Finishes

Yesterday was a sewing day for me and I did quite a bit of finishing starting with this little doorknocker for my mom:



I'll give this to my mom when I see her and she can enjoy it throughout the Autumn season.

Next, I finished up some cat dolls:



These 2 little Comfort Dolls are now on their way to Pat.

I also finished up this cat which was a custom order:



This too is now it's way to it's new owner.

I also finished up a Christmas gift and sewed up a few new blocks including this one:



This will be a cellphone pouch for Scott's step-mom for her birthday which just so happens to be the same day as mine, the day before Christmas!

Anyway, this is actually white. The flash bounced off of the shiny fabrics and I had nothing but a big glare! So I took this photo without the flash and I just wasn't able to brighten it up much in my graphics software. I'll use the scanner next time. That should give us a good image.

I bought that little vintage rhinestone basket pin at the last flea market we went to. This should make for a really pretty pouch!

And speaking of flea markets, I won't have time to post an update tomorrow as we're heading up to Elkhorn, WI for their last flea market of the season. Ok, I'm making boo-boo lips here. This is my favorite flea market and they only do it 4 times over the Summer months so I'm really looking forward to it. Thankfully, there are other flea markets that run every month all year so I'll still have some more antiquing to enjoy. It's one of my favorite things to do. I like the thrill of the hunt!

See ya Monday!

Go Cubs!

Ok, I just have to say that I'm absolutely bouncing off the walls today! My Chicago Cubs have won the National League Central Division and I am thrilled beyond words!

Now, I'm not counting my chickens before the eggs hatch. I've been a Cubs fan for a long time and I've been here before so for now, I'm just thankful to have a little more baseball to watch in October! I'll worry about the World Series if and when we get that far. It's best to stay detached for now.

Normally, I keep my personal believes to myself as far as this blog goes. But I would like to mention this, in hopes that some media person somewhere reads this: THERE IS NO SUCH THING A CURSE! Some silly person, years ago put that crazy idea in the minds of Cub fans and now generation after generation focuses on it every time we get this far. And the stupid media is already at it.

There is no such thing as a curse. It is the Universal Law Of Attraction. You get what you focus on. If everyone focuses on the so called "curse" kicking in, then the Law Of Attraction is going to bring that again. If however, every one focuses on what they really want, the Cubs going to and winning the WS, that's what we'll get.

So, I am mentioning this in hopes that maybe someone from the media somewhere will read this and perhaps spread the word. It's the Law Of Attraction. There is no curse. Do some research on The Law Of Attraction and start spreading positive energy for the Cubs and Cubs fans everywhere!

Black & Pink Comfort Cat - Stitching Completed

I added a little spider and web to the bottom of this yesterday:



I have some laundry to fold and then I'll be doing the finishing on my most recent project. I also want to sew up a couple of more pieces for Christmas gifts. Stop by tomorrow to see 3 finished cats!

Black & Pink Comfort Cat

Isn't this striking? The hot pink really pops against the black fabric. I must make a purse for myself in black & hot pink!

Anyway, this is almost done now. I've decided that instead of stitching my signature cat at the bottom, I'm going to do a spiderweb. I think I have some hot pink Kreinik blending filament for the web and I'll do the spider in pearls. Stop by tomorrow for an update.

In other news, I've decided to close down my Etsy shop. As I have time, I'll be marking stuff down. Please check back often as I want to get these things out of here. If there's anything anyone is interested in, email me an offer and I'll consider it. I really want to clear out the drawers in my guest room dresser.

Cat Dolls

I finished the embellishing on my little custom cat doll yesterday:



I'm going to go ahead and make one more doll to send to Pat:



I see this one all embellished in pink! Anyway, that will give me two to send to Pat this weekend. I plan to spend Friday doing some finishing. After this cat, I should make a few more gifts. I'm also thinking I'd like to make myself a new purse and I'm eager to start on that peacock quilt. But that will have to wait until I get a few more things done. It will make a nice Winter project.

Comfort Doll Button

Wanted to take a moment to say a special thank you to Janet for taking the time to help me out with sizing the Comfort Doll Button down so it fit in my sidebar! As you can see, it's there now and the link to Pat's Comfort Doll blog works! Thank you so much Janet for all of your help! Big Hugs!

Aqua Cat

I started on this little cat yesterday afternoon:



I'm sure I'll have time to finish him up today.

I want to mention that Pat has added a "Comfort Doll Button" that can be added to a blog. I tried adding it to my template but it's wider than the border and it overhangs and looks funny. Does anyone know if there's a way to make the button smaller? I'm not good with HTML. If nothing else, I can add a link but the button is cute so I'd like to use it if I can.

I also wanted to mention that I was asked about the "cornucopia image" that I used on my mom's doorknocker. I didn't purchase that. I found that image on the internet years and years ago. It's probably been sitting on my computer (3 of them through the years) for the past 10 or 11 years!

I print my images on inkjet fabric which is a little stiff, but the colors are bright and when heatset, they are permanent.

More Stitching

I finished up the little Cornucopia Doorknocker that I started the other day for my mom:



It doesn't scream "Autumn" or "Thanksgiving" so she can leave it out all year if she wants to although I know she changes things with the holidays and the seasons. I'm planning on a sewing day for Friday. I'd like to this sewn up along with a few other things that I have ready for "finishing".

I was asked if I'd consider making a custom cat doll for purchase. I'm totally ok with that so this one will be my next little project:



That middle piece of fabric looks gray but it isn't. It's actually cream color. Anyway, I'll start on this one later today. When I finish this, I'd like to work up another cat to send to Pat and then I'll stitch on another gift. I have a cat that I pieced in black fabrics and I thought it would be pretty to stitch him with pinks and whites. Stay tuned!

Cornucopia Doorknocker

I've almost completed my current gift project and since it's a bit large, I thought I'd plan on a quick little doorknocker next:



This is a little do-dad to give to my mom just because. She loves the Autumn season. Heaven knows why! All the good stuff leaves this time of year. The flowers, warm weather, the robins...I was devastated this morning when I realized that my hummingbirds are gone now. They've headed south for the Winter. The last one I saw was on Wednesday afternoon. And baseball leaves too. Thankfully, my Cubbies are in 1st place. Maybe this will be a lucky year and I'll have a few extra weeks of baseball.

Sorry everyone, ya'll know how I feel about Winter. I can't stand it. One of my dreams is to have a Winter house in Florida so I don't have to put up with the snow and cold.

Anyway, I'll start on this little project later today.

Worlds Fair Tablecloth Pattern - Vintage

Another pattern from my collection of vintage and antique designs:





This one isn't dated but I'm assuming it's from the 30's or 40's. It was a complimentary pattern from The American Thread Company.

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

Enjoy!

Now On Sale!

The Moonlit Peacock wallquilt is now on sale in my Etsy shop along with all of my other wallquilts.



You can find them here. Am trying to clear some things out so please take advantage of the reduced prices.

New Comfort Doll Blog!

I went over to Pat's Gatherings blog to look for an Etsy link that Pat mentioned awhile back and found that Pat set up a new blog just for the Comfort Doll project. You can find the link here.

As you know, I so much enjoy making little CQ cat dolls for this project. I'm not sure why I enjoy it so much. Perhaps it's just knowing that I'm sending a bit of cheer to someone in need or maybe it's because they work up quickly and I get some much needed instant gratification from finishing something in a short amount of time. Or maybe it's just my love of cats! I honestly don't know why but whatever the reason, there are many more to come!

I hope you'll consider making one little doll to send to Pat for the Comfort Doll Project. It's really fun and it's just such a nice thing to do!

Vintage Quilt Block Advertisement

This is really more of an advertisement than a pattern but I thought if I had any sane quilters who read my blog, they might find some inspiration in these:









There isn't a date on here but I'll ballpark it around the 1930's.

Click on any of the images to go to my Flickr site where you can download the larger versions.

Enjoy!

A Bunch Of Finishes

I finished the stitching on the blue comfort cat:



I didn't get him completed in time to send to Pat with my current batch so he'll go out with the next batch.

And here's the 3 that I just sent off to Pat:



The Redwork Cat is my favorite! I may sew up a few more white ones to stitch in all one color. A Greenwork and Bluework cat would be pretty!

I mailed these on Saturday along with the 15 Pocket Babies that my mom made so Pat should be receiving her package either today or tomorrow.

And this pillow for my mom for Christmas is my final finish for the week:



I'm stitching on a gift that I can't share here at the moment but I still have a lot of antique patterns so I'll be posting those through out the week until I finish up my current project.

Fun Things!

Well, I have some fun things to share with you today! First, my blue comfort cat, which is started but I didn't complete yesterday:



I stitched on it until Scott came home and then we went out on the deck and talked while he grilled some chicken. I'm sure I'll finish it later today. I'll have to send this one to Pat with the next batch.

In the meantime however, there's no lack of Comfort Dolls here:



My mom made 15 of this little dolls which she calls "Pocket Babies" to send to Pat. They're beaded, they have lace and fancy yarns on them and ribbon flowers. Aren't sweet?!!! I believe she designed these herself. I'll be shipping these to Pat tomorrow along with my last 3 cats which I'll be sewing up today.

Finally, Robin sent me a photo of a Biscornu (pincushion) that she made using one of my patterns. I asked Robin for her permission to post the photo here because I thought my readers would enjoy seeing it:



Thank you very much Robin, for allowing me to share your stitched piece with my readers.

Here's the x stitch pattern in case anyone would like to stitch it:



Click on any of the images to go to my Flickr site where you can view the larger versions.

I'm to run my sewing machine. I want to sew up the comfort cats and I have a few blocks to sew up for Christmas gifts. It is mid-September now (where did Summer go?) so I'd better get things going!

One More Cat

I finished up the gold cat yesterday:



Lynne mentioned that she liked my pansies. I honestly had to laugh because although pansies were my intention, that's not what they look like to me! But thank you Lynne! I should have used 13mm ribbon instead of 7mm. Oh well, this is pretty regardless of my funky pansies!

I have a couple of more gifts that I plan on making for Christmas but I need to sew up the blocks which I'll do tomorrow. In the meantime, I thought I'd stitch up one more cat and then I'll have 4 of them to assemble tomorrow:



Provided my electric stays on, I can usually stitch one of these up in a few hours.

Gold Comfort Cat

I would have completed this yesterday but my electric went out about 4:30 and didn't come back on until 7:00. Not sure why it went out. At least it came back in time for the Cubs game!

I was able to keep stitching for awhile but by 6:00, I just didn't have enough light anymore so I'll finish it up later today. My new house will have a back-up generator that will come on automatically should the power go out!



Susan asked me about my baking abilities in reference to my post yesterday. Yes, I can bake and actually enjoy baking. I love the way it makes the house smell! But we don't eat sugar except on a holiday or birthday so I don't keep baking stuff here. When the baking bee does get into my bonnet, I give whatever I bake to my neighbors. I love making cookies, esp. around holidays like Halloween and Christmas. Thank goodness my neighbors will eat all the sugar they can get!

Almost Done With Great Grandmother Block

It was a rainy dreary day here yesterday. I kind of felt like baking something but I don't have anything here to bake with and we wouldn't eat it anyway so I stitched. Whenever I get a bee in my bonnet to bake something, I give it to my neighbors. Anyway, this is almost done:



I'll add my little Kitty & Me kitty later today and then I'll sew up on my next sewing day.

When I finish that, I'll work up one more little Comfort Cat Doll to send to Pat:



These don't take me long at all. In fact, I'll probably complete this today. At least I think I will! I hand-painted some ribbons this morning. They're sitting on the countertop in the kitchen air drying. Hopefully, they'll be dry by the time I'm done working on my computer and then I can iron them.

Great Grandmother Block Update

I didn't find anything all that exciting at the flea market yesterday. All I bought was a few vintage rhinestone pins. It's ok though. The fun for me is walking around and looking at all that great junk! You honestly never know what you'll see at a flea market!

I did a lot of stitching over the weekend. I wanted to do some more things outside but the mosquito's here are terrible. I basically filled all the bird feeders and washed & refilled the hummingbird feeders and that was it.

So here's where I'm at on my mom's Christmas gift:



I expect to have loads of time later to work on this. My chores are done for the day and my laundry is all caught up so stop by tomorrow for another update.

And More Crazy Quilting.....

I finished up the Lady With Roses quilt yesterday:



I honestly don't know why my stuff never looks straight in my photos. It is a perfect rectangle! It just doesn't look that way.

When I finished that, I completed the stitching on the green comfort cat:



If I can get in a sewing day this week, I'll sew this up with the redwork comfort cat and get these off to Pat next weekend.

I also started the stitching on my mom's Christmas gift:



I might move that applique over a little bit. It's only pinned on at the moment. I'll get the seams covered first before I sew it down.

We're going to a flea market in the morning so you may not hear from me again until Monday. Hopefully, I'll have some cool stuff to share with you then!

Have a great weekend everyone!

More Crazy Quilting

I added my little cat to the Lady With Roses Quilt:



I also added a few gold star sequins around the little angel button. It looked a little plain to me. You know I like my glitter! Anyway, I'm going to do the finishing on this today so I can get it ready for shipping.

I also started stitching on little green comfort kitty doll:



I'm sure I'll complete this later today. Don't you just love that lime green glitter fabric at the top?!

I was thinking about what to stitch on when I finish up the cat doll and I realized that it's September! Yikes! I'd better start doing a few Christmas gifts! I pulled this piece which I sewed up back in July:



The girl in the photo is my great-grandmother. I think she was about 12 years old in this beautiful photograph! This of course, will be a gift for my mom. I gave the photo a bit of a plum tint in my graphic software before I printed it. I want this to have a very Victorian feel to it. Many of my CQ pieces are bright and colorful so it will be fun to do something again with a very antique look.

Lady With Roses Almost Done

Another quick post for today as I have a design project I'm trying to finish up. The Lady With Roses quilt is almost done:



I just have to add my little cat up at the top which I'll do later today. I'd like to do the finishing on this tomorrow so I can ship it over the weekend or the first part of next week. I'll post another picture when it's totally complete.

My next little project will be this little comfort cat doll:



I'd like to start on this today but I also bought a new book that I'd like to start reading so stop by tomorrow to see how things go!

More Photos

I'll start today with a photo of my finished Silhouette Lady Purse:



Isn't this fun?!! Like I said when I was stitching on it, I'm not a "red person" but I really love this bag. This one is mine.

I stitched a bit yesterday on the Lady With Roses quilt:



I'd like to complete this today. Not sure if it'll happen or not. I would like to sew it up over the weekend and get it ready for shipping. And I'm eager to stitch up another comfort kitty to send to Pat.

I'll keep today's post short but will leave you with a few more photos from beautiful Milwaukee Zoo:

We Now Return....

to our regularly scheduled programming! Sorry, just being silly!

I had fully intended to blog over the weekend but spontaneity took over and we found ourselves doing other things.

We're still trying to get some good photos of the hummingbirds before they head south for the Winter which is usually the beginning of October. Unfortunately, Scott didn't have any more luck than I did. The hummers are very territorial and spend more time chasing each other from the feeders than they do anything else.

Our time wasn't wasted though. While waiting for hummingbirds, we heard a funny whooshing sound off in the distance. Scott knew right away what it was but I'm not always the brightest crayon in the box and it took me awhile to figure it out. This is where the sound was coming from:



This gorgeous hot-air balloon when right over our house!



Is the photo amazing or what? No, I can't take credit for these pictures. Scott took them.

We did also did some yard work on Saturday. Well, we worked out there for as long as we could until the mosquitos started to carry us away and then we had to call it quits. They were totally oblivious to the OFF repellant that we used. I can't remember the last time they were this bad!

Anyway, on Sunday, we decided to drive up to the zoo in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was a lovely day. Warm, sunny and blue sky as far as the eye could see. Again, I can't take credit for these photos. Scott is much better with the camera than I am:









There were tons of peacocks there but all had shed their tail feathers and are in the process of growing them back. If you've never been to a zoo before, the peacocks just wander around the park. I of course, was right behind every one I saw! I just love peacocks, in case I never mentioned it before! Ha, ha, ha!

Yesterday, we spent the day visiting some furniture stores. I mentioned awhile back that we intend to build a Victorian Queen Anne Style House:



This is the house that we fell in love with! When the time comes, we'll order the plans for this house but first we want to do some customizing. It has a wrap around back porch which you can't see in this photo but we want to replace that with a sunroom or what they call a 3 seasons room. I need a lot of light in the Winter months so the sunroom is where I'll be stitching.

Our main focus was trying to find Traditional Victorian Parlor furniture. We would like to have 1 very formal room that's mostly for looking at. Anyway, we went to about 5 different furniture stores and found many things that we liked and that will work in the other rooms but our formal living room furniture eluded us! We then had dinner, came home and Googled!

Now I couldn't live with purple walls but this is what we were looking for:



This probably isn't the exact set that we want. It's the style that we were looking for. We found it at Magnolia Hall Victorian Furniture. If you would like to see more, hop over to their website. We spent hours here last night! I'm going to order their catalog later today.

Anyway, that was our weekend. Tomorrow, I'll have a few more zoo photos for you along with a photo of my finished Silhouette Lady purse.