Playful Kitten Quilt and No Kill Animal Shelter

I have good news and I have very good news!  First the good news:  I received my second order yesterday!  Yep, I sold my cat quilt "Playful Kitten".  

Playful Kitten Quilt

Now for the very good news:  My quilt will be auctioned at a No Kill Animal Shelter Black Tails and Ties fund raiser!  May the bidders be very generous.  

WooHoo!  How exciting!  I have many passions and the two largest ones are my quilts and my cats.  To tell you the truth, I like just about every kind of living creature. Well, okay, I'm not too fond of snakes, spiders or similar critters that people keep as pets.  I do feel they should all be given a chance to live a happy life.  I don't know about you, but I cannot watch the commercials about animal cruelty.  I have to turn away and find a cat to hug because it is so upsetting to see what a human can do to a defenseless and trusting animal.

In the right column, I have a Paw that links to the Animal Rescue Site.  I just moved it up so more people will see it and click on it.  When you click, it takes you to the AR Site, click the button again to help feed the animals.  This does work.  I have double checked in Snopes.com.  It is true and you can check for yourself by clicking here. 

Thank You!

Hitch, Max, Squirrel, & Dusty

New Garden Quilt Top (Branson, MO)

Back in July, I picked out some fun summer fabrics that was inspired by picnic shelters on Camp Lejeune's beach.  I finally found a wonderful yet simple block that I thought was perfect for this fabric.  I know I'm a little backwards.  I should be thinking about Fall colors and themes, but I have to go with the idea at that moment (and the fabric kept calling to me)  okay, so I sound a little nuts.  What can I say?

You probably remember these two photos that I posted back in July.

Camp Lejeune's Seashells

Fun fabric

The colors in my Electric Quilt 6 (EQ6) almost matched the fabrics.  I could not find the deep blue, but the blue-green worked out just fine.

Quilt Block

Close up of blocks

Top 40 x 50

I got the appliqué patterns from The Complete Book of ART NOUVEAU DESIGNS.  A great collection from various artists.  I have been wanting to use the patterns in this book.

I think the hand-dyed Batiks will be perfect for this design.  I think Batiks are the best fabric for appliqué work.  It is the most forgiving fabric.  I can iron a crease into it, iron the crease back out, and it still looks good.  I can appliqué it, leave it, rip it back out days later, and still reshape it.

Below is the flower design and the Batiks.

Batiks and Appliqué pattern

 Below:  I'm not sure if I'll use both designs or all the different colors.  I might use just the one pattern on the right.

More Appliqué patterns and batiks.

Placing the designs on the top.  What do you think?

Maybe...hmmm

Freezer paper:  Traced. Cut. Ironed.  Now to trim, mark, and sew each piece on to the top.

Freezer Paper ironed on.  Ready to trim and mark.

Well, that's as far as I have got on this project. Stay tuned.  Oh, and I decided that I wasn't quite done with the Kokopeli quilt.  I'm adding just a little bit more to the top.

A Treasury of Cats (Branson, MO)

Aquariann does a Treasury Tuesday every week.  I have been wanting to do a Treasury List since joining Etsy.  First list - Cat Crazed.... of course!  There are so many choices.

And speaking of cats...I finished my quilt top.  I plan to add silhouettes of cats to the top before I quilt it.

What's Smaller Than a Placemat, But Bigger Than a Coaster? (Branson, MO)

Mug Rugs!

Okay, I'm starting to see some results on all the time spent on the sewing machine.  I finished two Reindeer and three Santa Claus mug rugs.  Yep, thinking about Christmas in August.  Why not....

I'm working on a few more for the fall.  I hope to have them done soon.

I have linked the photo's description to the individual mug rug or you can click here to see all of the mug rugs on Etsy.

  

Reindeer Mug Rug with plaid scarf

Reindeer Mug Rug with blue scarf

Santa Mug Rug with stripes

Santa Mug Rug with polka dots

Santa Mug Rug with snowflakes

And back to quilting.....I finished appliquéing the larger Kokopeli and added the borders.  I really like the way Kokopeli comes out of the border.

Large Kokopeli

I'm using the same border material for the back.  I plan to use black cotton batting so the batting will not show through when I quilt it.  I'm thinking of doing swirls instead of my usual meandering.  This one will take some time to finish since it is a lot bigger than the other lap quilts.

Well, back to sewing...oh, wait...I have to feed the cats first...THEN back to sewing.