Showy Sheep Quilt

This quilt is my first officially finished, officially designed by yours truly quilt, that I've ever made.  It was incredibly easy to make and gave me a good beginner boost.  The pattern is available for sale at my Etsy shop, KonversingKate or if you would like to take a trip to Margaretville, NY and see one of the cutest fabric stores around, it is located for purchase at Bloom!

Being surrounded by beautiful fabrics and avid quilters every day at work can take its toll on a person.  In my case, that toll has gotten me hooked on creating my own quilts.

Quilt designing is a frustratingly, fantastic disease.

On the one hand, it is fun creating your own quilt and pattern but, on the other hand, you actually have to create your own quilt and pattern.  I have a build-up of ideas for quilts but not enough time or energy to make them all right away.

A quilter is an artist and a mathematician.

My biggest hurdle when putting my pattern into practice is all of the math.  Why math?! Why?! First, there is the figuring out what size you want your blocks, strips, triangles, squares, etc. to be.  Then, there is the remembering to add a 1/4 inch to each side for the seams.  Once you have that solved and your blocks are sewn into strips then you have to worry about all of the strips lining up to where they are suppose to be.

As I'm sure any inventor will tell you: it can be a real headache at times.

That's why my Showy Sheep quilt tricked me.

It was incredibly easy and fast to make that I thought all of my quilts would be like this.

I was initially inspired by a cat quilt designed by Kaffe Fassett, who is one of my favorite fabric designers.  It was a simple quilt design like mine except with appliqued cats and hearts. 

I thought, oh that's cute but sheep with bow ties would be hilarious and is way more likely to make me smile. 

As an homage to Kaffe Fassett, I decided to do my sheep in his fabrics.  To complement it, I placed them on batik backgrounds. This had the desired effect of being bright and colorful; placing an extra smile in my smile bank. 

To give my sheep a little more life, I embroidered eyelashes on them.  I love embroidering, I find it to be more relaxing than quilting and it's easy to do while watching TV. 

I had a fantastic time making this quilt.  It brings me goofy joy just looking at it.  I hope that it offers others the same feelings it gives to me. 

Let's make this the bee's knees.