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

The Blog Of Cross Stitch Designer Pamela Kellogg
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Thursday, November 30, 2006

Can't Part With This One!

Isn't this pretty?

Blue Lace

It looks like something off a Victorian Wedding Dress! I don't think I can part with it. I can see it on a purse. Of course, I can see everything on a purse! You know they're a weakness of mine!

My lace is all starched and pressed and ready for packaging which I'll be doing shortly.

I'd like to ask my readers a question. What would you prefer if you were to purchase some of this lace, would you prefer packages that have a variety of small pieces such as 6 inch or 8 inch pieces or would you prefer large 1 yard pieces? I'd love some input so I know how to package it up in the future.

We're supposed to get alot of snow this afternoon and evening. They're calling for 12 inches or more. EWWWWWWW..........quite honestly, it hasn't even started yet and I already feel like an animal in a cage. So glad I have lots of fabric, threads, beads and buttons to place with!

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Old Lace, Cupid And A Nightmare!

I didn't manage any stitching time last night. When I finished up my regular design work, I hand-painted the lace that I bought last weekend. Here's the before photo:

Lace Unpainted

And here's what it looks like now:

Lace Painted

It's all ready now for starch and pressing. I hope to get that done today but I have this need to run my sewing machine for awhile so I'll be doing that first today and then I'll see how much time I have after that.

PatternNuts asked me yesterday if I would be willing to show the back of my Redwork Cupid. She's going to be stitching a redwork design and wanted to see what the back should look like. I don't mind showing the back of my work at all so PatternNuts, here's the photo you asked for:

Redwork Cupid

Stitching a redwork or outline embroidery design is not all that different from counted cross stitch in the sense that you shouldn't carry your threads too far and you can weave the tails in under near by stitches. I never clip my threads close until I've completed the stitching. Now, my grandmother always knotted her threads on the back. Technically, they should be woven in under other threads rather than knotted but I'll admit, I tie knots because that's how my grandma taught me to do it.

On a final note before I head off to my sewing machine, I thought you would enjoy this photo of my Nightmare kitty taken on Thanksgiving. He loves turkey and yes, he begs! And yes, Mommy spoils him rotten!

Nightmare Begging For Turkey

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Redwork Cupid

I don't have anything too terribly exciting to share today. I worked on my current charted design project until about 6:00 last night and by then was kind of tired and didn't feel up to stitching.

I started on this redwork cupid last week:

Redwork Cupid

I really want to be crazyquilting but I have to sew up a few things to stitch on and won't have time until my design work for the week is done. If I complete it today, I can run my sewing machine tomorrow!

Monday, November 27, 2006

I'm Back!

Hi everyone! Sorry I didn't make time to post over the weekend. It takes me awhile to get my brains back in my head after a holiday. Our Thanksgiving was very nice but I'll admit, I'm happy to get back to my work, my stitching and my blog!

It was a busy weekend but I did manage to get a little stitching time in:

CQ Bookmark

I was able to start on this bookmark Sat. evening and I completed it last night. I'm not sure how I will do the finishing on it yet but when I figure it out, I'll post another photo here.

I did get to do a bit of antiquing on Friday. No malls or holiday shopping for me on the day after Thanksgiving! I can't stand crowds, noise or commotion so my in-laws and I went to a couple of antique malls. I found some vintage lace which I've already washed and will hand-paint over the next couple of days.

Since I have the booth at the "brick & mortar" store now, I've removed all of my handmade pieces from my Etsy shop. I've decided to go with patterns, kits and supplies for the crazyquilter, the fiber artist and the embroiderer. I have tons of really neat and fun ideas! So check the shop occasionally to see what I come up with!

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello everyone and Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours! Our turkey is in the oven, the house is spotless and all I have left to do is set the table and make mashed potatos!

Thought I'd share with you today the Thanksgiving invitation that I sent out:

Turkey

I used a victorian postcard, removed the "Happy Thanksgiving" text in my graphic software and then added my own text. I just love this pretty little turkey's face!

Also in today's news, the new issue of Zweigart's At Home With Needlework magazine is out:

Zweigart Nov 06

This is a list of my designs which appear in this issue:

Partridge Joy
Season's Greetings
Let It Snow
Winter Watch
(the 3 afghans in the "history of Zweigart afghans" article)
Little Buddies Towel Borders
Welcome Winter Table Topper (cover design)

That's it for today's news! I have to go check on my turkey. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday!

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Crayon Tinted Bunny

I had some stitching time yesterday afternoon, just as I had predicted so I stitched up this little bunny design:

Crayon Tinted Bunny

I had crayon tinted the flowers and then stitched the entire design with Sampler Threads from The Gentle Art. I added a few orange seed beads to the flower centers for sparkle. I still need to clip the threads a bit shorter on the back and then I can sew it into a doorknocker. Thought it would be a nice Spring item in my booth at the shop.

If you like this design and would like to have the pattern to stitch, you can find it on my Flickr site here. Then click on the set to the right titled, "Embroidery Motifs".

As for my chores today, all I have left to do is to wash the floor in the living room and do some laundry (always) and then I'll have time to stitch so maybe I'll have something cool to share tomorrow in case anyone else has time to relax a bit and hop around the blogs.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Girl With A Kitten Purse Complete!

I completed the stitching on this last night. Oh, what is it about crazyquilting that is so interesting to do and so interesting to look at? I have been doing one form of needlework or another since I was 8 years old. That's almost 40 years of stitching and I have never found any technique that I enjoy nearly as much as crazyquilting.

Girl With Kitten Purse

All that's left to do is the assembly which I won't be able to get to now until next week sometime. I have company coming for Thanksgiving this week so I have a bit more cleaning to do and I need to make my grocery list for shopping tomorrow.

I do need to have some stitching time later. I just don't feel good without a little stitching time each day. I decided to do a bit of outline embroidery so I do expect to have something to share with you tomorrow.

To those of you who wished me luck with my booth in the brick & mortar store, thank you so much. Quite honestly, I was terribly frustrated with my things sitting in a drawer up in the dresser in the guest room. They're so beautiful but photography, esp. mine, can't capture the dimension or the sparkle of all the beads and sequins that I use. At least this way, my quilts and purses can be seen in person which is what they need to be truly appreciated.

Well, I'm off to do some more chores. But I'd rather be stitching!

Monday, November 20, 2006

Girl With A Kitten Purse Update

I didn't have alot of time to work on this over the weekend. Some of you may remember that DH and I remodeled our Living Room in the Spring. We decided to put it on hold for the Summer (actually, he decided that and I went along with it) and now we're getting back to it. I spent the weekend painting the ceiling so we can hang the new ceiling fan. I did get to work on this for about 1 1/2 hours last night:

Girl With Kitten Purse

It's actually almost complete. It needs my little cat and maybe a few old buttons. I also have some new glass butterfly beads and I think one of those might work nicely on it.

Another thing I did this weekend, this is very exciting, at least for me! I rented a display case at an unique gift shop up in the next town, Richmond Illinois. This is a beautiful shop with fine antiques and collectibles and beautiful work done by unique local artists. It's rather ironic how this happened. I went to a few antique shops here in town on Friday looking for more old lace. I only found a little bit:

Lace Appliques 2

So I decide to go up to Richmond on Sat. to see if I could find a bit more. It's only 15 minutes down the road from me. Richmond has alot of nice little specialty shops and antique shops, reminds me alot of Galena Illinois but on a much smaller scale.

Anyway, I had one of my purses with me when I went into this shop and the owner commented on it. We started talking and she was so taken with my work that she invited me to either rent a space or bring a few things in on consignment. After talking to DH about it, we decided we would rent a space and see how things go.

So, I put a bunch of my items on the "inactive" list over at Etsy and spent a few hours yesterday afternoon setting up my display at the real brick & morter store!! It was a little last minute so I didn't have time to really set it up the way I want it but it's a good start and it's a busy store so I'm hoping my things do well there. I'll probably rotate items with the holidays and seasons. It's a lighted case and that really shows off the sparkle and dimension of my crazyquilts and it's a locked case which makes me feel much more comfortable about leaving my things there.

So if any of my readers live in northeastern Illinois or southeastern Wisconsin, and want to see my work in person, you can find them at:

Auntie Libby's Cottage
10331 N. Main St.
Richmond, Illinois 60071
Booth #20

Also, if you're interested in the vintage handpainted lace appliques, they're available over at my Etsy shop!

Saturday, November 18, 2006

We Have A Winner!!!

Oh, so many of you guessed correctly!

I checked the times on both Thursdays post and Fridays post and the winner is, Julia who posted Friday morning at 9:57!

Yes, it's a frame for a special button:

Girl With Kitten Purse

My mother in law gave me that button a few years ago and I've been saving it for something special for myself. It has a high shank on it and I didn't want to flop around too much or get lost in all the other do-dads.

I went through my stash, looking for something that would help frame it or make it stand out. I found some of these little crocheted things:

Crocheted Ring

My mom said that there popular to make back in the 40's and 50's. They're little plastic or bone rings and women used to crochet around them and use them for light pulls and curtain tie-backs. Ok.

Anyway, I must have gotten some in some bag of stuff that I bought from a flea market one time and it occured to me when I saw them that I could handpaint them and then bead around them. So that's what I did! And my idea worked as you can see. It makes the button stand up and stand out!

So Julia who posted at 9:57 am on Friday morning, please email me with your address and I'll mail out your button frame. You can find my email link on my main Kitty & Me Designs website:

And if anyone else would like one, I did a few extras and you can find them here.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to post their guesses! I had a great time reading them all. This was so much fun, I'm now thinking of something I can do for another contest!

Friday, November 17, 2006

Contest - One More Day

Oh, I can't believe how close some of you are! I really want someone to win one of these!!! It's so simple, when you find out what it's for, you're going to want to bonk your head on your monitor!!!

Girl With Kitten Purse

Look at it closely. I'll give you another hint, it is a sort of frame. It's for showcasing something very special such as in "old" or "vintage".

Ok, I'll give you all until tomorrow (Saturday) and then I'll reveal what it is. Please ladies, it's so easy! Think about the things we love to add to crazyquilts!!!

A quick note on the Etsy front, things seem to be calming down there a bit so I've been able to list my peacocks and a few other things. It's still a little slow at times but everything seems to be functioning now. If you're looking for some Mill Hill beads, vintage lace or my peacocks, click here.

And keep posting those guesses!!!! I had a ball reading them all!

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Girl With A Kitten Purse and Contest!

I did a bit more stitching on this last night, not alot though. I spent some time making the pink circle of beads that you see to the right:

Girl With Kitten Purse

While working on it, I had a really cool idea for a contest here!

So here's the deal, the first person to correctly guess what that is (not what it used to be but what it is now) and post their guess in the comment section here, will win one. If you live outside the US, don't be afraid to post your guess because I will ship internationally.

I'll give you a hint, something special goes in the center!

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Peacock Cushions

Well, I was finally able to list the lace in my Etsy shop! I also added a few needlework and craft books

Book Blackwork Embroidery

but by the time I got to adding these, the site slowed way down and I gave up for the moment!

Rose Garden Peacock Cushion

Autumn Peacock Cushion

I finished these over the weekend. Thought they would make pretty little cushions for sitting on a bed, chair or shelf. They're about 7 1/2 inches square. I still want to do a Winter themed peacock block but haven't been able to come up with the right combination of fabrics. I want to do the peacock in white so I have to be sure that it will show up well.

Speaking of Etsy, the new version will be great as soon as it speeds up a bit. It's very professional looking and rather elegant. There are some nice options for sellers although the shipping thing is kind of making me crazy. I don't care for what they've done with that but I'll figure it out in time. The photos are larger and you know what that means? I have to start getting better at taking pictures! Ha, ha, ha! Overall, I think in another day or two, it'll be really nice!

I have more things to add including this little pack of Mill Hill seed beads"

Mill Hill Beads

I'll get some more things listed as soon I can. Seems first thing in the morning is a good time to do that.

I didn't stitch at all last night, so I don't have an update on my Girl With A Kitten purse. I'd like to work on that some more later and I have another idea I'd like to try out. If it works, I'll share photos here.

I'd like to take a moment to say thank you to everyone who commented on the cushion I made for my mom for Christmas. It's always so nice to hear that my readers enjoy my eye candy! I really love blogging and sharing photos of my stitching. I hope that I've given you some cool ideas for your projects! Thank you everyone!

Monday, November 13, 2006

Fish Under The Sea, Old Lace & More!

I'm still here! But I've been busy as a bee trying to organize my stash better and get some finishing done. And I've done alot this past weekend!

Starting off with my Fish Under The Sea purse:

Fish Under The Sea 2

It's completely finished now and I've decided that I can't part with it! It sure looks different as a purse than it did as a stitched piece. I won't get into all the little details of the finishing but as you can see, I added a tassel which I made myself and then added some silver bugle beads with more seashells on the ends. I used it yesterday morning and will admit, I got alot of weird looks. Those looks from other women that say, "who the heck does she think she is?!!" Ha!! I don't care. I think I'm someone who prefers pretty one-of-a-kind purses to plain ole boring store bought ones! That's who I think I am!

So now, my next big project will be this purse:

Girl With Kitten Purse

I've titled this one, "Girl With A Kitten". And yes, I'll most likely keep this one for myself too. I just fell in love with this vintage photo when I saw it at Art-E-Zine. I don't download much from the internet, but I just love hand-tinted vintage photos of pretty little children with animals, esp. cats (that's a surprise, right?)! I hope to start on it later today.

In the meantime, I also did a bit of antiquing over the weekend and I have to confess to you another weakness that I have, vintage lace! I can't help myself, I buy all the old lace that I find. I can't stand to see it laying around in an antique shop, not being enjoyed. Esp. the hand crocheted lace but I feel that way about all of it!

The problem is, I have a chest of drawers in here that is full to the brim with vintage lace! So, I have decided, that when I find it, I'll buy it, wash it, hand paint it and offer it in my Etsy shop to other stitchers who don't have access to it or who don't want to mess with the dyes. And yes, it does get messy!

Old Lace 1

Old Lace 2

What you see here, is only 1/2 of what I've hand-painted this weekend. The other half is hanging on hangers on the rod in my bathroom drying. I finished up this morning.

As soon as I got home with this batch of lace, I hand-washed it and started painting! I don't use a traditional dye pot method. I hand-paint each piece one at a time. I like my lace to be unevenly dyed so that's why I do it that way. I'll be spending the rest of my afternoon, heatsetting and lightly starching it. And tomorrow morning, I'll start packaging it up.

I have tons of stuff to add to my Etsy shop as soon as Etsy is up and running again. I just checked a few minutes ago and they don't have the new version of their site running yet but I'm sure it'll be soon. I have some beads, some needlework books, lots of quilt fabric in case I have some sane quilters who read here and then some new things I made. It'll probably take me hours to list every thing so I'll most likely add a little each day. I'm still on dial-up!!

So, that's what I've been doing. I have more finishing to share tomorrow but in the meantime, I'll off to iron all that wonderful old lace!

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Let It Snow Fabric Postcard

Been very busy here organizing my stash. I have limited storage space but am blessed with an amazing collection of beads, buttons, fabrics, laces and other trims and embellishments.

I've pulled some things that I know I won't be using again and will add alot of goodies to my shop next week. Since Etsy will be down this weekend (at least that's the plan at the moment) I figured I might as well hold off until I have everything together and do it all at once.

I'm getting ready to go through my fabric collection but in the meantime, I wanted to share my "Let It Snow" fabric postcard with you. I completed it last night.

Tatted Tree Fabric Postcard
Just as a refresher, I started with some white 28 count linen. I tore one of my hand painted fiber (dryer) sheets and fused it to the bottom with some Heat & Bond. I then stitched the snowflakes in using 2 strands of DMC floss and 1 strand of Kreinik Blending Filament and did eyelet stitches. I then sewed the tatted tree on by hand, embellished it with sequins and then added the Mill Hill snowman button. I sewed the blue snowflake sequins on and attached a bit of glittery snow with some fabric glue. I added some iron-on interfacing to the backing fabric and layered it all with cotton quilt batting and then blanket stitched the edges using 1 strand of DMC White Perle Cotton #5. I almost hate to part with it but I'll adding this to the shop next week too.

Ok, so now I'm off to re-organize my fabric stash.

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Tatted Tree Fabric Postcard


Tatted Tree Fabric Postcard
Originally uploaded by Kitty And Me.
I'm running a bit late today. I've been trying to reorganize my CQ stash of beads, buttons, trims, lace and everything else I have to stitch with. I'm making good progress here so the next thing is go through my fabric stash and see if I can't make that more accessable.

I didn't quite get this completed last night. All that's left to do on it is layer it with some interfacing, quilt batting and backing fabric and then I'll blanket stitch the edges.

For the eyelet snowflakes, I used 2 strands of DMC and 1 strand of Kreinik Blending Filament. I added sequins to the tree a few snowflake sequins to the "snow", a Mill Hill snowman button and some that funky glitter that you can get to put in snow scenes. I used fabric glue to hold that on.

I'm sure I will get this completed later today. It's really sparkly!

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Fish Under The Sea 2 Purse Completed

This is one weighty purse! DH took it off the frame for me last night and told me that it exceeds the weight limit! Honestly, it's not that heavy considering all the seashells and other do-dads that I have on it:

Fish Under The Sea 2

I added a few sequins for bubbles, did a ton of french knots at the bottom with some tan crochet cotton to simulate sand and then I added a few tiny star sequins for a bit more sparkle. I plan to assemble it later this week.

I think unless someone emails me and tells me that they want it, I'll probably keep it for myself. I'm assuming now that I'm one of the few women out there who would carry a purse like this, esp. during the day.

To me, a purse like this is what a beautiful hat was to a women in the early part of the 20th century. I feel great carrying these gorgeous purses. And since I don't go out much at night, I use them during the day. And yes, where I live (not the fashion capital of the US), I get weird looks. But I don't care. I feel really great using these so that's what I do.

Before I start on another larger project, I decided to start another fabric postcard:

Tatted Tree Fabric Postcard

I worked up a little red tatted Christmas tree yesterday afternoon and this morning, took a piece of 28 count linen, tore one of my Fiber Sheets and ironed it onto the linen using some Heat & Bond. I want to do some eyelet snowflakes and then bead the tree. I'm sure this one will be done later today.

First, I need to run to Michael's and WalMart for a few things!

Monday, November 06, 2006

Fish And Fiber Sheets

Yesterday I mentioned that I was going to paint some dryer sheets:

Fiber Sheets 2

Well, I went a little crazy with them! So I've packaged some up and added a few to my shop:

Fiber Sheets 1

I enjoy painting these and I love using them in my projects but I didn't need so many at the moment! I put some music on to drown out the sound of the football game that Scott was watching and I guess I really got into it!

These Fiber Sheets are wonderful to use on crazyquilts, fabric postcards, altered art and other mixed media projects. They can be cut, torn, stretched and applied to other fabric or paper with fusable web, fabric glue or household craft glue.

When I finally ran out of sheets to paint, I worked some more on this:

Fish Under The Sea 2

Oh, this has just been such an enjoyable project! Peaceful and quiet, almost like watching the fish in my aquarium! As you can see, I added alot more do-dads and the fishies are there now! All that's left is to add a few bubbles (sequins) and some french knots to the bottom for sand and then it'll be ready to assemble. Although I honestly don't know how I'm going to sew this together with all the 3-dimensional do-dads on it! I know I'll be quite thankful for my zipper foot when I get that far. I should have the stitching complete for you to see tomorrow so stay tuned!

Sunday, November 05, 2006

More Progress On Fish Under The Sea 2


Fish Under The Sea 2
Originally uploaded by Kitty And Me.
Well, I never did get to painting my cupboard yesterday. So that's on the agenda for this afternoon. It was a cloudy, cold and dreary-raining day yesterday so I parked myself in the middle of my sofa and worked on this.

The scan came out a little dark because of all the 3-dimensional items on here. As you can see, I added some real seashells. In fact, I want to add a couple more so DH just drilled holes in them for me. The round do-dads on the pinky/purply ribbon yarn are some kind of mutalated pailettes that mom bought for me at a yarn store in Michigan. She paid alot for them but thought they were so pretty. I've been saving them for something special. I'll bet I could do the same thing with my heatgun! I'll have to give that try.

Anyway, I'll be working more on this later today. But first I have to get that cupboard painted and I want to do some painted dryer sheets which are time consuming but I like the effect!

Stay tuned!

Saturday, November 04, 2006

New Crazyquilt Purse Update and Etsy

First, I wanted to share with you my progress on this new "Fish Under The Sea" block which I'll making into a purse:

Fish Under The Sea 2

I started by covering all of the seams with a feather stitch worked in DMC #5 Silver. I then added some of that fuzzy yarn (no I didn't have any pink) in shades of blue and purple. Then I added some pinky/purply ribbon yarn. I've also done some tatted tendrils which I'll be adding to this later today. I should have another update for you to see tomorrow.

As for Etsy, it's my understanding that they've decided to wait until next weekend to launch the new version of their website. So, while things are still up and running, I've added some more Fractal Fabric Sheets including a bunch of new ones:

Fractal Fabric Sheet 6

I've also added another counted cross stitch grab bag of booklets and kits:

Cross Stitch Booklets And Kits

My mom asked me if I would sell them for her. So if you're interested in, hop over to my shop and check out what's new!

I so much want to make some more fabric postcards but I have a cupboard that I have to paint today so I doubt I'll have time for too much fun other than stitching on my purse later. Sometimes I wish I had a magic Harry Potter wand!

Friday, November 03, 2006

Stitching And Another Fabric Postcard

Well, I could just go crazy with these fabric postcards! What's really neat about them, is that they can be a basis for trying new techniques without getting into a huge project. They also serve as almost "instant gratification" since they work up pretty quickly depending on what you choose to do.

I had a dryer sheet pansy left over from a project I did over the Summer and I was saving it for a crazyquilt design but decided to use it on this instead:

Wild Pansy Fabric Postcard 2

I started with black cotton fabric. I marked my 4 inch X 6 inch stitching area with a white quilters pencil. Then, I cut up some of that gold metallic fluffy stuff that they use in gift baskets. I save anything that can be used in some way with fabric! Anyway, I cut it into little pieces and sprinkled that on and then using Heat & Bond, I added another of my painted dryer sheets.

To that, I added the lace and then the pansy. I did some feather stitching (I love that stitch) with metallic gold thread and sewed the beads on. I really think I love beading more than anything!

Again, I layered it with some cotton quilt batting, a piece of white cotton fabric for the back which I added a piece of iron-on interfacing too and then blanket stitched the edges. I did the "postcard" thing on the back with a fabric pen, titled it, signed it and dated it. It was so much fun and it's so pretty! And it's now available in my Etsy shop.

Speaking of Etsy, it's my understanding that the site will be down over the weekend while they upload the new version of the site. From what I've read, they've added alot of neat new features like the ability for shop owners to catagorize their items. I think that will be an excellent option!

When they have things up and running again early next week, I'll be adding some more Fractal Sheets. I had a little free time this past week and I worked up some new designs. I'll also be adding some Blackwork Kits with a new, never before seen design and they will include hand dyed fabric (by me!)

In other news, I started a new crazyquilt purse last night. This one will be another "Fish Under The Sea" themed design:

Fish Under The Sea 2

So far, I've covered all the seams with the simple feather stitch done in DMC Silver #5. Later today, I plan to add some of that funky fuzzy yarn. I hope I have some in pink! I'll post an update on that tomorrow when I've progressed a bit more on it.

Last but not least, I received the most wonderful surprise in my Post Office Box today! Cathy In Canada, found this Iron-On Transfer booklet in a box of cross stitch supplies that she recently purchased and she sent to me!!!

Ornament Transfer Booklet

The designs are wonderful and I can't wait to stitch some of them. I can see these on crazyquilts!!!

Thank you so much Cathy, for thinking of me!

I'm off to my mom's now for a little while. When I get back, I'm parking myself on my sofa and I'm stitching!

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Fabric Postcards

Ok, these were way more fun than they should have been! I had no clue what I was doing, although I just remembered that my Quilting Arts magazines have some photos and info on them. I'll have to pull those out and look through them.

In the meantime, here are the photos of the 2 I've made so far:

In A Garden Fabric Postcard 2

Butterfly On A Frosty Morning Fabric Postcard 2

I started with a muslin foundation. I marked my 4 inch X 6 inch stitching area and then using Heat & Bond, I ironed on one of my painted dryer sheets. Then I ironed on the fractal and then the the trim.

The design with the black butterfly looks to me like frost on trees in Winter. I didn't want to lose the delicate look of this fractal so I kept the embroidery to simply highlighting the "stems" with some silver thread. I used 2 strands of machine embroidery thread to do that. I then sewed on the lace applique butterfly which I handpainted first and then lightly brushed with some Jaquard Lumier Paint. I beaded around the "trees" with clear seed beads, beaded the butterfly and then the black lace.

For the "In The Garden" design, I was actually kind of lost. That is one bright and busy fractal design. But I love it! I pulled out some metallic thread in hot pink, green, blue and gold and did a ton of feather stitching. Again, I sewed on the butterfly and then added the beads and sequins.

To finish, I layered these with some cotton quilt batting and a backing fabric. The fabric postcards I saw yesterday online were done by sane quilters and they just zig/zag the edges with their sewing machines. I didn't feel like getting my machine out so I did a simple blanket stitch around the outside to hold it together.

I added the "postcard" info on the back with a fabric pen and then signed and dated them with the title of the design.

I've added these to my Etsy shop. I hope someone wants them! They're so pretty!!!

BTW - To Jo in NZ: How could you do this to me? I already have more than enough on my "I wanna do list"!!! Ha, ha, ha!!! And thanks for pointing me in the direction of Maureen's site. Yes, that's where I saw them!

I'm off to make another one! I'm out of inkjet fabric until tomorrow but I have another cool idea!

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Grab A Cuppa

As Sharon would say, "grab a cuppa" because I have a bunch of fun stuff to share with you today!

First, I completed my mom's Christmas gift last night in between answering door for the all the cute little kids:

Moms Block

I'm very pleased with it and feel that I did justice to my grandfather's beautiful photograph, despite my lack of "antique" looking beads and do-dads!

I'm going to pick up some more dark brown velvet to border the stitched piece with and I'll make it into a pillow. When it's completely complete, I'll post another photo.

Today, I feel like playing! Jo in NZ suggested that my fractal designs would make cool fabric postcards so my plan for the day is to work with one of these:

Fractals For Fabric Postcards

or maybe both depending on how long the first one takes. I have no idea what I'm doing. I've never made a fabric postcard and I know I saw some gorgeous ones somewhere on someone's blog but I can't remember who's! I've looked at Sharon's postcards but I know I saw more. So, stayed tuned to see what I come up with! BTW - If you've seen fabric postcards on someone's blog, would you please point me in the right direction?

I know I have alot of readers who love my blackwork patterns. I'm still missing Sharon's 100 Details In 100 Days project so I thought I would offer you a new design to stitch. Click on the photo to go to my Flickr site where you can download the large version of my Blackwork Quilt design.

Chart

Ok, I'm off to do a fabric postcard! Wish me luck!!!
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