Expiration Date

You know that quilt I’ve been complaining about, the one that needs to be quilted for our up coming quilt show? Well I think I’ve f i n a l l y gotten to the point of seeing the end of it. I’m not even sure I can say this is a favorite quilt anymore. I have been working on this sooooooo long that I kind of hate it. After the show I’ll put it away, forgot about, find it in a pile while showing someone my quilts, and fall in love with it again. But right now I’m actually calling it the butte county quilt after the county I live in (drop that “e” and you know what we really call our county and what I’m calling this quilt).
This has been such a hard quilt to capture the true colors of. I’ve taken shots indoors and outdoors, sunny and cloudy but none have been the true colors. This first shot may be the best for the leaves and dresden flowers but it make the black faded.
This shot makes the black look it’s blackest but washes out the colors. But hopefully with all the pictures you can imagine it’s true colors.
This quilt has an expiration date on it so I better finish it up soon!

I’m not using this as an excuse but I’m now quilting around all the dresden flowers with metallic thread and it’s not going perfectly. The thread breaks at least once on every flower. Very frustrating and time consuming!
The backing shows off more of the quilting. Sometimes the backs become their own works of art, not that this is! What a pile of thread clippings I see in my future.
Is it any wonder that this quilt is covered in fur?! I take a bathroom break and this is what I came back to. Silly cat!
Don’t let this sweet little face fool you, he’s a terror! Thank goodness he still sleeps a lot!

My Daughter asked for a baby quilt for a co-worker. The only instructions she gave me were, the colors are pink and gray and she likes animals.

So with those requirements this is what I came up with, using one of my favorite subjects!
The retro kitty is velvet. I thought it would feel nice so I used it but I’m looking for a better way to applique with it. If you have any ideas, please tell me.

I backed my velvet shape with a thin cotton and tried to flip it inside out, tried. I mostly ended up cutting an opening all the way through the shape. But it helps keep the raw edges together so I slowly tucked everything under and sewed it down. It’s mostly OK except for the area where the tail meets the back leg, that area just looks like the cat has a prolapsed rectum. Did that get your attention? Anybody out there?
Eyelet lace, ric-rac and rhinestones can be a girls best friend. Velvet applique, fleece backing and satin binding make this a most touchable quilt. In fact I want to make one for myself! How else am I going to learn to applique with velvet?