Happy "I Like Thursday"

I have fallen behind on my

 Quilters' Cottage Cross Stitch Stitch Along

I made a count error on the pattern and had to do some ripping out.

I left one small spacing error but 

after much dithering I have decided not to change it.

I am also changing up the colors in the quilts on the line

and calling it all a "design option." 

I will catch up by next Wednesday, I hope.

Managing my quilting and cross stitching time and other needs

has been a bit of an adjustment.

I am caught up with swap blocks

and am working on a few other quilt along blocks.

In my quilt blog readings I just visited

I Like Thursdays @ Home Sewn By Us

which has a thread trail back to

I Like Thursdays @ Not Afraid of Color

I like Thursdays,
so I have decided to join in the fun.

This is my 1st "I Like Thursdays" post.

My quilty helper,  Maestro, has paw-sitively approved this post,
 and helped me make

This Block.

I like kitties and all furry friends.

This is my 59th blog post of the year.

I decided to post daily this year

just as a personal challenge.

Two months down, ten to go.

Thanks to all who read my ramblings!

:-) 

Katitude ~ Block Tutorial

Katitude Block

12 and 1/2" " Square

This is my first time using these "alphabities"
to help keep the pieces organized,  so I am still learning. 

Maestro thought they were new cat toys.

and re-arranged them for me. 

Cutting:

Focus Fabric (Cat Body and Tail)

A ~ 8 and 1/2" by 4 and 1/2" 

B  ~ 6  and 1/2" by 5 and 1/2" 

C ~ 10 and 1/2" by 1 and 3/4"

D ~ 3" by 1 and 3/4"

E ~  2 and 1/2" by 6"

C E into 2 triangles for ears

I use the

EZ TRi Tool Ruler
(affiliate link) 

Usually available at any place that sells quilting rulers.

Any "triangle in a square" ruler should work 
as long as you cut your strips 2.5"

Background Fabric

F ~ 2 and/1/2" by 6"

G ~ 8" by 5 and 1/2"

H ~ 3" by 1 and 3/4"

I and J ~ 12 and 1/2" by 1 and 3/4"

K and L ~ 10 and 1/2" by 1 and 3/4" 

Cut F into setting pieces

I use the

EZ Recs Tool Ruler

(affiliate link)

Sewing the block:

Ear pieces E and F 

Sew setting pieces to one side of each ear piece,

by aligning the seam as shown,

to make the 1/4 inch seam.

(There is a video in the ruler link showing 

how to sew these angled pieces. )

I pressed all seams open on this block.

Ear Pieces 

 Align and sew together.

 Trim to 2 and 1/2" by 4 and 1/2" 

Ear Head Body piecces.

Sew ears to top of head/body section (c) 

 Back Body pieces B and G 

Tail pieces D, H and L

Sew and flip one L square onto each corner 

of one end of tail piece D

by drawing a line and sewing along the line

 and cutting away corner.

Tail sections H and D 

Sew tail sections H and D together as shown.

Back body pieces B and D

Right sides together, align background section G 

perpendicularly to top right corner Body Section B,

as shown,

and draw a line,

then sew along line

the cut 1/4" away from seam line

as you would for a snowball block.

Head, Body and tail section C

Sew these sections together

and press seams open 

The center of your block will measure 10 and 1/2" square.

Add the block border strips,

sewing top I and bottom L first and then adding

sides J and K.

Press all seams open. 

These strips may be slightly wide.

Strips could have been cut 1 and 1/2" wide.

I like to allow room to square and 

trim the block to 12 and 1/2" 

I designed this block with the border strips as it is made for a swap

and I like my swap blocks to be easily trimmed to size 

to play nice with the other blocks.

If you sew a block from this tutorial

I would love to hear your feedback.

My quirky, quilty kitty Nutmeg, 
chasing sunspots in this photo,
 with her swishy tail 
is the inspiration for this block.

Happy Sewing!

Lucky Winner: Me!

I was the winner in the 

Twilight Chic Week Blog Hop

I was sew surprised!

Winner Announced Here

This gorgeous fabric is from

Island Batik

These fabrics were designed by

Deb Tucker and Studio 180

I am not sure what I will make with these beautiful fabrics.

Maybe this ...

Twilight Paths Quilt

Free Pattern Link Here

For now I am juts enjoying the colors and designs
brightening my sewing room.

What would you make?

Baby Quilt Progress

The quilt top is done!

Featured Here for the Dust Off a Quilt Book Blog Hop

This block is the 

Sunny Lanes Quilt Block

In the end I did not follow the layout shown in the book.

I opted for a more graphic, modern version 

and used the extra units I made in the corners of the borders.

So I am calling this quilt 

Starry Lanes 

because the setting creates an elongated diagonal star.

I am going to leave this on my design wall while I think

about how to quilt it

as I catch up on some blocks

for swaps and BOMs.

It is very windy here in the northeast and it is cold on my back

in my sewing room because of the large west facing windows.

So I may sit in the warm chair 

and do some cross stitching today.

Happy Stitching and Sewing! 

Slow Stitching Sunday

Slow Stitching Cross Stitch

For the
Quilter's Cottage Cross Stitch Along
which was last updated in the link above.

I missed completing the Week 3 Challenge section on time.

In part because there is a error in the count
between the post of the left and the first quilt on the line.

This snowballed into a error on the clothespins and the quilts placement.

There was some ripping out
but I left the post for the moment.

For those of you who are not stitching the pattern and would not see it,
there should be TWO spaces between the post and the quilt.

I am dithering over whether I need to take it out and
cannot stitch the post on the right until I make up my mind.

I am now working on Week 3 and 4 at the same time.

I hope to have it done by Wednesday.

Time will tell.

I am taking a few minutes to cross stitch.

I have been  Slow (Machine) Sewing my

Sunny Lanes Baby Quilt

I almost have all the blocks together
and hope to have the top done by the time I call it a night

... or tomorrow morning.

It is cold and very rainy here today.

A good day for stitching and

linking up with all the beautiful works
@
Slow Stitching Sunday @ Kathy's Quilts

May you have a Happy Sunday.

Are you a Diamond?

Sign Up Here!

This blog hop is being hosted by the lovely

Carol @ Just Let Me Quilt

I have no idea what to make for this one.

Thee are sew many possibilities. 

I need to think about this one while I sew.

I am still working on the Sunny Lanes Baby quilt.

No Scrappy Saturday for me today.

I have fallen behind in my cross stitch along, too.

When I get the top together I will take a break and sew 

or stitch something else.

May you have a happy quilty day.

Hope to see you joining in the Diamond Blog Hop Fun! 

Dust Off A Quilt Book ~ My Day!

Sunny Lanes Baby Quilt 

"Easy Four Patch Quilting" 

by Joanne Stauffer and Sandra Hatch

Read Here For More About This Book

I have made this block by this name before for a block swap from

Sunny Lanes Block Pattern from Quilter's Cache

but never sewed it into a quilt.

I like the instructions in the book much better. 



Lots of strip and chain piecing.

I started it here

My kind of sewing!

I made one change from the pattern
I added tags to some of the four patch blocks  HERE

The 47" by 59" baby quilt calls for 12 of these 
Sunny Lanes Blocks.

I am sorry that I do not have a finished project to show you.

I am still working on this quilt.

I have been suffering from sinus related headaches this month.

This is not uncommon for me in late winter,
when the house has been closed up for months.
It slows me down even more than my normal snail sewing pace.

Silly me,  my love of books, blog hops and quilting
had me signing up for two blog hops in the same week
and I know how slow I sew.


Please visit all the quilter book lovers posting today ... 

Friday Feb 22^nd

Bea at Beaquilter

Barbara at Bejweledquilts

Laura at slice of pi quilts

Sherry Powered By Quilting

Pat at Life in the Scrapatch ( you are here)

Carol at Just let me quilt

Kathy at Kathy's Kwilts and More

Marian at seams to be sew

This fun blog hop is hosted by

Bea @ Beaquilter

I am really enjoying all this lovely quilty blog hopping this week ...

... while I am sewing Sunny Lanes.

I hope this have this baby boy quilt done soon.

The baby was born in January :-)

Happy Blog Hopping!