Interlocking Cats Scrappy Couch Quilt

I machine pieced this quilt on my Bernina 240.

I quilted this quilt on my Janome QMP-18 long arm.

Finished size: 65" x 70"

This quilt was successfully auctioned in "The Great Catsby Online Auction" supporting C-5 (Community Cat Coalition of Clark County)

(click on photos to enlarge)

🐱FINISHED QUILT:🐱

Front:

Piecing: This quilt was patchwork pieced using a design that I adapted from a free applique pattern created and shared by Julie Fukuda. It features 25+ interlocking cats that are created from more than 20 different fabric patterns. I chose colors to reflect just a few of the gorgeous fur colors that can be seen on kittens and cats, since this quilt was donated to a silent auction held by C-5 (Community Cat Coalition of Clark County). 

Back:

I chose a rich gray fabric with white brushstrokes as the backing. It reminds me of fur and it is also a nice neutral color that can fit in with virtually any home decor.

Stitching:

Pattern: This quilt is stitched with an edge-to-edge pattern called Love My Cats by Intelligent Quilting. It is perfect with its sweet swirly hearts and cats!

Thread Front: For the front of the quilt, I used Superior Threads' "Chocolate" (So Fine #424).

Thread Back: The back of the quilt is stitched in Superior Threads' "Black" (So Fine #411).

Label:

I embroidered a short, inconspicuous label right onto the binding, which only shows from the backside of the quilt.

🐱PROGRESS PHOTOS:🐱

Construction-Front:

Converting Julie Fukuda's "Herding Cats" free shared design from applique to patchwork was quite labor-intensive. I eventually got a rhythm going to the piecing, but since I wanted a lot of contrast in between each interlocking cat body, I had to pay very close attention to my fabric choices. Each individual cat on the quilt touches another 6 cat bodies, so there was a lot of strategy and thinking ahead required as I pieced the top. 

Quilting:

The quilt back and batting are loaded, and the top is floating, ready to begin basting a "quilt sandwich".

Using the ProStitcher software, I imported, programmed and stitched seven rows of Intelligent Quilting's Love My Cats design.

This is the 79th quilt I've made, and the 73rd quilt to be quilted on my long arm since I purchased it in 2018.

Trimming:

Squaring up the quilt after taking it off the long arm, readying it to add the binding.

Label:

Very carefully embroidering the label onto the prepared binding fabric. 

Binding:

I joined several 2.5" wide fabric strips together and then pressed them in half, to create a brown dotted cotton binding equaling about 325" long.

First attaching the binding strips by machine to the front of the quilt...

...then wrapping the binding around to the quilt back and sewing it all by hand using an invisible stitch.

Four hours later and the hand-sewn binding is done!

Washing:

I always machine wash a quilt after the binding is finished. I do this for 2 reasons:

- to absorb fabric dyes using dye trapping sheets (I use either Color Catchers or Color Grabbers), 

- to create gorgeous scrunchiness and softness so the quilt can be used, loved, and re-washed as many times as needed!

🐱QUILT SUMMARY:🐱

I machine pieced this quilt on my Bernina 240.
I quilted this quilt on my Janome QMP-18 long arm.

Finished size: 65" x 70"

Front piecing: 25+ interlocking cats that are created from more than 20 different fabric patterns, using a patchwork adaptation of Julie Fukuda's free applique design.

Back: Wide gray fabric with white brushstrokes.

Binding: The binding is handsewn, using a brown dotted cotton fabric.

Quilting: Edge-to-edge design of Intelligent Quilting's Love My Cats. Front stitched with Superior Threads' "Chocolate" (So Fine #424). Back stitched with Superior Threads' "Black" (So Fine #411)

Return to Home Page