Happy Day 15 of the Blog Challenge! Today’s prompt is ‘earliest sewing memory,’ which – ahem – predates my iPhone camera by a few decades 😆. Instead I want to share a fun, fast ornament for you or a feline-loving friend. Here’s a shot of this ornament on this year’s tree:
…and here’s the how-to instructions!
Soooo tired of the flu…finally felt like stitching something this morning. This little guy is not yet finished because, stuck away from my studio, I have to work with what is on hand and that does NOT include the perfect applicator for the eye highlights. But I thought I would share it in case you feel like stitching up some kitty ornaments this weekend ;).
This project is a terrific way to use scraps of postcard-weight fusible and silk. While still in my studio, I pressed black silk dupioni to one side of a small square of Peltex, and a dark red silk to the back.
Next, I cut out the shape of a kitty’s head.
Then, added his luminous green eyes (I keep small pre-fused scraps of solid colors in jars so that I can find them quickly!), inking in the pupils, and packed him up with 2 shades of green thread and a cone of black metallic. I also grabbed a piece of festive red cording from my favorite NYC notions shop, Daytona Trimmings.
Time to stitch! Note, I would have used my Bernina stitch regulator and done free-motion if I had access to my 570. Sitting here with my beloved old 153QE, I used an open-toe appliqué foot and did a lot of pivoting, which is fine. Beginning with the eyes, I stitch lines radiating from the bottom of the pupil (black triangle):
Changing the thread to the other green (I think it creates a fun effect), I finish this part of the stitching…then switch to the black metallic for his “fur.” (If you have not tried Superior Thread’s metallics, you must!! The black is one of my favorites.)
I always begin at the nose and stitch upward…back down…curve out a little on the next line….and continue my way around the face, using the eyes as my focal points.
After adding enough fur, I switched to a zig zag stitch and anchored the center of that red cord to the top of my little guy’s head so that he can be hung on the tree! Begin at the top of the head, do a few stitches, then push the cording away and edge stitch all around the face until back at the top, secure cording with a few more stitches.
I will post a follow-up pic with corrected eye highlights and nose (for a black silk cat I like a touch of dark silver for the nose).
So…if you are inspired…here are the ingredients:
- Heavy 2-sided fusible (I like Peltex 2)
- Scraps of silk dupioni in your cat’s color
- 2 shades of green high-shine thread (or, of course, blue if that’s appropriate…I prefer Superior Threads’ Magnifico and Twist)
- Metallic or high-shine fur-colored thread
- Bobbin full of monofilament
- Small (8″) piece of cording
- White Tsukineko ink AND an applicator 🙄
- Black fabric ink pen
Now to go find a piece of silk that looks like Jesse :). Have a fabulous weekend!!
neonkittyquilts 
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