Catnip Quilts Mailed!

Hello everyone!  'That Woman'  here letting you know I'll be mailing out the Catnip quilts today along with the Catnip birdz.  There are three quilts and some birdz travelling all the way to ROME!  I'm happy all these are done & truly hope the recipients like their new quilts & toyz. 

So; without further ado; 

When I think of the lovely Grand Dame, Ms. Admiral Hestorb; I envision her reclining delicately in a field of butterflies made out of wildflowers.  I hope this suits her.

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These next three are traveling to Rome, Italy.  They are personalized for my friend Nathalie's kitties.  You can read her blog here (it's totally awesome by the way).  I remember reading her blog and seeing the names of Microbo & Microbetta two of her cats and I thought at the time (and still do) that those are the coolest names I'd ever heard for cats                and then....

found out she had a kitty named Chaos.  How cool is THAT?

I do hate to admit here that after I had quilted it and put the name on; I looked at her note to me.  She spells it Caos.  no H. Since I messed it up I'm not charging her for this one and I truly hope Caos doesn't mind.  Especially since I put little cat claws on the H :)  

This is also a lovely name. 

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NOW: onto the birdz!

birdz bellies...how cute!

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Exclusive Behind the scenes Footage!

*blu ray player not necessary*

Naturally;  like any good story; there's always stuff going on the background that adds flavor. 

 I tell people that my Catnip Quilts are 'quality tested by a relentless quality control expert!'  And they are! Her name is Ms. Stella O'Houligan.  She takes her job seriously and she knows when I'm in makin' these.  Since cats aren't allowed in the sewing room; the door stays closed when I'm working.  Ms. Stella will yowl at the door for me to let her in so she can do her job.  She does make it sound as if she's doing me a favor but since she's a Cat; that's her prerogative.

Here are some shots of her hard at work!  This quilt is going to her very special friend; someone she visits daily; sends personal emails to and 'holds her paw' whenever the 'v-e-t' word is mentioned.  Ms. Admiral has been undergoing some horrific experiences and since both 'gals' are considered 'Senior Cats'; just like humans; the tests are often humiliating and often painful. Both myself & Admiral's Mistress have been co-miserating for our beloveds. 

Ms. Stella had her work cut out (MOL! no pun intended) for her.  She needed to make sure Ms. Admiral's quilt was absolutely perfect.  Here she is putting it through stringent and rigorous testing.

Examining the stitches; she's worse than the 'Quilt Police' at a show!

testing for comfort is a MUST

(note the claws out as I moved closer to retrieve the quilt. I don't mess with those!)

She also tested the quilts going to Rome.  I distinctly heard her singing something like 'From America, With Love' These were on the back of a chair; I was sewing along and realized she'd moved them to the floor where she could give them a good once over.  I swear you'd think SHE was the seamstress! (well, she does have the necessary equipment for seam ripping!- oh, excuse me "un-sewing")

All that hard work makes the old gal tired; here she is taking her well deserved 15 minute break

you can see a glimpse of her using the time honored method of 'vigorously rubbing' to ensure durability.

BLOOPER SHOT

measuring schmesuring! *note the tiny red rick-rack* in my effort to use up scraps; oops!  I did fix it. 

Who says rick rack is kitchy?  This stuff is embroidered!  Now I even see this same type on ultra expenive jeans!

Technical Stuff:  I don't use computer aided embroidery.  Everything is free-motion stitched by my own hand guiding the needle.  You can see my latex gloves in the above photo on the left side; I use those when I do free motion quilting to get a better grip on the fabric and no slippage what-so-ever! They also are great for petting your cats to get off loose fur!  Since the Catnip I use is fresh, there tend to be stems and other parts of the plant than just the leaves; I used to use Metallica Needles until a friend suggested Titanium coated Top Stitch Needles from Superior Threads. I use them for nearly all my quilting now.  Worth. every. penny.  (and not too many more pennies than Metallic Needles) 

 

You can see in this photo where I've used the white quilters pencil to write (again by hand) the lettering.  I simply stitch over that several times to get the desired thickness of the letters.  (i.e. For Microbo; since he is a Mancat; I made his thicker and more robust.  Microbetta's I only went over 3 times to give a softer look.) 

That's it for now!  I'm off to work on three new art quilts that are due in March.  And since I have little or no idea what I'm actually designing just yet; I'd better get busy. 

Love and Nip to you all!