Kitty Love

I’ve had this project in my head for a couple of months, so it feels good to finally have it finished and now gifted. 

Once again, it is all from stash and once again, several fabric companies blend together to create this pretty cushion.

I’ve had the The Highlands architect print by Violet Craft for some time, purchased from the sales section at Connecting Threads (affiliate link) along with the same print in soft yellow and orange. I also bought three half-yard cuts of the cats with antlers prints. The turquoise heart in this pillow is one of them. The architect plans print in the teal and mauve is my favourite, originally planned for something for myself, but the cushion cover used up the entire half yard but for a 5“ x 12“ rectangle. I told wrestled with myself that it’s better that it gets used in a gift for a special person than I save it for some unknown project down the road and it languishes another few years on the shelf.

I love the 'stamp' that has a paw print and 'State of Catterson' in it

The painterly purple heart and the binding are from a Northcott line that I really like. It’s the perfect berry shade found in the architect plans. The deep aquamarine heart is an Art Gallery print and I don't know what the soft green cats one is as it was just a fat quarter.

Pattern writing and blog posting are tools that serve my own self well. I couldn’t remember the size I cut the rectangles for a nice overlap for the back of a cushion so I pulled up one of my patterns that has a cushion in it.

This saved my brain because I had already done the work! I believe four of my patterns include directions for a cushion or pillow. None are the same size. The one in A Roll of the Dice is 18". Perfect.

I write my blog to keep a record of my makes, but also to communicate with other quilt makers/lovers and share the joy that quilting brings me. However, my blog serves me well on so many occasions: I thought I might have to piece the back, because of limited fabric, and remembered a cushion I had made for a neighbour during the pandemic where I had to do that very thing, so I found that blog post to remind me of what I’d done. That blog post also reminded me that I had had the pillow opening horizontal instead of, as I usually do, vertical. This saved me from having to piece in a coordinating strip to extend the pillow back fabric. I had just enough to do a horizontally oriented pillow! 

I was so excited (and her reaction did not disappoint) to give this to our sweet neighbour, Marybeth, who has looked after Bella when we’ve been away on recent short trips. She loves purple, and she absolutely loves purple with turquoise; hence the colours in this one. You may recall a certain placemat I made for her after her cat Elliott died. She absolutely adores Bella and surprisingly, Bella sheds her aloof ways and will often sit in Marybeth’s lap while she reads her book and spends a little time here. 

Quilt Stats:

Size: 18" square
Fabric: stash and scraps

Batting: polyester

Backing: The Highlands by violet craft for Michael Miller Fabrics

Quilted: on my Bernina with Sulky rayon thread

Threads: pieced on my Bernina