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Last week, a fellow artist and friend asked what I’d been up to. She said, “People are interested in what you’re doing, let us know!”

 

All right then, here’s a recent project that’s close to my heart. About a year ago, I offered to make a quilt for a friend using some of their clothing, and last week, the quilt became a reality.

 

Coming from a background in fashion design and patternmaking, I thought quilting might be something I could take on. I’d never made a quilt before, but I thoroughly enjoyed the process, which I’ll share with you here.

 

I knew from the start I wanted to break away from traditional quilts with geometric motifs. I planned to quilt by machine, not by hand, and had one clear goal: it needed to have cats on it.

 

Design Process

 

The first step was sketching some ideas. I settled on a design for a 36" x  48" throw and separated the clothing pieces by colour to create a layout. One cat would be red, the other green, and the background would be light. Darker colors would frame the quilt, and colorful neckties would become appliquéd hearts on the four corners.

 

After uploading my sketch to a drawing app, I created a rough color map. I then made a small-scale pattern, which I used to develop a full-sized pattern block, meticulously numbering each section.

 

Piecing It Together

 

I won’t go into every detail, but essentially, I cut each garment to match the pattern pieces, assembled the “puzzle,” and sewed the pieces together to create strips, which then formed the cats and the quilt top.

 

 

Originally, I planned for each cat to be its own color, but as I laid them out, I decided mixing the colors made for a more interesting composition. When I cut the hearts, they frayed, so I backed each one and stitched them onto shirt pockets from the clothing I used, embroidering around each heart to cover the backing.

 

Though I’d intended to add a mariner’s compass between the cats, I opted to embroider an inspiring message instead, as the compass was beyond my skill set. After about 40 hours, the top of the quilt was complete.

 

Quilting and Finishing

 

 Now, it was time to actually quilt. I designed a continuous cat paw and heart pattern, thinking I’d free-motion quilt it. Imagine drawing with a stationary pencil while moving the paper—freemotion quilting requires a similar skill, controlling the fabric while keeping the stitches even. After five hours of practice, I actually laughed—it wasn’t happening. Instead, I settled on wavy stitching lines down the quilt’s length and across the bottom, which created a satisfying result.

 

 

On the home stretch, I squared off the quilt and finished the edges. I sewed 18 feet of stretch denim for the binding and made tests to figure out the seam allowance so that the miter would be the same on the back as on the front.  To finish off, I decided to line the pockets with fuzzy backing fabric, leaving them open for tucking in hands on chilly days. Over the last six weeks, this project has taken me, about 70 hours, from the initial idea to a caring, loving finish. When I got it done I celebrated with a happy dance around the room—I did it!

 

In addition to quilting, I’ve been working on painting commissions, delivering one I’m particularly proud of and reworking another. It’s been a fulfilling time, and I wanted this quilt to be something truly special. Then again, I want everything I create to have that touch of uniqueness.