Feathers

Feathers
For co-worker Casandra K., who is moving out of the area with her family.

 Color scheme reflects Casandra's display of Americana in her office. 

Top is completely from stash. 

Original design. 60" square. 

Began 2/1/2014, completed 2/5/2014.

Close-up

Quilt's title Feathers is a joke between Casandra and myself. I usually have a cat who ate the canary look on my face. Feathers is our shorthand for when I've done or am about to do something naughty. Not shown: I printed onto fabric an image of a cat with a yellow feather in his mouth, then zigzag appliqued to the back of the quilt. The cat should make Casandra laugh each time she sees it.

To see how I made the quilt, please read on.

Electric Quilt sketch

One block, but rotated alternating blocks to avoid matching seams

Selection of red fabrics from stash

Pairing up dark with light

I decided to do six combos, four of each.

Two combos, to be sewn together to form a four-patch.

Uh-oh. I was hoping for light-dark on the top, and dark-light on the bottom, and as many different combinations as possible. But when I set these pairs up, the two left fabrics look identical. There's no contrast.

These seemed to be the best pairings.

Turned the middle grouping 180 degrees so that the dots/lightest fabric was in a different corner than the other two groupings.

Four-patch blocks. I made four of each.

Blues from stash

Two combinations

Blue four-patch blocks. I made seven of one combo and six of the other.

Four-patch blocks

Four patch blocks arranged on the design wall

White-on-white border added

There was enough of this fabric in stash for all 25 blocks. Bonus, I was able to get the same fabric at Jo-Ann's for the back.

 Blue blocks on the design wall

Red blocks added

Quilt top sewn together

Close-up

Notice how by rotating every other block, there are no seams to match. It's a great timesaver for me.

I used June Tailor Sew-in Colorfast Fabric Sheets to print an image of a cat with a yellow feather in his mouth.

After I printed the cat on fabric, I needed to determine the placement of the cat (under that big blue square) on the back of the quilt.

I laid out the backing, then placed the quilt top on the backing, right sides together. My backing is pieced, and I lined up the seam lines of the backing and the quilt top. I found a spot on the quilt top where I wouldn't be tying knots, and the size of the cat works well there.

To save my place, I stuck a few pins (yellow dots) at the seam lines that correspond to the cat area. Next I trimmed the cat printout to include 1/4" margin, then sprayed the back with basting spray.

Then I folded back the quilt top, eyeballed the placement using the pins as guides.

I folded back the quilt top, adjusted a little, and when I was happy, smoothed the cat fabric to the backing. I zigzag appliqued over the edge of the cat fabric to affix it to the backing. After I did my pillowcase finish and turned the quilt right side out, the cat fabric landed right where I wanted it.

Once again, the finished quilt

Enjoy your quilt, Casandra. I'll miss you. I hope your quilt makes you smile each time you see the cat.

Debbie

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