As is often the case, I saw one of these somewhere and thought they'd be fun to make. So I made some. And they were not fun to make. They took forever and did not look good. In fact, the first ones looked BAD. 

So I walked away and while on my way to get the baby from daycare I thought up a solution. Got back home and tried again. Meh. Somewhat better, still super time consuming and the finished look wasn't consistent.

 

Slept on it. And come up with a new solution and now I'm happy with them. I did put one on Lucy, the cat, to see how it looked and it's a winner (she does not agree, however).

 The fish/oranges and bones/rainbows are available in the shop. The others will be available at markets.

 

And if you're taking on this little project - I'm no expert but I'm happy to share what I've learned and what worked for me. :) 

 

 

 

I had so much fun designing and appliqueing this quilt.

 

I had many already made blocks for Lori Holt's Bee In My Bonnet Granny's Garden Sew Along Quilt and then had a handful of the background circles all ready to be used. I opted to make a quilt with the Granny's Garden blocks and then a similar, but more masculine, second quilt.  The quilt with the Granny's Garden blocks was claimed by my sister immediately, so much so that I didn't have time to get many pictures of it! I now introduce the more masculine version of this quilt, still using Lori Holt fabrics but differently.

 

Instead of following the same applique technique in the first quilt I did raw edge blanket stitch applique on this one. The eyes of the whale and fish are circles of Minky, and the mast of one of the boats is a satin ribbon.

 

The backside is pieced from six fat quarters. 

You'll find this quilt in the Jude Harbor Etsy shop.

 

 

 

First, I love this cream succulent/cacti fabric that this quilt was created around.

Second, my grass looks like crap. We're experiencing the driest winter in many years and it shows. Lakes are low, even the Everglades is extra dry in some areas, and fire risk is high. It has been raining a little bit this week though, with more rain in the forecast, so hopefully we're on the way back to normal. In the grand scheme of anything my grass in super unimportant and only bothers me when I'm trying to take quilt photos ...

Back to the girly little patchwork quilt, when I got this fabric I knew exactly what I was going to make from it. And I couldn't be happier with the results. The green, pink, and blue fabrics tie it together so well and the tan linen is so pleasing and calm.

 Available in both my stand-alone shop and Etsy shop.

 

This little decorative "pillow" bowl filler or shelf sitter above has been my best seller the last few months - both online and at markets.

She's super small, just 5" by 7", but she makes some pretty awesome home decor.

I carry these pillows year round at markets, as long as I have space for them, and they do sell year round.

 

Sister mini "pillows". Both the single star and ring of 13 stars are available in the Etsy shop too.

And some fun decorative stars - they're available on stands, as bowl filler, or with red twine to hang.

These fun patriotic decor pieces and more can be found in the Etsy shop.
 

 

 Sushi + Cat = Adorable

This fun bow tie and collar is now in the shop!

 

These quilts were crafted from a few "jelly rolls" I was given, using a pattern I was also given.

 

Super quick and easy and the end result is amazing!  I did add in the borders to add some calm to the quilt, I'm a border/sashing fanatic, especially when I can involve white.

 

These beauties are in the Etsy shop here and here.

 

 
Cat bow ties, of course. :)  

 

If your cat will wear a collar he/she will easily wear a bow tie, as it's just attached to a cat collar (made with a breakaway clasp for safety!).

 

If your cat isn't used to a collar it may take a bit to get used to it - usually a couple days. Our cat Hippo would wear a collar and bow tie without any complaints. Lucy, on the other hand, will run and hide as soon as it's put on her. She's actually getting better about it as long as lots of treats are involved, but for these ties you'll just have to imagine they're on a cat. 

I have to say ... cat bow ties are great conversation starters at markets, always good for a fun chat with shoppers.

Bow cat bow ties are here, cat cat bow ties are here.