behind the scenes:
Paws Up! quilt

Raise your paws if you love cats and dogs! I’m super excited to release my new Paws Up! quilt pattern.

Our recently adopted four-year-old Yellow Lab mix, Casey, was the inspiration for Paws Up! Shortly after we adopted her, we discovered that she not only loves to sleep on her back but it is super comfortable for her to stretch one of her long legs up in the air and leave it there while she sleeps. The first time we witnessed this we must have stared (and giggled) at her for 15 minutes.

Happy Gotcha Day! Adopting Casey. — The three of us moments after we signed Casey’s adoption paperwork.

Casey was my muse for designing and drafting Paws Up!, an intermediate foundation paper piecing pattern. Each Paws Up! block, which consists of 2 paws/legs, measures 30″ x 30″. The pattern includes fabric requirements and layouts for 4 sizes— Mini (30″ x 30″), Throw, Twin and Queen. While I think of my Paws Up! quilts as dogs paws, they can certainly be cats too!

Over the past few months I’ve been making LOTS of paws— they look great in solids and prints. Let’s take a look at some of the quilts I’ve been making.

Paws Up! in solid fabrics

I had a lot of fun working with my friends at Art Gallery Fabrics to select fur, pad and claw inspired colors to make a Queen size Paws Up! quilt. Art Gallery recently added 20 new colors to their PURE SOLIDS collection, so I had plenty of choices. Narrowing it down to just 8 sets of colors for the legs/paws was challenging!

The final fabric selection was (all Art Gallery Fabrics PURE SOLIDS):
Fur: Mink, Coffee Bean, Vanilla Custard, Chocolate, Macchiato, Moonstone, Raw Gold and Mystic Grey
Pads & Claws: Miami Sunset, Blossomed, Gentle Feather, Steel, Cotton Candy, Magnetism, Smooth Pebble and Caviar
Background: White Linen

even more Paws Up!

Every time I went into a fabric shop (or looked through my own stash) I kept seeing more potential paws!

Throw size version of Paws Up! with QT Fabrics:
Fur (all Ombre Stitches): Black, Gray, Straw and Brown
Pads & Claws (all Color Blends): Wild Rose, Pewter, Graphite and Charcoal
Background: Illusions Small Dot
Quilted with Aurifil 40wt. cotton—2692 (black), 2606 (gray), 2312 (cream), 2340 (brown), 2024(white),

Mini size version of Paws Up! with Redux by Giuseppe Ribaudo (aka Giucy Giuce) for Andover Fabrics. Quilted with Aurifil 40wt. cotton—2870 (green), 2000 (off-white), 2692 (black)

Paws Up! is a tribute to all of the dogs and cats looking for their forever homes.

make your own Paws Up!

Dog and cat lovers unite! Make your own Paws Up! for an animal lover in your life or for yourself. Get your copy of the pattern here.

UPDATE: Check out Whole Circle Studio LIVE! (episode #3, aired May 2, 2020) — meet Casey, hear about her adoption story and learn how she inspired Paws Up!