The centre of the Pickled Ladies top is completed, that is. There’s still more to come for this top. But now all the half pickled clams have been added and so the centre of the quilt top is done and I’m so excited that I can barely stand it!
There are bits at the edges that will get dealt with when the first of the two borders is attached. One of the two borders involves quite a bit of piecing, although I have that almost halfway done now. As long as I manage to stay away from distractions – which I know is next to impossible – I should have the top completed within a month.
Pickled Ladies is definitely my favourite of all the ones I’ve made. I would never have made it were it not for the Inklingo 6″ Clamshell Pickle collection. I can’t even begin to imagine tracing all the little triangles in the arcs but being able to print them made it oh, so achievable and having the templates for the half clamshells really made it easier to choose fabrics for the half pickled clamshells than it may appear. Choosing the fabrics for each clamshell was such fun – lots of fussy cutting/printing which, with a window template, was relatively easy. Making the arcs of the white and black tris went quickly, as it involved lots of continuous stitching. Adding the arcs to the clamshells was another favourite, curved piecing, and then putting the top together was nothing but lots and lots of curved piecing. So the centre of this top definitely had it all as far as I was concerned. Right now it’s approximately 42 x 48.
“Chillin’ ”
A rare moment was captured on the weekend. Baxter and Jake were almost touching as they guarded their favourite toys. Mr. Q.O. captioned this one “Playmates – for now.”
Quilt Obsession 
Oh Cathi! That is all I can say, I am so gobsmacked by this “partial” quilt! t
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Thanks, Tammy! I’m still rather amazed at how it turned out – exactly as I had hoped it would!
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Congrats! A great achievement!
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Thanks, Sara! It has turned out exactly as I had hoped way, way back when I started it!
Cathi
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That is so beautiful!
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Thank you! I enjoyed every second of making it!
Cathi
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Gorgeous, Cathi!
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Thank you!!
Cathi
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Its such an amazing top – I have enjoyed watching the pieces come together and look forward to seeing the borders.
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Thanks, Teresa! I still can’t quite believe it’s finished.
Cathi
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Half pickled clams?!? something about that expression tickles my funny bone.
Beautiful work. I wish I could see it in person. Do you ever enter competitions?
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Thank you! Half pickled clams is funny – it makes me laugh too. I’ve never entered a competition. Cathi
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Cathi, that is so beautiful! I love the flowers in the centres of the clam shells – each unique unto itself. As mentioned above, your work should be in competitions.
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Thanks, Liz. It turned out exactly the way I had hoped it would.
Cathi
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Wow, all those tiny triangles, you have so much more stamina and patience than I ever will have. truly a keeper for yourself. And friends together, Felicity and Boris do that by the fire in the morning. Otherwise he is a terror.
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Those little arcs of triangles were such fun – I loved putting in every stitch! This one is definitely not going to be given away – I’m keeping it for sure.
Cathi
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Ive been following along and am thrilled at how your quilt top has turned out. Its absolutely stunning! Great handiwork as always Cathi.
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Thank you, Brenda! I’m thrilled to bits with it!
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I subscribed to your blog because I love beautiful quilts and cats, and you haven’t disappointed on either! Love the cartoons, too!
Concerning the Alabama beauty block in an earlier post, do you have a pattern available? I haven’t found a good one yet, so would be grateful if you could advise.
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What a lovely compliment – thank you! I used the Inklingo Orange Peel Deluxe collection to make the Alabama Beauty block. It’s also the block that was used in my Chintz Circles pattern, although the pattern doesn’t include templates – but is meant for use along with the Inklingo collection.
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Congrats Cathi. that is a lot of hand stitching! It is beautiful.
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Thanks, Martha! It really didn’t feel like a lot of hand stitching – probably because I was so much fun!
Cathi
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Oh Cathi, it’s beautiful!!
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Thank you!!
Cathi
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cathi, your clam shell top is magnificent. you should be very proud! patti in florida
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Thank you! I am so pleased with it I”m almost beside myself!
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What a
Beautiful quilt!!!! Stunning! I
Love all of the florals.
I know you will
Be sad to see your favorite fabric go. Sorry I’ve not commented,
But I love catching up on your posts
And so glad to see you active again with blogging.
I
Love the mr. Q.o. Toons-‘gator
Is Still Around!
Beautiful kitties. They are fortunate to have you.
I can’t even imagine sleeping under this beauty!!!! Wow!
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Thank you!! I loved picking out all the different flowers to be the centres of the clamshells. ‘Gator almost always make an appearance in the ‘toons. He’s a favourite around here too!
Cathi
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What a tremendous amount of patience you have poured into making such a wonderful quilt.
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Thank you!! It really hasn’t felt like anything but fun to me, as each one of the clamshell pickles was such a delight to see finished, and choosing the fabrics for each one was a great excuse to be going through all my favourite fabrics. The only part that got a tiny bit tedious was when it came time to finally join them all together and adding the edge pieces – then I was getting impatient to see how they were all going to look when together. But I’m not done yet – now it’s time to finish getting the pieced border done and add the borders!
Cathi
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I remmeber when you were working on this and went to find it. Wow! That is a stunner!
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Thank you!! It will be even better — I hope — when I get the border done and attached. I’ve really been dithering about the border but finally had a good idea, I think, so now it’s a matter of getting it done.
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