Thanks Luellabella. Your cushions rock!

    Lovely Lara M, also known as Luellabella is one of our many gorgeous and very clever cat and vee customers who has purchased panels from our etsy store and made her very own masterpieces with them. 

She was kind enough to share photo's of the christmas pressies she has made for her 

  very lucky hubby.  Thank you so much for taking the time to share Lara, we 

really appreciate seeing the end result.

To all of you who have supported our shop and blog this year, we thank you. We know there are so many great designers out there and your choice of fabric is global and very vast.  We are truly grateful that you have chosen a cat and vee design.

We wish you all and your families a lovely, happy, bubbly, christmas and new years celebration and we will be back early 2014.

Mwah to you all, may your in-laws and drunken uncles and aunties behave over the 'silly season' and if not, you will have some awesome family stories to share over the years to come!

 xoxo catherine and vanita

.: a play-mat quilt and a bye for 2013! :.

Three blog posts in three days, can you feel the high-five breeze from where you are? 

Today I'm sharing pics of a play-mat quilt I made for a friend's new baby grand-daughter (whose name, yes, starts with 'L'!).

I started off just with the pink 'L' and low-volume background - thinking maybe I'd make a table-mat or a cushion. 

But then I just kept cutting and adding borders.  The Lizzy House hedgehogs!  The Tula Pink squirrels!

I forgot to measure it before gifting it, but I think it's about 40-ish inches square, maybe a little smaller.

Here's the back - Bliss, Violet Craft's gorgeous elephants, a sweet Sarah Jane print, Sandi Henderson's ginger blossoms and a Flea Market Fancy reprint. 

I quilted it in wavy lines - I like to say 'organic lines' - but really, it just means I couldn't be bothered to sew straight lines! 

I love the owls and the Laurie Wisbrun giraffes!

The PamKittyMorning button cards are a big favourite of mine, and I did take a deep breath before using a whole row of them!

Here's a close up of the Sarah Jane print - children hiding and playing in all sorts of cubby houses - so sweet.

There's lots of little things for L and her grandmother to find in this quilt, so I hope they spend lots of hours in the years to come, sitting on the floor and doing just that! 

OK.  Blogging-wise, that may be it for me for 2013.  Vee might pop in with a post or two, but I do believe I'm now taking a little blogging break til the new year.   We have lots of plans for the blog and business that we hope to start sharing with you in the first few months of next year - more likely a few months in.  We are definitely planning on blogging more reliably though.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to you all, I hope you have a relaxing and peaceful time, with plenty of fun thrown in too.  See you next year!  xoxo cat

.: open-wide :.

Don't look now, but we've done two blog posts in two days!!  Shut the front door and hold the phone. 

I'm back today to share pics of the two open-wide zip pouches I made from the genius Noodlehead tutorial - one each for my daughters' awesome teachers at school.  Both of these gorgeous ladies are crafty, so I filled one with wool from Suzy Hausfrau, and the other with fabric-y pre-cuts.  

Each pouch features our Awesomeville 'Hello Sunshine' panel, and a whole lot of other super sweet fabrics.  Bring on the photos.  They are in no particular order - just the order in which I took them and uploaded them.   

{{King of Cups fabric by the awesome Amy from PennyCandyHandmade}}

{{sew in love button card fabric by the gorgeous PamKittyMorning}}

{{are you loving the meaning behind 'three o'clock is a sweet time'?! -- since that's when school finishes ... }}

{{I used the cute Spotlight selvedge fabric inside each pouch - and here's a peek at the MillaMia wool from Suzy Hausfrau}}

OK, thanks for indulging me in the photo over-load.  I love the Noodlehead tutorial, I love the pouches, I need to make one or two for me! 

And now it's time for a wine.  Fingers crossed for three blog posts in three days ... no pressure .... Happy weekend to you all  xoxo cat  

.: ho ho ho pressies :.

You may have noticed our new blog-look - all thanks to the magic-ery of Vee.  There's more to come, once Vee has finished her graphic-design course and can carve out a little more creative time.  Did you love the awesomeness of her program design for our recent school graduation?

After a prolonged blog-absence on my part, I'm popping in to share a few pressies I've made and given recently.

First up - a fun cushion featuring the awesome Tula Pink raccoons and Melody Miller telephone - it's actually an enormous x+ block, but you can't see it too clearly in the pics. 

And next - my first ever make from Pinterest!  I pinned this fab little tutorial by Erin from Dog Under My Desk months ago, and finally sewed one up for a friend's birthday - a little circle zip pouch to hold ear-buds for the gym!  I want to make one for me too ... though I need to increase my time-spent-at-the-gym first ... 

And now a little pixelated heart mini quilt - made for a wedding pressie - a mix of fun fabrics for the heart, and sweet low volumes for the background.  And the gorgeous Violet Craft breeze print on the back. 

Ted's always lurking out of frame for pretty much every pic I take, so every now and then I make sure to snap one of him.  It's pretty hard to get him to look at the camera - the secret trick is to say "are you hungry?" - works every time. 

Last one for today - little tote bags made for my oldest daughter's two buddies.  My oldest has just finished primary school.  At the start of grade 7, they are paired up with a buddy or two from grade 1.  Ruby was her buddy right from the start, and then Isla came into the buddy-hood when her grade 7 buddy changed schools half-way through the year. 

The sweet 'Ruby Ruby Ruby' panel is by Karen of Blueberry Park - I saw it on instagram, and Karen very kindly printed one up for me to use. 

The cute Queen stamps are from Spotlight, and the zebras are a Michael Miller print, I think.

I'm hoping to share some more projects in the next few days, before taking an actual, planned blogging-break for a couple of weeks.  Hope all your Christmas plans are coming together nicely.  'til next time, cat xoxo

Wahoo…graduation

Graduation Program cover for Grade 7 Farewell dinner

Well.  Our lovely Cat will be absolutely shagged this morning as she attended the Grade 7

graduation dinner last night. (I'll let her tell you more about that another time!)

She and a few other hard working mums at our school have been going the extra mile over the last month or so to organise the dinner.

The theme, concocted by our own lovely and clever Cat was Confetti.

I was lucky enough to do the programs for the dinner and extra lucky to receive 

the awesome thank you pressie below.

Thank you Cat.  

I hope you are not too exhausted this morning.  

A strong coffee or two will be the order of the day.

xxxx vee

Oh so lovely thank you present for Vee

Well look who's joined us

Lovely BIG new 'awesomeville' fabric panels listed in our cat and vee etsy store.  

Measuring 45cm x 45cm.  Just waiting to be framed or add your own 

Pom Pom trim for a super cute cushion.

Have a lovely Thursday.

xxxx

Big Hearted Girl

Pink Cockatoo

Sunny Fox

Hello Sunshine

.: Schnitzel & Boo Mini Quilt Swap :.

The little package I mailed off to Kristi as part of her Schnitzel & Boo Mini Quilt Swap has arrived!  

At about the same time as my 'My Heart is Happy' mini was flying from Brisbane to the USA, Kristi and her family were packing up and driving over 3,000 miles to relocate from Seattle, Washington, to Atlanta, Georgia. 

I'm so happy everything has now arrived safe and sound, and that I can now share lots of pics with you.  The 'happy' letters are from the excellent 'Just My Type' paper piecing pattern by Kristy of Quiet Play, and can be found in her Craftsy shop.

I fussy-cut a lot of little details for this mini - all things that I thought both Kristy and her daughter Roo would like and would enjoy finding - kind of like a little eye-spy quilt.

I love being a part of swaps, as you challenge yourself to create something that both you and your partner will love, and you also get to know someone as part of the whole swapping-experience - in fact, one of Kristi's instagram hashtags for this swap, absolutely sums it up -  #makeaquiltmakeafriend.  And I love too, that in the Flickr group, Kristi has been referring to all the swappers as 'Quilters of Awesome' - that's kind of fabulous too! 

On the back of the mini, I used the fun selvedge print from Spotlight, and for the first time EVER!! - sewed up hanging-pockets in the top corners, and also a little quilt-label (my friend Tracy gave me the label, and I added a little border).

This is what I was keeping secret til now!

I added in some extra treats - a 'roo bear for Roo and a tiny kangaroo keyring - and some lollies and Furry Friend chocolates ...

... and also a couple of our Pipsqueak panels, in honour of the real Schnitzel & Boo sausage dogs.

So that's my Schnitzel & Boo Mini Quilt Swap!  I'll be back soon to share my Down Under Doll Quilt Swap, which has also arrived safe and sound, though much closer to home.  Hope your week is off to a great start.   xoxo cat

Hello from Vee. My first web site

Here is a peak at my latest Graphic Design assignment, which has been to create a website for my portfolio.

For too many weeks now I have toiled and cried in vain, shocked and scared my family with my overuse of profanities, you-tubed, poured over my Dreamweaver 'bible', been in and out of 'Lynda tutorials' more times than the wine fridge, worked around a very dodgy internet connection, changed internet providers, gone around in enough circles to circumnavigate the globe and comforted myself with 3kg of sugary treats. (That is what my scales told me this morning!)

Anyway, once my tutor sorts me out and sets me on the straight and narrow (i'm pretty sure my coding skills are going to be marked as 'one hot mess') I shall be building a brand new shiny website for cat and vee.

xxxx vanita

p.s I have decided that I am way too interesting and dynamic to be a back-end web coder……I shall do all the 'glory' design work and give the complicated coding to someone who 'lives for it'……YOU know the type……..

.: the start of the pressie line-up :.

I can feel a few pressie-posts coming on, since pretty much all my sewing time lately has been spent on pressie-sewing.  Apart from swaps and bees.  

Just a couple of in-progress pics to share with you today.  First up, a cushion-top, with the beyond-fabulous Tula Pink raccoons, from her Acacia line. I don't know what it is about the raccoons, but I love them.  A lot.  As much as I love all things Melody Miller (the awesome telephone in the middle). 

{{what does the raccoon say?}}

And now, the churn-dash-a-thon.  I really can't believe there are only 12, since it feels like I've been sewing them for a very long time.  A few of them are for specific people - which has meant that specific fabrics have been chosen ... the most obvious one is the piano-cats on the top left, which is for the girls' piano teacher.  Who loves the piano.  And cats.  Are you on board with my thought process?  It's hard to keep up, I know.

The churn dashes are all destined to become hot-pads.  I think.  I'm a little worried about the glittery-fabric on a few of them - maybe they're not made for hot-stuff to be sat on them. A Plan B could be in the works ... maybe they'll become zip-pouches, or a panel for a bag, or even sit in the unfinished-projects drawer for several months.  The possibilities are endless.

Hope you've had a happy weekend.  I'll be back in a couple days to share my Down Under Doll Quilt Swap mini - once it's safely in the mail.  'til then, xoxo cat

.: a little bit of cushion-y love :.

Where have you been?!  We've missed you!  Oh wait, hang on, it's actually us that haven't been here.  Totally not-very-good blogging.  Right.  Back to it. 

My Schnitzel and Boo Mini Quilt Swap package of goodies is in the mail as I type - quite possibly flying over the Pacific Ocean right now - so I won't share any more pics here til I know it's arrived safe and sound.

My Down Under Doll Quilt Swap mini is finished! - but I need to get a few little goodies together before putting it in the mail and sharing more pics.

So let's share some cushions.  All five - yes, five! - of these upcoming cushions are no longer in my house - they were all for pressies.

First up - Awesomeville! - have we even shared Awesomeville with you yet?  We have five little Awesomeville designs to show you, but let's start with just two - 'Hello Sunshine' and our big-hearted girl.  The little panels (which are in the shop now!) are post-card size, super-sweet and so quick to sew or frame into little pressies.  These two were for the girls' teachers for World Teachers' Day - both teachers sew - yah! - so I figure they'll use them as pincushions.

{{they're so sweet!}}

And now, onto the 40th birthday-pressie-cushions.

First up - a Union Jack for Magic Mike.  No.  Not Channing Tatum.  No.  The REAL, original and best Magic Mike, who lives very close by and who is really English.  Though ... he was born in New Zealand, as I discovered from the fabulous DVD played at his birthday party ... really need to get to the bottom of that one ... 

{{are you loving the Kate + Will mug as a very handy and relevant prop?! It was a pressie from my friend Rachel, who was on holiday in London just before the wedding.  Not that she was in London FOR the wedding ... shame ... }} 

I followed the Union Jack pattern on Dandelion Daydreams' blog and then added a border to make the cushion a little bigger.

The fabulous actual-Union-Jack fabric is by our gorgeous friend Amy, from her Spoonflower shop.  The blue is Lizzy House's Castle Peeps, and the red/pink-spots are by the gorgeous Pam Kitty Morning.  The white - which you can't really see well in these pics - is Lakehouse Dry Goods (I soooo love their white-on-white text, as I get a bit anxious using solids).  And the fun newsprint is from Spotlight!

I used the newsprint, so it would match in with the fabulous cushion that Vee made for Mike - I need to get a pic of it to share here - she had fabric especially printed by Spoonflower, using a newspaper article that Mike was in when he was younger.   And living in England.  As opposed to New Zealand.

{{cheers}}

And now - a cushion duo made for our friend Glen's 40th.  I've wanted to make a plus-cushion (or quilt!) for ages, and followed Katy's pattern in 'Pillow Pop' by Heather Bostic. 

I asked Vikki (Glen's wife) about colours - and she said neutrals, for a black lounge.  I'm thinking I've stayed pretty close-ish to neutrals ... for me, anyway!  The Alexander Henry owls are for Glen + Vikki's daughter, really, as she likes owls.  I love the owl print so much, I've had it squirreled away for ages. 

The blue castles are Lizzy House (click on her name up there), the measuring tapes are by American Jane, and the orange sprouts are Violet Craft's Madrona Road.  The little crosses on grey are from Rashida Coleman Hale's Koi line, and the text is by Sweetwater.  I'm not sure who the postcards are by.  And the black crosshatch is Timeless Treasures. 

So that's it for cushions-I-have-recently-made.  What have you been making lately?

Hope your last few weeks have been good ones, and that you're currently in the middle of a happy weekend.  'til next time, cat xoxo