.: Australia! tote :.

Remember this?  I made it into a tote bag and took it to QuiltCon!

So it's been to Austin and home again, and it carried a LOT of awesome stuff while in Texas - all sorts of QuiltCon goodies + Austin souveniers.  Lots of people noticed that I had Australia on my bag, and I had fun showing them Peta's instagram page and saying that the pattern would be in Fat Quarterly - and also pointing out that each state was in a different colour - some people were pretty amazed that we only have seven states (I didn't get into the territories distinction with them, sorry ACT and NT ...).

So now I've shared the Sew Together Bags, and the Australia! tote bag that came to Austin with me it's getting time to share some pics and thoughts of what actually happened at QuiltCon, don't you think?  The weekend is looking good for that. 

'til then. xoxo cat

.: Sew Together Bags :.

So I've been to QuiltCon and come home again - but before I download all my pics and put them + my thoughts into some sort of order to share, I thought I'd first share the Sew Together Bags + Australia! tote I took along with me.  Just quickly - QuiltCon surpassed every expectation I had, I can't tell you enough how much I loved it.  More on that later. 

First up for now - the Sew Together Bags! - I made four at once, two for me to take to Austin, and one each for my girls.  Exciting aside - I met Michelle from Sew Demented, the designer of the STB pattern - she and her daughter were staying in the same hotel. 

I made quilted panels for the exterior of all four bags, and made the 'Cat' bag a little bigger than the pattern, so I could take my 3 1/2 " x 9 1/2" ruler along for my class with Penny! (which was very awesome, will share about it soon).

Get ready for lots of pics - first up my 'Cat' bag - which I used for my sewing supplies.

And now my 'Try a New Hairstyle Crafting Genius' bag - so named for Ceri's fun 'Good Intentions' fabric and Shannon's Aunty Cookie girl. I took my pins for the QuiltCon pin swap in this one - and was rummaging through it in the lift at the hotel when I met Michelle!  And a little side note - the gorgeous Heather Ross Mendocino mermaids you can see below? - Heather Ross said in her lecture (oh how much I loved seeing Heather Ross and hearing her words!) that Windham will be reprinting Mendocino next year! 

This next bag is for my younger daughter - each of the girls chose their own colour palette and fabrics for their bags.  Choosing fabrics for the bags was by far the slowest part of the whole process!

And now my oldest daughter's bag.

I love these bags, once all the fabrics and zips were chosen, and the interfacing ironed on, they were quick to sew together.  I had a tricky time with the side panels, and my binding is a little wonky, but they're not up for any awards so that's ok.  Michelle's pattern is great, and I also referred to the excellent step-by-step guide on The Quilt Barn. 

I'll be back soon to share my Australia! tote, and THEN all my pics from QuiltCon.  Hope you've had a good week.  xoxo cat

.: I Touched a Quilt and I Liked It and other stories :.

Vee and I have been talking for a little while now, about designing a range of sewing/quilting-themed t-shirts for the shop.  Just like that, we have five designs to start off our new #catandveesaidsew range.

They're a bit of fun, very light-hearted and destined to be fully appreciated and understood only by the quilting or sewing-inclined!

They make us happy.

You may have seen this design in our shop before ... now you can wear it!

And we haven't forgotten the children who are very familiar with having taboo, never to be touched, "good scissors" in the house.



And last but not least, we thought we'd try one of the designs on a canvas tote bag - so we went with our absolute favourite.



All the designs are in the shop now - and don't forget our big panel sale, which is running til the end of February (we've sold-out of a few designs already!).

I'll be taking a tote to QuiltCon, plus some extras for pressies - I'm hoping to scare the white-gloved volunteers in the quilt show (not really ...).  We should mention too, the gorgeous message board in the pics is by our friends Katrina and Mark at Floral & Hardie - and yes, you can switch around the message as often as you like, they're a lot of fun.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend.  xoxo cat