Friday 13 November 2015

A Hipster Cat Quilt for Oliver

I think I may have gone a bit far with this project. It was the cat fabric that first attracted me, and I thought about how my kitten Oliver needed a bed so he would leave Tigger's alone. I'm kind of attached to this little guy. I mean, look at him.


So I searched "quilted cat bed" on my phone and what did appear, but Shwin & Shwin's Hipster Cat Quilt. I really just couldn't help myself. I'm a quilter, what can I say. About $70 later I'm walking out of the store about to make a quilt for my cat. Ridiculous. He still doesn't have a bed.

This quilt is easy and fairly quick to put together. I opted to use raw-edge appliqué, a bit different from the original tutorial. I printed and taped together the template, then traced it onto Steam-A-Seam. I fused it onto my fabrics, cut them out and fused them to the quilt top. I used a blanket stitch to sew around the edges with coordinating thread. 

The fabric for the background is Fishbones, the backing is Scatter and the bowtie is Mice. All are all from Makower's line, Cats. I thought the grey and white dot and white and grey patches worked nicely too for my little grey kitten. The bright pink was in my stash.






Despite the small size of the quilt, the quilting gave me a bit of trouble. I wanted to free-motion quilt it and my thread kept breaking. My machine didn't seem to like quilting through the Steam-a-Seam, so I slowed down and it seemed to improve. I trimmed the edges and squared it up to get ready for the binding. 

I figured I might as well use up the last of my mouse fabric and added in the bright pink for a pop of colour. I machine sewed the binding and I have to say, I think it's one of my best yet. I cut my binding strips 2 1/2" and sew them onto the back first. Then I press them towards the edge of the quilt and use Wonder clips to clip them on the other side. I put the edge of the binding a bit less than 1/8" over the line of stitching, then stitch a bit more than 1/8" along the edge. This means that my stitching line on the back (usually) stays on the binding too. I only went over the edge for about 3 inches this time!






Oliver was instrumental in the creation of this quilt. We managed to capture some photos of him helping with the layout, sewing and burying threads. That part is much easier when your cat is on your lap under the quilt, moving around where you're trying to bury the threads. 




You might have noticed his bowtie as well. Again, I couldn't help myself. The scrap fabric was there, I had elastic, Halloween was approaching.... I even managed to get him to stay still long enough to pose for a couple photos on this dark and rainy afternoon. I was going to wait for some natural light for photos, but in November dark comes early at this latitude. 



Definitely the most ridiculous and cutest project I've ever made! I recommend checking out this free pattern. I think it would be fun to play around with different fabric combinations or make smaller cats and do four blocks with contrasting backgrounds. 

What's the most ridiculous project you've ever made? Any sewing or pet confessions?



11 comments:

  1. I love everything about your quilt - fabulous! Thanks for linking up to TGIFF!

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  2. .....all it takes is fabric inspiration and away you go! Love the finished product. Do hope Oliver likes it too and treats it well!

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  3. First, that second to the last picture of Oliver is absolutely priceless!! Will be giggling all day!! LOL

    Oliver's quilt is absolutely adorable and $75 for a cat bed isn't that crazy ;) The details you added are awesome. I have yet to make a bed for my naughty puppies. . . they are almost (but not quite) at the stage where they won't eat them. Once I'm sure they are past the temptation (honestly, they probably are but I'm not taking any chances!!), I'll make them beds . . . and I'm pretty sure they'll probably be a little crazy ;)

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  4. It's a fun quilt and Oliver looks great in his bow tie.

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  5. 'Love the pattern and quilt. You did excellent work, and chose great fabrics. 'Found you via Quilt Shop Gal's link party :)

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  6. I am dying over this quilt! So so so cute! :) We featured your quilt over on the FWFS blog! Thank you for stopping by and linking up!
    -Lindsey

    http://fortworthfabricstudio.blogspot.com/2015/11/fabric-frenzy-friday-features_14.html

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  7. This is the most adorable quilt! (and kitty too!!)

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  8. Bri! This is amazing <3 Oliver is one lucky cat. Love the extra details you added on the edges!

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