Friday Finish: Catvent Wall Hanging!

The cats are done!  I absolutely loved making this wall hanging.  And it's actually the first official wall hanging in the house.  (I may have taken down a photo of how the mister proposed, but this was the right wall.  I'll find a spot for the photo later.  Priorities!)

It's from Elizabeth Hartman's Catvent Quilt-a-long that she started in December.  One cat a day until Christmas.  I loved making one little cat as the start of my day.  It was like a little finish that I could get done first, then feel accomplished the rest of the day.

I used two Kona charm packs for the solids, Sunrise and Sunset, a couple scrap charm packs bought off Instagram, and a bunch of scraps from a guildmate.  It was really fun digging through scraps that were all new fabrics to me and pairing them with the solids.

 I was on schedule until the last week then all the other handmade gifts took over and the cats got pushed to the side.  Then I ran out of Kona Medium Gray, went on vacation, had some surgery, basically life took over.  But I finally got it finished!

I decided to quilt it just like the original.  It looked so good, why try to top it.  I just used some painter's tape to mark out the lines, re-positioning it as I went.  The lines are a little bit more than an inch apart, because I didn't want to stitch too close to the tape and maybe sew the tape to the quilt.

There's just one bad line where I changed directions and the stitching pulled the fabric in the opposite direction.  I might rip it out and sew it again, but I'm living with it right now.

And I finally got the sewn binding right.  I've been trying to make it happen for a while using different techniques, but this one actually worked!  I cut my binding a 1/4" wider than normal, sewed it to the front, pinned it down along the back (so wish I'd had those Clover clips), and stitched in the ditch on the front.  I only missed catching the back binding in two little spots, so I just repinned and stitched those spots again.

The back isn't perfect, but it's all sewn, so that's a win in my book.

Linking up with Amanda Jean for Finish It Up Friday and Blossom Heart Quilts for Sew Cute Tuesday!

WIP Wednesday!!

It's my first WIP Wednesday of the new year, and I have a kind of New Year's resolution project to share!  Perfect.

So the Catvent QAL left me with a bunch of awesome scraps that were conveniently similarly sized, so I figured they'd be perfect to use together in another project.  I was keeping them all together in a little baggie since my normal scrap bin would have taken over the entire dining room, and that baggie got pretty full.  So I decided to start stitching them together into some "found fabric" a la Victoria Findlay Wolfe's 15 Minutes of Play.

I didn't want to cut them any smaller, so I would just find pieces that fit together and sewed.  When some of those pieces fit together, I sewed some more.  And eventually, I got a couple pieces that were decently sized!

I've used up almost all the patterned pieces, and have a bunch more solid scraps, so I'll save those until I fill the baggie up with more prints and make some more squares.

So what's the New Year's resolution?  I want to use up those scraps almost as fast as I make them!  No more 10 gallon bucket of scraps for me!  Fingers crossed...

Linking up with Lee for WIP Wednesday and Kelly for Needle and Thread Thursday!

Catvent Quilt-a-Long!

Anyone else loving the #Catvent Quilt-a-Long?  I've gotten a few cats behind, but I'm still loving my little kitty assignments from the internet.  It gets me to the machine on days that I just want to make a nest for myself and hibernate all winter, and it's a great starting project for those days when I have so many things to do that I don't know where to start.

I love going to this little drawer of scraps to pick colors for the new cats.  I'm going rainbow-y like the original, but picking colors based on how many prints are called for in the cat and how many prints I have in like colors.  I was sure that this far into the QAL, this drawer would be looking sparse, but those scraps have been multiplying while I'm not looking.

This isn't a rushed project, or a project that I need to have done for a deadline, but I'm pretty excited to see all of this come together.  I keep staring at the spot that it will hang on my wall, and it looks emptier every time I walk by it.

I'm also trying to imagine different quilting designs.  I love the idea of quilting faces on, but kind of want to keep it simple.  I don't know, any ideas?

Linking up with Blossom Heart Quilts for Sew Cute Tuesday!

WIP Wednesday!

It's WIP Wednesday!  Time for me to get out all my projects, realize that there's way too many of them, only photograph a few, then go procrastinate and work on none of them!  I'm only half joking since I don't actually pull them all out.  I probably couldn't fit everything into one picture.

But anyway....  I am actually working on the #Catventquiltalong.  I love that it just takes about 15 minutes to finish a cat.  I've gotten one of every rainbow color done, the whole Roy G. Biv is there, so now I just have to fill in spots with more hues.

I'm finally digging into that stack of rayon that my mother picked out.  She asked for a couple copies of her favorite dress for Christmas, and naturally I said yes, even though I'd never worked with the fabric before.  After completing a dress for myself to practice, drafting a pattern, making the first dress and having my mom try it on, I'm ready to just bust out the rest of these dresses.

And I've finished the sleeves to this little commissioned sweater and I'm on to the body.  I got this far before deciding to check my gauge, and I'm concerned.  The gauge is correct, but I'm trying to replicate a sweater that I've already made, and that sweater's gauge is too big.  I'm taking a break from the knitting until I can try it on the little girl that it's for, but I have a feeling that it's going to be ripped and more stitches added to the front and back.  Still better than finding out when I got all the way up to the armpits!

Linking up with Lee for WIP Wednesday!

WIP Wednesday!

After all the rush leading up to Thanksgiving, I've tried to lay low this week.  So my projects are actually fun and for me!  (Not that I don't have fun, but sometimes you stare at something so long you want to just chuck it out a window.  That's how UFOs are made)

Anyway, yesterday I decided to just buy the Staple Dress pattern and whip up a dress for the upcoming holiday parties.  I had that big chunk of rayon from Joann's and figured that it would be the perfect flowy fabric for the high/low hem.  I just have to adjust the fit on the top (it's a bit too big); sew in the facings, hem, and elastic waist; and I'm done!

And, as a side bonus, it was a great test run since I've never sewn with such slippery fabrics and I promised to make my mom a bunch of dresses from similar fabric for Christmas.  Turns out it's not so bad as long as you go slow.  I'm doing all French seams since I'm nervous about fray, but that's pretty easy too.

This lovely pile of yarn is a sweater I'm making for a friend's daughter.  She picked out this yarn and a pattern and said go!  I love knitting with it.  It's a merino, cashmere, microfiber blend that's braided not twisted, so it's super soft and easy to knit.  Also, it hides a Russian join like nobody's business, which I love. 

Arms are done, so I'm onto the body.  That's my favorite part, because there's a nice cable that takes just the right amount of brain power to do, but I don't have to constantly consult the chart, so I can just zone out in a comfy spot and knit. 



My super fun project is the Catvent Quilt-a-long that Elizabeth Hartmann is doing.  I love these little cats, and they're super easy to do.  I can't wait to see them all together!  I've already picked out the spot where this wall hanging will go and warned the husband that he has little choice. 

Linking up with Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday!