Cattywampus Quilt
I showed a glimpse of my latest quilt a few weeks ago, but then other things came up, as they do, so I'm only just getting around to showing you properly.
It started when I noticed my scrap bin was overflowing. I had a vague thought that I would make crazy scrappy place mats for our outdoor table so I started sewing rough rectangle shapes. They got put aside to make way for other projects. One day Melissa P of 100 Billion Stars did this post about her amazing picnic blanket in which she mentioned the word Cattywampus.
Melissa P explained that it means cockeyed, messed up, out of whack, screwy.
Great name for a quilt, I thought to myself, and a lightbulb went off in my head as I remembered the scrappy blocks I'd been playing with.
At first I thought I'd just sew them all together but it looked too hotchpotchy. It needed depth and places for your eyes to rest. I considered cutting the blocks into regular squares and putting sashing in between but that felt too predictable for such a cattywampus quilt.
A few cups of tea later I decided on irregular, partial sashing with solids. The orange I'd recently bought because I liked the colour, the dark green solid was from GBF's mum ( thanks Joan!), and some other greens and aquas were left over from my Magical Lands Quilt.
I quilted Cattywampus myself. It's been a while since I've done any machine quilting so I started off with a walking foot, stitching in the stitch, cruising around squares, but then changed to FMQ, and had fun doing zig zags, curly whirls, wiggly squigglys and some echo quilting.
24 Comments
How about "super-cali-frag-alistic-expe-ali-docious!" I'm going to name one of mine Bricolage! Definition- creation from a diverse range of available things! Very French! Love your cattywampus quilt! I bet it gets some great comments from your first time visitors!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great name for a spectacular quilt! I bet it does a great job of brightening up your entrance hall! Love the solid sashing - i love orange!
ReplyDeleteHow cool is this Rachael...I love love love it!!! What a lovely sight to see on entering your home...and I love the name Cattwampus...Happy Cocktail Hour but it's probably a bit late for that now...maybe more like hot chocolate hour now ha ha...Have a great weekend and Happy Stitching...Cheers, Dzintra
ReplyDeleteI still can't get over the Fun Factor in this one. All the unexpected bits work together and the end result is fabulous. Great job!
ReplyDeleteRachael....the orange and greens just make it! Love all the scrappiness of it, and your quilting is just right! Love it!
ReplyDeleteI agree, this is a great welcome/warning in your entry! LOL
ReplyDeleteI LOVE it. It's the perfect name for that quilt and I adore the idea that it's been hung up as a warning! I like the idea that the quilting is as scrappy as the quilt too with lots of different styles.
ReplyDeleteThe solids were a stroke of genius.
Cattywampus! I love it!!
ReplyDeleteI may have to borrow it from you!
Very cool! I love the hide-and-seek quality of finding fun fussy-cut bits amongst the pieces.
ReplyDeleteHow about Fabulicious!!! Fabulous with delicious colours thrown in...
ReplyDeleteHappy Stitching
Deb
This is brilliant! So many things to look at and admire. I could get lost in it for an hour lol...
ReplyDeleteAnd what about doggadogsberry ... just continuing with the animal theme :)
Great quilt! Another thing to add to my bucket list. I can't think of any names like Cattywampus but I think you should have one with a dog mention in it too and some dogs as I can't see any in the cattywampus :).
ReplyDeleteCattywumpus is fantastic! It has worked out really well. The bold plain colours break it up nicely without dulling it in any way.
ReplyDelete(And I bought some of the same fabrics as you at the craft fair, only I bought them on the Friday not knowing you bought some on the Wednesday!)
Love the quilt and Cattywumpus is perfect! It is very Willy Wonkish sounding.....or Doctor Suess-ish! The stitching is fun! It is a great, bright, cheerful quilt!
ReplyDeleteCattywumpus - I love her! The orange is perfect and all the odd shapes. How great to do your own quilting as well. Good on the GBF for hanging it in the welcome area...he is a star too :-)
ReplyDeleteFabulous quilt!!! Love the name. How many times do you stop and find particular fabrics? Kinda like a 'Where's Wally' puzzle.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun and fantastic quilt!!
ReplyDeleteThat quilt just makes me smile.
ReplyDeleteI like the word Serendipity, but I think it's close to Cattywampus in meaning.
The word conjours up fun and so does the quilt. Great pairing.
ReplyDeleteFun Fun Fun
It'a a great name for the quilt, and what a fabulous quilt it is too. Love the scrappy solids to break it up, a pure stroke of genius.
ReplyDeleteYou wouldn't think it but all of those scraps work in together brilliantly!! I am much too OCD in patterning to ever be able to make something so higgeldy piggeldy wonderful. I love it! Great idea with the solid colours, it really brings it together. And the name fits perfectly too!
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting my blog :)
Yum! And I love the way you told the story of how the quilt evolved. words? Wonkadoodle? Lusciously liberated? JoyFULL? Happiness is....
ReplyDeleteRachel,
ReplyDeleteI love the funky spirit of this quilt- Cattywampus was a word that my mother in law used to use- funny how that is- it made me smile just thinking of her and the word.
How about the word Tchotchka (spelled wrong I am sure pronounced Chaka) but its a word that refers to too much/excess/ stuff/ things that are not necessary without having a place for them.. I believe it is a Jewish expression..It could be a quilt that had everything but the kitchen sink in it- very free form and free spirited. My teaching assistants used to tease me about all the stuff we had laying around our kindergarten classroom- It was my cue that we needed to tidy up some or that we were collecting too much stuff (as lots of us kindergarten teachers do) Just think how much fun it would be... Happy quilting,
Regards,
Anna
What a gorgeous quilt I love it. The name Cattywampus made me laugh!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for leaving me a comment. Your kind words encourage me to keep sharing my work and stories.