It seems like my big craftwind last week has died down. I managed to tweak out these two projects before life got the better of me.

First up is a few cat pillows for around the house. I found this microfleece blanket for $5 and was able to make 3 pillows out of it (with lots of leftover fabric) for the cats so I was glad to find such an inexpensive piece of fabric to use. The pillows are your basic rectangle stuffed loosely with fiberfill. The cats like to sleep on the floor in front of our heating vents, so I made two for in front of the vents and one for the couch. (Mental note: buying a dark couch is not such a good idea when you have light colored cats...we are constantly vacuuming fur off the grey surface). As soon as I finished the first pillow and set it on the floor, NukuNuku jumped off my lap and splayed herself across the pillow. It's always nice when someone appreciates my work! Even though we have three pillows, they always seem to be fighting over the use of whichever pillow the other cat is using.

Nuku Nuku thinks I iron everything too well...she always likes to make sure everything is sufficiently scrunched up.
I also finished my green quilt top. This was modeled after my other baby quilts (here and here) and the blocks in this quilt are 5" square instead of 2.5" square. I used 10 fat quarters from the Timeless Treasures Apple Collection and 3.5 yards of fabric for the top. I was able to cut 12 five inch squares out of each fat quarter, for a total of 120 squares that were then cut in half. I cut the green fabric into 5" wide strips and cut out 120 squares from each strip and used the remaining fabric for a border.
The quilt is 14 blocks wide and 16 blocks tall with a 5" border of sashing around the edge. From my estimates, the quilt is approximately 72x81. I'm not sure how I'm going to quilt this yet. I was thinking about doing some straight line stitching a quarter inch in from each seam to make concentric squares, but I might just stick with basic stippling. Any ideas?
I was planning on giving this away as a gift (I don't think the person reads my blog), but after I told Jon my intentions, he became very protective of it. Hopefully he'll let me part with it!
Your cats are beautiful and so is that quilt! Have you seen the blog "365 Days of Freemotion Quilting"? She has started giving some quilting ideas for the whole quilt and they are really interesting looking.
Posted by: Anne | 11 November 2009 at 07:18 PM
That is sweet of Jon but you'll have to remind him that some can be gifted or you'll end up with a room full of quilts one day!
Your cats are beyond adorable, NukuNuku has THE sweetest face. And I am so adding cat pillows to my to do list. If only so I end up with a spot on the sofa for myself next winter.
Posted by: Steph | 11 November 2009 at 08:01 PM
Love this quilt! The colors are so rich and that is one of my favorite collections. Your cats are so beautiful too. I totally know what you mean about the gray sofa and light colored cat hair. Our front living room has gray sofas and our one pug is tan, he makes a wonderful mess on those sofas. We can't win though, in our t.v. room the sofa is tan, which works for that pug, but then there is our black pug and he makes that couch a mess. Can't win! :)
Posted by: Stephanie | 11 November 2009 at 08:36 PM
when you showed the preview triangles a while back, I think my reaction was something like, "kelly green? really?" but of course it turned out rad - a great innovative color combination. you have vision.
Posted by: jenny | 11 November 2009 at 08:55 PM
That quilt is fantastic - love the pics of your kitties too! I wouldn't let you give that quilt away either, lol.
Posted by: Allie | 11 November 2009 at 09:03 PM
I've been thinking of making my younger cat a little bed... her older sister has one and she doesn't. Poor Izzy.
And I just love that quilt... don't blame Jon for being protective! If it were me, I'd probably just do a criss-cross grid pattern.
Posted by: Audrie | 11 November 2009 at 09:15 PM
i think jon is right, you shouldn't give that quilt away!
love the kitties new pillows too.
Posted by: melissa | 11 November 2009 at 10:37 PM
i've made some pillow-type/blankets for my cat. while they are works in progress, she cannot get enough of them. sitting on them, hiding under them. the moment they are actually finished, she loses ALL interest in them.
typical cat!
Posted by: montague | 12 November 2009 at 09:32 AM
I love the cat pillows. Our cats move from place to place. The only consistent place they always sleep is on the back of the couch. The quilt is looking good, too. Love that fabric!
Posted by: MichelleB | 12 November 2009 at 10:07 AM
beautiful!!!! i want to try that desing! by the way, one of your cats (the white/orange one) looks like twin of my brother cat (cilantro)...
Posted by: rosamaria | 12 November 2009 at 11:09 AM
Have you ever checked out the "Line Dancing" book (or something like it)? http://www.cozy-creations.com/linedancing1.htm
I just quilted a lap quilt for my husband using her approach and it was fun. I don't have a longarm or anything - I did it on my regular machine. Some of the techniques, like leafy vines or something - would work really well on that quilt.
Posted by: CJ | 12 November 2009 at 02:19 PM
i need to make a second bed for bruno for when i'm working in the studio...he hates those hard floors. maybe i can find a blanket that will work for him. love this quilt. the green is stunning!
Posted by: jacquie | 13 November 2009 at 12:13 AM
That quilt looks AWESOME. I love that 'around the world' syle. It looks very satisfying to make.
Posted by: finger thumb | 13 November 2009 at 08:10 PM
The green is just beautiful! Suketu says that the baby looks great in green--so I think green is my new favorite color!
Posted by: Rima Aranha | 14 November 2009 at 10:53 AM
that quilt is amazing! love the colors! i can see why jon doesn't want to let it go. your kitties are very lucky ducks too with those wonderful pillows!
Posted by: CMV | 14 November 2009 at 11:48 AM
Cats do enjoy texture and luxury, don't they? My most recent quilt has been commandeered by my cat and I'm thinking I'll have to make a little one for him to put over it so I'm not spending the next thirty years peeling the hair from it. Maybe I'll back it with a towel. :-)
Your green quilt is fabulous.
Posted by: CitricSugar | 14 November 2009 at 12:35 PM
Love this quilt top! It is so striking that green is perfect with the prints you are using! Can't wait to see it finished!
Posted by: erica | 15 November 2009 at 01:36 PM
Your cats are so cute! I love this quilt, I really like the green. Such a fun pattern!
Posted by: cami | 15 November 2009 at 05:23 PM
I always love seeing your quilts - they're all gorgeous. I don't blame Jon for wanting to keep that one :)
Posted by: Lisa | 16 November 2009 at 01:55 PM
I love the green quilt, it's lovely!
Posted by: Heather | 07 December 2009 at 10:32 AM