It took a full year to turn my brown Beeper the Maine Coon Fabric Jigsaw kit into a ginger cat version. A whole year. The good news? I learned a lot along the way.
When I started, I honestly thought this would be easy. I assumed I could simply source new fabric colors, update the color names in the instructions, make a new sample for photos, and send her out into the world.
That plan did not quite work out.
How I Design an Appliqué Kit
For those of you who enjoy seeing what happens behind the scenes, here’s a simplified look at my appliqué design process.
It begins with drawing the design on the computer and breaking it into individual color sections. From there, I make sure none of the pieces are too small to work in fabric—because fabric will only tolerate being cut so far before it simply disappears.
Next comes piece counting. Large appliqué designs often start with 70 to 100 pieces. That’s far more than most quilters want to deal with. Since my goal is always “We do the prep work so you can have the fun of creating,” I spend a lot of time combining pieces and simplifying the design without losing detail.
Once the piece count is manageable, I create a digital mock-up using the fabrics I plan to use. This step involves a lot of tweaking until the colors feel right. Then I order the fabric and hope it matches the swatches—hand-dyed fabric is beautiful, but it doesn’t always behave predictably.
While waiting for the fabric to arrive, I revisit the mock-up repeatedly. Seeing the design in watercolor-style fabric often reveals pieces that aren’t truly necessary.
When I’m confident the design is as streamlined as possible, I create the laser cut files, accounting for the tiny amount of fabric that burns away during cutting so the pieces fit together perfectly. Then I cut and assemble a prototype, taking notes on the best assembly order and any final adjustments before adding frames and tabs.
And that’s just the design phase. It doesn’t include fusing, laser cutting, writing instructions, packaging, or kitting.
Why the Ginger Cat Took So Long
As it turned out, the ginger version sent me almost back to the beginning.
The fabric I ordered was far too bright—it stood out like a neon sign. The eyes disappeared against the gold fabric, and the pale yellow I had planned didn’t give the cat enough definition. In the end, I had to remove the fluffy edges entirely and rethink the color balance.
But I worked through it.
Even though this process sounds complicated (and sometimes it is), I truly love doing this kind of detailed design work. In the end, the Calli Cat Fabric Jigsaw kit came together beautifully—and she was absolutely worth the journey.
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