Tiny Tuesday Block 3: Kitten

This kitten is 5 inches square unfinished so it can be adopted for SoScrappy's Tiny Tuesday Quilt. You can also get a PDF version from SoScrappy by going here.

To make this block you will need to cut the following from the background fabric:

one 2 inch square
two 1.25 inch squares
one 1.25 by 2.75 inch rectangle

For the kitten cut:

three 1.25 inch squares
one 2 by 2.75 inch rectangle
one 2.75 by 4.25 inch rectangle
one 1.25 by 5 inch rectanlge/strip

The layout above approximates where each of the kitten parts will go.

First, let's use flip triangles to make the kitten ears. Take two of the 1.25 inch red squares and lay them on either ends of the 1.25 by 2.75 inch background rectangle. In the photo above, I have drawn the stitch line. You will sew from corner to corner as shown about one thread width away from the true diagonal. The sewing doesn't have to be exact, but do not stray above the diagonal.

Also, do not cut anything until you have sewn the squares to the rectangle. You will next iron back the triangle so the top corner matches the bottom corner of the ear and background fabric. If you iron this precisely, it won't matter as much if the sewing isn't as precise.

You will also want to sew the two 1.25 inch squares of background and kitten fabric together.

And last but not least, sew a flip triangle to the top right hand corner of the large kitten rectangle. Iron and trim the flip triangle.

After you have carefully ironed the square over on its diagonal, then you can trim away the excess underneath leaving roughly a quarter inch for the seam.

You may find more information about flip triangles in this kitten tutorial, but be warned that these kittens are a different size and shape.

If everything has gone to plan, you should be able to lay out the six remaining kitten parts.

Next, sew the kitten ears to the kittens head. Iron towards the kitten head.
Then sew the tail tip to the 2 inch square of background fabric. Iron toward the tail tip.

For this step you will be sewing the kitten head and ears to the background section with the tail tip. Hopefully the two seams will nestle together happily.

It's now time to sew the kitten's head to its body.

And last, but not least, sew the tail strip along the side of the cat from tail tip to its hind end. And speaking of ending, you're done.

For the Tiny Tuesday project, you will only want to make one kitten. However, you may want to have a kitten that faces to the right (although they tend to act more like dogs and eat too much).

Here is the layout for the right facing kitten. The most important steps to watch out for is that the background flip triangle now goes in the upper left hand corner of the body. Then the background sections get sewn on the left hand side of the kitten's head.