And - ta da! (and some kitten photos too)

I'm so happy to show you a finished quilt today. I named her And. And - for what comes next, what is added on, plus.

She is about 60" square -  that was the measurement before I washed and dried her, and all but two of the photos here are after washing.

I made this quilt with the left over pieces - after I made another quilt top that is not yet finished into a quilt - of the fat quarter blogger's bundle that I curated at Fabric Spark. So I'm calling this a scrappy project for Scraptastic Tuesday, too. I'm not sure if Nicky has anything scrappy to share over the holidays, but do check her out.

In fact, it was the lack of large chunks of left over fabric that led me to the idea of leaving the centre of some of the giant pluses blank, also led to the less cluttered layout. I am now convinced that there is room for another giant plus pattern out there, with this layout, so watch for it here soon. In fact, I am hoping to use some of my time this week to write up a couple of patterns.



I love how the lighter grey and low volume fabrics work in this quilt, a very subtle colour scheme which I just love.



As this quilt is for a friend, I used my most favourite quilting - well except for matchstick quilting - straightish lines randomly spaced in different colours of thread. I used Aurifil 50 wt 100% cotton thread in yellows and aquas.



The different thread colours add yet another subtle point of interest to the quilt, changing the warmth of the fabric colours, especially on the background Kona Snow. Although I used my long arm to quilt it, this quilting and effect are easily achieved on a home machine using a walking foot.



Every time I set out to quilt these lines, I feel like I am somehow taking the easy way out, yet when the quilt is done, I just love it. That photo above was taken in darker lighting so you can see the crinkle from both the quilting and the washing even more.

I used one layer of a 100% cotton Quilter's Dream batting for this quilt. I have batting on the brain as I have run out, ordered a new roll, and am waiting, a bit impatiently, for it to arrive - very poor planning on my part, that.



For her back, I picked several of my favourite prints and pieced width of fabric chunks. I have grown more and more fond of these large pieces of special fabrics on the backs of my quilts. They come together relatively fast, are specially chosen for the quilt, and give interest without competing with the front too much.



Here is a photo of And before I washed her. You can see the difference that the wash and drying makes to the crinkle. What you cannot see is that the drape also changes dramatically. With this many quilting lines, the quilt becomes fairly stiff but the wash just removes the stiffness completely. Also you will see that this quilt truly has no real top side, all orientations look good.



It's also time for me to show off the kittens again. They are now about 5 - 5.5 months old, their date of birth is a bit of a guess. That one above is Butch. He has the mittens and is noticeably larger than his brother.



Here is Sundance. He was the runt of the litter and has just started to look more like a teenage kitten than a baby.



They are curious and are becoming quilting cats.



They do photo bomb too (that is another before washing corner of And). It is very hard to get nice photos of these two when they are awake as they are on the move all the time.



This is how they often look. I was not thrilled to see them on the dining room table but who can resist this cuteness. By the way, that quilt drying on the chairs was made by my spouse's grandmother for his mom. I need to show it off properly here one day soon.

Well, tomorrow I plan to post my 2014 round up and get my Q4 FAL finishes organized too. I hope you are enjoying the holidays, I sure am.

Best,

Leanne