What cat would not want a quilt made out of this?
These two boys
love comfort, so of course another quilt for them was totally in line.
I opted to just take one big piece of fabric and keep quilting until I ran out of a top, a back or thread.
The backing won!
As I worked on this piece I snapped a few photos. I use a computerized system called Quilt Sew Clever. There are a few pantographs built into the machine, but this allows you to download designs from the internet, adjust them to length and width and then stitch them out.
I tried to get a photo of the machine in action and this is the best one. The light was a bit brighter than I thought it was.
You can see part of one guppy on this section. You have to move fast when you want to get in close so the handles on the machine don't get bumped. I also wish I had selected another colour thread so it would have shown up more, but I honestly don't think the cats will care.
I opted for a piece of flannelette for the backing. I have no idea how long it was but I went as fas as I could and it yielded two very good sized pieces.
This is the machine from the back. The little "box" you can see is where the design is. I keep my stylus very handy and for some reason my cleaning brush was hung there while I quilted this one out. I had to brush lint away quilt a bit which is unusual!
While I stitch I can also wind my bobbins, which is really nice. I don't have to stop and wind between quilts and although it hasn't happened yet, some day I will use two bobbins in a quilt.
Where the two blue lines intersect is where the machine is actually quilting at that moment. The "bar" on the right hand side is the speed the machine is moving at. I wish I could move that away after I have started so I could watch til the end, but that option isn't available.
Done! I bound the one quilt in the evening and Tommy went right to it. Buddy was in the hospital while I made these.
This is the back -- all soft and cuddly -- and the front.
I had fabric left over and decided to make the boys a placemat instead of the old rug their bowls used to sit on. It had loose threads! so it had to go.
I hung these all up on the front porch with the placemat at the top. I took a close up of the guppy panto I used. I tried a different colour thread on top so they would look a bit like goldfish, but it didn't quite turn out that way.
And, of course, Tommy has to see the new placemat! A nice splash of colour for the kitchen!