Cat Quilt-Along

Posted on December 7, 2013 by nwquiltedcat

Hi everyone,

I started working on the one-block-a-day cat quilt-along project by Elizabeth of Oh Fransson! She has created a cute sampler quilt that is the perfect scrap buster. The completed project will be 30-inches by 35-inches and features 25 different patchwork cat blocks.

I finished up the first week’s batch of blocks today. Each block comes together very quickly. It takes me longer to choose the scraps and fabrics from my stash!

You do need a yard of fabric for the background. I had a piece of Painter’s Canvas by Michael Miller in gray (#CJ-4816) in my stash that I’m using. I love the subtle texture to the fabric.

Here’s a look at the first 7 cat blocks:

Cat Quilt-Along, Week 1

Elizabeth has also named the cats so I’d love to somehow work the names into the finished project. I’m not sure how yet!

In the photo, the cats in the top row from left to right are: Ferdinand, Bernadette, Sunny, Mia, and Ralphio. In the second row, from left to right are: Chowder and Krista.

Of course, I tried to ask my quilt inspector what he thought of this project. I think he loves it!

Tiger Likes the Cat Blocks!

I’m really enjoying this project since the blocks are so quick to make, and I can wedge them in between my other projects! My goal is to work on them as I can throughout the work week, and then play catch up on the weekend. I will keep my blog updated with photos of my cat quilt-along blocks.

If you’re participating in the cat quilt-along, I’d love to see your blocks!

Meowy quilting!
~Jennifer

Cow Cat, Another Quilted Portrait

Posted on December 4, 2013 by nwquiltedcat

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, my family traveled to visit with my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew. We had such a great family time and enjoyed yummy homemade apple and huckleberry pies!

In August, my sister and I worked on making quilted fabric portraits of two of my cats – Tiger and Cow. I finished the Tiger Quilted Cat portrait (and mascot of my blog!) earlier and you can read about it here.

My sister finished up the quilted Cow cat and gave it to me over Thanksgiving. There was just one teensy, weensy detail that I added – Cow’s whiskers. He’s a cat who is very proud of his long, white whiskers so I just used plain white thread and a basic straight stitch to add them to the portrait.

Here is the inspiration photo that I took of Cow this past March:

Cow cat

Here is the finished quilted Cow cat wall-hanging:

Quilted Cow Cat

And a close-up of his face:

Cow Cat Face Close-Up

Isn’t he a handsome fellow? He usually “helps” me take outdoor photos of my quilty projects. Today, I think he was off enjoying the sunshine before the next rain (or snow) shower appears.

Thanks to my sister for this beautiful project. I have the perfect place to hang it!

Hope you enjoy the second quilted cat!
~Jennifer

Black Tie Boogie Blog Hop!

Posted on November 28, 2013 by nwquiltedcat

Hope everyone had a great Turkey day yesterday! Are you ready for the final day of the Black Tie Boogie Blog Hop? If you are new to this hop, you will have fun finding rooster, hen, turkey, and other bird themed projects to celebrate the season.

Thanks to Madame Samm of Sew We Quilt for hosting this hop and to our cheerleader, Vickie!

Click on any of the photos to see an enlarged image.

I made 2 projects for this hop and my hubby made 1 project! The first is my own design and features a silly little turkey trying his hardest to get people to eat chicken or fish instead!

Not a Turkey!

This little wall-hanging was really fun to make! I echo quilted around the turkey, the chicken pot pie table, and the pumpkins. Then, I free motion quilted the words, “Happy Thanksgiving.” A great little scrap busting project!

For my second project, I really wanted a chicken themed quilt to hang in my chicken themed kitchen!! Cluck, cluck! In my stash, I had this pattern called “French Country Roosters” by Clothworks and the fabric to go with it. The finished size is 32-inches by 32-inches.

French Country Roosters

I think the fabric is no longer available, but you can still get the pattern for free here.

My hubby got into the spirit of all things chicken and painted this serving bowl at a local paint-your-own-ceramics place during a family outing. He grew up on a chicken farm so he knew that hens and roosters would be a great theme for the platter. And, check out the fun inside!!

Chicken Theme Serving Bowl

Inside of Chicken Bowl

Please visit the other talented gals in today’s hop!
Sew Incredibly Crazy
Lixie Makes It
Sew We Quilt

Enjoy!
~Jennifer

Modern Trees QAL Table Runner Finish

Posted on November 25, 2013 by nwquiltedcat

Happy Monday everyone!

This weekend, I decided to finish up my Modern Tree QAL project from Christa Quilts!

Instead of making a quilt or a wall-hanging, I opted to make a small table runner and sewed together 5 improv tree blocks with sashing. I used the Snowman Gatherings fabric line by Primitive Gatherings along with some light blue and dark blue fabrics that I had in my stash. The dark blue worked really well in the sashing, but I didn’t have enough to do the binding!!! I had to use another dark blue that is close, but is not an exact match.

For the quilting, I did different types of free-motion quilting on my Bernina from pebbles to little spirals to little rainbow shapes. I echo quilted around each tree and stitched in presents under each tree! Next, I decided to add some handwork using a metallic silver thread and stitched little snowflakes in the blue border as well as an echo quilt on the inside of each tree.

The hand stitching took quite a while so I happily snuggled up with my little guy and we watched a movie together while I stitched. After the stitching was completed, I added some hot fix crystals in clear, light blue, and dark blue for extra sparkle!

Modern Trees Table Runner

Modern Trees Close-Up

This table runner was a perfect project to continue practicing free motion quilting. Unfortunately, my Bernina model is not built to accept the stitch regulator so it makes the FMQ a little more challenging. But, I can see improvements with each project as I become more confident!

I do have more of this cute fabric on hand and plan to make some coordinating snowman placements that I can use throughout the winter.

Enjoy!
~Jennifer

Homespun & Holly Holiday Workshop!

Posted on November 18, 2013 by nwquiltedcat

This weekend, I was delighted to attend the 5th annual “Homespun & Holly” holiday workshop at one of my all-time favorite quilt shops, Hollyhill Quilt Shoppe!

The event features 4 different holiday themed projects by some very talented designers! The projects are not revealed until the event. Participants rotate between the 4 designers so each attendee gets to make each project.

My first project station was with Karla Eisenbach of Sweetwater. She had such a fun little tree ornament project called “Embellished Trees.” She provided enough materials for each person to make 5 of these little trees, and I was able to complete 2 during class.

Embellished Trees Kit

2 Completed Trees

Karla also designed one of my favorite fabric lines called “Mama Said Sew.” I brought my completed project from the Star Surround QAL and asked her to sign the label. Here’s a picture of me and Karla with my quilt featuring her fabric line (I’m the one in the solid black shirt):

Jennifer and Karla with quilt featuring Mama Said Sew fabric

For my second project, I rotated to Debbie Busby of Wooden Spool Designs. Her project was a cute little holiday felt wreath called “Crazy Hex Ornament.” I finished about half of this project in class and finished the rest at home. Debbie had this great little tool called the “Clover Chaco Liner Chalk Wheel” that we used to draw around our hex template onto the black felt. I must get one!!

Crazy Hex Kit

Finished Ornament

I arrived at Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill Designs’ station for my third project. I was so excited to meet Anne because I had just finished sewing on the outer border of her Merry Merry Snowman quilt just the night before. I asked her to sign my quilt label. Her project was my favorite because it featured an adorable little snowman popping out of a mitten called “Cozy Christmas!”

Cozy Christmas Kit

Finished Snowman in Mitten

Snowman and Mitten

For my last station, I went to visit the cheerful sister duo, Barb & Mary of Me & My Sister Designs! They had the cutest little scissor and bead project for us that only took a short time to assemble. As a bonus, they had a short game for everyone at the table and the top 6 finishers won a free pattern! They also took everyone on a “field trip” to Hollyhill’s companion store across the street featuring Christmas fabrics, quilt kits, and decorations. This store is called Boughs of Holly and is a wonderful place to visit!

Bead Kit and Free Pattern

Completed Scissors Bead Fob

Lastly, Brian and Jan, the owners of Hollyhill and organizers of this wonderful event, gave each attendee a special gift. Inside the package, I found yummy chocolates, a snowman ornament, a pattern, thread, and 2 Aspen Frost mini charm packs to make the pattern.

Homespun & Holly Gift Bag

I had such a great time and really hope that “Homespun & Holly” will return in the future. I’d like to thank Brian and Jan as well as the wonderful staff of Hollyhill Quilt Shoppe for making this year’s event such a treat! I’d also like to thank all the talented designers who came to visit and share their special projects with everyone!

I’m so inspired to finish up my holiday sewing and crafting projects!

Enjoy!
~Jennifer

Another Mystery BOM Completed!

Posted on November 11, 2013 by nwquiltedcat

Happy Veteran’s Day, everyone! For those who have served or who have loved ones currently serving, a big thank you from my family to yours!

I wanted to show you a quilt that my mom recently completed – the 2012/2013 Carol Doak Mystery BOM! I made this quilt also using a blue/tan colorway. You can read about my finished quilt here.

My mom went with a different colorway using white, gray, black, and burgundy. The white print features cute little butterflies. I just love her completed quilt! In fact, I like her colorway much more than the one I used! Too bad it’s already hanging up in her house or I’d be tempted to borrow it!

Here’s a look at the completed quilt:

Carol Doak Completed Mystery BOM

The patterns for this BOM are still available for a limited time on Carol’s Yahoo Group site (see the link in my right side bar). Carol has also started a new mystery BOM in September called the Scrap Scramble so come join us!

If you are new to paper piecing, Carol has some wonderful instructional books, videos, and a great Craftsy class called Carol Doak’s Mastering Foundation Paper Piecing to help you learn her easy techniques. I learned paper piecing from Carol in a class and have been piecing madly since!!

Enjoy!
~Jennifer

New Mystery Block Plus a Free Class

Posted on November 7, 2013 by nwquiltedcat

Hi everyone!

***Spoiler Alert*** In this post, I’m going to share my solution to a paper pieced mystery block. If you are working on this quilt block by Paper Panache and do not wish to see my solution, then click away now! I will post pictures and more about the mystery below.

I wanted to let everyone know about a free quilting class being offered at Craftsy this week. The class is called “Piece, Patch, Quilt: Basic Quiltmaking Skills” presented by Gail Kessler. This class has 11 lessons centered around basic quilting skills from cutting your fabric to finishing your quilt by adding the binding and label.

This month, I am participating in a paper pieced mystery block by Linda of Paper Panache. Linda has some wonderful and intricate paper pieced patterns on her site so go check it out! I’ve got my eye on her snow globe pattern as it would make such an adorable addition to my holiday decor.

I just finished mystery block #70 and will be posting my solution below. I followed the fabric color recommendations pretty closely, but did stick to fabrics already in my stash.

Here’s a close-up of the delicious treat:

Pumpkin Pie Closeup

The mystery block finishes at 8-inches by 8-inches. I decided to add a 1-1/2 inch border from dark blue fabric to the sides and the top of the block. For the bottom, I added a 3-inch border and hand-embroidered the name of the object presented in this mystery block.

Finally, I made a little quilt sandwich and did some free-motion quilting on my domestic machine.

Pumpkin Pie Block

Doesn’t that pumpkin pie look delicious? I can’t wait for Thanksgiving to arrive so I can enjoy some homemade pie.

I’m linking this paper pieced block up at Quiet Play’s Paper Piecing Party today.

Happy quilting!
~Jennifer

Toes in the Sand BOM, Month 6

Posted on November 5, 2013 by nwquiltedcat

Hi everyone,

I’ve just completed my Toes in the Sand blocks for month 6 in this program! The block is called Santa Cruz and has great movement in the block interior with all these little triangles.

Toes in the Sand, Month 6

Yes, I do have the fabrics ready-to-go for month 7 so I should be caught up with this BOM in the next week or so. I’m participating in this BOM via the Fat Quarter Shop, but you can pick up the pattern, Hex N’ More ruler, and fabrics at your local quilt shop. Or visit the designer, Julie, on her website, Jaybird Quilts.

Happy quilting!
~Jennifer

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