Classy Kitty Block Swap

March 2010

by Pat (Shaka) Thompson

12 1/2" (unfinished), 12" (finished)

 

This block is simple enough to piece, making it great for confident beginners. It's an exercise in 'value' since it calls for three (3) different fabrics: one light; one medium; and one dark. It is also an exercise in 'scale' since we will be using prints ranging in size from very small, to medium, even to very large.

ALLOWED FABRICS:

As always, please use only 100% cotton that has been pre-washed and is of quilt shop quality.

ALL fabrics MUST be prints. Medium to large florals are great. Small florals or calicos are good. Paisley, pin dots, plaids or stripes are also permitted. If in doubt about any fabric choice, please ask.

FABRICS THAT ARE NOT ALLOWED:

NO solid colors. NO white. No Moda Marble type tone-on-tone (TOT) fabrics.

FABRICS to be cut:

BLOCK CONSTRUCTION:

KITTY BODY UNIT: (lower half of block--see picture of block)

Draw a diagonal line on wrong side of 1-3/4" square of background fabric from upper left corner to lower right corner.

Place this connector square face down on upper right corner of Kitty body rectangle. Sew on this line. Trim 1/4" to right of sewn line. Press background piece. Square up this body unit to measure 4-1/2" x 8-1/2".

KITTY HEAD UNIT: (top half of block--refer to picture of block)

LEFT EAR: You will be drawing diagonal line on wrong side of BOTH 1-3/4" squares of Kitty fabric as follows. On ONE square a line will be drawn from UPPER LEFT corner to LOWER RIGHT. Place this square face down over the LOWER LEFT corner of the 2-1/4" x 4" BACKGROUND fabric rectangle. Sew on this drawn line and trim 1/4" to the left of this line of stitching. Flip the triangle so it is right side up and press flat. You have just attached the left ear.

RIGHT EAR: On the wrong side of the second 1-3/4" square of Kitty fabric, a line will be drawn from LOWER LEFT corner to UPPER RIGHT. Place this square face down over the LOWER RIGHT corner of your 2-1/4" x 4" background rectangle. Sew on this drawn line and trim 1/4" to the RIGHT of this line of stitching. Flip this triangle so it is face up and press flat. This is the right ear. Trim the finished Ear Unit, if necessary, so it measures exactly 2-1/4" x 4".

FINISHING HEAD UNIT:

Place Ear Unit face down over the 2-3/4" x 4" rectangle of Kitty fabric so that the bottom raw edge of Ear Unit is aligned with the top raw edge of the Kitty head fabric. Sew these together with 1/4" seam. (Sew with Ear Unit on top so you can see that the ear seams stay flat.) Press seam toward head fabric. Trim this completed unit, if necessary, to measure 4-1/2" x 4".

FINISHING TOP HALF OF BLOCK:

Lay remaining 4-1/2" x 4" rectangle of background fabric face down over Kitty Head Unit and sew the right side together with 1/4" seam. Press seam toward the background. Trim this completed top half of the block so that it measures 4-1/2" x 8-1/2", being careful that you do not take fabric off of left ear. NOTE: At this point the ears will NOT be equal in size since the left ear also has 1/4" extra along outer edge for seam allowance.

Sew the top half of block to the bottom half of block. Press seam down toward Kitty body. Trim this completed block so that it measures 8-1/2" SQUARE.

ATTACHING BORDER STRIPS:

With block right side up, lay first border strip face down aligning raw edges beginning from upper right corner of block. Sew this strip only HALF way down. The bottom of the strip will be left dangling for now. This is a partial seam construction. Press the sewn area so that seam is toward border and away from block center

Rotate block clockwise and lay second border strip so that it begins at the new upper right corner of block. Sew this seam completely from one end to the other.

Repeat with remaining strips. You will now have 3 finished borders and 1 partially finished border. At this point, bring the dangling end of the unfinished border strip to align with block raw edge. Complete sewing this seam and press seam away from block, toward border.

Square the block so it exactly measures 12-1/2".

NOTE: All of the above instructions are for a LEFT facing Kitty. To make a RIGHT facing Kitty, you will only need to make 2 small changes. On top half of block, you would join the Head Unit to the background rectangle so that the Head Unit is on the RIGHT and background is on the LEFT.

The second difference is that you will sew the small background connector square to the upper LEFT side of Kitty Body instead of sewing it to the upper right corner. All other instructions are the same.