“Guarding the Catnip”

I came up with an idea for the Fifteen by Fifteen GARDEN challenge theme fairly quickly. But I didn’t start working on it until the last minute. The reveal for the group is tomorrow. You might want to check it out.
My quilt was made in memory of our 17 year old cat that we had to put to sleep two months ago.  His name was Meeko, but we used to call him “Mr. Grumpy Pants.”  He could be affectionate, but he could also be very nasty.  He never went outside, but he did love his catnip.  He chewed apart all the catnip mice that I ever made him.  Or he put them in his water dish or the toilet!  Yes you read that correctly!! He was also very possessive of his catnip mice which is the reason I wanted to have him standing guard in a catnip garden.
Meeko is painted with  So Soft fabric paints by Decoart on white fabric.  I rarely paint so I was a bit worried how this would come out. Plus the photo that I had to work with was small and not very clear.  I think this was the reason that I waited until the last minute to work on the quilt. Amazingly it actually looks like him and came out pretty good. The thing that really makes it look like him are the intense eyes.
He was cut out and fused to the background and the catnip was “planted” around him from commercial fabrics.  His whiskers were drawn in with oil pastels and then quilted.

I wonder if Meeko is still being grumpy in kitty heaven and enjoying his catnip.  Now onto the challenge for my 12 inch by 12 inch group.

Thanks for reading.
Chris