Kitty Cat Blanket

Kitty Cat Blanket

I was contacted by a friend who volunteers at a local cat rescue and asked if I would make a blanket they could raffle off to make money for the rescue.  Of course, I said yes.

    My friend loves this kitten design, so, I decided to make this design the center of the blanket.  The design was originally just a tiny outline about 2" tall.  The blanket required something a bit more massive.  When I made the design 15" tall, it just didn't look right without some detailed features.  After looking at many cat pictures, trying to find the same or similar pose, a few details were added.  Concerned that the design would be too heavy if I made it a solid color, I opted for the more zig-zag look for the fur. 

    After the kitten was embroidered, I finished the blanket, ruffles and all.  Rather than the usual quilting, the butterflies were going to hold the blanket together.

The original design had the kitten looking and pawing at a butterfly.  I wanted a lot of butterflies.  Back to looking at pictures.  This time it was butterflies, and a Monarch was chosen.  I digitized the butterfly and stitched it in several different colors and many angles.

At this point, the whole design seemed to be missing something which turned out to be flowers.  After searching through many of my store bought designs, I found the perfect flower design.  To be specific, sun flowers.  Now our kitty is sitting in a field of bright yellow sun flowers, playing with multi-colored butterflies.  Life is good.

I liked the design, but felt I could, and should, do better.  After all the rescue organization needs something eye catching and special to get those big bucks flowing in.  The 3D butterflies had been on my mind for awhile but I hadn't been able to find the perfect project for them.  Ah, this is the project.  Several butterflies were made in different colors and fabrics.  I made them like you would make a patch but before I tore them off of the stabilizer, I embroidered the body between the wings and then pulled off the stabilizer -- carefully.  To adhere them to the blanket, I measured the body of the butterfly and created a straight stitch a little shorter than the body.  Then I turned the straight stitch into a small zig-zag.  I would go to the placement site on the blanket, stitch the straight stitch, place the butterfly on top of the straight stitch and stitch the zig-zag.

Looking good.

Still something missing.  I can do better than this.

Rhinestones!

The rhinestones seemed to do the trick

I had changed the bobbin thread to various colors when doing the flowers and butterflies.  When you look at the back of the blanket, albeit no kitty, the design is still pretty.

As my little Cajun mama used to say:  "Fini."  This blanket was given to the cat rescue organization.  I'm not sure if they've raffled it off yet or, if they have, how much they made.  I certainly hope this unique, OOAK, blanket brings them some well deserved funding.