Just Catting Around

Start with a two-block design and then add a captivating pieced border on opposite corners...what do you get? Pam Goggans' "Just Catting Around" quilt featured in the May/June 2018 issue of Love of Quilting magazine. Pam used Ann Lauer's Cat-I-Tude fabrics in her quilt, but chose the non-cat coordinates for a rich, jewel-toned quilt. If you prefer, you could substitute the cat prints for the paisley and make a feline-friendly version! We asked Pam to talk to us about her quilt design; find her interview below.

"Just Catting Around" by Pam Goggans;
featured in Love of Quilting May/June 2018

What do you find appealing about the Cat-i-tude fabrics?

I love the bright intense colors in the line. I was drawn to the multi prints but also the jeweled paisley and beads on black background. I also loved the tone on tone prints in so many colors.

Do you have a favorite print in the collection that you used?

My fav was the jeweled paisley and I LOVE bright jewel tones on black backgrounds.

Can you talk about your quilt design?

I love to design using simple basic blocks with basic units in contemporary colors. I love using Flying Geese and creating a chevron with two geese is often a unit you will see in my designs. I used Deb Tucker's (Studio 180 Design) Wing Clipper tool in making all of the flying geese in the quilt.  I like the precision I am able to achieve with this tool.

Using two blocks that include the same basic units with just a bit of a twist is often a feature of my designs. (These two blocks have almost the same units but the geese/chevrons point in on the turquoise blocks and out on the fuchsia blocks.) 

How did you decide on color placement in the blocks?

I tend to design mostly scrappy quilts but stuck with a repeating color "recipe" in the two alternating blocks for this project and then used the scrappy pieced border to play with all the fun colors in the Cat-i-tude line.  Many times my designs will include a "secondary" pattern. In this case it was created by the chains from the fuchsia squares and sashing setting squares. I like how it ties the whole quilt together.  

How did you decide on the border treatment?

I often include a border of the background fabric around the body of the quilt so the blocks "float" in the quilt. I also like the look of multiple borders and often include pieced units borrowed from the blocks in at least one of the borders. Sometimes a whole border of the pieced units is just too much, so a few units on two opposing corners is a look I like better. 

Did you notice my mistake?!? I had pieced the quilt, custom machine quilted it, bound it and sent it to the magazine, but it wasn't until I got it back and hung it up that I noticed that one of the sections of chevrons is pointed toward the bottom corner and all of the other ones are pointed away. Oh well. I guess that is my humility block.

How did you machine quilt this, and how did your choices enhance the quilt?

I enjoy the whole process of designing, piecing as well as quilting. The chain in the fuchsia blocks and the absence of the chain in the turquoise block leaves a great open space for quilting, so of course I had to put feathers in all of the open spaces.

What do you like best about the quilt?

I like the diagonal line created by the chain running through the quilt, and often include some diagonal aspect in my designs.  

Click here to see the entire Cat-I-Tude collection by Ann Lauer.

Click here to visit Pam Goggans' website. 

Click here to find the May/June 2018 issue of Love of Quilting.