Thursday, January 13, 2011

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!

19 comments:

  1. They are truly wonderful, and the back story makes them all the more special.

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  2. Thaey look great!
    Glad to see the quilts have been tested and approved of by your expert.

    Ansia measn "anxiety"and she is quite nervous, so I am hoping this quilt will help her mellow a bit.

    Silly! You could charge me for all three! Caos can't read and even if he did he would not mind.

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  3. OH!!! MY!!! COD!!! That is the most beautiful piece of art work I have EFFUR seen! My mommy's and my eyes rolled back in our head at the same TIME! We almost couldn't get them back down again to say THANK you!

    That is THE most singularly beautiful piece of art we have seen. And that my sisfur Ms. Stella O'Houligan road tested it? Riches! I trust her judgement in effurry thing. How reassuring that she gave her marked approval. Of course, I know that she takes her job seriously and expects only the best.

    Me and Mommy are honored that Ms Stella O'Houligan gave it a thorough going over and we are most grateful for the work of her mommy!

    I know I will bunneh kick the birdie right away while lying in State on my new gorgeous quilt.

    xoxo ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ to all the kittehs and the grrl and the Woman.

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  4. Anonymous6:26 AM

    We fink they look PAWSOME! Oliver and Ruby

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  5. Ohai! Iz a furrend of teh fab Admiral an her says to come say hai. Your kwilts iz bewtiful an I sure teh Admiral iz gonna be rilly cozy *purrr*

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  6. Really gorgeous quilts! And your quality control expert seems to agree.

    Our Grandmother just finished a quilt that she has been working on for a year! It was for our Niece. We are next in line for a quilt. She made us one in 1993, and 2003. We're excited!

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  7. Hello! I'm a friend of the Admiral and came by to look at the quilts she was bragging about. WOW! Very, very impressive!!!

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  8. oh my gosh those are BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!
    I cannot wait to see the Admiral holding her quilt down...of course she may politely ignore it at first Lol!

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  9. Hello, we came over from Admiral's blog to meet you. These quilts are absolutely beautiful we especially like the butterflies!

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  10. Those quilts are just gorgeous and even prettier reading how you make them. You are so talented to make those gorgeous quilts. Some day we are going to be able to afford one of them. Great stuff.

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  11. Those quilts are beautiful and we are looking forward to seeing Admiral on hers! We love the inspection on them all too!

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  12. Ooooh, we likes learnin all about the 'behind the scenes' goings on when those purrty quilts are made! Oh, the flutterbys one is just purrfect for the Admiral! And how sweet the I-talian ones are too! You are da bomb, Stella's mom!

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  13. Star gives a good look at the quilt made for his favorite Princess Admiral. "Oh my Bast!! It's purrfect for her!! I know that she'll look gorgeous on it! What a wonderful work of art. I like the other ones as well. Our mom doesn't quilt although her mother-in-law does. Mom has talked about a white-on-white quilt that her m-i-l designed that is of her garden. Hmmmm, I wonder if it has catnip?"

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  14. These are true works of art and we are sure that the recipients will adore them! Miss Admiral sent us over!

    purrin
    xoxox
    ♥♥♥

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  15. Hi there! Admiral sent us over. Those quilts are so beautiful!! And we love that Stella gave her seal of approval!

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  16. Holymotherofcats, what gorgeous work you do! Admiral and her mom were right in telling me about you and now I'm DYING, do you hear me? DYING of envy ;)
    I am especially blown away by the "blooper" quilt. Whew, a work of pure art. Oh, wait, I didn't tell you first: this is Sam & Lucy's mom, JennyD typing now. Sam & Lucy are in the background asking if you make these for a living. Do you? (Sam, Lucy, GET DOWN. I'm asking. Just give me one more minute, sweeties). Oh, I'm having a time with them looking at your quilts and birdies. If you get a chance to answer, you can do it here or at their page. I'll check both. Believe me, I'll never get any rest until I find out for them :D
    Ohhhhhh, and we are following you and the beautiful Ms. Stella O'Houligan. No way we could let this go by, no sirreee.
    Nose licks and head bonks from Sam & Lucy to both of you, and a big hug from me to you, Stacy :D

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  17. OH BOY! Sam & I are soooo excited now! Mom even let us use the phone to call our 2 Maine Coon friends across the street. I don't think Mom was very happy when she heard us say to them, "Na-na-nana-naaaaaa". We bad.
    But we excited ;) TWO quilts coming to us; oh, we hoity-toity nowwww!

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  18. I am pleased to report that the quilts and birdies are a great success (the birdies, even more so with the boys). I am uploading a short video of Caos going crazy with one of the birdies (it's taking forever to load too).

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  19. There it is (complete with me snorting in the background!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GalPdTXGzgY

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