"Only the Cat Saw" Quilted!

 "ONLY THE CAT SAW"

Zigzag cheater quilt design by Deborah Astley, printed on
Spoonflower Kona cotton, and quilted by Gail Bush and her
crew at Quilts by Gail in Chickasha, OK.
 

My entry in Spoonflower's last cheater quilt contest, which featured zigzags, was "Only the Cat Saw."  My design used casual zigzags taken from my "Blue River Stalactites" design and from the colors used in my "Circus Sky" collection, both on Spoonflower.  I ordered one yard of "Only the Cat Saw" and one yard of "Blue River Stalactites" both printed on Spoonflower Kona cotton.

I decided that, even though in my little dream world in which I live half of the time where all things get completed and come out looking great, I would take these two yards of fabric to a quilt shop in downtown Chickasha, Oklahoma, and see if maybe the ladies there would do the quilt for me so I could give it to my youngest granddaughter.

Chickasha is a small city about 26 miles to the north of us.  It's home to a wonderful liberal arts university, University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma, from which our two children graduated.  The university is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In downtown Chickasha, in the old Petroleum building, (constructed in 1907 -- the year of Oklahoma's statehood) on the corner of Fourth Street and Chickasha Avenue, is a quilt shop on the second floor:  Quilts by Gail.   More about her shop can be found here.  More current information about Gail's shop along with a picture of "Only the Cat Saw" can be found on Facebook.

The quilt shop had a hushed silence because of all of the beautiful bolts of cloth lining the walls and filling the floor space.   Also covering the walls were completed quilts, quilts that took my breath away and made my mouth drop open so that I looked quite the fool.

I showed Gail, the owner of the shop, my two yards of fabric and asked if her shop would make a crib quilt for me.  I know nothing about quilts, just that they are beautiful works of art which are also useful, which adds another layer of beauty to them.  Gail explained that the backing for the quilt needs to be larger than the front piece.  I had brought her two equal pieces of cloth.  So we looked for a trim fabric for the quilt.  I chose a bluish gray random stripe pattern for the binding - I felt it went along with the zigzag theme of the quilt.  Then Gail got out three large binders of quilting patterns to thumb through.  We finally decided on a random quilt pattern with geometric shapes.  Gail said light gray thread would probably work the best with my design.   I chose a lightweight 80/20 batting.

I also told her about Spoonflower.  She had never heard of Spoonflower.  When I write a proper thank you note to her, I will include my card which has Spoonflower's web address printed on it.

Yesterday morning the phone call came.  The quilt was ready.  Oh, I was so excited.  The young  woman I had talked to the first time I visited approached me with a big smile and the quilt.  She had done the binding.  The quilt turned out wonderfully.

Here is what I learned about the quilting process:  quilting fabric gives it life.  There is a design on the fabric, but the quilting factor adds another dimension, and the fabric design is enhanced.

So, to all you quilters out there, my hat is off to you.  What talent.