Thank you so much for visiting me last week and for your lovely comments on my paper piecing. I have been working on a few different quilting projects simultaneously. Sometimes I start on one and then get carried away by something else. I am sure you know the feeling. I drafted this striped tabby cat quilt pattern months ago. I was really hoping to finish quilting the mini before showing it here, but alas, that didn’t happen.
As I mentioned earlier, most of my quilt patterns are derived from different aspects of my life. This is my orange Maine Coon boy who is my shadow. He became the model for my mini.
For this special mini I cut into the swirly orange fat quarter that I had saved forever. I had just enough scraps of the black fabric left from another quilt to use as the background for this one. The faint gold in that fabric makes me think of magic dust. I had to add the night sky fabric in the window. So now my cat and I can sit by the window and cherish each other’s company and the night sky together.
Susie made this pillow from my pattern way before I could finish mine. I love the vintage look of her kitty. Her kitty’s name is Tessie! You can read all about Tessie in Susie’s Post.
Hopefully I get to quilt mine soon! The quilting design is already traced on it and it is basted, but I may have to wait a few more days before I can sit at the machine.
Last week I suddenly got sick with the flu. When I started feeling a little better, I pulled out the acrylic set that I got during the holidays. Painting has always been my pastime when I’m sick. Whenever I can’t go outside, I bring the outside to me with paint. I love to paint trees. Last time when we were in the Sierras, we saw a lot of trees dying due to the draught we are facing in California. They look like fall colours, but sadly they are dried leaves on dying trees. The orange in the painting depicts those leaves.
Although I hadn’t used acrylic before, I learned a lot about acrylic painting just from this small sketch. The Liquitex Basics set I got has 48 tubes. It is perfect for trying out colours before purchasing better quality versions of the colours that I really like. I highly recommend the set for anyone who is interested in trying out acrylic painting. I can’t wait to play more with mine.
-Soma
26 thoughts on “Striped Tabby Cat And Acrylic Painting”
liniecat@liniecat.karoo.co.uk March 9, 2016 at 10:56
Love, love that fabulous cat!!
tubakk February 26, 2016 at 14:19
I love your orange cat.
Bonnie in VA February 24, 2016 at 07:13
Your kitty pattern is wonderful. Love the orange stripes. And, the black fabric really makes the cat shine.
Debbie @ The Quilt Journal February 23, 2016 at 19:58
I love your maine coon cat!! too cute! and your painting is nice too!
Beth @ Cooking Up Quilts February 23, 2016 at 19:35
Your tabby kitty is so adorable, and the swirl fabric is perfect for your design. I hope you recover 100% from the flu soon! Thanks for sharing your sweet kitty on MCM!
Cathy February 23, 2016 at 14:15
I love you striped tabby! That is a wonderful piece. So detailed.
Sharon Parcel February 23, 2016 at 13:04
I adore your kitty pattern…I think my Bella could easily have been a model as well. Aren’t they the most wonderful companions?
Andrea February 23, 2016 at 09:36
Your paper-pieced tabby (and your actual tabby) are both wonderful! I love how you brought the stripes in – congrats on a lovely finish!
Jennifer @ Inquiring Quilter February 22, 2016 at 16:29
Such a pretty kitty! I have an orange tabby that is my shadow. Aren’t they fun?
Vicki February 21, 2016 at 14:13
Fantastic projects! My little calico is my shadow:) I can only dream about painting anything but walls!
LeeAnna Paylor February 21, 2016 at 07:11
it’s brilliant. It’s abstract enough to be intriguing, and representative enough to recognize the lovely kitty. The painting is great too.
Love what you’re making. LeeAnna at not afraid of color
Cynthia February 20, 2016 at 14:34
Such a beautiful kitty and a great pattern.
Mary February 19, 2016 at 12:32
Aww…you cat pattern is super cute and comes from such a fabulous model!!! Both yours and Susie’s version are wonderful.
Your painting does depict the sad state of the trees. Great job on it, Soma. We have seen so many local trees dying as well. We’ve also noted the vast areas of dead trees in our travels through Idaho, Colorado and elsewhere. Of course many of those are pines and I hear it is caused by the pine beetle.
I hope you are feeling better by now. The flu this year has hit so hard. No fun!!!
Ruth February 19, 2016 at 08:45
The orange fabric is perfect for your block – I love that you do something creative when you are sick – I usually binge watch Arrested Development when I’m under the weather!
Amy at love made my home February 19, 2016 at 01:55
Your quilt is fantastic!!! xx
Kim Sharman February 19, 2016 at 00:22
Your tabby cat is gorgeous…both in reality and in paper piecing form. Perfect fabrics. I cannot stop looking at your paper piecing, it is astonishing. His eyes are looking right through me.
FVITH February 18, 2016 at 20:55
I think the swirly orange fabric was a great choice. I love the background, too.
What do you normally paint with? I’m no artist, but I do enjoy painting (even if I haven’t done it in years) and I have always found acrylics to be the most intuitively easy to work with. I really like how you added the orange to the trees.
Dixie February 18, 2016 at 16:34
O, I do love the kitty– both your lovely quilted version and the real adorable boy.
Great contrast of shadow and light in your painting. I’m taking notes.
Kaja February 18, 2016 at 13:35
Oh, he is really cute. I especially like your addition of the window. We’ve just got two Maine Coon kittens, but they are only 16 weeks old.
Lori Smanski February 18, 2016 at 12:52
hope you are feeling 100% real soon. love your tabby and your painting is very nice. our cat is russian blue mixed with maine coon. his coloring is russian blue, the rest is maine coon. he was 21 lbs. for the last two years. now he is 19 lbs. still big. and long, lol
Susie February 18, 2016 at 12:24
What a gorgeous Orange Boy you have made! I love the fabrics you have used!
I also think your Sierra trees are so pretty! The colors are lovely. Your artwork always takes me to the places you have visited.
BillieBee February 18, 2016 at 12:13
Wonderful kitty. I really like your painting as well.
JanineMarie February 18, 2016 at 10:44
Another great pattern–and I love the fabrics you chose. Another thing: Your logo/watermark looks fabulous on the picture of the quilt. I hadn’t really paid attention to your logo until I saw that. It looks like part of the quilt! Beautiful!
krislovesfabric February 18, 2016 at 09:49
Hehehe…orange cats are the best, yes they are :) Love your tribute mini! The stars in the sky, the stripes on kitty…may I say the eyebrows? All perfection! That swirly fabric really makes a great foil to the soft furry look of your other kitty fabric. Glad you are feeling better and wow! you haven’t worked with acrylics, you sure captured wonderful shading in your trees…and I long for a deep blue sky like that! It’s an overcast afternoon here but I danced with Sam in the sunshine this morning, Spring is coming!
Susan February 18, 2016 at 09:10
Lovely little painting. I really admire your artistic talent in all mediums.
Anne February 18, 2016 at 08:59
Love your kitty. I have two gray tabbies that keep me company in my studio.