Good morning, my friends. It's another gray and dark day here at the Three Cats Ranch. It has been raining, raining, raining, for a solid week. We're expecting rain through the weekend, but then at least five brighter sunny days ahead. It's a good thing because we're needing to do some maintenance work on the unpaved driveway we share with three of our neighbors. About once per year, we lay down more gravel to keep it from turning into a muddy mess. One of our newest neighbors happens to be a road maintenance guy, and so he has some ideas about how this needs to be done. But first...dry weather.
It's okay with me if it rains. I'm just going to take up residence in my sewing room and make stuff. I started my 2025 Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilt yesterday. As I've mentioned, this year's project is the Kittens in Cups pattern. I've been looking forward to getting started on this. Now that I've begun, I'm afraid it will turn into one of those projects I wish I'd never started. I'll say more about that in just a minute.
Sadie has been excited to get started on this. She loves any quilt pattern with cats.
And what girl doesn't like something that includes pretty tea cups? (My mother collected bone china tea cups, and I figure everybody's mother did that.)
When I told Smitty the first cat would be in his colors, he got interested too.
He consented to my use of the gray fabric you see there. With his appurroval, I went to work on the cutting.
And look a little more closely at this picture of Sadie. All those words listed on the sheet she's lying on are all pieces for these quilt blocks. There are two different kitten blocks, and so there's a lot of cutting to get to the end result.
Each kitten and cup will be different, and so those pieces will be cut each month when I make the color for that month. For January, I'm doing Kitten #1. These are the pieces for the kitten and the cup.
Each of the two kittens will have different background pieces. I decided just to cut all the backgrounds I would need for six Kitten #1 blocks. The pieces are very small, and so I'm using safety pins to keep them organized.
When they were all cut and sorted, these are the pieces I'd need for this one quilt block of Kitten #1.
And lemme just tell you, the instructions for this pattern are absolutely terrible. With all those pieces, wouldn't you think they'd be identified somehow? They're not. There is a diagram showing the placement, but no indication of the size of the piece. The cut pieces are not labeled with letters, although the diagram does include letters. And so it's taking a substantial amount of guess work and study to get the pieces placed where they belong. After more than an hour of sewing, I finally had the kitten's face finished.
There are still many pieces left to sew together the cup where this kitten will rest his weary bones. And I hope I'm not going to hurt anyone's feelings with my assessment of the instructions as "absolutely terrible," but I'm being honest. This is not a pattern for beginners. I'm making the smaller of the two quilts, and so some of the pieces are 3/4-inch square. In the image above, that includes the eyes and the little corner pieces below the nose. And there are so many more. It might be easier sewing the larger quilt blocks, but the instructions will still be terrible.
As I'm going, I'm labeling the pieces on the pattern instructions. When I'm finished, I'll add labels to the background pieces I've cut. And when I've finished this kitten, I'll cut the background pieces for Kitten #2. I won't actually make it until February's color is announced, but having the background pieces cut already will avoid me dragging my feet in anticipation.
Okay, so enough whining. I'm going to work on my slow-stitching to settle myself before starting the tea cup. There's not much more on today's agenda. It's probably a good thing.
11 comments:
Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory. ~ George S. Patton
I'm going to lurve this new kitty project! I concur with Smitty that the fabric is a good match and those eyes, wow! I am looking forward to next week's chance of sun.
WHOA--that is a lot of pieces for ONE block!! I bow to your expertise and PATIENCE;))) Sorry that the directions are not explicit enough--I hate when that happens...but it looks like you are moving along well...[good thing you have your "helper kitties"
to Purr-use those instructions and Pur-haps help you to
inter-purret them ;)))) ]
No rain here, or snow--just C O L D-- 21 windchill this morning and 27 degrees...that means I walked on our tread-"millie" for sure...
hugs, Julierose
All I can say is: “It’s a good thing those blocks are cute!”
My mother didn’t collect fancy teacups, but my maiden aunt did, and I inherited them. Right now, they’re in a high cabinet over the refrigerator, which my daughter says I am not allowed to climb up to access. Dot in NC
ooooh boy - this looks like a complete and total lesson in frustration and I know I would have scuttled it by now in favour of another pattern that's easier on the psyhe. There's an appropriate 'file' that sits right beside my sewing table and there it would be.
*LOL* Yes! My mother collected bone china tea cups.
I inherited them and they are on the top shelf of the very large vitrine in the dining room. The glass doors keep the contents almost dust free.
Gad zooks! Those bazillion pieces just for one kitten block are mind blowing! I hope you make it through the year with the help of your Helper Cats.
Wow, so glad I decided to do dogs this year. Did cats with you last year and so much fun but Hartman's doggies were too cute to skip.
Sweet grey and white kitten for the pink teacup. My mother collected bone china teacups too. I kept a few, but I’m guessing my girls will have no interest in having them when I’m gone.
I've made some of her patterns, and you are right - they are not for beginners. I think once you have this one under your belt, the others will go together a little quicker. Those little 3/4 squares can be a real pain to work with! Those blocks will be cute, though!
My grandmother collected tea cups and as a child I loved drinking very sweet tea from them. Now those cups are mine and they reside in a cupboard, sadly unused. No granddaughters or little neighbor girls to come over for tea parties, and the cats are only too interested. I have dreams of making a quilt in which I would replicate the designs on these cups--I still know so many of their pretty patterns by heart. Perhaps I could make a cup and then send an actual cup to someone as a gift, reducing my collection and someone's someday-burden when I am long gone.
That is a lot of small pieces for one block! Hopefully the cuteness factor will outway the problem construction factor.
Post a Comment