Cat Treats

This one is for the cat lovers out there. Cat Treats is features some cute little kitties looking over their shoulders for a treat. Fish Bones. Yummy!

This has to be one of my all time favourite finishes. I love the design. And the backing. And the quilting. I just love it all!

These little cats were a lot of fun to make. And the Fish Bones blocks were quick to piece using the strip piecing method. No paper piecing for me.

Cat Treats was made using a selection of Cotton Couture from Michael Miller Fabrics. The green background is Kryptonite. The cats are Cappuccino & Toffee, Ginger & Honey, and Clay & Ozone.

I adore the crazy birds in this fun backing. The print is Robin in the Hood in Aqua. To avoid having to make a matched seam, I used a strip of Bahama Blue. This sweet birdie print is a nice compliment to the playful cats. And helps to lighten things up! 



For this one I dug into my stash of Superior Threads and chose a cone of variegated brown for the top and used plain white thread in the bobbin. However, I stuck to my trademark organic wavy lines for a fast and fun quilting finish. I chose black for the binding to match the cat's eyes and the bird legs. I love the dark frame this black binding provides.

This Cat Treats quilt has been generously sponsored by Michael Miller Fabrics. The quilt top is made entirely of selections from the Cotton Couture collection. And the backing is Robin in the Hood in Aqua from the Pets a Plenty collection.

The Cat Treats pattern is now listed for sale in my pattern shop. This quilt is made using traditional methods and is not paper pieced. The pattern provides material requirements, cutting instructions and detailed step-by-step directions. Here it is with a pink background using an Electric Quilt mock up.

Cat Treats  55" x 60"

Cat Treats finishes at 55" x 60". Instructions include the directions to make the Cat blocks that finish at 10" wide by 14" tall and the Fish Bones blocks that finish at 7" wide by 14" tall.

"Cat Treats" finished at approximately 55" x 60"

and was the 84th use of my 100 labels

ordered from Ikaprint.

Linking up to Finish it up Friday with 

Amanda Jean of Crazy Mom Quilts

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Rural Squirrel in Cotton Couture

Round and round and round they go....

These squirrels are playing in the snow!

A rare sighting indeed. I was particularly surprised to have been able to capture the Rural Squirrel frolicking in it's natural habitat. A contributing factor may be that it has been an unusually mild winter this year. And that my previously unwilling quilt holder finally gave in.

This Rural Squirrel in Cotton Couture quilt has been generously sponsored by Michael Miller Fabrics. The quilt top is made entirely of selections from the Cotton Couture collection. And the backing is from the Nature Walk collection by Tamara Kate Design.

It was such a pleasure to choose from this glorious selection of Michael Miller Fabrics Cotton Couture solids using this handy Color Card. You can read more about how to get yours here.

Fog and Ozone squirrels are frolicking among a grove of birch trees. 

One squirrel is running up a tree on the left.....

One squirrel is running down a tree on the right.....

And one squirrel is running across the ground on the bottom.



I was a little disappointed that I could not see the difference between the Fog and Ozone, but I love the finished squirrels just as they are. Those Caribbean birches contain patches of Lime, Apple, Meadow, Orange, Tangerine, Turquoise, Mermaid and Isle, along with highlights made from the Bright White background.

I made a matched seam for the backing, which is Stepping Stones in Mineral from the Nature Walk collection by Tamara Kate for Michael Miller Fabrics. This print ties in nicely with the main aqua and grey theme from the front. And I love it! I used Clay for the binding to make a slightly darker frame to hold everything in place.

I shared a photo of this quilt in process in my Let's Bee Social post and also on Instagram. There were a few who questioned how I performed this organic wavy line quilting. If you are a regular around here.... You are well aware of how much I love to quilt using this method. This time I changed things up a little and had a lot of fun with it. I used plain white Gütermann polyester thread. And quilted using my walking foot with a 3.3 stitch length.

I pin baste and then roll up the sides of the quilt. Standing at the end of my kitchen table, and starting in the middle of the quilt, I quilt from top to bottom. And then begin at the top again, quilting another wavy line to the right of the first, and continue in this way until I am finished with the right side of the quilt. Then I turn the quilt around and continue quilting the left side of the quilt from where I started in the middle.

How close I make those wavy lines depends on the project and the desired result. I like to keep the lines more widely spaced on larger quilts. And quilt more densely on smaller items like table runners. Usually I make the lines meet at regular intervals. But this time I was groovin' pretty good and really had fun with it, making them more irregular.

My advice to anyone who would like to learn how to quilt like this is: Just do it! Get your walking foot on and just quilt. Use quilting gloves and keep your hands on each side of the needle, keeping the quilt taut and flat. While quilting, wave the quilt from side to side to create the desired waviness of the lines. And just have fun with it. It takes practice to get a feel for it. To be comfortable and to relax and enjoy the motion. It really is so easy. Truthfully, I feel like I'm cheating on the quilting because it really is so, so easy.

If you are looking for more ideas of how to quilt your own quilts using your walking foot, please check out this tutorial called Quilting With Your Walking Foot.

A couple weeks ago, I announced the pattern release for the Rural Squirrel, showing a sneak peek of the Rural Squirrel in Northcott ColorWorks Concepts version. He's coming home from his QuiltCon adventure soon and I am so excited to be sharing the full reveal next Friday! Last week I shared the second version of this quilt, Rural Squirrel in Brown Neutrals, which was made entirely from my stash.

Rural Squirrel in Brown Neutrals

Now this is the third version I have made using the Rural Squirrel quilt pattern. This quilt is made using traditional methods and is not paper pieced. The pattern provides material requirements, cutting instructions and detailed step-by-step directions.

"Rural Squirrel" in Cotton Couture finished at approximately 50" x 60"

and was the 82nd use of my 100 labels

ordered from Ikaprint.

Linking up to Finish it up Friday with 

Amanda Jean of Crazy Mom Quilts

Keep On Quilting On!

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Ugly Christmas Sweaters - First Finishes of 2016

I am so excited to have completed both the Maxi and Super Mini size versions of The Ugly Christmas Sweaters quilts. These are my first finishes for the new year!

The fresh snow provided a lovely backdrop and certainly made those colours pop. But, once again, I climbed aboard the trusty old hay wagon to get a full front shot of this little quilt.

And the gentle (but very frigid) breeze enabled me to get that contrasting backing shot. Let me tell you... Once I got back into the warmth of the house, following this photo shoot, it was time for a nice hot cup of coffee. And a piece of apple pie. 

A few close up shots....

Christmas Tree 6" quilt block coming March 24th

Turnstile 6" quilt block coming February 29th

Grecian Square 6" quilt block coming February 18th

Weathervane 6" quilt block coming March 7th

Ohio Star and Economy Square 6" quilt blocks
coming March 14th and 17th

The Sweater Weather backing was the perfect choice - both in name and because of the bold turquoise background of that print. I love how it contrasts with the overall feel of the front of the quilt. And who can resist those adorable foxes?

Swedish Star and Shoo Fly 6" quilt blocks
coming March 3rd and February 8th

Thank you Michael Miller Fabrics!!! These Ugly Christmas Sweaters quilt projects have been generously sponsored by Michael Miller Fabrics. The quilt tops are made entirely of selections from the Cotton Couture collection. And the background and backing are from the Festive Forest collection by Tamara Kate Design.

I loved working with these scrumptious shades of Cotton Couture: Watermelon, Soft White, Orange, Canary, Turquoise, Luna, Asparagus and Princess pink. These combinations looked great in those Ugly Christmas Sweaters blocks and blended well with the Festive Nest that I used for the background.

I chose to quilt both of these finishes using the extended zig-zag stitch to mimic the look of actual knitted sweaters. Manufacturer's Recommendation: Cold Water Wash and Lay Flat to Dry! Hahaha!

For my Super Mini quilt, I sewed some cute little corner tabs into the binding, for easy hanging. Just add a stick with a hole in it and we're good to go!

Ugly Christmas Sweaters is a free quilt along that is being hosted here on the Sew Fresh Quilts blog. This design features a 6" block on each sweater and the sweater blocks finish at 12" square. These blocks are made using traditional piecing methods. No templates. No paper piecing. Only simple straight line sewing and diagonal seams. Easy to follow instructions are provided for every step of the way! The Ugly Christmas Sweaters quilt along includes material requirements lists for four different quilt size options and instructions for 21 different 6" block designs. But you can choose any 6" block to be featured in your very own version of the Ugly Christmas Sweaters quilt. 

"Ugly Christmas Sweaters" in MAXI Size finished at approximately 53" x 66"

and was the 78th use of my 100 labels

ordered from Ikaprint.

"Ugly Christmas Sweaters" in SUPER MINI Size finished at approximately 14" x 14"

and was the 79th use of my 100 labels

ordered from Ikaprint.

As I mentioned at this week's Let's Bee Social....
The Maxi quilt only requires 20 blocks and because I made 21 different 6" blocks for the quilt along, I used the 21st block and made that Wonky Star into a mini quilt. This was perfect timing! The Michael Miller Fabrics blog is called "making it fun". And they recently announced a mini quilt challenge. You can read about that here.

And just in case you missed it......

The first post for Ugly Christmas Sweaters QAL went live on Monday. It would be so much fun to have you quilt along!

Check out the quilt along page for details!

Linking up to Finish it up Friday with 

Amanda Jean of Crazy Mom Quilts

Keep On Quilting On!

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