Forest QAL, Weeks 7 and 8 plus Giveaway Winner!

Posted on April 27, 2015 by thequiltedcat

Hi everyone,

I hope that you had a great weekend! I had a little time in my sewing room to catch up on week 8 of the Forest QAL by Janeen of Quilt Art Designs. I call this an epic paper-piecing journey because it is a 12-week QAL with lots of pieces! If you are an intermediate paper-piecer, you can do this pattern! Plus, Janeen just announced on her blog that she will be adding a lake portion that is an optional add-on to attach under the forest portion. The lake portion will start this July!

Here’s my progress so far. I set a 24.5-inch by 6.5-inch ruler next to the flimsy for scale.

Forest QAL, weeks 1-8

I just love all those cute bird and forest critters. Did you notice the little mouse?

And, now for the Quiltmaker 100 Blocks, Volume 11 Giveaway! I used a random number generator to pick . . .

Pauline!

Congrats! I will send you an email with the details.

Enjoy!
~Jennifer

Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks, Volume 11 Giveaway!

Posted on April 20, 2015 by thequiltedcat

Happy Monday everyone!

I have some exciting news to share with you. My block, Snow Cat, is featured in volume 11 of Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks magazine! This magazine will be on newsstands soon so you can pickup a copy!

My Snow Cat block is appliqued using white wool felt for the cat body and red Kona fabric for the scarf. I made the round, white snowflakes from Fairy Frost. I did a machine button-hole stitch using silver thread by Superior around the cat body, the scarf, and each round snowflake.

The cat’s facial features are hand-embroidered using black floss. The buttons are attached with the black floss as well.

Here’s a look at the whole block:

Snow Cat, Block 1001

Close-Up of Snow Cat’s face

For my blog readers, I’m giving away a free copy. To enter, just leave a comment on this post. I’ll pick a random winner on Thursday morning. You can have a second chance to win a copy over on Instagram (@nwquiltedcat).

Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks, Volume 11

Good luck!

Thanks,
Jennifer

Aurifil BOM December Block + SMS Giveaway Winner

Posted on December 13, 2014 by thequiltedcat

Happy Saturday, quilty friends!

Today, I stitched together my last block for the 2014 Aurifil BOM program. This month’s block is called “Not Afraid of Flying” designed by Carrie Nelson.

I kept to my theme of Kona Shadow as my neutral with some blacks, reds, and whites. The flying geese in this unit did give me some trouble. I could say it’s because I’ve been battling some strange vertigo lately, but I think I may have just rushed it. I think that I will redo this block before assembling the quilt top.

Here’s the December block:

Aurifil BOM December Block

And here are all 12 of my 2014 Aurifil BOM blocks together in random order. I haven’t decided on a final layout yet.

2014 Aurifil BOM Blocks

If you missed the BOM this year, Aurifil just announced their designers for 2015 here. So exciting!

This past week, I participated in Sew Mama Sew’s giveaway event for the first time. Let me tell you that I was blown away by all the lovely comments. I received over 250 in total! I love all your comments and read each one. I really enjoy being part of such a warm, caring, and creative worldwide quilting community.

The random winner is . . .

Farmquilter!

Congratulations! I’ve sent you an email with all the details.

Wishing you all the best,
~Jennifer

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Week!

Posted on December 8, 2014 by thequiltedcat

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Hi everyone!

It’s that fabulous time of year again – Giveaway Week at Sew Mama Sew.

For the giveaway, I’m offering 2 Moda mini charm packs of “Holiday In the Pines” plus a spool of 50 weight Essential cotton thread by Connecting Threads in Caramel.

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway

I will ship internationally!

You can enter twice by:
1. Leave a comment on this post telling me how you would use the mini charm packs. I love hearing about your projects!

2. Follow me either here on my blog or on Instagram (nwquiltedcat) and then leave a second comment on this blog post letting me know that you follow me.

The contest ends this Friday, December 12th at midnight Pacific Standard Time. I’ll draw a name over the weekend and contact the winner and post here on my blog.

That’s it! Hop on over to Sew Mama Sew to view all the other fabulous entries!

Good luck!

~Jennifer

Toes in the Sand Completed + Giveaway Winners

Posted on November 24, 2014 by thequiltedcat

Happy Monday, quilting friends!

I’m so happy that it is a short work week due to the Thanksgiving holiday! I hope to get some extra sewing time in over the long holiday weekend.

Recently, I finished a long BOM project called Toes in the Sand by Jaybird Quilts. I started this project back in April 2013! I’ve had the individual blocks assembled for a while, but finally finished the top and quilting recently.

My hubby and I decided to celebrate our 14th anniversary by going to the Oregon coast for a weekend. We stayed in Seaside and really lucked out with the weather. It was clear, sunny, and not too breezy with a high of about 48 degrees. I knew that my Toes in the Sand quilt had to come along for some beach photography!

Here’s a look at the finished project, front and back sides:

Toes in the Sand – Found some more triangle shapes in the swing set

Toes in the Sand Completed Quilt, Seaside, Oregon

Backing with My “sidekick” Brutus

I free-motion quilted Toes in the Sand using an Aurifil cream thread in 50 wt and an all-over “wonky triangles” pattern that I made up as I went along. I think it accents the blocks perfectly without overwhelming them. My backing is made from a few left-over scraps of PB&J fabric by Moda along with larger pieces of Kona cotton in Aqua.

After the photo shoot, my “sidekick” Brutus showed his love of the beach!

Brutus at Seaside, Oregon

What could be more fun than seeing a picture of a happy dog? Winning an issue of Quiltmaker’s 100 blocks magazine, volume 10!

In this post, I announced a giveaway for 2 copies of the magazine. I randomly selected winners and have emailed them.

Congratulations to the winners:
dezertsuz and Cathy Melancon

Happy quilting!
~Jennifer

Butterfly Block for Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks, Vol10 + Giveaway

Posted on November 17, 2014 by thequiltedcat

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Hi everyone,

I’m so excited to share with you my first block published in Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks magazine. My block is #958 and it appears in volume 10 which arrives at retailers this month.

My block was inspired by my son and his love of butterflies. The block has a modern twist to it because I decided to use plenty of negative space and a block (pixel style) design.

While visiting the Victoria Butterfly Gardens earlier this year on vacation, we saw this beautiful Blue Morpho butterfly.

Blue Morpho Butterfly

Soon after, this other butterfly decided to crawl up my son’s arm much to our surprise!

Butterfly on hand

Butterfly on arm

I started drafting my butterfly block by sketching it out on paper and then did my fabric calculations.

Next, I cut some squares from various blue fabrics and some strips from white fabric:

Butterfly Block Components

I made a blue version and a pink/purple version. The blue version appears in Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks, volume 10 and I kept the pink version.

Butterfly Block in Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks, Volume 10

Here are the two blocks together:

Blue and Pink Butterfly Blocks

This block is very versatile and you could use it to make quilts, table runners, or pillows. I decided that I needed a cute butterfly pillow for my office so I used my pink block, some extra Kona Snow fabric, and some silver metallic thread by Superior to make an adorable pillow.

Yes, I did use metallic thread on the free-motion quilting using my domestic machine, and it turned out wonderfully.

Butterfly Pillow

Butterfly Pillow Back

Butterfly Pillow Close-Up

Butterfly Pillow with Assistants

Ready for a giveaway?
Quiltmaker is giving away 1 free copy of Volume 10 to one of my blog readers, and I’m giving away a second copy! To enter, just leave me a comment, and I will pick a winner using a random number generator at the end of the blog tour. Please leave me a way to contact you. Sometimes Blogger and WordPress do not communicate very well.

I hope that you are enjoying Quiltmaker’s 100 blocks blog tour and that you find inspiration in the many wonderful blocks!

Enjoy!
~Jennifer

Forest Abstractions Bunny + Giveaway Winner

Posted on October 31, 2014 by thequiltedcat

Happy Halloween, everyone!

My little guy is getting excited for trick-or-treating tonight, and I’m excited to get some more sewing time in this weekend. We carved some jack-o-lanterns last night:

Jack-o-Lanterns!

Recently, I had the great pleasure of meeting Violet Craft in person at an open house at a local quilt shop called the Pine Needle. I’ve been eyeing her paper pieced Forest Abstractions pattern for a while so I went ahead and purchased it. I love paper piecing, but haven’t done much of it during the past year. I’m going slow and easy, working in the blocks in between other quilt projects.

I decided to use a variety of low-volume prints for the backgrounds instead of using solids. I picked up a fat quarter stack of lovely fabric from a quilt shop in Spokane called Charming Lulu when I met my sister there for a little shop hop several weekends ago. They carry a wonderful selection of modern fabrics, and I hope to visit next time I’m in Spokane.

I haven’t found a website for Charming Lulu, but they are on Facebook.

Field Guide Fat Quarter Stack

Charming Lulu Quilt Store

For the bunny, I chose some wonderful purple and magenta fabrics that I picked up at a quilt show last year. I’m pretty sure that I’ll use different colors for each critter in the quilt, but we’ll see.

Forest Abstractions Pattern and Fabrics

Here’s a look at my completed bunny block:

Forest Abstractions Bunny

I hope to make another block from this pattern soon.

If you participated in the Black Cat Crossing blog hop, I offered a giveaway on my post here. I used a random number generator and the lucky winner is . . . .

Carole (her blog is From My Carolina Home).

Carole, I will be emailing you today to make the arrangements.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the blog hop. I do hope that you enjoyed all the wonderful Halloween creations.

Stay tuned because I’m participating in Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks Blog Tour in November. I have a block published in the next issue, and I can’t wait to show it to you!

Enjoy!
~Jennifer

Black Cat Crossing Blog Hop + Giveaway

Posted on October 21, 2014 by thequiltedcat

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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

Giveaway Winner!

Posted on February 24, 2014 by thequiltedcat

Last week, I blogged about a Downton Abbey tea party and fabric trunk show that I attended at the amazing Fabric Depot in Portland.

I had a Downton Abbey themed thread pack to giveaway and used a random number generator to pick the winner today.

The winner is . . .
Alexis from Cob Cottage Craft- congratulations!!!

Alexis, please email me your contact details at quiltedcat07@gmail.com, and I will get the thread in the mail to you.

On Sunday, we took an impromptu drive to the Oregon coast to enjoy a walk before the rain moved back in to the area. We got about 2 hours of dry conditions before the rain and winds prompted us to go have lunch. The temperature was about 50 degrees so a little chilly, but very nice for February!

I saw a flock of seagulls perched just inside the surf and snapped this photo:

Seagulls at the Oregon Coast in February

For those of you still buried in snow, I hope this ocean photo brings you a smile!

Enjoy,
~Jennifer

Andover Fabrics Downton Abbey Tea Party + Giveaway!

Posted on February 19, 2014 by thequiltedcat

Good morning, everyone!

I had a little panic moment when my pictures from this event would not download from my camera card to my computer! Fortunately, I found a workaround and I was able to retrieve the pictures – yea!

Last weekend, I was so excited to be able to attend a Downton Abbey themed tea and trunk show by Andover Fabrics and hosted by Fabric Depot. This was a ticketed event that had been scheduled for the weekend before but got postponed due to a snow and ice storm in Portland.

Each place setting was beautifully decorated and we could choose between a Creme de la Earl Grey tea or a Forest Park tea. I went with the Earl Grey and it was delicious! We also enjoyed delicate little bite-sized treats to go with our tea!

Tea Party Setting

Tea Party Treats

During the tea, attendees were invited to show a panel of judges any sewn creations that they had made using the Downton Abbey fabric line by Andover. I saw many beautiful and elegant dresses, hats, and bags that definitely fit the period of the show. Since I don’t really sew garments, I decided to create a little table topper using the Rock Candy pattern by Jaybird Quilts. You can read about it in my earlier post here. I believe that I had the only quilty type project to show the judges.

Towards the end of the tea, the prizes were announced and I won second place (most creative) for my little table topper! The prize was a $50 gift certificate to Fabric Depot that I, of course, spent when the tea concluded.

Here’s a picture of my prize and my entry:

Most Creative Prize

Rocky Candy Table Topper

I had so much fun at this event and found myself purchasing more Downton Abbey fabric! I want to make a bag and possibly a small quilt wall-hanging.

The trunk show included some completed quilts and bags using the fabric line. I took a few pictures so you could enjoy all of the wonderful creations.

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Fabric Depot has posted a summary of this event with more photos on their blog here. There is a picture of my hands and the judges’ hands holding my little table topper about half-way through the blog post.

And now for the giveaway! To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment on this post. Be sure that I can contact you if you win! The giveaway will be open until Monday, February 24th at 8:00 a.m., Pacific Time. I’ll use a random number generator to choose a winner. If you are a follower, you can earn an extra entry by letting me know how you follow my blog. I will mail internationally so everyone can enter.

The prize is a pack of Gutermann thread designed to go with the Dowager Countess fabrics from the Downton Abbey collection. This set includes a plum thread (#942), a light grey thread (#100), and a dark grey thread (#112).