This week I made the last star block for my Starry Night quilt and started to think about how I want to put this top together. The final block …
….is another wonderful creation from Don’t Call Me Betsy’s Lucky Star BOM. I am loving revisiting these patterns in both the 12 inch and 6 inch sizes. There was no way I was going to do this pattern at 6 inches… too many little pieces for even me, so I went with 12 inches.
As I started playing with all the blocks I had done for this quilt I realised I wanted to have quite a bit of “night sky” in the quilt top. I also decided the negative space for this quilt has to be pieced and scrappy to stay true to the blocks I have made. So the fun of making the sky has begun…
I am going to make lots of random strange scrappy blocks to make the sky… using bits and pieces of left over paper piecing patterns I have lying around. My hope is the effect will be like this…
Just when I thought I was close to a finish, I have moved the goal posts a little.
Finally I leave you with the joy that is currently my quilting life. Somehow my husband got talked into looking after a friends cat for a couple of months. I, of course am allergic and unfamiliar with their strange catty ways. Can someone explain why they insist on doing this?
WOMBAT QUILTS 
Too funny. Some people call them “quilt inspectors”. I think it’s an ownership thing. Sorry to hear your allergic. They tend to smoosh around humans like you more. “)
Despite being allergic and somewhat more distant the cat gas chosen me as her delighted person in our house. I get snuggles, she will only sit on my lap and has taken to sleeping under my side if the bed. She just hisses at my husband…and he LOVES cats.
Hah! You think we know what’s going on in a cat’s mind? Anyplace there is clean laundry, a blanket, or other textile, a cat is going to park itself on it. Part of it is that they have to check everything out (remember the adage “curiosity killed the cat”?), the other part is sheer feline cussedness. Those of us who like cats admire this aspect of a cat’s personality.
I must admit she is growing on me. The fabric/quilt room door is shut but the rest of the house is her playground.
I am really, really wowed by your quilt! It is going to be a star to wish upon!! As for the cat, my theory is that besides being curious and playful the cat wants to be on whatever it is that has your attention. Try folding clothes and surely the cat will pick a pair of towels to park on.
Glad you get to take a kitty for a test drive so to speak. I am currently petless and do miss the four legged friends but not enough to clean a litter box!
Seeing my husband arranged this “visit” he gets to look after the kitty litter. There was no way I was going to do that…I have to draw a line somewhere!
They do it because they can….
I love this quilt, the fabrics, the blocks, sigh….
Linda you are so right. I am a dog person and cats aloof self entitled attitude is so foreign to me. This is going to be a fun couple of months.
This behavior is precisely what my quilt inspectors do when it’s time for me to shut down the sewing machine and attend to life’s more important things like pussycat supper. Or, when I want to sew and they want to be held and talked to. I’ve taken to putting an odd block down on the corner of my sewing table and they gravitate to that one instead of the one I want to sew on because they don’t get yelled at and displaced. Excellent use for quilting practice pieces. It’s all a matter of balance, cunning, and resignation to the inevitable.
Bad Me! I forgot to comment on the Night Sky progress. I’m especially fond of your idea of keeping the background night sky-ish. The stars really pop against the inky blue.
They remind me of Van Gough’s Starry Night paintings. Was this your intention?
I love your Night Sky quilt blocks. Beautiful! I don’t have a cat but I do have cat allergies. I, too, have found cats like me best when I’m in the room. Maybe they just know we are allergic! I’m a dog person too. Sometimes dogs choose to sit on quilts and blocks as well. Not sure why that is!
I’m getting very excited about Night Sky – if you’re doing the fillers, it must be nearly there! And cats – it’s a being the centre of attention thing. If you pay any attention to something else, they go and sit on it. Look out for baskets of clean laundry, ironing, etc. At least she has short dark hair rather than long white fluff…
Nearly done but still a bit of work to do…depending on how much sky I want to add. Oh and the cat has both black and white hairs, so she is a equal opportunity offender.
Love the idea of lots of negative space! This quilt is going to look awesome! Are you planning to make all of the background “planned” piecing? Or will some of it be totally improv?
There will be improv too I think. The joy of these night sky blocks is anything goes.
I can already see how amazing this is going to be! I’m glad you moved the goalpost amazing work!!!
Thank you so much Ms Sparkles. I am a little chuffed with how it is turning out, though I think piecing the thing could be a little challenging!
Looks lovely…and very much like the night sky. I think cats will do that, because they can…..
Beautiful blocks! I can’t wait to see more of what you do. 🙂
Hi Cath! Your quilt is going to be fantastic! Wonderful idea for design and those sparkling stars will look amazing on the dark sky! I see lots of cat photos where they sit on quilts and Fabrics. Our cat strangely (fortunately) doesn’t do that. She loves to be outside and is Free to go in and out and she sleeps in her basket or in the down corner of our bed (that she insists and I can’t change her mind). x Teje
Now Teje yours sounds like a cat I can get behind. Aria (the cat) does not go outside. She likes the smell of outside but actually venturing outdoors scares her. Actually everything at the moment scares her!
I have to baste quilts on the floor. I always have ‘help’. They sit wherever your focus is – quilt, newspaper, keyboard … They are saying, ‘Look at ME!’
Starry night is still looking fabulous!
Oh bugger I had not considered how much “fun” it is going to be to baste a quilt. She is still skittish at the moment so now might be a good time to get my basting on while I can still scare her away.
Help is such an interesting term for it. But I will try and think about it as being helpful and NOT how I currently see it which is as a pain in the butt!
This quilt is going to be totally amazing. I love all the blocks and the night sky blocks are going to really set it off.
As to the cat … I’m allergic to the little dears, too. My sister has one and he is very friendly and playful. I wouldn’t mind having one save for the allergies and oh, yeah, the litter box. 😀 I have a dog and he likes to get on anything I’m working on. I think they do it because that’s where your attention is and they want your attention. Canine or feline, they make wonderful companions.
Pat I think I would choose a dog companion over a cat companion but give it a couple more weeks and I may change my mind. I must admit I do like having her around during the day when I am quilting and she is on her cat throne.
All my cats (3) do this too ~ it’s pretty funny. One of my cats, Ernie, will come up on the ironing board and leave me with about 2 inches of space to iron.
Love the last block ~ it’s beautiful!
Elsa are you every tempted to just iron his tail or is that just mean? Today Aria (the cat) has taken to trying to get my beautiful fresh cut roses into her mouth. It is kind of hilarious and gross at the same time!
We have too many allergic folks at my house for me to have any understanding of those “strange catty ways”! But I love that description and will be stealing it! I realized when this post came through on my Bloglovin’ just how much I have come to enjoy, look forward to, and be inspired by your blog. You are one of those consistently amazing quilters who I want to be like when I grow up ;). Thanks so much for sharing your work!
Thank you so much for your sweet note. I am slowly beginning to realise that my quilts resonate beyond my immediate family – who are legally obliged to be nice about my work!
Oh I love where this quilt is going!! Cats are assholes–and they like to but their butts on everything and show it to everyone. “My butt, let me show you it.” My husband and I are mildly allergic to cats, and despite having a wonderfully natured (black) cat for several years, we still thought he was an asshole–he mucked up my quilt blocks, tore through the house like he was completely crazed–at 2am, ev.er.y.night, picked on the dogs, spread cat hair all over the baby stuff…etc…etc…Still managed to be kinda cute, cuddly and enduring, haha. When we put our house on the market he went to live with my dad (where he lived while I was in college) and he was thrilled to be home again. Plus my dad loves him 🙂
Renee I must admit I am consoling myself with the idea that the cat is only for a couple of months…and I get Liberty fabric in return. I can put up with just about anything for Liberty fabric!
Cats are perverse spawns of the devil!!! I’m not allergic, but have never been a fan – and that fact is apparently magnetic to them so they wind around my legs, sit on my lap, etc. I hear you about them getting on stuff – ugh!!
Your blocks and your new idea of night sky is PERFECT – love it!!!
I am loving making the sky. I am now about 6 blocks in and the strange collection of blocks is really crazy but working well. As for the cat… I am learning to ignore her!
Love seeing your Night Sky quilt develop. I am not a cat person and yet they always make a beeline for me. Cats are evil.
Oh I agree about cats being evil. They are sneaky and smart and aloof and self interested….but really cute darn it!
Simply because, that is what cats do… My big guy Wally insists on sitting on my laptop, iPad, or kindle (whichever i was most recently trying to use)… Oddities of cat behavior aside, I LOVE what you’re doing with your leftovers.
I have a strange feeling I will be very versed in catty ways by the time this cat sitting is over. Everyday there is a new quirk that surprises me.
Hey Cath, I am really fonds of this piece and eager to see more of it while you finish it 🙂 It is going to be a very special quilt – I am sure of it! Hugs Mell
ahahahahah! that cat. i don’t have a cat, but i laugh every time i see someone post a picture of their cat on their quilts. it’s like a magnet!
How I love your stars and can’t wait to see how you will bring them all together!! Would so much like to find a star pattern that would fit into my Infinity project, but after several try outs I have so far drawn a blank.
Me, I’m both a cat and dog woman and have always dreamt of a Siamese or Abessinier, but sadly I’m severely allergic to cats…Happily I can stand my dogs 🙂