Cotton + Steel Lion Purse

I'm lin love with the Cotton + Steel lion prints. I bought some of the teal one awhile back and didn't know what to do with it! When the Sew My Stash 2015: Bag Challenge was posted, I thought that it was a perfect opportunity to make a purse!

Here it is in all of it's glory. This was my first ever sewn purse (I'd made crochet ones before). I think that it turned out well! The inside was supposed to have a zipper pocket, but I grew frustrated and decided to not add one.

I think that this bag is extremely cute and I'm excited to start carrying it this summer. I found the pattern for this bag over on Pinterest. You can find the pattern here. It isn't the easiest pattern to follow for a beginner, but I managed!

I just love the lions and I think that this purse shows them off well! I'll be back soon with another blog post! I plan to do four instead of two next month (maybe even more). Stay tuned!

with love,

Courtney

Hexie Pillow

HEXIES!

As I stated in my New Year, New Projects post a couple of months ago, I planned to have a semi-selfish sewing year! This little english paper pieced hexie pillow is certainly one of those projects. I spent a lot of time making the hexies and sewing them together. I love how soothing hand piecing is and will certainly try it again!

This pillow is made up of some of my FAVORITE fabrics that I have used in previous projects and some that I have just hoarded. I fell in love with the fabrics I used in the baby quilt I made for my cousin's baby. I had quite a bit of the fabric saved (I didn't want to throw away one tiny bit of it). That is where most of these fabrics came from.

A few are from various other projects: the quilt I made for my mom, scraps from my finance's grandmother, and some other unfinished projects I've yet to do a blog post about.

Here is a close-up of the hand quilting I did on this pillow. I love the way that this pillow turned out and am happy to say that it is mine to enjoy for many years to come!

Here is a picture of the back of my new labels! I LOVE them. I ordered these custom fabric labels from Mad Mad Graphics on Etsy. If you want to see the front of the labels check out my last post: Spring Fling Mini Swap. I hope you all have a lovely day!

with love,

Courtney

Spring Fling Mini Swap

I've had a TON of projects in the works these past two or three months and have been waiting and waiting to finish them! I was wanting to wait until I got my logo created (and I have yay!) and got some labels made. I've done both and am plugging away at those unfinished projects! My #springflingminiswap (#haveaflingwithjen) quilt is one of these "back burner" projects!

As you can see, I've finished now and I think my partner will love it! She gets one of my first ever quilt labels and I hope she likes them, too (though I don't think anyone will ever be quite as excited as I am about them).

Here's the other side. Yes I did make a double sided mini! I saw that my partner already had something similar as what I had already created, so I decided to make a second option for her! I hope she doesn't mind and that one side will suit her taste. As I'm writing this blog post I am just now noticing just how extremely crooked the borders are on this side... I hope she doesn't mind!

I also made this zipper pouch out of my free Little Arrow Paper Pieced Pattern! I've decided it is going to be shipped as an extra for my partner in this swap. I had a lovely time creating this mini for my partner and I can't wait until it is received!

with love,

Courtney

Kitten Mini Quilt Swap

I am participating in a Kitten Mini Quilt Swap on Instagram (#kittenmqs2015). I was so excited for this swap that I finished my mini INSANELY early. It's been sitting on a chair looking super cute and I think that my partner will love it! I saw a picture of a painting on Pinterest that looked just like this and thought I'd make my own little pattern out of it. I just went to her Etsy account and saw that she paints quilt blocks! Ha, who knew?

Here is the lovely all quilted and put together. My partner had stated that she wouldn't mind a pillow cover, so that's what I've made! I'm very proud of my work on this cover and with how my quilting
turned out. I'm still crazy new at machine straight line quilting, but I am quite proud of how this turned out!

Because I finished so early, I decided to make an extra for my partner.

I made this little pouch! It could be a coin purse, but the pattern is meant for sewing notions. Link to the pattern here. It was a cute little project and I love how it turned out!

The snap took quite the effort. Curtis had to use one of his leather snaps (he makes knife sheaths) on it because I was out and didn't want to go to the store! Long story short: after about 20 minutes of effort and four hands, we managed to get it to work! I think it's super cute and I hope my partner loves it! I just can't get enough of those little Cotton and Steel tigers!

with love,

Courtney

Little Arrow Pouch

Hello everyone! I have decided to do another post on my Little Arrow Paper Pieced Pattern!

I decided to start off by showing you a couple of different ways this block can be used! I think there are several cool ways to use this block and I hope you guys decide to give it a try.

This is the layout I decided to stick with. I thought I'd keep it simple for this little project.

I made a zipper pouch! I think it will be for one of my partners in some upcoming Instagram swaps I'm in. I haven't decided who just yet, but I have a couple of people in mind!

Here it is all nice an finished. This was a quick little project and I hope you guys like it! If you make anything using this pattern please don't forget to use the #littlearrowpaperpieced so that I can see your lovely creations, too!

Also, I am in the process of getting an official logo for my blog as well as working on starting up an Easy shop! I am so excited and I cannot wait to show you guys. Stay tuned.

with love,

Courtney

Rainbow Mini Quilt Swap

I am a part of the #rainbowminiswap on Instagram and I finished my mini! I didn't recieve a whole lot of information about my partner for this swap, so I kind of had to follow my instincts. I did a lot of teeny tiny piecing for this project and I love the way it turned out!

This mini isn't exactly my style. I've never been a big fan of rainbow colors in rainbow order, but I still like it! From what I can tell, I think that my partner will love it too. It's for #rainbowteamyellow.

I have already gotten a start on my mini quilt wall and this swap is something I am going to use to add to it! I'm super excited to receive my mini, but the send date isn't until April 6! Oh well, that gives me a bit more time to stare at this one.

I finished my mini quilt for the Instagram #kittenmqs2015! I might not share the whole completed thing just yet because it might give away who my partner is, but I can't wait to show you!

with love,

Courtney

Little Arrow Paper Pieced Pattern

I created this cute little paper pieced arrow the other day for my sampler quilt (pictures of my progress so far on this blog post). I created the pattern out of pencil and paper and have recreated it here for you guys to use in your own quilt designs!

If you do use this pattern, I ask that you only use it for personal projects. If you are planning to sell something you've made with this pattern, that is fine only if you give me credit (a link to my blog will suffice). Same goes for if you do a blog post about something you have made with the pattern, link to my blog post.

I think that this arrow is super versatile and can be used in many different ways! I'd love to see any blocks that you make using this pattern, so please post pictures on Instagram for me using the #littlearrowpaperpieced and tag me @aquilterandhercat so that I can see your lovely creations. If you do a blog post about something you've made with this pattern, let me know! I'd love to read your blog posts. I hope you guys enjoy!

Pattern:

If you're new to paper piecing, I have found that this tutorial by Amanda from 3and3quarters is amazing! I'm still new to paper piecing and have found this method the easiest to understand.

Update: Here is a zipper pouch I made using the pattern!

with love,

Courtney

Asking Your Maid of Honor

Curtis proposed to me while we were in Paris (Europe in Winter Packing List)! I am so excited to get started with the planning process. We plan to get married December 2016 or January 2017, so I still have a bit of time to think and plan! I knew immediately who I wanted for my Maid of Honor: my sister, Hannah! Curtis and I knew we didn't want a big wedding party and we have already decided to just have a Maid of Honor and a Best Man.

I decided to share with you how I asked my sister! I know I did a bit of research on the matter (Pinterest, anyone?) and I wanted to share how I did it! This is just how I asked my Maid of Honor, but it could also work for bridesmaids, too. If it were me, I'd make the Maid of Honor's a bit more special.

I put together this little jar for her! I think that is is super cute and she was so excited when she saw it! I had always told her that when I got married I would want her as my MOH and when she found out I was engaged one of the first things she said to me (aside from the congratulations and telling me how gorgeous my ring was) was, "Do I get to be your Maid of Honor?" Of course she didn't say it to me, she texted it to me using emojis. It was hilarious and I avoided directly answering her question, because I'm supposed to be the one to ask her!

Here are the things I got for her:

Cute glass jar with a clasp

Essie nail polish in "sugar daddy"

Mini easel with a mini "Maid of Honor" painted canvas on it

Three paint swatches

Mini VW van quilt

Note

Fabric scraps for decoration

As you can probably tell, I tried to color coordinate everything in this little jar. These are the colors I am liking at the moment for my wedding. I have a bit of time to decide, so nothing is set in stone, but I liked the idea of everything going together. I originally planned on getting a wooden box and painting it with my colors, but I couldn't find one that I liked, so I opted for a jar instead! I'm glad I did! The fabric scraps looked so cute in it and kind of hid the contents until she opened it.

My favorite (and her favorite) part of the little jar was the mini quilt. I knew how much Hannah loved old VW vans and when I saw a picture of a mini that looked like this, I knew I had to try to duplicate it! I came up with the pattern myself while referencing the pictures that I found (I can't seem to find them now). I love it! She thinks it is adorable, too. If you aren't a quilter and aren't particularly creative, I saw some great ideas ranging from MOH tank tops to little champagne bottles.

She loved this little gift and I'm so happy to have her as my Maid of Honor! I hope that this little post gave you guys some inspiration for asking your ladies!

with love,

Courtney

New Year, New Projects!

I know that I am a bit late on the New Year's Resolutions trend, however, I still have some things that I want to accomplish in this coming year. If I share them here, I'm more likely to actually do everything!

Quilts I want to start on and/or finish this year:

1. I am working on a sampler quilt for myself at the moment and I plan to finish it this year. I tend to make quilts for other people all of the time and have yet to make one for myself, so I have high hopes for this one! I also plan to do a blog post on how I created the template for this sampler quilt.

So far that is all of the progress I have made on this sampler quilt (a little less than half).

2. I want to at the least start on a King sized quilt for Curtis and myself. As you can probably tell, I plan to have a selfish sewing year.

3. I want to finish my peacock feather quilt. This is the first official quilt I started making and I had the adventurous idea to hand quilt a very tiny pattern all over the whole thing. It is still unfinished and I think it is about time it gets done! I have just lacked motivation for this project, because I am not fond of the fabric combination and the lack of color variation in it. I wasn't good at matching colors at the beginning, so I just stuck with navy and white. I think I will end up binding it with a contrasting color.

As you can see, I've actually already quilted most of it.

4. Another quilt of sorts. I want to either start a new one or finish one I've already started.

Other Announcements and Miscellaneous Goals:

• I have a new addiction lately: swaps. Instagram quilting swaps are amazing. Whoever came up with the idea in the first place is a genius. Swaps will be a major part of my quilting load this year and I am incredibly excited about it! I already completed my first swap (here, here, and here). I absolutely love mini quilts and am excited to make more and receive more this coming year. I'm also getting to meet some quilters from over the world through these swaps, which is pretty cool, too.

• I have decided to do the #sewmystash2015 challenge this year! Check out this awesome idea on a blog called Project Leasa! As she mentioned in her posts, she makes a lot of things for other people and hasn't sewed much for herself in the past. This year she plans to do some selfish sewing (while using up a lot of her fabric stash) and so have I!

• I want to open my own Etsy shop this year! I need to start saving money for my wedding and I think that I am going to make small items (pillows, mini quilts, etc.) to sell!

• I am going to create a logo, an about me, and create a better overall look for my blog. This is something I have been meaning to work on for awhile now and I think will make a huge difference!

• Another thing I'm excited about this year: STARTING MY WEDDING PLANNING! Curtis proposed while we were in Europe during our winter break from classes and I am so excited! I plan to do some blog posts about wedding planning once I start the planning process. My wedding will have a strict budget, so expect some tips for how to stay within your budget, too.

I'm sorry I missed the whole month of January! I returned home from Europe in the middle of the month and I had classes starting, so I decided to focus on that! Be expecting a couple of new patterns coming from me this month! I plan to do four posts during February to make up for completely neglecting January.

with love,

Courtney