A NY Beauty Finish for February

Posted on February 28, 2015 by nwquiltedcat

Happy last day of February!

We had a beautiful spring-like day here in Oregon. I finished up a mini quilt that I’ve been working on this month featuring paper-piecing and a rainbow of colors!

The pattern is called NY Beauty Circle of Geese by Janice of Better Off Thread. I’ve been admiring this pattern on my Instagram feed for a while and finally decided to tackle the curved piecing!

I started out by selecting a range of rainbow fabrics from the new 2015 Sun Print line by Alison Glass and some Kona cottons. Just love these! My backgrounds are all low-volume prints from my stash.

Here’s the start of the paper piecing:

Paper pieced segments

The quilt has 4 quadrants with some small curved piecing on the insides of each unit. I finally used a 1/4-inch fusible tape technique to help with these curves rather than pins. Much less trouble! After finishing all 4 quadrants, I joined them together and quilted the mini on my HQ16 using Aurifil white thread and free-motioned some wavy, radiating rays from the flying geese out to the edges of the mini quilt. I did some tiny free-motion swirls on the inside low-volume fabrics and concentric circles in the middle.

Free-motion quilting close-up

Once I finished the quilting, I set the mini down on the floor for a quick picture when this guy showed up! My quilting inspector.

Tiger on the NY Beauty Circle of Geese

I think Tiger likes the mini quilt! I convinced him to let me have the quilt back so I could add the binding. I selected a gray print so that it framed the quilt without detracting from the rainbow fabrics.

Here’s my completed NY Beauty Circle of Geese mini-quilt!

Completed NY Beauty Circle of Geese Mini Quilt

I really enjoyed making this mini quilt. It’s so cheerful and bright in my quilting space.

Enjoy!
~Jennifer

Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt + More

Posted on January 11, 2015 by nwquiltedcat

Hi quilty friends!

I hope that your 2015 is off to a great start! I have a few quilty goals in mind for this year so I hope to add those to a blog post soon.

One goal is to participate in some mini quilt swaps on Instagram. I’m now signed up for 4 this year, and I’ll send the first one out later this week. There is a vibrant quilt community on Instagram, and you can find me there as nwquiltedcat.

The other day as I was driving home from work, some late afternoon sun beams hit Mt. Hood with a striking intensity. The volcano seemed to glow, and I pulled over to take a picture (along with several other people!). Unfortunately, I just had a little point-and-shoot, and the pictures don’t do the scene justice.

Mt. Hood at Evening

I’ve been participating in Bonnie Hunter’s latest mystery called Grand Illusion. She released the final clue last week so I have been working on putting my top together. I went with a smaller quilt center and just a solid aqua border rather than a thin inner yellow border and pieced outer border. I used some of my leftover pieces on the back.

Here’s the quilt flimsy:

Grand Illusion Flimsy

For the backing, I used units that would have gone into the pieced border along with some darker turquoise fabric that I had on hand. While trying to lay it out on the floor, someone jumped on the fabric!

Tiger on Grand Illusion back

After piecing the back, I framed it up on my HQ16 and just quilted an all-over meandering pattern with white Aurifil thread:

Grand Illusion on the HQ16

My Grand Illusion quilt (small version) is now quilted. I need to square it up and bind it. What do you think for binding – aqua or black or something else?

Grand Illusion quilted

You can view other finished Grand Illusion quilts at Bonnie’s link up party here.

Enjoy!
~Jennifer

Grand Illusion – We Have Greens!

Posted on December 17, 2014 by nwquiltedcat

Greetings!

For those of you following along with Bonnie Hunter’s latest mystery quilt, Grand Illusion, we got to play with our green fabric this week for clue #3! The instructions are still available from now until spring on Bonnie’s blog if you want to join in at any time.

For my quilt, I am mostly using Moda Grunges. For the greens, however, I am adding interest by using 4 different bright greens which match to Bonnie’s color recommendation. For more on the recommendations, see my earlier post here.

These are my greens:

Green Google It from the Giggles fabric line by Me and My Sister Designs
Swirly Scroll Lime from Wilmington Prints
Just Color Lime from Studio E Fabrics
Celery from the Folklore line by Lily Ashbury for Moda

I mostly stitch on the weekends and in the evenings after work so I finished assembling these units for part 3 tonight.

As I turned around to grab my camera, my quilt inspector sneaked in behind me and decided to pose with the blocks.

Greens in part 3 of the Grand Illusion Mystery quilt!

I’m making half the total number of units for a smaller quilt. Since we’ve now finished three clues, here are my units together:

Tiger with the first 3 clues for Grand Illusion

This is going to be a very bright and cheerful quilt! Tonight, I had hoped to go to a local quilt guild meeting, but hubby and I are in the process of repainting some rooms. One of those rooms is my quilting room so everything is quite hectic and unorganized. I can’t wait to get the new color on the walls and reveal it here soon.

Happy stitching!

~Jennifer

A Supernova Finish for Blogger’s Quilt Festival

Posted on October 28, 2014 by nwquiltedcat

Happy rainy Tuesday (at least here in the PNW)!

Yesterday, I blogged about entering my Celtic Solstice into the scrappy category of the Blogger’s Quilt Festival, hosted by Amy Ellis.

Today, I want to share my entry into the modern category with you. This quilt is very special to me because it is the first one that I have done with a swap partner. I joined the Supernova Friendship Block Swap earlier this year and partnered up with Cindy Wilson of What’s One More Project. Starting in June, we each made 2 Supernova blocks and kept one for ourselves and then mailed the other one to our partner.

We swapped our last blocks just this month. We used the Ansonia fabric line by Denyse Schmidt. Cindy took the pink colorway, and I took the green colorway.The background is Kona Snow.

Here’s a look at our October blocks:

Supernova October Blocks

Lee over at Freshly Pieced designed the Supernova quilt to have borders, but I wanted my finished quilt to fit a smaller space. So, I made a decision to leave the borders off on my finished quilt top.

I used a light cream Aurifil thread to quilt an all-over design so that the attention stayed on those exploding Supernova blocks! My family loves this quilt because it reminds them of fireworks.

The binding is a dark brown piece from the Ansonia line. The quilt measures 54-inches square versus the original design of 62-inches square.

I really wanted to take pictures of the completed quilt in natural light, but it looks like the rain just won’t let up this week. So, with my quilting assistant standing by, I took some pictures this afternoon (having just finished the binding last night).

Tiger on Supernova

Another View of the Completed Supernova

Completed Supernova Quilt

Since I had one extra Supernova block, I decided to make the quilt back scrappy by using the block, left over Ansonia fabric, and a label.

Here’s a look:

Supernova Back

This quilt was so much fun to make, and helped me to stretch my piecing skills! I made a new quilting friend along the way and now have a one-of-a-kind quilt to proudly display in my home.

Enjoy!
~Jennifer

Black Cat Crossing Blog Hop + Giveaway

Posted on October 21, 2014 by nwquiltedcat

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Greeeeeetings, my dears! Today is my day to share with you the creations that I stitched up in my cauldron for the Black Cat Crossing blog hop. Many thanks go to Madame Samm of Sew We Quilt for encouraging people of all skill levels to brew up something to share with us. I also want to thank our fabulous cheerleader, Wendy of Why Knot Kwilt, for organizing this blog hop!

I picked up some of the Black Cat Crossing fabric by Maywood Studios at a local quilt shop that recently opened in town. I love supporting my local shops!

For my first project, I decided to do a wool felt project with just an accent of cotton fabric. One can never have too many pin cushions, right? Sew off I went to stitch up a little witch hat to keep me company in my sewing room. The hat band uses a strip of fabric from Black Cat Crossing. I used black Aurifil thread for the piecing and midnight glitter hologram thread by Superior to add some sparkle to the brim. The finished pin cushion is about 4.5 inches tall.

This pin cushion is designed by Jennifer Clemen of Cottonwood Creations.

My stitching assistants ensured the quality of this little pin cushion:

Tiger likes the witch hat

Cow is planning his revenge

Now that I had a pin cushion ready to go, I stoked up my cauldron and set to brewing up a special creation using only Black Cat Crossing fabric!

For this project, I stretched my skill levels by creating a mini quilt and by practicing some heavy free motion quilting. I used an Aurifil cream thread for all the piecing and quilting. The pattern is Mini Swoon by Thimble Blossoms.

I modified the pattern slightly so that I could add the Black Cat Crossing border fabric in between the swoon blocks. I’m calling my finished mini quilt, “Black Cat Swoon!”

For the backing, I used left over pieces plus my label:

I just love how this mini quilt looks, and I can easily display it in various locations around the house during the fall season.

For more inspiration, please visit my fellow Black Cat Crossing participants today:
Creatin’ in the Sticks
Living With Purpose
Moose Stash Quilting
The Quilted Cat (you are here)
Lines, Colors, and Art

For my giveaway, I’m offering up 2 fat quarters from Black Cat Crossing. Just leave me a comment on this post for an entry. You get a bonus entry if you tell me how you follow my blog, and I’ll draw a random winner from all comments on Halloween, October 31st. I’m willing to ship internationally. Sometimes WordPress and Blogger do not communicate well together so make sure that I have a way to contact you!

Black Cat Crossing Giveaway

I hope you enjoyed my Black Cat Crossing projects, and that they inspire you to make something beautiful!

Happy quilting,
~Jennifer

Charley Harper Inspired Trunk Show

Posted on September 12, 2014 by nwquiltedcat

Happy Friday, everyone! It seems like it was a really long week at work for me, and I’m so looking forward to getting some sewing time in this weekend.

I am working on a couple of secret projects that I can’t reveal – yet!! One is for Quiltmaker magazine and the other is for the Black Cat Crossing Halloween blog hop (link in my side bar). And, just maybe, there is a birthday present in the works for a special someone.

Today and tomorrow, one of my favorite LQS, the Pine Needle, is hosting their fall open house. I stopped by today at lunch to check out all the great new projects and classes.

I’m particularly excited about meeting Violet Craft and purchasing her Forest Abstractions quilt pattern. I’ve been eyeing this pattern for sometime so I decided to go for it! I love paper piecing so I think this pattern will be up my alley.

I also chatted with Dawn of First Light Designs. She’ll be teaching a Dancing Churn Dash class at the Pine Needle this October with the Quick Curve Ruler. Of course, I did pick up that ruler and pattern! Oh my list of to-do projects keeps growing.

There is a wonderful display of quilts inspired by Charley Harper’s designs during the open house event. I neglected to write down the maker of these quilts so if anyone knows, please let me know!

I just love, love, love the cat quilts:

Fall Cat

Winter Cat

Spring and Summer Cats

Here are some more of the featured quilts:

Koala Quilt

Giraffe and Cheetah Quilts

There were several more quilts, but my photos didn’t turn out very well.

Of course, the fall cat is my favorite because it reminds me of my Tiger (aka the Quilted Cat). These quilts have encouraged me to make my own Charley Harper inspired cat quilt in the future.

Only 3 more weekends to go before the NW Quilting Expo!

Enjoy!
~Jennifer

New Quilt Shop in Oregon

Posted on September 3, 2014 by nwquiltedcat

Recently, my son and I visited a local pet store to pick up some supplies. While parking the car, I saw the word “sew” out of the corner of my eye! Wait, what?

With 9-year-old in tow, I walked down the sidewalk and found that a new quilt shop has opened in Oregon, specifically in Wilsonville. The store is called Sewn Loverly and has its grand opening this Saturday, September 6th starting at 10:00 a.m. This store is owned and operated by a mother/daughter duo, and I’ve already stopped in 3 or 4 times. They know me now, ha, ha!

Here’s the store front:

Sewn Loverly

I picked up some fun Halloween fabrics to use in a blog hop that I’m participating in this October. I’ve got a cute project in mind, but can’t reveal it quite yet. I posted this photo earlier to Instagram:

New Halloween Fabrics

If you’re in the area, be sure to stop by and say hello to the wonderful gals at Sewn Loverly!

Happy quilting,
Jennifer

Aurifil BOM, June’s Block

Posted on June 20, 2014 by nwquiltedcat

Greetings everyone!

Well, I had a minor leg surgery this week, and am recovering slowly but surely. I have to limit my time spent sitting so I have only worked on 1 block this week. I hope to do some handwork on a quilt binding over the weekend.

I stitched together the June block for the Aurifil BOM called Chain Links by Heidi Pridemore. You can read more about Heidi and the Whimsical Workshop Studio on her blog.

For my Aurifil BOM, I’m using Kona Shadow as my neutral and my colors are all reds and blacks. I found a fabulous Japanese import at a local quilt shop in Portland called Cool Cottons several months ago. It features a black cat head – fabulous! It is from the Trefle line by Kokka. I plan to use the rest of my 1/2 yard piece to make a bag.

The other blacks and reds are pulled from my stash.

Here’s a look at June’s block:

Aurifil BOM, June Block, Chain Links

We’ve now completed 6 blocks:

Aurifil BOM, First 6 Months

I really am enjoying this color palette and stepping out of my comfort zone and really experimenting with colors and patterns.

Well, I’ll keep it short and will update the block soon with photos from the Supernova Friendship Block swap.

Happy quilting,
~Jennifer

Aviatrix Medallion Border 3 + Celtic Solstice (Almost Finished!)

Posted on June 4, 2014 by nwquiltedcat

This week, I’ve been catching up on a few quilty projects in the evenings.

First up is border 3 on this amazing Aviatrix Medallion quilt by Elizabeth Hartman. Each border keeps adding to the awesomeness of this quilt! I have a few errors and piecing mishaps in this border, but overall I’m pretty happy with it and using it as a great skill builder.

Here’s the quilt top with border 3:

Aviatrix Medallion with Border 3

Next, I finished quilting my Celtic Solstice top. I used an all over meandering stitch using a domestic machine and Aurifil thread #2000. After quilting, I placed it on the floor to measure for my binding. My cat had to come inspect!

Romeo inspects my Celtic Solstice quilt (before binding)

Celtic Solstice is designed by Bonnie Hunter and was a free pattern until June 1st this year. Since we’re past that date, the quilt instructions will be included in one of her future publications. If you missed out on this one, she will offer the next free mystery on her blog this fall.

I’m now feverishly working on hand stitching the backside of the binding before getting to see Bonnie in person next week in Portland for a class! Woo hoo!

Enjoy!
~Jennifer

Aviatrix Medallion Border 2 + Oregon Coast

Posted on May 26, 2014 by nwquiltedcat

Happy Memorial Day, everyone!

My Aviatrix Medallion quilt now has colorful border 2 added, and I’m working on stitching the units together for border 3 today. You can purchase the pattern and follow the quilt-along on Elizabeth’s blog, Oh Fransson.

Border 2 went together fairly quickly as the piecing was simple.

Aviatrix Medallion, Border 2 Added

Before I had the chance to add the sashing border to border 2, my cat inspectors arrived. I think my little grey kitty likes it!

Cats Inspect Aviatrix Medallion

My family and I took a nice day trip this holiday weekend to visit the Oregon Coast, specifically the Newport area to tour several tall ships, the Lady Washington and the Hawaiian Chieftain. The weather was gorgeous!

Tall Ship – the Lady Washington

Later that afternoon, the tall ships were scheduled to take ticketed passengers on special tours. We drove over to the Yaquina Head Lighthouse Natural Area to see if we could see the ships. Although we didn’t have binoculars, we did spot them out in the ocean.

Yaquina Head Natural Area with Tall Ships in the Distance

The Yaquina Head Lighthouse is a great place to visit with walking paths, tidepools, a visitor’s center, and the light itself. The fee is $7 per car. Near the lighthouse, we spotted 2 bald eagles on a tree. We saw them in flight carrying meals back to the tree. I wish I had a better camera lens for close-up photos!

Yaquina Head Lighthouse

We walked down to the tide pool area. Our 8-year-old loved this part of our trip! We saw quite a few critters in the tide pools.

Tide Pool Area and Agate Beach in the Distance

Tide pool critters

We ended our day trip by walking along Agate Beach, searching for treasures. We didn’t find any agates, but we had a fun time walking the tall ships sail out for a second excursion. The dog loved it too!