When my husband forwarded me an e-newsletter from McKamey Animal Center with an urgent request for blankets, towels, and pillowcases, I knew my fabric scrap collection could become something useful.
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| Scrappy quilts for the animals: 23.5” x 35” (left), and 25.25” x 35” (right). |
After reading the email, I contacted the Center and the associate said they were looking for items that could be used for bedding for crates and cages for the animals they house—both dogs and cats. She told me that their crates are all different sizes and dimensions, so any and all sizes of bedding is needed.
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| Smaller scrap quilts: 25” x 28.25” (left) and 24.5” x 26.5” (right). |
Gathering leftover patchwork pieces and myriad colorful fabric bits, I turned the fabrics into four scrappy lap-size quilts to donate to McKamey.
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| Four new quilts for the cats and dogs at the animal center. |
From tote bag to an animal bed quilt
One quilt was made from patchwork that originally was going to be a tote bag. I think this new use—bedding for a dog or cat crate—will be much more beneficial!
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| Patchwork for a tote bag. |
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| Patchwork for a tote bag cut in half and reassembled into a quilt top. |
Quilted and finished by machine
The quilts were free-motion quilted and finished with scrappy machine-sewn bindings, making them sturdy, washable, and ready for lots of use.
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| Scrappy quilt bindings attached by machine. |
Quilt Stats
Quilting
- 3.5 total hours of free-motion quilting
- 50 wt solid and variegated cotton threads (top threads) for quilting
Binding
- 4.5 hours making and attaching bindings for the four quilts
- various 40 wt and 50 wt threads for the zigzag stitching on the bindings
Interesting… it takes me longer to bind the quilts than to quilt them.
Continuous line Stream of Consciousness quilting
After doing FMQ [free-motion quilting] exercises with students in my recent Intro to Free-motion Quilting class, I’ve used a spontaneous, continuous line, reactive quilting design concept to quilt one of the quilts, which made quilting surprisingly quick! 30 minutes vs. 60 minutes.
With the busy fabric prints on these quilts, the design is difficult to distinguish…
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| Continuous line free-motion quilting. |
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| Continuous line free-motion quilting. |
… so below is a warm-up sandwich of the concept: a continuous line, filling the space, reacting to the previous stitching. Maybe it should be called, “Stream of Consciousness quilting.” The kitty and doggie quilts are perfect for practicing this kind of quilting pattern.
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| Practice sandwich of “stream of consciousness quilting.” |
I love the thought that these bright, cozy quilts will bring a little comfort and warmth (and color!) to animals at the McKamey Animal Center while they wait for their forever homes. Sometimes the best projects come from using what we already have—turning scraps into something practical, cheerful, and snuggly.
