The kitty cookie quilt is complete

The Kitty Cookie Quilt shall henceforth be known as April Showers. That is the theme that emerged. April showers bring May flowers, and all that. Cats and raindrops and lots and lots of flowers.

It did get a border, as you can see. The batting is lovely Warm and Natural which is (quelle surprise!) both warm and free from harsh chemicals.

The joining strips are from a piece of fabric I've had for a long time. In the mid-90s I was in a quilt shop when it caught my eye. Beautiful and VERY expensive at a time when we were quite poor. I was financing my quilting indulgence by teaching quilt classes and selling my own quilt pattern designs. In fact, I was in that shop, because I was meeting a writer who was interviewing me for a now-defunct Canadian quilting magazine. I bought an entire metre of that fabric, and I had no idea what I wanted to do with it. It just sang my name. It's called Winter Solstice. I don't think it's all that unusual for quilters to be able to tell you the provenance of the fabrics in a particular quilt. I chose the fabrics, because they spoke to me. Winter Solstice, with its muted teals and faintly tree-like images has been waiting for its moment all these years.

And I think I mentioned that the border print around this block came from a shop in Maui exactly 10 years ago. I loved the fabric when I saw it, and now, all these years later, it has good associations because of the family vacation we were on.

But this quilt has other connections for me. See this back? Almost all the fabrics (except the blue pieces) were donated by Arlene M. of the Gananoque & District Humane Society. She gave me these fabrics to use in this quilt, because the proceeds from its sale are going straight to the Lyndhurst Feral Cat Project for the benefit of the cats.

Here's what the front looks like, in full. A couple of the background fabrics are Arlene M's as well. The border fabric was donated in a circuitous way by  Mag M-H who had offered some fabric up online, and Susan H who saw the opportunity, and brought it to us. As they say, 'It takes a village!'.

So many people coming together to do something good!

But all this would be for nothing except that Arlene C stepped up to buy our little quilt! The circle's complete. We took an idea, some sketches, some fabric, thread, and a whole lotta love, and we turned it into cash to use for the cats. Thank you to all who helped along the way.

And finally...

The 12th block. Splish Splash reversed. Now, I just have to put them all together. Borders?

The kitty cookie quilt continues

If cats had rain gear, wouldn't they play in the rain?

You can find the template sheet here if you're working along with me. This is the last image of the quilt. The 11th of 12 blocks. We'll do this one reversed, and then, we'll be done!

Kitty Cookie Quilt - Drawing 6

The 6th and final cookie for the Kitty Cookie Quilt is Splish Splash. Dark chocolate shortbread cookies. So good!

Keepin' up!

This is the end of the 5th week, so here's the 5th design reversed.

That's means I have 10 of the 12 blocks completed for the quilt. Next week will be the last design....cookie and quilt block for the Kitty Cookie Quilt. And I think I've saved the best for last!

Smiley Cat quilt block

And here's the link for the line drawing template for the 5th design.

Week 5

Time is rollin' on, and here we are at week 5 with the 5th cookie for the Kitty Cookie Quilt.

I don't have a cute name for this one. I'm just calling it 'Smiley Cat' for now, because in the Kingdom of Coco, all the cats are happy. They all have homes and warm beds, good food, and people who love them.

May Flowers.....Reversed

The 8th block in the Kitty Cookie Quilt.  Only 4 to go!

May Flowers, the quilt block

This is the 4th design, making this the 7th block (out of 12).

The border fabric is a little bit of some fabric I bought when we were on a family vacation in Maui several years ago. The entire store (and it was BIG) was full of tropical colours. I felt right at home.

Here's the link for the drawing, if you're working on your own Kitty Cookie Quilt. Don't forget when you print it that you need to be sure your printer isn't scaling the design to fit your page. The square should measure 8 inches.

... bring May flowers

The next cookie for the Kitty Cookie Quilt is ...

Raindrops reversed

Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head (Reversed). I think there's a theme emerging.

More raindrops

The cookie was more complicated than the quilt block. This one is pretty simple. Now, to do it reversed.

You can find the .PDF for the quilt block HERE.

Raindrops keep fallin' on my head!

The next cookie for the Kitty Cookie Quilt. Or should that be Kitty Kookie Kwilt? I kinda like that.

The umbrellas in this one are inspired by the fabulous cookies of   http://funkycookiestudio.com/ . I've been following her for a while now. I feel like I'm taking a course with her, but she has no idea.

Everything's Comin' Up Roses! - the quilt block

So, OK, I got a bit excited, and accidentally did the reversed image first, and then had to do the first image before I posted them here. Or else, I'd confuse myself even further. Here, then, are both appliqué blocks for the Kitty Cookie Quilt.

And here is the .PDF for anyone who is stitching along with me.

Next week, another cookie and another block. Stay tuned.

Image No. 2

This week's cookies for the Kitty Cookie Quilt are Everything's Comin' Up Roses!

Kitty Cookie Quilt - Block 2

April Showers Reversed. Two of 12.

Kitty Cookie Quilt - Block 1

The Kitty Cookie Quilt begins. Here's the first block, April Showers.

I'm fusing the appliqué pieces to the background, but I'm only fusing the edges, so it's not too stiff. That just means I'm trimming the centre out of the fusible web before I iron it onto the fabric. Then, I cut the fabric patch on the outline I traced for that purpose.

I'm zig-zagging around each patch with machine embroidery thread, but I'm working on the block with it already layered onto the batting. It gives it stability, and the only downside I've found is that the backing needs to be a good quality fabric, so that all the stitching lines and thread ends don't shadow through.

Batting. I really like Warm and Natural.

Fortunately, we (the Lyndhurst Feral Cat Project) were given some fabulous fabric by Arlene Massey (who is a big friend to us and to the Gananoque & District Humane Society and to cats everywhere!). There was a lot of high quality flannelette in the bag she gave us, and I've used that on the back of this block. It will make the finished quilt extra soft and warm. Each block will be backed with a different fabric, so the back is as scrappy as the front.

Next up: April Showers reversed!
Remember if you'd like to work along with me on this, the .PDF for this block is available in the previous post.