11/4/15

Windy and Whiskery

Today started out badly for Gracie. She was unceremoniously shoved into her crate and carted off to the vet for her annual immunizations. We were there and back in less than 45 minutes. She let me know with all her whining, that she was at death's door the entire trip.


Some kitty treats, extra TLC, and her favorite quilt folded neatly on the couch seemed to assuage her tender sensibilities.

That was my only task for the day, and so I went straight to work on the Wind in the Whiskers quilt. Today I made the butterfly.


The butterfly is attached three dimensionally. His wings are first fused to one side of the fusing medium, then the paper is peeled off and they are fused again and trimmed so that both sides are fabric. Then, the body holds the whole thing together and also serves to attach it to the quilt background.


With that done, I set my sites on the tedious job of making the daisy flowers and their centers. Cutting those was a literal pain in the hand.


It made the job of cutting their stems easy by comparison.


And then, I had enough pieces made that I could start fusing them to the background. To get the placement right, I first made a wax paper template. If you're unfamiliar with that technique, you can read more about it right here. It was a bit of a challenge getting all the "overs and unders" correct, but eventually I was satisfied, and fused it down. It always makes me hold my breath a little when I do this.


Then, I fused the cat.


Then, the bugs and the flowers.


This was all done under the watchful eyes of you know who. He seems to have decided that the bed I've provided him all these years is acceptable for napping, at least for today. That's his bowl of weed right beside him. Adults in the room: please talk to your cat about drugs. If not you, then who?


And I was pretty tired of this project by that time. I still have the leaves and flowers in the upper part of the piece to do, but those will be easy compared to what I've already done.


As I mentioned earlier, the tree on the left side won't be done until I start to sew the whole thing together. I have two days at home coming up, and so I'm hoping to start sewing the completed sections together tomorrow or the next day.

8 comments:

Vroomans' Quilts said...

Poor Gracie, but a necessary evil. You did well with the fusing - this is going to be another awesome piece.

Sher S. said...

Poor Gracie :( she had to let you know how unkind that was, but she is better for having her shots. You are doing great on all those little tiny pieces (not a job I want). That will be a fabulous quilt when completed. Congrats!!!

WoolenSails said...

Kitties do not like the vets. Your new piece is beautiful.
I have the two kits that I found, figure i can do each as a small wall quilt.

Debbie

Dana Gaffney said...

Better you than me, I do love that quilt but it looks like such a pain and now I know it is literally. It's going to be beautiful though.

Teresa in Music City said...

If she could only understand how lucky she is to have you take care of her health like that, right? Smitty is beginning to look very adult and dignified :*) Love the little extra touches on this block of the WITW

Carol Swift said...

That quilt is gorgeous and I'm so impressed with all the pieces you've cut out to make it. Love it! Vet visits are no fun for our babies, but very necessary. I hope Gracie has recovered from that visit!

quiltzyx said...

Poor Gracie - glad she got those extra treats when she came home! zzyzx used to yowl the whole time in the carrier. Oy. Actually, when she had to stay overnight once, she yowled so much AT THE VET's, that she nearly lost her voice by the time we came home!!
Wind in the Whiskers is looking wonderful. Good on ya!

Kate said...

Shots aren't fun, but I'm sure she's really glad you take care of those things even if she doesn't express her gratitude. This panel is looking great, but it does seem to be a lot of work. But it's paying off, it's going to be a beautiful quilt when it's all done.