Dog Memory Quilt

Posted on November 14, 2015 by thequiltedcat

In my last post, I talked about losing our best dog friend, Brutus. I reached out to the wonderful Janeen of Quilt Art Designs to design a foundation paper-pieced memory quilt of Brutus.

I’ve finished the quilt flimsy, and it looks just like him!!

Brutus Memory Quilt Flimsy

At this time, I think I will leave the quilt without borders to keep the focus on Brutus. I’m going to quilt it next week at my sister’s house since she has a lovely new HQ Avante.

If you get a chance, pop on over to Janeen’s Craftsy store and check out her wonderful foundation paper-pieced patterns!

Remember to hug your furry friends today!

Happy Quilting,
Jennifer

Losing a Dog Friend

Posted on October 21, 2015 by thequiltedcat

Hi quilty friends,

It’s been a rough month for my family since we lost our best buddy, Brutus, to cancer. We had 12 wonderful years with him, filled with many hiking and camping adventures. I miss him, and I feel the loss of his special spirit in the house every day. We do have a 7-month old puppy who is helping to keep our doggy adventures on-going.

Here’s a little collage of Brutus:

Brutus

To remember him, I’m making a special quilt designed by Janeen of Quilt Art Designs. If you get a chance, pop on over to her Craftsy store and check out her wonderful foundation paper-pieced patterns! I’m also making her Forest and Lake QAL, which I hope to finish by year’s end.

I started selecting fabrics and making one of the eyes this week:

Detail of dog eye; foundation paper-pieced

Here’s what that eye section looks like, side-by-side with the foundation:

Dog eye, foundation

This is going to be a fabulous art quilt, and I really want to finish it over the next month. I need to choose a nice background fabric and several mauve tones for the tongue. Otherwise, I’m pulling all the other fabrics from my stash since they are mostly blacks and tans.

Have you hugged your pet today?
~Jennifer

Technicolor Galaxy BOM, Block 1 Color Wheel

Posted on February 18, 2015 by thequiltedcat

Hi everyone!

I’ve been posting regularly on Instagram under the name @nwquiltedcat. I’ve joined a few mini quilt swaps and have been busily working on those fun projects. I have 3 due by late March/early April so I’ll blog about them one my partners have received their packages.

In the meantime, I started working on a fabulous new block-of-the-month for myself. This BOM is called Technicolor Galaxy by Alyssa over at Pile O Fabric. It’s a stunning quilt that you can do in your choice of color scheme. I’m going with the rainbow color scheme because I really love the look right now.

The BOM is designed to teach new skills throughout the year. I’m also participating via the Portland Modern Quilt Guild, which has a discount code for the pattern if you are a guild member. If you are a member, send an email to the guild for the code.

For February, our assignment is to make the color wheel for block 1 using a bias tape applique technique. I’m using Kona Snow for my bias tape and a combination of 2015 Sun Prints by Alison Glass and Kona solids for the color wheel.

This is a quilt-as-you-go BOM so I used a Superior variegated King Tut thread on the top and Aurifil white in the bobbin. I did free-motion quilting using my Bernina.

Here’s a look at the front of my color wheel:

Technicolor Galaxy BOM, Color Wheel

Close-up view of the free-motion quilting:

Color Wheel Close-up

I really love how the Aurifil white thread blends into the Kona solid backing in this picture:

Color Wheel Back

This is a vibrant and cheerful quilt that I’m excited to work on over the course of the year in addition to focusing on mini quilts.

Recently, I had some sad news. My best buddy and hiking dog, Brutus, was diagnosed with cancer. It’s an advanced form and pretty aggressive. I met with a veterinary oncologist today, but I fear that chemotherapy treatments will be too expensive. We’re probably going to focus on palliative care for him and give him the best last few months that we can. He’s not in pain currently so that’s great, and I’m also grateful he’s still active and enjoying life.

Happy quilting!
~Jennifer