Tuesday, January 28, 2014

catvent quilt along - the finale

yes, it is true.  all good thing come to an end.  but i feel like there should really be trumpets sounding at the annoucement of this blog post.  my catvent quilt has finally been completed, thus knocking another "to do" project off my list and onward to others... others that i have to jam through in the next month or so.  but jam through in a good sort of way.
just in case you forgot, are new to this part of bloggin' town, or just for the heck of it, here's what the catvent was all about.  and here is onward to the plethora of finished photos of mine.
so i thought i took a lot more overall photos than i did, but whatever. that first photo says it all.  a few detail shots of cats, always good.  i particularly like how the cats were all a different block pattern.  some had big chunks of colors, some were made up of small chunks.  i really liked the ones like this green one (named amber) where the strips were sewn together, chopped through, and then had another stripe added in.
since i used fabric and such that i already had in the house (batik fabrics came from my grandma, quilting thread was left over from doing erika's wedding quilt, gray fabric i had purchased to be a table cloth for a bridal show) there wasn't as much purple and blue involved in the quilt as there was red and orange...  i was afraid i would run out of purple fabrics, but in hindsight, probably could have flipped the order and been fine.  oh well, the red and orange worked quite well when it came to choosing the thread for quilting.  but i do love these purple cats.  they sure are pretty.
let's talk quilting for a sec, shall we?
i've done the good ol' ditch stitch method, and i've botched a few other quilting attempts.  so with this small catvent quilt, i was determined to do it right.
so when you ask " so emily.  how did you spend your new years eve?  any attractive men folk you danced the night away with?" the answer is no.  this is how i rung out 2013 and brought in 2014.
i pinned the crud out of this, until i ran out of safety pins.  then i chalk lined every inch starting from the top right corner on down.  basted over those chalk lines, and once i got all the basting in, stitched over those top lines with the variegated thread.  then, unbasted every row and repeated again starting from the top left to create the squares.  i'm well aware that things aren't perfect, but it's a pretty dang good job for my first time.  so i'll pin a gold star on it and be on my merry way.
this purpley cat is probably my favorite.  (say hello to ralphio... who is a little girly, but the name reminds me fondly of "rufio" in the movie hook)  anyways, the colors in this one just blend so nicely.  and i just really like the pattern... yeah, it does look a lot like the "amber" cat... maybe that's why they're two of my favorites.
the binding came from random selections of fabric that was used for the cats.  i cut it a little wider than i should have, but oh well.  more fun color around the outside. i was able to pull in a little more of the blue and purple that way, which tied it all together quite well.  yep.  super love my catvent, and it turned out to be a pretty decent size.
i do anticipate doing a full size catvent in the near-ish future with some fabric from my stash.  more stash busting, i know.  but it's just so cost effective and helps eliminate what i already have.  granted, it encourages me to buy more... but it is what it is.
what will happen of this catvent?  not sure yet.
originally i thought that if the quilting looked good, i would find someone to gift it to... but not only do i feel very happy with the quilting, but i like it too much to part ways with it.  at least this one.
i think my mom wants to put it up as a wall hanging.
i may store it somewhere for some future currently non-existent child of mine.
maybe i will allow my mom to display it until the time comes.
regardless, i am glad i stumbled across this quilt along thanks to pinterest, and kept up with it doing a block a day through december.
if you've done a catvent of your own, i would love to see it!  drop a link in the comments below, and i'll be sure to check it out :)
thanks for stopping by!

2 comments:

  1. This quilt turned out so aca- awesome! I love the color thread you quilted with and the quilting looks fantastic. Stop disclaiming that this is your first real attempt because no one would have known otherwise! I totally thing you need to let your mom hang it for now, it is just so pretty! Good job.

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  2. It looks great! Love the colored thread for quilting.

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