Mi Casa, Su Casa!

I'm preparing for my House and Trees class in two weeks.  I've got a slide show for my students, and I've got lists of all the quilts I want to bring to show them.   This is a kitty quilt I made for Rusty.  He's a Ginger boycat who lives in California. His owner is a second grade teacher and they live on Boston street. 

I made the house using ruler fabric in brick red in this traditional New England style house for that reason (rulers = teacher; brick red = brick house; traditional = Boston).  I don't know why I did it, but when I added a cat, instead of adding just one, I added four.

When Deborah received the quilt she was thrilled. Rusty claimed the quilt right away, which was nice to hear, but she went on... "From the first day we had him, we have called him Houdini Kitty.  He can be with you and then poof he is upstairs looking down at you.  To see all the extra Rustys in the windows and the yard is our Houdini Kitty!"

There are so many ways to make a house personal and special.  I hope you've been watching Julie and her barns. She's done a spectacular job.  She made 12 barns, each wonky and free pieced, but that wasn't all. She made the 12 barns to represent a month of the calendar AND she placed them in her part of the US.  I had asked, "What does the sky and ground look like where you live?  How would you use fabric to communicate the information about what time of the year it is?"

Julie took that challenge head on, and really did some thinking about how to convey the change in the seasons. You'll have to go back through her posts to see her thought process, but her results are awesome. This is her May barn, and I just love it.

Notice also that Julie has added some "signage" to each barn.  It's another special touch that makes her barns truly unique.

Your own houses / barns don't have to be complicated to be very special and very interesting. It's the little things. You can do this too!

Here's Rusty!

The special Gizzy Quilt, "Where's Rusty?" has reached its intended destination, and its new owner is very pleased:

Within 10 seconds Rusty was off his chair and on the quilt. He sniffed it over and then made a face! I think he smelled a bit of Millie. He then rolled all over it and now it is his. I took some photos and will send them off this evening. From the first day we had Rusty, we have called him Houdini Kitty. He can be with you and then poof he is upstairs looking down at you. To see all the extra Rustys in the windows and the yard is our Houdini Kitty!

As you can see, I kept three of the four "Rustys" hidden until the quilt was received by its owner. Can you find all four? You can click the photo to enlarge. (sorry it's not as sharp as it could be.)

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On a side note, my son has changed his mind. Now he wants the Sunshine Quilt quilted. AND he doesn't want to see it until it is finished. Which means I can't post about it until it is done.

{Sigh}