Blenders have kinda been my jam this year. As much as I love a good fussy-cuttable print, I can't ignore the virtues of blenders. In fact, almost all of the prints I've been going bananas for lately have been blenders. I bet 2014 Felice would find my blender appreciation boring, but...*cue snooty mid-Atlantic accent*... I think I've developed a more mature fabric palette. Good thing my friend Rebecca Bryan's debut collection has a fancy name to match: Panache!

I have such admiration for Becca's quilt designs and eye for color. When Becca told me she was planning on getting into fabric design, I was all like:

And of course, she went and designed one of the prettiest bundles out there. I picked up one at Spring Quilt Market 2017 and it actually broke one of my big fabric habits. I used to keep bundles all pretty and tied up, segregated from my general stash. Panache just made more sense to break up and mix right into the madness. Then I broke up all my bundles so everything could be in color order. One of the downsides of being on the inside of the industry is the constraint of frequently needing to work exclusively with one line at a time. I feel like Panache is a great excuse to break out of that. I've been having such a great time looking though my stash for blenders, mixing Panache with lots of other prints.

My favorite project I've made with the line so far is the Batty Bat pattern by Funky Friends Factory. Look how cute and spoopy he is! 

I used Panache throught my Fussy Cut Sampler blocks for the book's SAL. I think a bundle like this would be a great starting point for a sampler quilt. 

I most recently used a bit of my favorite print, the black triangles, as an accent on a drawstring bag to hold all my pins to sell at Quilt Market. I love the selection of black, white, and gray prints in this line too! Most rainbowy blender lines just ignore those colors, but it's so good to have them.

And of course, Panache's stripes were the only non-Caturday/Luna Sol prints I used in my Tula Nova quilt (although that yellow stripe is pieced). The stripes might get overlooked, but they're so dang useful. I just ordered a few yards of the black and white stripes to use for quilt bindings. 

So if you've been bananas for blenders like me, give Panache a gander! It's one of those flexible, perfect-for-every-project type collections that I have a feeling I'll be repurchasing and stashing.

Caturday Blog Hop & Giveaway

Happy Caturday, friends! Pretty much every day is Caturday in our home with the two furbabies that inspired this collection, Batman & Chi.

A post shared by Felice Regina (@iamlunasol) on May 19, 2017 at 3:29pm PDT

Caturday initially started off as a sketchbook exercise in drawing cats. I was hesitant about designing a cat-themed collection because there is SO MUCH cat fabric in existence already. But during an afternoon of browsing cat fabric online, I realized I was seeing a lot of the same themes. Paw prints, yarn balls, and pretty much anything portraying cats as gentle, sweet princes and princesses. Meanwhile, Batman was trying to shove his butt in my face, Chi was trying to use the litter box while my husband was scooping it, and my mom was complaining about how she'd have to replace her clawed up couch when we moved out. I wondered, "do the people who made those prints even have cats? Because cats are assholes. Adorable and lovable, but still assholes." (Anyone remember this embroidery pattern? It's relevant.)

I designed Caturday to tell the true story about our feline friends. Litter Glitter depicts those awful pee clumps you scoop out of the litter box. Cat Scratch Fever is your ruined couch. Assterisk is...well...cat buttholes. (Here's a relevant comic I did back in college.)

One of my favorite parts of the range are the two border prints that I designed specifically for garments. The scale works for both adults and children's clothing. Check out this lovely dress by Lucy, @SmileandMake.

But of course, we can't forget the quilts! I have three new quilt patterns available to coordinate with Caturday: Pretty Paws, Caturday Medallion, and Fishbones. All are available as PDF downloads through my Craftsy shop, but Pretty Paws and Caturday Medallion are also being offered as paper patterns in quilt kits through local quilt shops. Be sure to ask your local shop if they plan on offering the kit!

A fourth pattern, Kira Kira, is available in issue 52 of Love Patchwork & Quilting magazine.

The collection has 24 prints in all and is in stores now! For more project inspiration, view the look book or check out #CaturdayFabric on Instagram (and tag your Caturday projects too!). If you need something small to get you started, give the Fat Cat Softie a try with my free tutorial.

GIVEAWAY!

To celebrate the launch of Caturday, I'm doing two giveaways for a fat quarter bundle of the collection. One here, and one on my Instagram. To enter this giveaway, simply leave a comment below! I'll pick a random winner on October 23rd. To enter my Instagram giveaway, check the post here.

Be sure to follow along with my friends for the rest of the Caturday blog hop!

Blog Hop Schedule 

October 16 - I Am Luna Sol (Me!)
October 17 - @iamlunasol Instagram Giveaway
October 18 - Kate Basti
October 19 - Modern Handcraft *Delayed until Oct. 20th*
October 20 - Gnome Angel
October 22 - Sew Sweetness Facebook Live stream @ 5pm CST

Fat Cat Softie Tutorial

The Fat Cat Softie is a super easy, beginner project.

The finished toy measures approximately 8" tall x 9.5" wide.

You will need:

• (1) Fat quarter or (2) Fat eighths (if you want different prints for the front and back)
• Stuffing
• Removable marking pen
• Hand embroidery supplies or puffy paint
• The printed pattern

Step 1. Cut out the pattern and place it, printed side up, on your fabric, at least .25" away from the raw edges. With a removable marking pen, trace around the pattern. Using a pair of scissors, cut the pattern out, adding a .25" seam allowance. Do NOT cut on the marked lines. 

Step 2. To cut your second softie piece, place the first fabric piece right sides together with the remaining fabric. With a removable marking pen, trace around the first softie piece. Cut out your second softie piece. 

Step 3. Trace the face onto one side of your softie. If you are going to embroider the face, do it now. If you want to use puffy paint like I did, you'll do it as the last step.

Step 4. Place the two pieces of the softie right sides together and pin all the way around. Backstitching at the start and end, sew directly on top of the marked line from step 1, leaving a 1.5" - 2" gap below the tail for turning and stuffing.

Step 5. Carefully clip towards corners (don't cut through you stitching) and clip curves seams. Turn softie right side out. Stuff the toy, starting with the ears, feet, and tail. Stuff the body. Close the opening with a ladder stitch by hand. Massage the softie to even out the distribution of the stuffing.

Step 6. If using puffy paint, make the face now and let dry for 24 hours before handling.