making :: Blueberry Park mini

April 05, 2016

making :: Blueberry Park mini

Blueberry Park Mini Swap

After signing up for my first Instagram quilt swap I tried to wait patiently for my partner assignment email to come. I busied myself with finding inspiration for the person who would have me. And then I waited and waited...

Really, I didn't have long to wait before the email with details on my secret partner came. One look at the mention of paper piecing and I was off and running. I could tell my secret partner really loved her kitty and so I set about searching for a free paper pieced cat pattern. I found this sleeping cat pattern at Paper Panache. It was almost a perfect match for my partner's cat and with a few minor modifications I was able to make the face markings even more closely match. That took some sneaky snooping of her Instagram feed. Good thing her kitty love shows up often.

sleeping kitty + a million little pieces to remove

With the cat in mind, I knew I wanted to add a pretty geometric sewing machine to the table he was resting on. I drew inspiration from this amazing paper pieced sewing machine that was making the rounds. Using this pattern as a guide for sewing machine shape (and hoping that maybe it would actually look a little like the machine my partner sews on) I drafted my own pattern so that it would fit with the cat and table. Good thing I remembered that it needed to be mirrored - just before going to stitch I used the window as a light box and traced the lines to the backside so everything came out facing the right way.

Lastly, I just had to add a few butterfly charms because don't all kitties day dream about butterflies? These were so fun to piece and my skill got better with each one. I particularly loved choosing which fabrics to place where. I made the first orange one and posted it to Instagram for feedback on my piecing skills. Right away I got great feedback and was really encouraged. What an amazing tool Instagram can be.

first attempt at a butterfly charm block - could use some work on fabric placement!

My binding could use some practice and I totally forgot to include a method for hanging the quilt, but I LOVED how it came out. It was hard to part with and I was nervous for my partner to like it. I needn't have worried though. She wrote me glowing notes back (this and this) that made me smile ear to ear as I read them aloud to Lukas. I especially loved that her husband recognized their kitty right away. Included in the package was the mini mini fancy fat cat I made and a little charm pack of fabrics in the colors she likes.

Blueberry Park Mini Swap
Patterns & Inspirations
:: Sleeping Cat - Paper Panache, Maureen Sparrow
:: Geometric Sewing Machine - Quiet Play
:: Basic Sewing Machine - DuringQuietTime
:: Butterfly Charm Blocks - lillyella

Fabrics
:: Blueberry Park - by Karen Lewis
:: Botanics - by Carolyn Friedlander