Here is my latest quilt! I had bought the pattern about a year ago at the quilting fair in Phoenix. I was happy to finally get around to doing it. This was my first quilt using and following a pattern, and lo and behold my first quilt to lay completely flat! I liked this quilt pattern because it used fat quarters, so it was pretty easy (and cheap) to use lots of cute fabrics. I started this quilt back in October or November of 2025. The first part of making this quilt was just cutting...I cut lots and lots of squares and rectangles, according to whatever the pattern dictated. I decided to make the throw size. I actually intended this to be a gift to my mom for Christmas. However, when I started the actual sewing step, my sewing machine decided it didn't want to work. Specifically, the tension pooped out, and no matter what I tried, I couldn't fix the tension myself. So, I had to set the entire project aside while I took my machine in to get it fixed. I almost bought a new machine, but I decided to give it one more chance. At that point, I decided to make the quilt for myself. Afterall, Christmas had past--it was a few months until I was able to get my machine back and get going on this quilt again. Once I got going, this project went by fairly quickly and easily. Following a pattern makes things go a little smoother. I almost bought the back to the quilt online, but then I decided to look around at a few Goodwills in hopes of finding one. I went with Elisa, hoping to find a light teal bedsheet in at least 50% cotton, but no luck in such a specific color, but we came across a fun floral bed sheet that we thought would work. I figured it didn't have to be an exact match. In the end, I think it matches great! I don't recall having many, if any issues, not with the actual construction of the quilt, anyway. I ordered some free-motion quilting templates, in hopes that they would help the quilting part go faster. They're meant to be used while sewing (with the free-motion function), but I couldn't quite get the hang of it, and I ended up sewing through a section of the template and broke it. Whoops. So, I took the quilt off the machine, taped the template back together, and marked with a water-soluble marker using the template to place the design (swirls, in this case) where I wanted to sew them. Then, I sewed over them using the free-motion function on my machine. It was going great until the marked I was using died, so I ordered some colored tailor's chalk on Amazon. I assumed it would wash out or fade, but it didn't, so after several washings of this quilt, faint pink markings along the stitched swirls are still visible. They don't visually jump out, but if you look, you'll find them. The binding went smoothly and I was happy to have my very own quilt to snuggle with on the couch.
Using the picture of the sample quilt as a guide, I devised my own system to ensure that the tails, ears, and bodies were mixed/appeared randomly placed and that I didn't have any two cats exactly the same.
The top is finished! I love the bright colors. I had bought a stack of fat quarters on clearance at Walmart (Pioneer Woman, to be specific) a while ago and saved it for a project such as this.
After washing the bed sheet, I cut the corners and edges off (it was a fitted sheet) ironed it, and taped it to the floor, making sure it was tight and smooth. Then I put some batting down (I can't remember if I used stuff I already had or bought new batting) and then placed the top on and pinned and pinned, all the while making sure it was smooth--I started in the center and went out from there.
All done!
Ian was the first to use it. It now resides on the couch upstairs.
The quilt was quite a project, but it is beautiful!
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