Cross Stitch Patterns by designer Pamela Kellogg of Kitty And Me Designs

The Blog Of Cross Stitch Designer Pamela Kellogg
Kitty And Me Designs

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Kitty And Me Designs

Celebrating 35 years of Needlework!!!!

Monday, October 31, 2005

Happy Halloween!

I thought I'd share a few festive photos that I took yesterday around my house.

First, I thought you'd like to see the pumpkins that we carved to sit in the pots on our deck. We put tealights in these at night and they look so cool out there!

Pumpkin1

Pumpkin2

Next is a photo of my Garden Window. I decorated it with some real pumpkins, so artificial purple grapes and two of my little vintage kitty figurines.

HarvestGardenWindow

Last but not least, a photo of my black cat Nightmare. Yes, he's sitting on my kitchen table but he's so beautiful sitting there so I took a picture of him.

Nightmare3

Happy Halloween!

All That Jazz In 3D


All That Jazz 3D
Originally uploaded by Kitty And Me.
Before I sent my block off to Sharon, I took some photos of it with my digi camera. Now that I discovered that the camera has a flash (ha, ha, ha!) I've been able to take much better photos!

I thought I'd post this photo so you can see how 3 dimensional crazy quilt blocks are. The dimension is usually lost when scanning but it really pops with the camera!

Sunday, October 30, 2005

No Update On Christmas Block Today

I've had quite a bit of x stitch design work lately and have been trying to get caught up on that so I haven't had alot energy in the evenings to stitch. I've been just kind of sitting and watching TV although without baseball, I can't find anything good to watch!

Gina asked me what I plan to do with the blocks I make. I plan to sew them into small wall quilts.
I'll border them with fabric and will probably do a tatted edging to frame the actual block and then bind them. The nice thing about tatting is that I can connect the ends so that it's all one piece!

Friday, October 28, 2005

Christmas Block Day 7


Christmas Block Day 7
Originally uploaded by Kitty And Me.
Does it seem that this block is moving in slow motion? I've struggled with it a bit, although I am pleased with how it's coming out, I'm just not sure on the embellishments like I usually am.

I had wanted to bead the lace piece on the right so I tried several different things and nothing seemed to work. Perhaps it's not meant to be embellished any further.

I did add some tiny gold seed beads to the centers of the rosebud appliques and I did a feather stitch in gold with red and green bugle beads at the top right. I think that looks pretty cool. I also added some more small brown pearls to the antique lace piece at the top.

I plan to add my signature next and then we'll see where it goes after that.

Thursday, October 27, 2005

Tree Ornament

I don't have an update for you today on my Christmas CQ Block. I was kind of tired yesterday when I finished my work so I just sat and watched TV last night. Despite being a Cub fan, I'm very pleased that the White Sox won the World Series. Although, I'm a little sad that baseball season is officially over now. Whatever will I watch?!

Anyway, instead, I thought I'd share with you a Christmas ornament that I made earlier this year using one of my iron-on transfers. A WorkBasket transfer.

Tree Ornament

I stitched this on plain muslin, using DMC varigated green for the branches. I added some bugle beads for the candles, big red sequins for the ornaments and star sequin for the top of the tree.

If you'd like see this same design done in Redwork, visit Turkey Feathers blog. Specifically, this post.

Vicki used this design on valances for her kitchen. Very cute! Vicki also offers several free holiday patterns including this little tree on her Patternbee website so please take a peek!

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Christmas Block Day 6


Christmas Block Day 6
Originally uploaded by Kitty And Me.
This block seems to be flowing a little easier now.

I added some gold beads to the antique lace piece at the top. Then some gold braid to the antique lace on the right along with some tiny rosebud appliques. I did a feather stitch on the left seam, tatted some tiny rings without picots and sewed those on and then beaded that.

I also added the little Christmas piece. This was an earring that I bought at a flea market over the Summer. I took the clip off of the back so that it would lay flat and sewed it down.

I mentioned yesterday that I was thinking of hand coloring the poinsettia with oil pastels but Kay Susan suggested that it was fine the way it was, that it was a perfect focal point so I think I'll take her advice and let it be. I do want to add some little pine branches or curly q's but I want to finish embellishing the seams first before I do that.

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Christmas Block Day 5


Christmas Block Day5
Originally uploaded by Kitty And Me.
As you can see, I didn't accomplish much on this block yesterday. I did the Maidenhair Stitch on the left side of the poinsettia and added a few beads and that's about it.

This block seems to need alot of thought. One would think a Victorian style Christmas block would be easy but instead, I find myself staring it for long periods of time, trying to decide on what to do next.

I do know that the poinsettia needs to be toned down a bit. I will probably hand color it with oil pastels once the stitching is complete.

Hopefully, I'll have more to share tomorrow.

Monday, October 24, 2005

Christmas Block Day 4


Christmas Block Day 4
Originally uploaded by Kitty And Me.
I didn't get a lot of stitching time in over the weekend. I cut back the garden and that took alot of time. It looks really boring outside now without my plants.

But I did add a few little red glass flower beads to the crocheted peice at the top along with some glass leaf beads and tiny brown pearls.

Am planning on working on this a little later today. I either need to soften the poinsettia a bit, or I need to bring some the of that color into the rest of the block.

Friday, October 21, 2005

Christmas Block Day 3


Christmas Block Day 3
Originally uploaded by Kitty And Me.
I didn't get as much stitching in last night as I had wanted to. But I did add some red poinsettias to the curly vine. I did lazy daisy stitch flowers with a Watercolor thread from The Caron Collection, added a few lazy daisy leaves with a DMC Perle cotton and then filled them in with some Mill Hill beads. They're not quite as sparkly as I wanted them but they were the only color I had that worked with the over all block.

I have some green holly leaf sequins which I hope will work with the poinsettia in the center. I'll give those a try later today.

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Christmas Block Day 2


Christmas Block Day 2
Originally uploaded by Kitty And Me.
I did some more stitching on the Christmas block last night. I finished the poinsettia and added some glittery gold beads to the center. I added another piece of lace as well. I chose this piece because of the nice soft curve that it has. That sharp point that was there kind of bothered me. I think this piece was from a lace collar and I believe it's rather old. It came in a big bag of vintage laces and crocheted pieces that I found at a flea market over the Summer. I also started some curly vines at the bottom of the poinsettia. I really like the movement of curly vines. The bottom needs some more red so we'll see what I come up with for that.

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Laren's Blackwork Shirt

Laren at The Needle's Excellency, has made a lot of progress on her blackwork shirt. She's reached the point of contruction and it's going to together beautifully! Be sure to read the historical background of this project here.

Christmas Block Day 1


Christmas Block Day 1
Originally uploaded by Kitty And Me.
I finally started this block. I actually did the outline of the poinsettia on Monday, using the tissue paper technique, but I did it in metallic gold and it didn't show up against the gold crushed velvet in the scan so I didn't post it yesterday. I started the satin stitching last night.

I also added the piece of antique lace which I bought at a flea market this past Summer. That was an ecru color which looked rather muddy with this block but I really liked the way the piece looked so I pulled out my dyes and I gave it that aged yellow cast which seems to work well with the fabrics on this block.

I think I forgot to mention the fabrics for this block. The center piece is a crushed velvet, the metallic gold is some type of a foil fabric and the other 3 fabrics are cotton with gold metallics and glitter.

I have some chores to do (do they ever end?) and then I'll be working on this later today so I should have an update for you tomorrow.

Sunday, October 16, 2005

Doing Some More Cleaning!

Sometimes I just get a bee in my bonnet and once I get going, I just can't stop! I've been doing some more cleaning. Moved all the furniture in my living room yesterday and vacuumed everything, even the corners! I just can't wait to rip that carpet out and replace it with hardwood floors! It's the only room we haven't put hardwood in yet. I really can't find enough negative words to describe how I feel about carpeting.

I started washing the windows in my kitchen on Friday but I can't reach the garden window without the ladder which I can't lift to get out of the garage so I'm at the mercy of my husband! I'm hoping he'll do it for me. I'm getting ready to go wash the windows in my car and Scott's car now. If he gets me an extention cord, I can vacuum the floors in the cars too!

Hopefully, I'll time to stitch later, while the Chicago White Sox win their trip to the World Series!

Friday, October 14, 2005

Christmas Block


Christmas Block
Originally uploaded by Kitty And Me.
One of the girls at my cross stitch chat board asked me what my next Crazy Quilt project will be. Well, as I mentioned yesterday, I sewed up 4 new blocks. So the first to be stitched will be this Christmas themed square. I'm thinking of a white poinsettia in the center. I don't know if I'll start on this today or not but it will be my next CQ project.

As you can see at the bottom right, I somehow backed myself into a corner. So I top stitched the green. Crazy Quilting is very forgiving. I'm sure I'll find a great way to hide that!

Thursday, October 13, 2005

Kitty In Teapot


KittyInTeapot
Originally uploaded by Kitty And Me.
When I finished my All That Jazz block, I started stitching up this cute little Vogart kitty. I finished this last night and will eventually sew it into a doorknocker.

I usually sew up doorknockers when I have 3 or 4 of them do. I promised one of my readers that I'll take pictures and write up directions for finishing doorknockers and post it here. So stay tuned for that.

I've finished my design work for the week so today, I'll be pulling out my stash and sewing up several crazy quilt blocks. I have some neat ideas for new ones!

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Crazy Quilt Eye Candy

First, I'd like to say thanks to everyone who commented on my "All That Jazz" block. I'm really pleased with how it came out despite my being so unsure of what to do in the beginning.

To refresh everyone's memory, the symbolism is as follows:

Fabric - Mardi Gras
Butterfly - Hope
Music buttons - Jazz
Floral applique - Magnolia Branch
Vine - Bougainvilla
Fan - Wrought Iron
Spider - Luck
Forgetmenot spray - for those who lost their lives due to the storm
Cat - My Signature

For some wonderful Crazy Quilt eye candy, be sure to visit Chloe's Place. Linda just received back some blocks that I believe were from a Round Robin.

Also, for more eye candy and a wonderful post on embellishing crazy quilts, visit Sharon's In A Minute Ago blog. I was delighted this morning to see such beauty first thing in the day and then to have a wonderful post to read at Sharon's was great!

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

All That Jazz Complete


All That Jazz Complete
Originally uploaded by Kitty And Me.
My All That Jazz block is now complete!

I added some more of the little music buttons to the top, I embellished the braid underneath the buttons with some Czech glass fire polished beads and some glass bugle beads.

The Victorians believed that it was good luck if they had a spider in their house and since the south needs alot of luck with clean up and rebuilding, I decided to add a spider to my block. The web is worked with gold Kreinik #4 braid, the spider body is made of 2 glass beads and I did the legs with DMC #5 Perle Cotton.

I'm going to look at this for a few days to make sure it doesn't need anything else and then I'll pack it off and ship it to Sharon in Australia.

Monday, October 10, 2005

All That Jazz Day 8


All That Jazz Day 8
Originally uploaded by Kitty And Me.
Almost done! I added some sequins to the "magnolia branch" to give them added sparkle, some pink glass pearls to the "bougainvilla vine" to make that stand out a bit more, some star sequins to the music theme down at the bottom and then I started to bring that music them up to the top.

Oh and I added that little fan to the top left. That represents the wrought iron, popular on southern buildings.

I'll be embellishing the braids yet and adding some more of my cool music buttons. It's almost done. If all goes well today, I might have it completed tonight.

Sunday, October 09, 2005

No Update On All That Jazz For Today

Sorry, I didn't work on it last night. I was kind of tired yesterday and just sat and watched TV. Something I almost never do! But I do plan to work on it here shortly so I expect to have an update for you tomorrow.

Saturday, October 08, 2005

All That Jazz Day 7


All That Jazz Day 7
Originally uploaded by Kitty And Me.
Just a quick update on my All That Jazz block.

I added a representation of Bougainvilla to the bottom left-hand corner. It's not an exact representation mind you. According to my research, it appears to me that Bougainvilla is a 3 petal cluster flower. Well, I like alot of movement on my blocks so I did a vine with 3 petal flowers. I may still add some type of pink beads to the vine to make it look a little bit fuller.

I also added some trim (very sparkly) beneath the vine and I added a tiny white rosebud applique to my signature.

More tomorrow....

Friday, October 07, 2005

All That Jazz Day 6


All That Jazz Day 6
Originally uploaded by Kitty And Me.
More progress on this block. I beaded the leaves on the lace applique, I added some white pearly leaves to it as well and some round pink beads. I did a simple geometric pattern along the purple seamline beneath the applique and I added my signature.

I painted some more of the music buttons last night so I'll be tucking a few more of those in here and there.

I also plan to do something that resembles Bougainvilla in the bottom lefthand corner. Wish me luck!

Thursday, October 06, 2005

My Kitchen


Kitchen
Originally uploaded by Kitty And Me.
Well, specifically, my dining area. I was clearing out some unneeded files on my computer and I found this photo. My husband didn't think to move the stuff on the table and chair.

Anyway, here you can get a better idea of the stenciling that I did. You can also see my Hoosier cabinet. We bought that a few years back at a flea market. It was covered in I don't know how many coats of paint. Scott took it all apart, striped it, put it back together and refinished it. I keep my cookbooks in the top, my extra skeins of DMC floss in the flour bin and my cross stitch books in the cabinet underneath.

The table is antique too. It's oak and has the lion's feet on the bottom. We bought that also at a flea market for only $40. Scott stripped and refinished it. He's now working on a set of mismatched antique dining chairs.

The doors to the left of the photo are where my washer and dryer are and the room in the back is my office and where I store my stash.

All That Jazz Day 5


All That Jazz Day 5
Originally uploaded by Kitty And Me.
I made some significant progress on this block last night. I painted the instruments and tiny notes with an 18 ct. gold leaf pen and attached them last night. I handpainted the floral applique which is supposed to represent a magnolia branch (I know, they look more like apple blossoms) and I sewed that on and started beading the centers. The bottom two flowers aren't attached yet because I still have to decide on what to do with that seam. Once I figure out what I'm going to do with it, then I'll attach the bottom portion of the applique. I also added the gold braid at the top left. It doesn't show well here, but it's very sparkly and I felt it needed something gold to balance out the gold from the instruments.

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

All That Jazz Day 4


All That Jazz Day 4
Originally uploaded by Kitty And Me.
As you can see, I embroidered a wavy music staff beneath the butterfly. I used 2 strands of DMC cotton floss. I'm going to add some of the music buttons to the staff, specifically the instruments. I looked for my gold paint pen this morning but I can't find it so I'm going to run up to Michaels now and pick up another one.

I think it took me longer to get the tissue paper out from under the stitching than it did to actually stitch it!

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

All That Jazz Day 3


All That Jazz Day 3
Originally uploaded by Kitty And Me.
I stitched on this for a few hours last night. I added the gold beads to the butterfly's wings. And then I added a sprig of Forgetmenots. The leaves and stem are worked with 2 strands of DMC cotton floss. The flowers are tiny plastic beads.

Monday, October 03, 2005

Contrast

I've been thinking about my current needlework trends. Specifically, what I do with my personal stitching time. Yes, I design counted cross stitch for a living but I don't do cross stitching anymore.

It became so incredibly boring to me. I love designing it! But it became too repetative. Same 3 stitches over and over again. I often wonder how many cross stitchers have reached this point but maybe don't know how to do any other techniques.

I guess I was rather fortunate that my mom and grandmother taught me to stitch back when I was I don't know, somewhere between 8 and 10 years old. I learned the basic outline & stem stitches back then and lazy daisies and I can still see my grandmother trying to teach me how to do french knots. Eventually I moved onto needlepoint which I didn't like much because I didn't like to fill in the background. I still enjoy a small needlepoint project now and then but nothing big. I did some rug hooking, and eventually learned to cross stitch.

Shortly after I married my husband, my grandfather gave me my grandmother's sewing machine so I bought a few patterns marked "Easy" and I taught myself to sew with a bit of over the phone guidence from my mom. But I didn't care for making clothes.

Not long before we bought our house, I decided to make a quilt. It's a simple postage stamp patchwork quilt. I cut every 2 1/2 inch square with scissors rather than a rotary cutter. I don't think they were available back then. Anyway, I really enjoyed sewing the squares together but was totally bored with the handquilting. Back then I didn't know you could do it on the sewing machine. I only recently bought my walking foot!

But I continued on and made several more patchwork quilts. And I handquilted 2 1/2 of them. Yes, one is only 1/2 done. I do work on it over the Winter months but can't stand to have it in my lap in the Summer despite air conditioning. There are 4 more waiting to be quilted in my closet here!

Most of you know that I eventually went back to simple iron-on transfer embroidery and then discovered crazy quilting. Isn't it intersting, the contrast between the two? One is so incredibly simplistic, easy to do, easy to look at and yet so charming. And the other, so complex, so detailed and busy. Abstract but with bits of realism, well mine have some realistic touches usually. Crazy Quilts whether large or small, are truly objects of comtemplation.

The contrast between the simplistic and the complex is so extreme, I wonder if these two forms of needlework are in some way, a represention of my personality. Do our needlework likes and dislikes tell us anything about our deeper selves? Things that go beyond what we enjoy and don't enjoy? Food for thought huh?

A Productive Day On Sunday

Now that my All That Jazz block is under way, I spent yesterday morning doing the finishing on 5 projects on my sewing machine. Four of them were Christmas gifts and I feel good that I have those projects done now.

I've been wanting to do some simple embroidery so I pulled out my transfers, my lightbox and my stash of bleached muslin and I spent a few hours tracing some things to stitch.

Tracing1

This one is a Vogart from a set of towels and other small kitchen designs. I love these little animated things. I'll make it into a doorknocker for my kitchen.

Tracing2

Another from my collection of Vogart transfers. I didn't think to scan the envelopes when I had them out. Anyway, this one was for a towel too but will be another little doorknocker.

Tracing3

This is a Superior transfer from a set of 6 towel designs. Ok, another doorknocker.

Tracing4

This one is another Vogart pattern for pillowcases. I just love this little bird on the violin. I bought prefinished white pillowcases from Walmart.

Tracing5

You may remember that I stitched this one once already, earlier this Summer. I love this little design so much so I'm going to do it again. I don't know which pattern company did this design. This is a set of 7 towel designs but 1 is missing. They came in a batch of loose transers that I bought from Ebay. Yes, this will be another doorknocker. I really like making them. I have them hanging all over my house!

So later today, when I finish my work, I'll most likely do some more stitching on my All That Jazz block. I'm feeling much more clear on what I want to do with it so it should start to progress more quickly now.

Sunday, October 02, 2005

All That Jazz Day 2


All That Jazz Day 2
Originally uploaded by Kitty And Me.
I have the butterfly filled in now. I used 3 strands of DMC cotton floss and 1 strand of Kreinik Blending Filament in the blue part. It's a perfect focal point.

I feel so much better about this now. I was having such a terrible creative block over this piece. The theme was just throwing me off.

Anyway, as I mentioned in yesterday's post, I'm going to be adding some forgetmenot flowers to represent those who lost their lives to the storm. I may also add a wavy music staff to help make my cute little buttons work.

I also need to Google Bouganvilla flowers. My mom said they're pink and this block could definately use some more hot pink. I have no idea what they look like because the don't grow up north where I live but they're quite popular in southern gardens so I thought they might make a nice addition.

Saturday, October 01, 2005

October Is Breast Cancer Awareness Month


Breast Cancer Awareness
Originally uploaded by Kitty And Me.
Many of you know that I strongly support the Susan G. Komen Foundation and their work in helping to find a cure for Breast Cancer.

For my readers who are cross stitchers, I offer 2 Breast Cancer awareness designs.

The "Dove Of Hope" design is complimentary and is available as a PDF file downloadable from my Kitty & Me webpage.

The "Pink Ribbon" design is available with a small donation to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Details can be found on my Kitty & Me webpage. Click on "My Art" for more information.

All That Jazz Finally Started!


All That Jazz Day 1
Originally uploaded by Kitty And Me.
Well, after beating my head against the wall for days, I finally decided on what to do with this.

In the words of the old song, "I gotta be me!" meaning, I was trying too hard to do something that wasn't my taste.

I don't care for Jazz (give me Mozart and Vivaldi)and I'm not big on parties or get-togethers so the whole jazz/mardi gras thing just wasn't working for me.

I still love my block and I'm glad I used the fabrics and colors that I did. But I've changed the theme of my block. The south will rise again "On The Wings Of Hope" represented by the butterfly.

I'll be including some Forgetmenot flowers in rememberance of those who lost their lives due to the storm.

I still plan to use my cool little music buttons that mom found for me but I think it will have a more traditional Crazy Quilt look than what I had originally planned on.

I still have to fill in the butterfly. I'll be using DMC embroidery floss and some Kreinik Blending Filament. Once I get that done, then I'll start on the seam treatments.

Stay tuned!
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