May 7, 2014

Cats and Crafts Experiment

Hi all! To all of you visiting from other places for the Cats and Crafts Experiment - I'm floresita, and welcome to Feeling Stitchy! Penguin & Fish kindly provided an adorable pattern, with no instructions except: be creative.

This idea was so much fun that all of our bloggers took part, and I am proud to present to you Gabi's version:


Gabi says about her piece:
Only 100% Portuguese materials... Cork fabric and cotton perle 8 made in Portugal! And the fastest ever stitching mood!

Next up is Kristen's project!


From Kristen:
I think the new, "Here Kitty Kitty," fabric line from Penguin & Fish is adorable. I particularly enjoy the geometric cat head print (to quilters it would be the fabric with the 9-patch cat heads on it). The embroidery patterns that come with the purchase of a fat quarter bundle are darling - they really coordinate well together for a variety of projects. 


I didn't have the fabric, because it isn't out yet, so I improvised and used what I had to create a "Crafty Cat" Mug Rug. I transferred my embroidery pattern using a light box (I used to find a sunny window and tape patterns and fabric to it in order to transfer, but my sister gave me a light box for my birthday, so that has become my method of choice). 



I decided to use yellows and oranges in this project because the cat reminded me of the family cat we had when I was really young. We called him Butterscotch, and he was an orangey-yellow. I made a small 9-patch piece with 3-inch squares and attached it to the embroidered cat panel. I used 3-ply floss and a backstitch for the majority of the embroidery, with french knots on the cat's quilt. 

Next up is Jo's project:


From Jo:
I enlarged both patterns slightly and printed out multiple copies, so that I could cut out the shape of the cats and use it as a template to cut the cats out of felt. I then appliquéd the felt shapes onto the fabric before transferring the rest of the pattern using a light box. For Knitty Kitty I used tapestry wool as the wool, couching it with a single strand of matching embroidery floss. The knitting needles on Knitty Kitty, each have a bead end. 






For Crafty Cat, I used small scraps and 0.5cm seam allowance to create a quilt top roughly the same shape as the pattern. In this case I appliquéd this onto the fabric before appliquéing the cat. The cotton reel thread was six strands of embroidery floss, couched with a single strand of embroidery floss in the same colour. For both cats and the quilt I stitched around the appliqués, for the cats I used the pattern as a guide to embroider the fur and outline and for the quilt I stitched around and between the different fabric squares.

The bags are lined patchwork (on both sides) drawstring bags and are big enough to hold an embroidery hoop and a few bits and bobs or a few balls of wool.


Next, here is Pam's adorable version - I really love the knit like texture on her knitted square:




 And last up, here is yours truly, floresita, with what I stitched up:

Cats and Crafts Embroidery Experiment

For my versions, I went hunting in my mom's fabric stash and found this nice teal chambray-ish fabric. For Knitty Kitty, I used light pink yarn in a sport weight and knit up a tiny garter stitch square on size 4 needles, casting on a teeny 5 stitches. I used the same yarn to create the ball of yarn shape, adding layer over layer until it popped out into a ball-like texture. I filled the kitty with a combination of embroidery floss and white sport weight yarn - I liked the chunky texture that it gave the fill stitches. The knitting needles are couched pink metallic floss.

For Crafty Cat, I used my zero quilting knowledge to create a teeny crooked quilt top consisting of the gingham square and 4 polka dot squares. I couched white yarn in between to look like piping, and filled in the corners with satin stitched embroidery floss in pinks. I wanted Crafty Cat to be all black yarn, but I filled in embroidery floss here and there in dark gray and olive green to add a bit of texture. Overall, it was super fun, a super quick stitch, and a great excuse to get creative!

Thank you, Penguin & Fish for sharing your cute pattern with us and including us in your tour!

Hi, I'm floresita, editor of Feeling Stitchy. I'm an avid stitcher, knitter, and crafter. You can see more of my stitching on Instagram and my blog. My vintage transfer collection is on Vintage Transfer Finds.

Feel free to email me with any ideas for the blog!

3 comments:

  1. wow very cute cats and applied to everything and unique cork fabric there are many possibilities here. This is Richard Browns wife Carollyn from Carollyn's tatting blog!

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  2. Wow, I love seeing how everyone interpreted these patterns. Such fun!

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  3. Everyone did such a great job!
    Love all the kitties!

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