Cute Kitties

Spring came late this year, but yesterday was time for the first lawn mowing this season. These cute kitties love a fresh mowed lawn! Flannels in golden to dark tones make up a gorgeous bunch of cats!

These are the two first test cats I made from a tutorial by Missouri Star Quilt Company. It is a fast and simple block to make, and I sewed most of the kitties on a sew-along gathering with my local quilt guild. Mostly I used a variation of flannels, but to make it a little more interesting I added two made of a cat print.

I got up early in the morning to take these last pictures. The sun had not heated up the air, yet, so it was quite chilly. The cats didn't mind, though, flannel "fur" insulates well against cold. Anyway, kitties love to get some warmth in the sun.

For the backing I used Britten Nummer from Ikea. The quilt will be donated to the children's ward at my local hospital, and it is the 17th quilt I have made for them, and the third so far this year. I quilted it with a free motion dogwood pattern in a caramel color that blends in with the kitties. This was a great free motion quilting practice!

Thirty cats can make a lot of fuss and be a wild bunch, but these are well behaved and good friends. Lets hope they will be good comfort to a cat loving child.

Keep on quilting!

Tulips are Lovely!

 I was very excited when I got the chance to test this New Spring pattern for Briar Hill Designs. I really need this colorful table runner to brighten up my house (and yard), because spring is very late this year. Last night we had frost, and yesterday morning I woke up to a snow covered yard.

 Julia of Briar Hill Designs has designed lovely patchwork tulips, finished off with a curved bottom. The pattern comes in lap and crib size, also. I chose to make the table runner since I had the perfect mini charm pack in my stash, Little Miss Sunshine by Vanessa Goertzen for Moda.

 The table runner needs three tulips, and in order to get one red/pink, one yellow/orange and one aqua I needed to complement the fabrics with a few pieces of Shuffle by Riley Blake Designs.

It is May, but still no tulips blooming here, so my wooden tulips will have to accompany the patchwork ones.

The pattern is provided with templates to cut out the curves. I have never cut out curves using a paper template together with a straight acrylic ruler before, but with Julia's instructions it became a piece of cake. 
 

I chose to quilt the runner with wavy lines using my walking foot, and with thread matching the background fabric.

 I just had to get a stained glass window picture of the runner. The backing is a fun low volume fabric from my stash

Making this New Spring table runner was a nice experience. Julia's pattern is very well written, and anybody could tackle these curves.