kitten mini quilt swap 2015

i participated in my first instagram hosted swap this year, and it was quite the experience.  i have done plenty of craftster swaps, where you know who you are sending to/from and all that jazz.  this one, i knew who i was sending to but i had no idea who would be sending to me (i still don't, as i haven't yet received anything!)  the theme for this swap was a kitten/cat mini quilt, so of course i was easily swayed to create something kitty related.  when i got my partner assignment, i was super excited, as it was someone i already followed on instragram, and started to get some ideas from her likes as well as her fur babies.  i found this paper pieced pattern on craftsy, located the awesome retro backing fabric on ebay, and found some fantastic crosshatch fabric to create the gray tabbyness of the kitty.  alright, without more delay, here's the full piece!
loved this paper piecing pattern. everything went together quite smoothly, with the exception of the nose.  that had to be the trickiest part.  the pieces were so tiny!  i found the blue background fabric and the red swirl "blanket" fabrics in stuff that i had acquired from my grandma, and it worked perfectly to make this kitty stand out.  i went with a stitch in the ditch quilting around the kitty face parts and left it at that to not make things too busy.
such a nice kitty. sure looks like our cats. sleeping, sleeping, sleeping.
i just love the back fabric. these little kitties are red and blue cross hatched on them, which went perfectly with the front. the order i got from ebay also had the same fabric on a blue background... so i have more of these kitties to play with on my own time. yay! and i'm certain it will end up in my scrappy square quilt that has yet to begin... yep. some projects are all talk, no action right now.
it is perfect that there is a little kitty right above my nametag, but that's not what is really exciting here... would you look at that corner?! i don't think i have EVER gotten one to look so perfect in my life... hall of fame right there, folks.
with all the school and life chaos happening at the time, i lost track of time and didn't have a chance to make her any special extras to go along with her mini quilt like some people were. i still wanted my wonderful partner to feel special, so i found this cute kitty shaped pen at target, and i also ordered her a silly book that my parents also got me for christmas. i saw my first "how do dinosaurs..." book when i was last in colorado, and something later on popped up on amazon regarding this one and i just cracked up and sent it to my mom. i hope my partner appreciated this silly nonsense book, and that her kitties love storytime too :)
next swap theme?
who knows yet... i'm hoping for another disney round, that's for sure!