I am a cat person. Thus I make quilts with cats! Mama and Her Kitten is one of my favorites. I've made this quilt too many times to count. It's really fun to play with the colors. I love how easy it is to make a mama cat and her kitten. Their heads are made at the same time with a special Thangles technique, so you can make a few of these blocks at a time and before you know it, you have a quilt.
One of the great features of Thangles is all the special units you can make with them in addition to the Half Square Triangle (HST). One of these units is the "Tulip" unit.
In the picture below, you can see that a Tulip unit has three triangular pieces. It's a bit more difficult to make than a HST because it has three pieces and both seams are bias fabric. Can you say “stretchy?”
With traditional quilting methods, you have to first do math calculations, then you have to cut out all of these pieces before you even get to the sewing. With Thangles, all that is gone. You need one size fabric strip and you are ready to go!
Below is a video that will show you how to make the "Tulip" unit.
For most of my life, I have lived with cats. When I started Thangles, we had a pair of cats, Bart and Sky. We did not chose them as kittens, they came to us as young adults from family who had to move and could not take their cats with them. They both had long lives and we chose not to have a cat at home when they left us. Our lives were busy and we had cats at our office.
Last fall, we decided it was time for our home to be filled with cat fun again. Our "cat whisperer" friend, Steve, kept reminding us he had a perfect kitten for us. Indeed, he was right. Cheetah Benjamin came into our life and we are blessed with all kinds of kitten antics. (Like climbing up my chair and sitting on my shoulder which is what he is doing as I type.)
Till next time, Happy Thangling.
MB