. The finished size is approximately 26 inches by 24 inches. It can work as a wall-hanging or a table topper.

You can read about my start on this project back in July here.

Here is a look at the front of the finished quilt:

Doxie Dog Quilt Front

For the backing, I decided to mix it up by adding a strip of doxie fabric to the main polka-dot fabric:

Doxie Dog Quilt Back

The little dog noses are hand-embroidered with brown floss and the eyes are little black buttons.

I’m really happy with how this project turned out! I had fun paper-piecing all those little dogs and look forward to piecing my next animal quilt for my son (hint: it may be an African safari animal themed quilt).

P.S. Don’t forget! The Wicked Blog Hop starts next week. I’m so excited to reveal the project that I created especially for this hop!

Enjoy!
~Jennifer

Easy Charm Square Halloween Table Runner Tutorial

Posted on October 16, 2013 by nwquiltedcat

With Halloween just a couple weeks away, I thought my living room table needed a little festive decor! I decided to stitch up a quick and easy table runner using a charm pack.

Here’s a look at the completed runner:

Easy Charm Pack Halloween Table Runner

I’ve created a tutorial if you want to make one of these fun Halloween table runners for yourself. I made my table runner single-sided, but you could easily make it double-sided and extend its use into the Thanksgiving holiday by picking out a second autumn-themed charm pack.

Supplies Needed
1 charm pack or 27 5-inch squares (Boo Crew by Sweetwater for Moda is used in my runner)
1/2 yard backing fabric (or make a double-sided runner)
1/2 yard batting
1/4 yard binding, black
black thread
ruler, rotary cutter, mat, pins, and marking pencil

Halloween Charm Pack and Fabric!

Tutorial
Note: Use a 1/4-inch seam allowance.

1. Lay out your charm squares into 3 rows of 9 squares each. Move the charm squares around until you find a color arrangement that you like. Note: If you have a cat “assistant,” you may find your squares re-arranged! See figure 1.

3 Rows with 9 Charm Squares Each

2.Sew 9 charm squares into a row. Press seams open. Repeat for the other rows.

3. Sew the first row to the second row, taking care to match seams. Press seams open.

4. Sew the third row to the completed unit from step 3, taking care to match seams. Press seams open.

5. Cut each right and left end square on both the top and bottom rows so that the squares become triangles. Tip: Use your ruler and marking pencil to draw a diagonal line before cutting the triangles. See figure 2.

Cut End Squares into Triangles

6. Press the quilt top. The quilt top should resemble figure 3.

Halloween Runner Quilt Top

7. Prepare quilt top for quilting by layering backing, batting, and quilt top. Baste with pins.

8. Quilt as desired. I quilted my runner using my domestic sewing machine by using my 1/4-inch foot and sewing square shapes in each charm square.

9. Prepare binding. I like to use 2-1/4″ binding strips and then press them in half.

10. Sew on binding strips. Press. Hand-stitch binding to the backing.

11. Remember to add a quilt label!

12. Optional: Add embellishments such as hot-fix crystals or Halloween themed buttons.

I think this little table runner really adds a festive touch to my coffee table. I added a pumpkin shaped bowl and filled it with chocolate candies. Mysteriously, those little candies seem to disappear quickly in my house!

Halloween Runner Closeup

I hope you enjoy this tutorial! Let me know if you make one by leaving a comment or linking up to your blog. I’d love to see pictures.

With Halloween charm,
~Jennifer

Modern Trees QAL Top Finished and Beach Pic

Posted on October 13, 2013 by nwquiltedcat

Happy Sunday everyone!

This weekend, I worked on completing my table runner top for the Modern Trees QAL, hosted by Christa at Christa Quilts!

Rather than making a quilt sized project, I decided to make 5 improv tree blocks so I could have a cute little wintery table runner. I added a dark blue inner border which really complements the trees well. The next step will be to add the backing and do basting. Since my project is so small, I’ll probably do the machine quilting at the same time so stay tuned!

Here’s a look at the Modern Tree QAL table runner top:

Modern Tree QAL Table Runner

Yesterday, I took a drive with my hubby and son to the Oregon Coast to pick up several more Sew Oregon quilt shop hop stamps on my passport. The weather was surprising nice – no wind and about 60 degrees! We took a picnic blanket and ate lunch on the beach near Haystack Rock. The tide was still out far enough that many families and children were exploring the exposed tidepools.

Here’s a pic of the “Needles” rock formations just to the left of Haystack Rock (not pictured).

Cannon Beach, Oregon

Hope you had a great weekend!
~Jennifer

Toes in the Sand BOM, Month 5

Posted on October 9, 2013 by nwquiltedcat

Yes, I am behind once again on this BOM by Jaybird Quilts! I have the material all set and ready-to-go for month 6, but will blog about month 5 first. You can read about my earlier blocks here. I’m participating in this BOM via the Fat Quarter Shop.

For month 5, this BOM called for making 2 of the Torrey Pines blocks. These blocks were fun to make as some of the center triangles were made from strip sets to create extra movement in the block.

Here’s a look at my Torrey Pines blocks:

Toes in the Sand, Torrey Pines block

I will get to the month 6 blocks soon!

Do you know about the Sew & Show blog? The blog hostess, Madame Samm, has a large variety of quilty related blog hops throughout the year.

The last one called “Let’s Twist to the 60s with Batiks” just wrapped up and the next one is a Halloween themed hop called “Wicked.” Go check out her site and see if you want to participate in a hop on your blog or just admire all the wonderful quilty creations from everyone else!

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Happy quilting!
~Jennifer

Sew Oregon Quilt Shop Hop!

Posted on October 6, 2013 by nwquiltedcat

The annual Oregon statewide quilt shop hop is on from now until October 19th. Sew Oregon kicked off this weekend, and I was able to hop on over to visit 5 out of 31 shops. Although I won’t be able to visit all of the shops, I hope to visit several more next weekend.

I really enjoyed visiting Pioneer Quilts in Happy Valley. This store had all 11 of the themed shop hop fabrics called “Pacific Adventures” on display. This fabric captures the colors and textures found in Oregon from the beaches to the forests to the mountains. Of course, I just had to pick up a 1/2 yard portion of each piece so I can make a quilt with it!

Here are the “Pacific Adventure” swatches:

Sew Oregon Shop Hop Fabric

Fabric and Passport

Along with featuring the shop hop fabric, each store that you visit will stamp your passport and give you a little packet containing a pattern and enough “Pacific Adventures” fabric to make a 6-inch block. For those quilters who visit all 31 stores, the grand prize is a Bernette Chicago 7 Sewing & Embroidery Machine. Wish I could take the week off work to hop to all the shops!

Hope you had a great weekend!
~Jennifer

Modern Trees Quilt Along

Posted on October 4, 2013 by nwquiltedcat

I have a new-to-me dining room table that is just begging for a table runner. Since the holidays are coming up, I thought a Christmas themed one would be perfect, and I should have enough time to complete one before early December.

Then, I saw that Christa is hosting a Modern Tree Quilt Along (QAL) on her blog, Christa Quilts! She has instructions for a 30″ x 40″ finished quilt, but I decided to pare it down into a 5 block table runner.

I looked through my stash and found a Snowman Gatherings by Moda charm pack. You can find it online at the Fat Quarter Shop. This is such an adorable line of fabric that I decided to use it to make my improv trees. I found a nice solid light blue in my stash to use as a background.

Here’s a look at my 5 improv tree blocks:

Improv Modern Tree Blocks

I think this fabric combination will make a nice wintery table runner that I can display all season long. Next week, we’ll assemble the blocks as the second step in this QAL. There is still time to join this QAL and you can size the project to fit your space! You can make improv trees out of small scraps like I did or make solid trees from a 7-inch strip of fabric.

Happy quilting,
~Jennifer