Sunday, December 8, 2013

Oh... to be a Cat!

Good morning everyone... I know that most everyone is busy preparing for Christmas and the holidays but it's always nice to take some time for yourself.  This year I carved out a bit of time when given the opportunity to test a very cute pattern for one of my favorite artists, Terri Stegmiller.


"Oh.. to be a Cat!" by Margie Kraft

I chose to test her pattern "Paws in the Garden", using my own hand-dyed cotton fabrics.  I couldn't resist adding the black & white polka dot commercial fabric for that little pop.  My quilt is constructed with fusible applique using Misty Fuse; I really prefer hand applique but with the artsy-look I wanted to achieve (and due to time constraints) I'm very happy with the results.  I used black King Tut cotton thread to zigzag the raw edges to give the applique the similar look that Terri has in her artwork.



 The hand-dyed green background fabric that I used was a verrry bright green and needed to be toned down a bit.  I knew that quilting would do that some, but decided that adding additional texture ahead of time with my Shiva Oil Paintstiks and rubbing plates would do the trick.  The  oil paintstik textures were added after all the applique work was done but prior to quilting.




When I was ready to quilt my little art piece I used 2 layers of batting:  Quilters Dream Wool over Blend.  This allows the applique work to really pop and gives wonderful dimension to the quilting.  I used clear thread to stitch-in-the-ditch all of my applique and Glide thread for all other quilting.



Details were added to my cat's faces using my Inktense Watercolor Pencils.  These wonderful pencils allowed me to add colored shading to their eyes, legs and whiskers after quilting.  I'm thinking that I may add some clear heavy duty mono-filament whiskers to the cats too.



The background and applique details were all freehand quilted ....  I wanted to add as much texture and interest as I could.  I thought about my own three cats;  Cleopatra, Midnight and Tiger Lily as they prowled around our property.........................  What did they think of in their imaginary garden as they snuck upon their prey or slept dreamily in the sunshine?    Oh... to be a Cat!





Please leave a comment for your chance to win a copy of one of Terri's patterns.  You get to choose which pattern you'd like, either Paws in the Garden or Butterfly Moments.




The pattern will be provided to you in PDF document format, which you download and print yourself.  It will be delivered to your email address.  Please be sure you provide contact information when you comment.

A winner will be randomly drawn the morning of Friday, December 13.



Please visit all of the following blogs for more chances to win (each blog will have a winner):

Joy Manoleros - Bjoyful Studio


Well, if you've read this far I also wanted to invite you to help me celebrate the Grand Opening of my new Etsy Shop:  RainBird Quilting  by offering  20% off all purchases over $25.  Just enter the coupon code 20NEWSTORE at checkout to receive your discount.  Rainbird Quilting will be my new name after we have moved to Alaska in January!

21 comments:

  1. What a beautiful project and I would love to win one of Terri's patterns!! Thanks!

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  2. Your hand-dyed fabric looks great in this project. I've liked every version I've seen on the blogs! My pick would be Paws in the Garden.

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  3. Your quilting is stunning on that cute project.

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  4. I'm liking these patterns a lot and the different approaches. Very nice job!

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  5. Love the idea. My granddaughters love cats. gjeneve@gmail.com

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  6. I love the way you quilted it...very cute!

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  7. Your quilt is just so happy, love the black/white POP! Thanks for the chance to win!
    lisamcgriff (at) Hotmail (dot) com

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  8. Wonderful quilt...sweet ;-)

    Greetings from Germany
    Marion

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  9. Love the kitty expressions. I have two at home that look the same... Thanks so much for sharing.

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  10. I enjoyed reading about how you made and what you used to make the kitties. Love the dot flowers too! I think my favorite pattern is the paws in the garden. Sherry Hill

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  11. Your quilt is beautiful-I love it.
    I love Terri's patterns please enter me for a chance.
    Kathy

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  12. I adore your little quilt made from Terri's pattern. This is why I really like blog hops because I get to follow your creative works now. How fun to have a chance to win one of Terri's adorable kitty patterns. December Delights...

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  13. great detail with the pencils wonderful idea... all are so different. vivianhelena@sti.net

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  14. Love your version of Terri's quilt. Thank you for the chance to win a copy of one.

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  15. I love them both, but would choose Paws in the garden. I love what you did with this one also.

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  16. I hope for good luck =) I love cats! Thanks for the opportunity!

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  17. Beautiful! Love fabrics and the quilting. Great job!

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  18. YOUR QUILTING JUST pops. i WOULD JUST HAVE TO HAVE paws in the garden. I am happy to follow you on Bloglovin. Merry Christmas. crystalbluern at onlineok dot com

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  19. Your quilt shows your love of quilting. Thanks for sharing so that we can enjoy it also.

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