As some of my followers know, I have a little black cat and two huge black dogs. My little black cat, Edmund, has a likeness to the character Toothless from “How to Train Your Dragon.” Contrary to popular belief, black cats are not bad luck, unless he decides to run between your legs on the stairs at night. Not that he has ever done this….. He actually has amazing good luck. First, he found us as a family because we spoil him. Second, he has a way of getting into situations that could be fatal and lives. Probably the most memorable of these was the day my son and his friend heard a cat meowing from inside the car while they were driving. They stopped at a local gas station to find the meowing. They found the cat sitting on the engine under the hood of the car. Edmund was so glad to see them after waiting the entire school day, he happily went into the car with them. They took him to the vet who pronounced him perfectly healthy. This little black cat was my inspiration for this block.
The block is made of simple elements and could be made with a stitch and flip technique as it is simply rectangle and triangles. However, I decided to make templates for the Cat to make it an easy block to piece. Indeed, foundation piecing made it easy to put together, but I learned a very important lesson. I print not copy each foundation to make sure they are the right size. I have never had a problem, because I typically use printer paper. However, I decided to use foundation paper instead as it is thinner and provides less bulk. I assumed that pieces would print to exactly the right size regardless of the paper, so I didn’t measure my registration square. You know the one that states “This square is 1-inch.” It turned out that the pieces were smaller by about an 1/8-inch. I realized this when I went to square the block. Thankfully, I had only made one block and was able to correct the issue on the other three blocks. So lesson learned, ALWAYS measure the registration block before cutting!
Now, if your registration block is off by a bit, there is a way to correct it without reprinting. First, you could add a coping strip around the bock to make up the difference. Or you could trim the sections slightly larger to make up for the printing issue.
This quilt is really starting to come together. The first four block sets are done! You can see the progress on my design wall. Four more block sets to go for Kitty in the Middle!
Happy Quilting
Laureen