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:

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!