Border Cats

Here's what I've decided to do for my border.


I tried another quilter's idea of making a border using strips of the cat fabric similar to a piano key border, but with the tops pointed like the cat tails are done in the center of the quilt. But too many tails were indistinguishable from a picket fence border, and, at least in EQ, your eye didn't pick up the visual cue that made you think... oh, those are tails!

I tried coloring it so there was a background fabric, and every other tail was a different calico. This time it looked like my inner pinwheel and cat blocks were enclosed in a cage.

Then I tried putting one cat on the border, and having his tail curl up to be the first strip in the picket fence, but that didn't work either. I gave up on the picket fence - tail repeat idea, and just put a kitty in each corner, then added the yarn balls to partially fill the empty space. I may try to do some small bit of machine applique to make a 'tail' of yarn looping from the ball on the two longer sides of the border. We'll see!

Pinwheels and Cats again

Well, like I thought in the last post, I took all the blocks down and totally rearranged them. I decided that I wanted a 5 x 7 layout after all. That makes it fit a bed better, or cover your feet better if it's a throw.

Then I needed to make some more blocks - but (like the Grinch) I had a wonderful, awful idea - How about one BIG mama cat, to go with the five little ones? That way I wouldn't have to make as many pinwheels. I also picked the very darkest skinny green sashing, 1½ inches. So here's what I ended up with, this is all sewn together:


I've got to put the sashing around the top, and right and left sides still. Then decide if I want to make a pieced border, THEN a calico border, or just a couple of calico borders.

Because the pinwheels finished at the odd size of 9¼ (9¾ before sewing them together) the quilt's not as big as it looks, hanging in my doorframe there. When I get the rest of the skinny sashing on, it'll be 52 x 73ish, so to get it to twin size I'd have to add borders of about eight inches all around to make it 68 x 90. That's awfully big, isn't it? Any thoughts for a simple pieced border instead of a wide plain one? I have plenty of calico left... lol

Heart Twist Progress

Now the top and bottom delectable mountain borders have been added:



And I've even taken apart the nine patch border bits I'd finished so far, plus made some strip sets with pink in them. I'd much rather sew than unsew, wouldn't you? ;)

More Patriotic Progress

Well, got it all put together, now I can start adding borders. :)


A two inch red comes next, then the sawtooth half square triangles. Neither one of them should take me too long, all the hsts are already made. Looks pretty much like my EQ design, doesn't it?

I'm always amazed by the number of people that say... but have you ever used EQ to design and make a REAL quilt? Yes, All The Time. :D