This quilt was created for my dear friend, Jasmine Becket-Griffith (her EBSQ profile here) for the 2005 EBSQ Pet Portrait Swap. It shows her two dear fur-babies, Quan-Yin on the left, and Azrael in front on the right... who has trapped a little faerie in his paws! (...although she doesn't seem to mind, does she...?) They are portrayed as Faerie Cats - after all, how else would one portray the cats of a famous faerie artist? :-)

I have never met these cats in person, and worked from their photos. I tried to capture the smug slit-eyed expresssion of Azrael, seen in most of his photos. I found it a challenge to be sure to make him appear smug (and not mad!) but I am pleased with the effort. Quan-Yin's eyes are always wide open round, checking everything out. I envision her in this piece as standing guard over Azrael, as he consorts with the laughing wee faerie-folk...

The cats and the little faerie were each created individually. They were collaged from bits of cotton fabrics, free-motion machine quilted over a layer of batting and backing fabric, then cut out. They were placed atop a sandwich of backing fabric, batting, and background fabric. The background details were then added - such as subtle landscaping, and the full moon with clouds in the sky.

Once the pieces were arranged, the overall machine quilting began, both to secure the cats and the background, and to add highlights and details such as whiskers.

I use an Elna 6004 sewing machine, dropping the feed dogs and using an embroidery foot. I mostly use cotton fabrics from my ever-growing stash, both poly and cotton batting, and Madeira thread.

This was one of the largest pieces I have done - quilting it on the machine was more of a physical task that I realized it would be!

I can hardly wait to hear how my swap partner reacts to seeing it in real life! The photos can't capture the detail of the miles of free-form stitching.