Hello everyone!

While much of the country is getting hammered with winter storms, we woke up to a clear and sunny skies with temperatures reaching 48 degrees this afternoon. We took the opportunity to take a family walk in the sunshine, and I brought my first quilt finish of the year along with my camera.

After the past several weeks, I finished piecing the cat blocks from the catevent hosted by Elizabeth of Oh Fransson! I modified the end quilt slightly by adding a calico cat print border and a small outer gray border.

This cat quilt is made from scraps and pieces from my stash. Each cat block is from numerous different fabric scraps. The gray background is Painter’s Canvas by Michael Miller in gray (#CJ-4816) and the calico cat print border is Happy Hills Calico Cat by Michael Miller in white (DY-784). I used Kona cotton in slate for the binding. It is entirely pieced with Aurifil thread.

For quilting, I used some shiny Sulky thread in a silvery/gray blended mix to give a nice sheen to the quilt top. I did straight-line stitching using my Bernina.

The quilting took almost 8 hours, and I couldn’t have done it without the help from my Machingers gloves!

Straight line quilting

Here’s a look at the quilt flimsy with one of my cat inspectors:

Romeo Inspects the Cat Quilt

Here’s a look at another cat inspector sitting on the quilt sandwich. Only part of the quilting is completed here!

Tiger Likes the Cat Quilt!

And, finally, here are some shots of the finished quilt in the Oregon sunshine:

Catevent Completed Quilt

Me, holding the completed cat quilt!

My 8-year-old with the completed cat quilt!

My thanks to Elizabeth for designing these happy little cat blocks and for generously posting the instructions on her blog. I had so much fun making this project!

Wishing you much health, happiness, and quiltiness in the new year!
~Jennifer