Sunday, January 24, 2021

Project Quilting 12.2 Fussy Cutting

The challenge this time was to incorporate fussy cutting into our project. I did two projects again, two of each, though due to real life happenings, one of the four items is still as you will see, in the blocks stage.

Still, I do have three finished items.

One of my quarter of the year goals has been to make two cat mats which I donate to either the Windsor Humane Society or to Kittenaide. Cats photographed sitting on something cute or homemade like a little cat-sized quilt, tend to get adopted faster. And what cat doesn't love a snuggly place to curl up?

Bella already tried them out, as some of you may have seen on Instagram.

Here the two are that I made, which actually fulfills quarter 4 from last year! I plan to make another two for this first quarter of 2021. I fussy cut the cats in the 9-patch blocks from fabric you see on the back of one of them.

I stuff them with my tiny scraps from trimming blocks, yardage, thread bits, etc. I love how every bit of fabric and thread gets put to a good use. They measure roughly 12" x 19".
Here is the back of them, more cobbled-together scraps.


The other thing I've done over the years is to make placemats for Meals On Wheels. Since the cat mats were no big undertaking, I thought I could whip up a couple of fussy cut placemats. The first one I made used fussy cut 60° triangles to make a hexagon. I thought it would be the perfect spot to rest a mug or glass, so I placed it in the upper right corner of the placemat, and then had the idea to place a strip of the actual fabric on the left side, perfect place for the cutlery to rest.


I bound it with another older little chunk of light blue that is all gone now (like that). The back of the mat is the blue I used for the hexagon.


The second placemat was a little more of a pain in trying to find a block, for one, and trying to fussy cut similar sized squares when the fabric doesn't lend itself to that. However this is my favourite make of the four projects for the challenge.

I used a fun print I bought over ten years ago to make my dad's sister and brother runners for their homes. Both my aunt and uncle are farmers, so it's the perfect fabric, and I've hung onto the remainder because it's just the best fabric. I hope this placemat goes to a retired farmer too, which is quite likely, since I live in a small town surrounded by a lot of farms. Farmers are more examples of important, essential, and often overlooked, backbones of our country. Here are the three blocks, the hardest part of the mat, all done. Once I finish the mat, I'll update this post. I needed to post it to link up my three finished projects in time!


Be sure to click the button below which takes you to Kim's blog so you can check out the many talented projects!

Update
Here is the farmer placemat, complete. I continued the plaid theme with the golden brown squares and the binding.

I'm so glad I was struck with this idea to make the back wide enough! It's such a great name for the fabric line. Simple meandering kept it flat and the franken-batting all in place too.

Both placemats are 12" x 18".

13 comments:

  1. love all your creations! What a kind heart :)

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  2. Love all these & it's fun fussy cutting, which I even did way back when I started patchworking, but it didn't have a name then.(giggle) Look forward to seeing the final placemat come together in that fun fabric. Tale care, stay safe & hugs from down under.

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  3. Those fussy cut farm animals are cute and funny. That is far more my style than the pretty one that is just a bit too formal for my style.

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  4. Boy, you had some fun this week! I like that the placemat could be reversed - both sides are lovely! That farm animal fabric brings a smile. And Bella - such a beauty!

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  5. Bella is just absolutely gorgeous <3 And sitting so purty for the picture.

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  6. It's always fun to see the kaleidoscopes that result from the original fabric. I've done stack 'n' whacks (using an enormous amount of yardage), but haven't tried to make a kaleidoscope block fussy cutting with a 60 degree triangle. Something else to play with someday. I hope Bella got an extra treat for test driving the cat mats.
    Pat

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  7. As a retired farmer those fussy cuts are perfect! That placemat is lovely, now why didn't I think of something like that.

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  8. Are you sure Bella isn't guarding those kitty rugs? I'm sure really she has plenty of her own, although I'm sure the new ones you make are always more interesting. Love the fussy cut placemats - I think I will have to try that - I'm bound to have a 60 degree triangle somewhere :-)

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  9. Great idea to use Project Quilting prompts to make placemats and cat mats that can be used . I especially like the hexagon one. It really makes good use of the print. I look forward to seeing what the farm blocks become.

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  10. Beautiful makes, Sandra. Glad to see the size of the placemats you made. I made with the hope to make a whole stack for meals on wheels. Struggling with "guy" theme so will look for some of the outdoor fabric that I surely must have in my collection. Bella makes such a nice model for the cat pillows. Of course she knows what they are!!

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  11. Very fun fussy cut projects. My favorite is the pink and blue place mat.

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  12. Great fussy cut finishes Sandra. 😉

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