Lady With Roses Block Continued.....

I sat out on the front porch this morning for over 1/2 an hour with my camera. The hummingbirds are everywhere! I have 4 and 5 of them humming around all the time now. And one is a male! Which is very unusual this time of year. The males usually head back south by the beginning of July. I'm assuming that the one I have here is a baby from earlier this season.

Anyway, I took over a dozen photos of my tiny birdies and can you believe, not one of them came out! They were all fuzzy. And it wasn't that the hummingbirds are constantly in motion, it's the fact that I am just not a photographer! I really should break down and buy a tripod.

Well, no biggie! I'll sit out there again later today and try to get some more photos. I'd really love to get a good picture of the little male hummer. He's absolutely amazing!

Meanwhile, I started beading on my Lady With Roses block yesterday and this is what it looks like at the moment:



For now, I have a custom block kit to put together and I plan to put my Silhouette Lady purse together. I picked up some handles for it yesterday when I was in WalMart. I also would like to sew up a whole pile of Comfort Cat dolls so my sewing machine will be doing a marathon today!

Quick Update

Just a quick post for today everyone. This is just about ready for some embellishments:



I'll start on some beading later today.

Lady With Roses Update

Well, I didn't get a lot stitching in on this yesterday but I did cover a few seams:



I need to have this done by the end of September so I'll be stitching on it more later today.

Embroidered Pin Cushion Pattern

Another pattern from my collection of old magazine and newspaper designs. This one is called an "Embroidered Pin Cushion" pattern. It should measure 8 inches wide X 4 inches high. It's from a newspaper article dated 1914:



Click on the image to go to my Flickr site where you can download the large version.

There aren't any directions for putting it together. My suggestion would be to stitch the design, then sew a back to it and stuff it will poly fiber fill.

Loads To Share Today

I finished the stitching on the little Redwork Comfort Cat:



I have another one sewn up and ready to stitch on so when I get the stitching done on that, I'll sew them both up and mail them to Pat.

In the meantime, I was asked to work up a mini-quilt for one of the manufacturers that I work with:



I started stitching on it last night so this is what it looks like now:



I'll stitch on this some more later today.

I'd also like to share some gifts that I recently received. First was a lovely little package from Pat Winter:



If you remember my Silhouette Lady block, I had used some red foo-foo fabric on it. At the same time, Pat was working on a purse with the same fabric but in Autumn colors. We thought that was cool and the next thing I knew, I received a piece in the mail from Pat along with some other goodies.

Then yesterday, I received a package from Susan with some gorgeous threads in it:



Ooooh, these are yummy! I can't use them on my current block but the purple one might work nicely on my next Comfort Cat Doll!

Thank you so much ladies for thinking of me and sending me goodies to stitch with!

19th Century Crazy Quilt Topper

I received a link to The Quilter's Muse website from Cris. She thought I would be interested in seeing a antique crazy quilt that was recently posted. And yes, I'm always thrilled to see online articles about old crazy quilts! Anyway, here is the direct link if you would like to check it out. Thank you very much Cris!

If anyone else has found any cool sites or articles about old needlework that they would like me to see or share here, please drop me an email and I'll post the links to the sites here so that everyone can enjoy them.

New Chat Board

Kim & Janet set up a new chat board at Yuku for stitcher's who enjoy stitching my designs. If you would like to stop by and chat with other girls who enjoy my projects, you can find it at
Kitty & Me Stitchers.

Novelties In Crocheting

These antique patterns are from a women's magazine called, "The Designer". That was published in the early 1900's. I've scanned them at 300 dpi so they should be very easy to read and follow. Click on one of the images to go to my Flickr site where you can download the large versions of the patterns:





Enjoy!

Redwork Comfort Cat Continues.....

I didn't spend a lot of time stitching yesterday but I did add a few beads to this little Comfort Cat Doll:



I expect to have time to stitch on it later today.

I also want to mention that Sharon B. has moved her blog. You can now find her here. If you've never been to Sharon's blog, it's a must read! Do pay her a visit!

All Done!

More rain yesterday so I stitched and completed the Silhouette Lady block:



I wish you could hold this and feel how heavy it is from all the beads and do-dads! Anyway, I want to thank Janet for the red crystal heart that I used above the image. It's the perfect do-dad for that little corner! Thank you Janet!

When I finished stitching on that, I started another Comfort Doll to send to Pat:



No, I wasn't thinking Christmas or Valentine's Day! I was thinking Redwork! I thought it would be a fun color combination and I think I'm still in red mode after doing the Silouette Lady! Anyway, I'm going to stencil some ivy leaves on my living room walls this afternoon and then I'll stitch on the cat some more.

On another quick note, the CQ Christmas ornament kits are sold out. I'll work up a few more when I have some free time.

Almost Done!

With all the rain we've had lately, there really isn't much for me to do except to stitch & sew. I can't do anything in the yard, because everything is always wet and the mosquitos here will just carry a person off if you go outside! I can't remember the last time we had so much rain in August.

Anyway, I stitched and expect to have this completed later today:



I want to give some credit to those who have sent me some lovely things for my projects. First, the small black buttons at the top next to the rhinestone buttons were a gift from June R. The silver butterfly was from Bennie and the rhinestone spray in the ribbon flower motif was from Ginger. She sent me some red ones too but the crystal ones showed up better so I'll save the red
ones for another project. Thank you ladies for such lovely embellishments!

I was asked about beading lace and how I go about doing it. The intention first is to embellish it without completely covering it up. What I do is, I find the repeating pattern in the lace and then I see what I have that will work with that pattern. In the case of the lace to the left of the silhoutte, it had a zig zag pattern going on so I chose charcoal colored bugle beads and simply sewed them following the pattern in the lace. Above that, there was a sort of small flower pattern so I added the black sequins the centers of the flowers. To the scallop at the top, I added the silver beads and then the row of red beads at the bottom of the bugle beads.

It's really just a matter of finding a repeating pattern in the lace and then adding beads and sequins according to that pattern, without covering the lace completely.

Silhouette Lady Purse & CQ Ornament Kits

I added a few more beads to this yesterday:



I plan to spend a lot of time on it later today. I'm not normally into red but I'm really liking this piece!

I also wanted to mention that I put together some new Christmas Ornament CQ kits:



You can find them in my Etsy shop.

Silhouette Lady Update

Just a quick update on my Silhouette Lady Purse:



I did quite a bit of beading on it yesterday. At the moment, I putting some kits together and when I finish that up, I'll get back to stitching on this.

Antique Crocheted Doiley Pattern

Again, this is from The Designer magazine, early 1900's:



Scanned at 300 dpi, this pattern should be easy to read. Click on the image to go to my Flickr site where you can download a large version of the pattern.

Enjoy!

Antique Tatting Pattern For Doiley

This pattern is from a women's magazine called The Designer. There is no date on it this page but it is early 1900's:



I scanned this at 300 dpi so it should be quite readable. Click on the image to go to my Flickr site where you can download the large version.

Silhouette Lady Purse & More

It's been raining here non-stop for days! I expect to see Noah go by any minute now! Although I would love some sunshine, rainy days are perfect stitching days!

I worked on this for hours yesterday:



I have some special things that were sent to me by some of my readers and I've been saving them for something special. The little Swarovski crystal links on the Buttonhole Wheels by the image were a gift to me from Bennie. I have some other things pulled to and will give credit to the sender once I add them.

I also wanted to share a Comfort Doll that my mom made to send to Pat:



The bonnet lady is from mom's collection of vintage iron-on transfers. She crayon tinted her, embroidered the flowers with varigated perle cotton and added some beads. This is just too cute!

Last but not least, I know you've seen photos of my cats before but I just had to share this picture of my Simba:



They sure do know how to make themselves comfy-cozy! I want to be a cat in my next life and live with someone like me!

Paradise Of TheTiger Charted Design

As you know, I've had several requests for re-releases on some of my previously discontinued cross stitch designs. I've decided to make a few of them available for a limited time only as a courtesy to those who have been looking for them.

I've just re-released "Paradise Of The Tiger":



I'll make this one available in my Etsy shop for a couple of weeks but when I get tired of looking at it, it'll be permanently discontinued.

Finishes & New Purse

I did the finishing yesterday on my 2 current cellphone pouches:





I just love the beaded crocheted edgings that my mom makes for me to use on these!

I also sewed up 2 more Comfort Cat Dolls which I'll share when I get to stitching them but in the meantime, I thought I'd make myself a new purse:



This is a bit of challenge piece! I fell in love with that red/black rose brocade fabric when I was shopping with Karen in Kentucky. Even though I'm not a red person, I just thought a red and black purse would be kind of pretty. It'll go well with my leather jacket!

Anyway, I decided to stitch it entirely in cream colored thread. I did start on it last night but all I have done so far is I added a bit of lace and covered one seam. I'll work on it more later today and I'll have an update for you tomorrow. I'll do the beading with black, red, cream and gold do-dads.

A Few Finishes

I sewed up my latest two comfort cat dolls yesterday:



I so enjoy making these! I'm going to piece a couple more of them today so I have some that are ready to stitch on. I'll send these 2 to Pat when I go to the Post Office this week.

I also did the beading on my current cellphone pouch:



She has the face of an angel, doesn't she? Today, I'll sew this up along with the Autumn one.

I haven't decided what to stitch on next. I have quite a few projects all lined up so I need to just pick one!

On another note, Susan asked me if my Cubbies won the other day! Not only did they win on Friday but they also won last night! And I am thrilled to say that the Chicago Cubs are now in first place!!!!

Yes, I am bouncing off the walls with joy & happiness right now! I mean, the words "Cubs", "August" and "First-Place" don't usually go together! Ha, ha, ha!!! So I'm sure ya'll know what visions are playing on in my head right now........Ok, in case you don't, I'm thinking "Cubs", "October" and "World Series"!!!

Edwardian Lady Cellphone Pouch

Just a quickie post for today ladies. My errands are done now so I'm eager to get to my sewing machine.

One the pieces I sewed up yesterday is this little cellphone pouch:



Sorry I didn't scan it before I started stitching on it. I couldn't tear myself away from the Cubs game!

Anyway, I'll do the beading on this later today and have another update for you tomorrow.

Autumn Cellphone Pouch - Stitching Complete

First, I know you've all seen hand-dyed ribbons before but they're just so yummy, I wanted you show you my latest batch:



Looking at the photo, I just realized that I didn't do any orange this time. I guess I didn't think about it because I don't use a lot of orange in my stitching. It's nice to have on hand though, so I'll do some orange next time around.

I finished the stitching on my Autumn Cellphone Pouch last night:



I'll put it together over the weekend and get it ready to send to Margaret.

For today, I'll be sewing up a storm! One of my favorite things to do is to just sew up blocks. I really enjoy foundation piecing and playing with all my fabric! Now if I could only stitch them as fast as I can sew them up!

More tomorrow.....

Vintage Crocheted Doily Pattern

This pattern is from a magazine called, "The Farm Journel". It isn't dated, but judging from the advertisements on the back, I'd say it was from the 1940's:



Again, I scanned this at 300 dpi so it should be easy to read. Just click on the image to go to my Flickr site where you can download the larger version.

Autumn Cellphone Pouch

I had hoped to finish this last night but unfortunately, we have to eat! I stopped to make a big salad for dinner and just never got back to it. But I do expect to complete this today:



I'll be doing some serious sewing this weekend so I'll have loads of things to share with you!

Antique Crochet Pattern

This antique pattern is from an old newspaper. I believe the paper was called,
"The Ohio Farmer":



I scanned it at 300 dpi so click on the image to go to my Flickr site where you can download the large image.

Enjoy!

Peach Comfort Kitty Doll

These stitch up so quickly:



I stitched this kitty in about 3 hours! I added a spider and web to this one. The Victorians considered spiders to mean "good luck" so I thought it would be a nice touch on a Comfort Doll.

I'll sew these last 2 kitty dolls up over the weekend.

In the meantime, my next little project will be this Autumn themed cellphone pouch for my mother in law, Margaret:



I bought the little pumpkin pin in Kentucky. Margaret really puts her cellphone pouches to good use so I'll pin it on and sew it on to make sure it's good and secure.

Blackwork Fruit Bellpull Counted Cross Pattern

This design is now available in my Etsy shop for a LIMITED TIME ONLY:

Comfort Kitty Dolls

I sure do love making these! I stitched up the aqua kitty yesterday afternoon:



Is this cheery or what! I love the yellow with the aqua background.

Later today, I'll stitch on the peach kitty:



I plan to put some serious mileage on my sewing machine this weekend. I want to sew up some new blocks for kits. I've been asked for Christmas Ornament kits so those are on my list and I want to have these cats ready to sew together as well so I can send another package to Pat. And I'll sew up some more cats to stitch on!

I'd really like to encourage my readers to make a little comfort doll for Pat's Charity. It's really fun to make something for someone who could use a bit of comfort. They don't have be crazy quilted. You can do any type of doll and any type of needlework. Try some cross stitch or outline embroidery. Pat asked that the dolls be 6 inches high or less so they stitch up quickly and honestly, it's just so nice to do this. If you need a bit of inspiration, check out the Comfort Doll Group at Flickr.

New Comfort Kitty Doll & Mermaid

We went to a flea market yesterday up in Wisconsin and I found a few little do-dad's but nothing all that exciting. Some bits of lace, a few appliques and a couple of pretty buttons. Nothing worth mentioning really. I had a good time as I always do but by the end, it was so hot outside, I was getting delirious.

My husband bought something kind of nice and I'll share a photo when he gets it done. It's a an old Singer sewing machine stand. You know, the really old iron ones. The cabinet part is missing so he's going to make a nice oak top for it and we'll use it as a side table somewhere. He worked on it yesterday when we got home so maybe he'll have it ready in a few days.

Once we got home and my heat exhaustion passed, I finished up on my little mermaid:



I know she's a little cartoony but I like her! As you can see, I crayon tinted her and added some sequins. Ya'll know how I like my glitter! Anyway, I didn't stitch the sand or the do-dad in her hand. I plan to work her into a CQ so I'll add "sand" later. And I want to add a seashell to her hand which I'll do once I get her sewn into a block. Stay tuned for that project!

So later today, when I get to sitting down and stitching, I'll be starting on another little Comfort Kitty Doll to send to Pat:



I'm thinking "yellow" always looks nice with aqua. I just don't have a lot of yellow do-dads but I'm sure I have enough to make this work.

1900's DMC Patterns

Just a quick post for today ladies. Scott and I are heading up to our favorite flea market in Elkhorn, Wisconsin shortly.

I wanted to share a link with you a site that offers a nice collection of vintage DMC charted patterns from the early 1900's. Albums D'antan is a french site but as we all know, needlework needs no translation!

These are gorgeous patterns so do check them out.

Mermaid & Hand-dyed Threads

I spent yesterday afternoon hand-dying some embroidery floss. You know, I'm not sure I enjoy doing that. I love to do lace, fabric and ribbons but I've never had great luck with embroidery floss and ended up with quite a few imperfect skeins:



These either didn't take the dye right or I just didn't care for how they came out. So I put them all in a ziplock bag and added them to my Etsy shop. Maybe someone can use them. The colors are permanent and they're perfectly usable, they just didn't come out the way I intended.

When I finished up with that, I started on this little mermaid:



This design is from Aunt Martha's. I believe it's a current design but transfer is vintage. Anyway, I plan to add some sequins to the tail and I have some little orange sequins for the little fish. I thought this would cute worked into a CQ down the road.

I was going to sew this afternoon but I'm feeling more like I want to stitch so I'll work on this and then I plan to start stitching on one of the cats to send to Pat. Maybe I'll do some sewing tomorrow.

Blue Santa Ornament

I sewed for hours yesterday! In fact, I ran my sewing machine for so long, I never did get to any stitching!

The first thing I did on my machine was to finish up this Santa Ornament:



I then did a ton of foundation piecing including 2 more Comfort Cats to send to Pat:



I really love making these so there will be more!

I sewed up some more purse blocks, a couple of ornaments and another cellphone pouch for Margaret, my mother in law. She loves them! This one will have an Autumn theme.

Ok, so speaking of sewing, can anyone tell me what happens to my brain when I get into a fabric store? I swear, I either need a 12 Step Program or Hypnosis! If you could see my stash you would wonder why I keep buying more fabric. I have absolutely no control!

So, I've decided to put together some more pre-sewn crazy quilt block kits. I could never just part with my fabric and I love to sew blocks so doing some more kits will be fun and I'm sure there are tons of stitchers out there who would love to stitch a CQ but either can't sew or maybe doesn't have a machine.

Anyway, I figured I'd do my 9 inch block kits at $6.00 and some 5 inch ornament blocks at $4.00. I'll include some lace (as I have no control in that department either) and some other do-dads from my stash. Ok, so I have no control at all when it comes to stash! Ha, ha, ha!

When I get back from running errands tomorrow, I'm going to put some heavy duty miles on my sewing machine! Because I must make room for stash!!!

Goody Package From Gina

Just look at what Gina sent to me:



Gorgeous laces, trims and buttons and a piece of fabric! I'm in heaven!!! Thank you so much Gina for thinking of me. I can't tell you how exciting it is to see a package from Australia in my mailbox!

Since I have all sorts of new things to play with, I will be sewing up some new blocks today. I already have a pile of things that are ready to stitch but my new stuff is calling to me! I might even get some stitching time in later today.

Patriotic Love Birds Design

I have had several requests recently, to re-release this retired design:



I have added it to my Etsy shop and will make it available for the next couple of days and then it will be permanently retired.

BTW - I only list 1 at a time so if you want it and don't see it, check back in a little while.

Antique Cutwork

Another article from my collection of antique patterns & designs. This one on Cutwork is from a women's magazine titled, "The Designer". It isn't dated but it is an early 1900's periodical:





Enjoy!