Jacks and Cats Progress

There's been progress on many fronts on my Jacks and Cats Halloween quilt. Last time I showed you all the felted wool cats glue basted and ready to sew. Now they are all sewn together and ready for the next step. Somehow the stitching makes them even cuter!

I've also prepped the pumpkins (Jacks). At the end I had an extra set of eyes! I guess the cyclops pumpkins threw off my count:

I remembered early on that the Roxanne Glue-Baste-It is not enough to hold everything together while I stitch, especially since I don't like to use too much. So you can see that I've added a few basting stitches as well. The pumpkin stems, vines and leaves can't be added until the faces are stitched onto the backgrounds.

Speaking of backgrounds (nice segue, eh?), I've sewn eight of the fifteen circles:

I really like those moody dark ones!

After the circles, the next layer is a wonky starburst, which I decided to make from my fall coloured homespuns. They are horrible to work with! Too loose and stretchy by half. But, they do look pretty nice:

I thought these stars would be the perfect opportunity to try out some running stitch applique:

I first saw this technique in Piece O'Cake's book, Applique with Attitude, and I've been waiting several years now to try it. It is stitched with #12 perle cotton, the edges are turned, and the inner corners all have a little crow's foot to hold them down. I love the way it looks! Plus, it feels surprisingly sturdy, and I don't think it will fray. I won't be cutting away the background, though.

However, I still need more practice with it. My stitches got smaller, tighter, and closer to the edge as I went around the star. It was not an improvement! I will probably have to back out some of the last stitches.

Here's an idea of how it will all go together:

It's a bit of a fibre lover's dream, this quilt! The mix of textures, colours and patterns is very satisfying.

In all, I think I am still less than half way, but I'll probably pack it up for a while now. I think I've had my fill of fall colours, because for the past couple of days I've had the most incredible craving for flowers!

Making Cats

I can't seem to leave this new quilt, Jacks and Cats, alone! Today I was just going to cut out all the white smiles, when before I knew it I had all eight cat heads cut out as well:

Then I thought I may as well choose colours for the noses:

And, since I was that far, I should probably glue baste them together before I put them away:

Now I can sew the features down at my leisure, and backstitch the teeth.

The hand dyed felted wools are from Wooly Lady. The colours are beautifully saturated but still luminous. The fabric feels like blanketing, lighter than other felted wools I've tried, and a little fluffy after washing. The freezer paper patterns stayed on well, though. Overall, I am very pleased with them!

I also spent most of yesterday sorting and cutting fabrics for the wonky nine patches that go between the faces. It's been mind-boggling trying to keep it all balanced (but wonky!), and I don't think I'll know for sure how it's working until I start piecing.

I'm really enjoying the wide variety of fabrics and techniques on this project -- machine sewing, felt applique, and some hand applique still to come. It's keeping me motivated!

Making Eyes...

...at you?

Here's looking at you, kid?

The eyes have it?

Billy Eye-dol?

Yes, it's been silly fun so far on my new Halloween quilt, Jacks and Cats. I made all the eyes with black felt pupils, instead of the satin stitch embroidery suggested in the pattern. I didn't want any white to show through, and I think it was about the same amount of work either way.

I will say that "easy and fun" changed into mindnumbing and dull about halfway through, but in the end I was surprised when they were all done.

Now I can start on the faces, which is when the fun will really start!