.: 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

.: XO cushions :.

A really good way of realising you haven't blogged about something, is to go searching your blog for a post about cushions, so you can remind yourself whether you upsized the pattern or not, and if so by how much.

So.  That's how we come to today's post, and my realisation that despite being a slap-dash, unreliable blogger, I DO actually rely on this blog as a record of what we've been making.  Who'd have thought?!

I made these XO cushions for another school raffle prize earlier this term.  The pattern is by Megan at Canoe Ridge Creations, and looking at the size of the finished cushions, I think I must have made the X and O a little bigger than the pattern, but now of course I can't be sure. 

The lions are of course, Cotton + Steel.  And the background is Essex linen in natural. 

The backs are two of our panels, sliced in half and paired with a Spotlight big-spot print.

And now I'm off to make another two set of XO cushions, one set with the X and O a little bigger than in the other.  Have a great weekend.  xoxo cat

.: Handmade Christmas - let's get this party started :.

Ever since I started sewing, I've had Christmases where EVERY gift I give has to be handmade, and then others where for whatever reason - time, mood, life, a too-hot summer to be sewing - I don't have the same handmade-gift-giving-obsession.

This year is a handmade year (despite it being a very humid, hot summer so far ...).  Not EVERY gift will be handmade but a lot of them will be - bags, coasters, mini-quilts, cushions, zip-pouches.  So let's start with this one - a tote bag for my younger daughter's very fabulous + awesome teacher. 

I wanted to use one of our cat&vee panels for the back, so I cut a piece of batting a little larger than the panel, and made a quilt-as-you-go piece for the front.  I started with the Melody Miller typewriter and went from there, slowly choosing and adding favourites.

I sewed a strip to go across the top, and then added it as a whole piece.  This teacher is an absolute favourite, she has now taught both my girls and we're very blessed to have been in her class. 

For the lining and pocket, I used fabrics to make her think of her grand-daughter, Lily! - are you with me on the lily-pads line-of-thought?

For the handles, I pieced fabrics that would go well with the bag's front and back.  I'd run out of interface, so lined them with strips of calico, which seems to have worked just fine.

And for the back of the tote - our 'Stand Out from the Crowd' panel, which is just perfect for this gorgeous lady.

I'll be back to share a few more pressies over the next few days.  Are you having a handmade Christmas, or are you off to find a few goodies at the shops instead?  A mix of both is usually my favourite thing to do.  xoxo cat

.: Make Modern magazine is out now! :.

Can you even believe it's September?!  August has flown by, and we are onto the homeward stretch of the school term towards the holidays, wahoo!

We are popping in to share that today is the launch day for the first issue of Make Modern magazine, Australia's first and only digital modern quilting magazine.  

We're excited to finally be able to share what our project is for Make Modern! - two new screen print designs, created especially for Make Modern, and four sewing-patterns!  

[such a fabulous 'welcome to the table' greeting, don't you think?!]

The placemat panels have been screen printed in black paint onto Essex linen in natural, and are in our shop now - in packs of two or four. 

In Make Modern, the reverse of the printed placemats feature our four sewn-words - they're our first-ever sewing pattern, and we have a heap of ideas for more patterns, so please let us know of any feedback you may have - good, bad or indifferent, we'd really love to hear it!  

We really are very excited about Make Modern - it's a big step forward for and celebration of modern quilting in Australia, and it really deserves lots of support.  If you haven't already and you're a little curious, please click through to Make Modern and check it out.  We say a BIG congratulations and wahoo to the awesome and lovely Jane, Kristy and Lara for dreaming up and now making-real Make Modern - we wish you ALL the good and excellent things.    

xoxo cat and vee

.: so not watching the State of Origin :.

The first State of Origin game is on tonight in Brisbane.  For those of you lucky enough not to know what that means - it's an annual series of three rugby league games played between representative teams from NSW and Queensland.  Queensland has won the series for the last eight years in a row.  So much media hype, so many endless newspaper pages devoted to it, so much air time on TV, and I just couldn't care less.  (Do I fess up now and say I'm from NSW, living in a house-hold of Queenslanders?)  And I'm not ready to commit to 'Offspring' yet - still not over Patrick dying - well, not really - so I'm ignoring all TV tonight and am online instead! 

I'm sewing up a super-sized tote bag to take along to Camille's upcoming class at TQES.  I've used two of our panels - one for each side - and a whole heap of Thimbleblossom/Bonnie+Camille fabrics, plus some other favourites - PamKittyMorning, Aunty Cookie, Umbrella Prints, Lizzy House, Prints Charming, Tula Pink, Alison Glass, Carrie Bloomston, Happy Zombie.  

Very happy with how they're looking.  And now I'm off to catch up on some Bloglovin'!  Happy not-watching-the-State-of-Origin-Wednesday to you all.  xoxo cat

.: hello sunshine! :.

Oh hi, what's been happening, how have you been, what have we missed?  We've been here all along, really, just not online much at all these last couple weeks.  

Big news to share - Brisbane finally has its very own Modern Quilt Guild!  I went along to the first meeting last Sunday, with a group of fabulous ladies, and we'll very soon be up and running and have a blog button and everything!  So very exciting.  Vee is very kindly creating the designs for our social media headers - wahooo!! 

A couple of sewn-things to share this week.  First up - Vee's cushion made from our 'hello sunshine' pineapple panel, which we've submitted to be considered for QAGOMA's upcoming Harvest/Fallen Fruit exhibition.  Doesn't it look fantastic with the pom-pom trim?  We did a bit of backyard styling this morning with the ever-handy felt-ball garlands, just to fun things up a bit. 

And here's a behind-the scenes pic!  I kept having to duck inside to grab another couple of books to prop the cushion up, and move the cushion to a safe spot each time so it didn't topple over onto the wet grass ... or dog poo - gah!!  All good though, no scary incidents to report, oh the relief.  

And now, my May blocks for Leanne, for our Care Circle of doGoodStitches.  I LOVE these blocks.  the pattern is Nested Churn Dash by the very clever + lovely Jane - who is kicking off a quilt-a-long with this block on the 1st of June.  Jane's full block is 24 inches - which is another whole churn dash beyond the biggest size here.  Leanne asked for a 16.5 inch and a 8.5 inch block.  Jane's pattern is excellent - all the cutting instructions are there, along with great sew-together graphics, so it's really quick to chain-piece and sew together.  

I had a bit of a rabbity theme going on for the middle squares ... not sure why, I just had them both handy and had to use them.  The red one is so sweet, and I just love this little green one, which I just received from the lovely Frances. 

Hope your weekend is a good one.  My oldest daughter's netball team had its first win of the season today - wahooo!! - and now it's finally time to do some quiet pottering about after a really busy week.  'til next time.  xoxo cat

.: for the awesome girls in your life :.

We have a few new cushion-panel designs in the shop, to celebrate the awesome girls in your life!

These three were inspired by our own awesome girls, and we both can't wait to sew them up into cushions, most likely with a fun pom-pom trim!

We'll be back in the next couple of days to share our other three new designs - which are perfect for Mothers' Day!  They're already in the shop - I'll link to one of them so you can take a sneak peek ... 

xoxo cat

.: behind-the-scenes glamour :.

Vee and I printed yesterday and again today and thought we would share a few pics.

It's oh-so-glamourous behind the scenes, isn't it?  Hope you noticed the peg on the floor in the pic above, and please don't miss the ladder and gas bottle in the next pic. 

Most of these panels are for the lovely ladies from Patches to take to Mad Quilters next weekend.   They have a fab stall planned, and I'm lucky to be going along on the Saturday to help out. 

The black Priscillas are for our shop though - we love how she's printed up on the natural Essex linen.  We have another couple of colours we'd like to try for her before we decide on our favourites.

Bet you're jealous of that garage floor - lucky Pipsqueak has been staring at it for quite a while today.  Millie Mischief is thankful she gets to stare straight ahead instead.  Probably at the gas bottle and ladder though, shame. 

We have some more exciting plans in store for our little Home-ies panels - between now and then, we have a lot more printing to do.  

Hope your week has been a good one.  School disco tomorrow night, so that can only be a capital-A-awesome end to the week.   xoxo cat

.: pack your bags :.

As luck would have it, Vee and I live only one street apart.

Close enough to trot back and forth between houses when it's time to screen print, to discuss and share design + sewing ideas over a coffee, to race around and pick up or drop off packages for the post office, to share the school run, and of course .... .... ....  for champagne + playdates.  Champagne for us, playdate for the kids.

With all this trotting and visiting, a bag comes in handy, since there is always stuff to carry - swimmers + towels, printed panels, sewn-goodies, magazines, toys, books, left-behind-toys-and-books and, often, happily, champagne and snacks.

It's not like we're lacking in bags.  But here's another for a bit of fun.

As you can see, it's handily big enough for at least two bottles of wine and a bag of popcorn (mental note ... work on having fancier props in the pantry).  

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The front panel is one of our designs and is in our shop now.  The back and straps are an Echino print, and the lining is a cute Heather Ross / Crafty Chloe print.  And for complete disclosure, the wine is Oyster Bay sav blanc, and the sweet and salty popcorn is a Woolies homebrand.   Just so you know. 

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Packed and ready to trot.      xoxo cat

.: hello gorgeous big butt :.

Did the heading confuse you? 

Finally - I have sewn up some cushions from our latest range.  These are for home, but next on the list is a set for the shop.

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It was only after I took pics and uploaded them that I realised I'd forgotten the fabulous Moves Like Jagger cockatiel.  He will have to keep moving like Jagger until I get another sewing moment.

Hope your weekend is a good one.   xoxo cat

.: feathers, penguins + fabric love :.

It's wine o'clock at chez Cat, so I thought I'd take the time to upload a few pics and share the last couple days sewing with you. 

First up is Lorena's finished feathers for her AusModBee feather-bed quilt.  As I type they are in the safe hands of Australia Post and winging their way south to Lorena in Sydney.

{{Anna Maria Horner feathers + Chicopee ladder dot stem}}

After a break of a couple of weeks, I was way too excited to get back to making a couple of x+ blocks.  The first one includes three of my absolute favourite fabric designers - Happy Zombie Monica Solorio-Snow (the orange/pink/green flowers, from Happy Mochi Yum Yum), Violet Craft (the orange/white flowers from Madrona Road) and Laurie Wisbrun (giraffes on green - I can't remember the name of this gorgeous line).

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I also love the purple Paris map fabric, the architextures black/white text print, and the penguins.  Oh the penguins!!  They have newspaper print on their tummies - I ask you, what is not to love about that.

A briefcase-carrying penguin on blue made an appearance in my next block too, along with the fabulous Yuwa Live Life rulers and men fabrics (bought from Blije Olifantje on Etsy), Bonnie and Camille Bliss spots, Curly Pops orange/pink lines and Denyse Schmidt blue dots.

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Here's a closer look at the 'men fabric' - my total favourite is the 'here's to you' champagne ... surprise!  

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Tomorrow I am hoping to find time to sew up some cushions for the shop and for home.  Vee has been carrying the cushion-cover-sewing load for the shop these last few weeks, and we are just about out of cushion-cover-stock.  Look out tomorrow for pics of a big-butt-loving dog and a budgie-smuggler or two.  If you haven't seen these fab designs from Vee yet - do yourself a favour (as Molly Meldrum would say) and click across to our shop.

Here's to a sunny but cool weekend for everyone.  And cheers to you, if it's wine o'clock at your house too ;-D       xoxo cat