A Cat with a Tail Quilt

I'm on a roll trying out cute Pinterest inspired cat quilts. It's a good way to learn new skills since you're forced to learn how to make templates and figure out how best to piece a design. I'm also a lot iffy when it comes to curved designs and I certainly struggled a bit when I made the tail. 

Figuring out the template for the cat was fairly easy. I still ended up piecing the back area upside down, so I ended up re-doing it. The tail though was harder to put together and it took me awhile to turn it inside out. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw I correctly cut the fabric (front side down when you cut the fabric!). The secret to my success? Making templates!

Here's the tutorial:

Here are the steps on how I made the cat quilt:

1. To get the right measurements, I drew the design on graphing paper.

2. Rendered the design and it's actual measurements on manila paper to make sure I got it right. 

3. Created a template on a board. 

4. Used the board to cut fabric. Make sure to add 1/4" around the edges. 

5. Pieced together the cut fabric. 

6. Ironed both sides and sandwiched with wadding. 

7. Quilt the cat! I decided to use white thread to highlight the shape of the cat. 

How to make the tail:

1. Asked my son help draw me a right sized tail using manila paper. 

2. Used the drawing to make a template. 

3. Drew the tail right side facing down and added 1/4" around the edges. 

4. Sandwiched the tail with thick interfacing (I reused from a bag leftover). Sandwich should follow this order: tail wrong side up, backing fabric and interfacing at the bottom. 

5. Sew together and leave the base of the tail open. 

6. Once done, pull inside out.

7. Quilt the tail with the same white thread. 

Materials:

1 print fabric

1 solid color fabric

thread and needle

pins

graphing paper

manila paper

ruler

scissors

interfacing (the thick one for bags is a good one)

Size:

6" x 9.5" x 16.5"

Pattern:

Will assemble and turn the cat quilt into a kitchen gadget cover next week!