Kitty Karma

I’ve been making a real effort this year to work through some of the precuts in my stash. I recently turned my attention to 10" squares, aka layer cakes, according to Moda. Here is another, originally intended as a comfort quilt for perhaps the Ronald McDonald House. However, the quilt had other ideas as to where it needed to go.

Lounging on a lounge chair.

This is a 10" stack of 15 squares, five of which are from Tula Pink’s Eden collection that I bought (actually I bought two!) from Connecting Threads several years ago. I added one more of hers from Acacia so I could have a square quilt. I think I’d intended to use all 30 in one quilt but now I will have two small quilts. The green of the Acacia add-on is the same as one of the blenders. It looks to me like books standing on their ends, arranged in a circle. Books is an à propos print for the recipient.

The flimsy - I love that the tiger is perfectly preserved with this simple block

I saved this quilt which was much bigger, from Pinterest because of the quilting someone had done on it, though the simple yet striking pattern resonated with me too for a scrap or stash quilt. There was no credit, and it’s a pretty basic design so I did a little figuring… Feel free to make one yourself!

Left the CT sticker on this second pack so you can see! And surprise again: this pack, like the turquoise Zephyr pack, had 16 squares, two grey solids, one of which I will not use.

You can see there is very little waste. I may play with a 3 ½" square for the 4-patch in another quilt.

I lost at bobbin chicken by this much, ugh! I couldn’t believe it.

As I started putting the blocks randomly on my design wall, it struck me that this is a sort of cat quilt. Then all the purple struck me, which made me think of my neighbour, friend, and Bella’s cat sitter, who had celebrated a birthday that same week…

So this small lap quilt upon which Marybeth’s own cat, Jack, could perch…quilt on the lap, cat on the quilt, feels like a song that should end in ‘oh’…decided to go to her. And so my original plan to overall meander morphed into some fun dot-to-dot rulerwork.

A small lap quilt needs cuddly flannel on the back, and I found the perfect amount in my stash, left over from a quilt I made for Dayna a few years ago. I used up, with a little Frankenbatt work, the last of a package of Quilter’s Dream wool.

Some may think, what’s the point of a 36" square lap quilt for an adult? I myself like one if I’m watching TV and my legs feel chilly, or, as you know, to take to yoga, or to use in my own daily practice, or, even, as I am doing as I type this, folding one up to sit upon to raise me up to a better ergonomic height for typing (at just 5'2", tables and chairs ratio is not usually made for moi).

I had a few purples to option for binding but went with the berry one as it’s so close to one of fabrics. The ten non-Tula fabrics are basics and blenders from Connecting Threads.

My initials in the lower corner as per usual

I like to stitch the recipient’s name into their quilt, as you may recall.

After blocking it on the design wall (see above) I took it out for an after-supper-golden-light shot for texture.

Delish!

After washing, which means in cold water, mild detergent, and again blocked on my design wall to dry, here it is, crinkly soft, mmm!

Why Kitty Karma? Kitty is obvious. Karma came to me because good deeds spark more good deeds, ‘nuff said. 

I will be making another with the other set of 10" squares. I get a little thrill looking in my cupboard to see that there is space—I now only have four 10" square packs to go! We won’t mention (well, maybe I should count and do a full disclosure, haha) the 5" square packs situation.

Quilt Stats:

Size: 36" square

Fabric: a 15-piece layer cake of Tula Pink Eden, basics and blenders by Connecting Threads

Batting: Quilter’s Dream 100% wool

Backing: flannel:  Fleurie by Caleb Gray Studio for Robert Kaufman

Quilted: on Avril, 35 771 stitches

Threads: pieced on my 1947 Featherweight with Gütermann cotton; quilted with Essential 100% cotton; Fufu rayon in the bobbin.

Might as well add my other purple accomplishment this weekend. I went ahead and made the RSC September colour.

That makes nine blocks done. I think, though I am not positive, that I will make the nine into a 36" quilt, which I am quite liking for fast satisfying finishes.