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!!!!

Saturday, January 31, 2009

Button Block #33

I've completed the Seam Treatments on this block so now it's ready for beading:

Button Block 33

I really like the colors on this one. I'm getting ready to bake some cookies and then I'll get back to stitching on it.

In other news, I received an email recently asking me how to wash vintage & antique lace. Here is the link to my tutorial on that. I'll add it to my sidebar as well.

Ok, I'm to bake but first, I'll turn the calendar over to February!

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Embroidered Poodle

I finished up on this little project this morning:

Embroidered Poodle

As I mentioned yesterday, I'll work this up as the focal point on a purse. Ya'll know I have this thing for purses!

I didn't stitch the flowers on the hat because I intend to use beads. I'll do that while stitching on the purse.

In the meantime, I thought I would do up another Button Block. This will be Button Block #32:

Button Block 32

As I mentioned last week, I'm wanting to put a few of these together into a small quilt. I had all of my blocks laid out on the floor awhile back and I can see that I need some more pastel colors. I enjoy making these so much, I may work some into various projects such as doorhangers, bellpulls and whatever else I can come up with. These little 6 inch blocks are perfect for using buttons and other odds & ends in my stash. Stay tuned to see where this one goes.

And speaking of buttons, I found the most awesome button themed blog today courtesy of the girls at 123Stitch Message Board. Button Floozies blog is all about buttons! New buttons, old buttons, handmade buttons and what to do with buttons including needlework and other craft applications. Please do check it out.

First Robin Of Spring Counted Cross Stitch Pattern

I've re-released The First Robin Of Spring design along with a few of my others:

First Robin Of Spring

My current counted cross stitch designs are available here.

Also, for counted cross stitch supplies, check out 123 Stitch and Welcome Stitchery.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Poodle For Purse

I've had the idea for quite some time to make a Poodle Purse. I'd like to piece it in white, pink, black and silver. I'm stitching this little poodle design from my vintage iron-on transfer collection to use as the focal point:

Embroidered Poodle

I'm not going to share this pattern because although mine is vintage, it's still available as a current Aunt Martha's transfer from The Colonial Pattern Company.

Not sure when this will get sewn up but I expect to finish stitching it later today.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Easter Basket Vintage Embroidery Transfer Pattern

As you know, I am so looking forward to Spring. Driving home from WalMart this morning, all I could think about was how I've so had enough of looking at the filthy, sloppy, mess outside. I'm so much wanting to sit outside on my deck with some iced tea and having green grass, flowers and leaves on the trees to look at. I pulled out my little Robin bird Beanie Baby this morning and set him by the birdhouse that my neighbor made for me. I have it sitting on my thread cabinet. It's too pretty of a birdhouse to put outside:

Birdhouse

Anyway, since my thoughts are very much on Spring, I stitched up this little do-dad yesterday:

Easter Basket

As you can see, I crayon tinted it. If you would like to have the directions for doing that, you can find them in the sidebar.

And if you would like to stitch this sweet little Easter design, here is the pattern:

Easter Basket Vintage Embroidery Transfer Pattern

Click on the image to go to my Flickr site where you can download the large version. This is a vintage Artex pattern.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

March Cats & Quilts Counted Cross Stitch Pattern

The March for the Cats & Quilts series is now available:

March Cats & Quilts Counted Cross Stitch Pattern

It can be found here.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

1936 Herrschner's Catalog - The End!

I don't have any stitching to share with you today so I'll offer you the final 2 pages of my 1936 Herrschner's Catalog:

1936 Herrschners Catalog Page 42

1936 Herrschners Catalog Back Cover

I hope my readers have enjoyed this!

Biscornu Finishing Directions

I've been meaning to the post the finishing directions for Biscornu's for quite some time now. These directions were written for me by Cathy Drolet. Thank you Cathy!

Biscornu Finishing Directions

Biscornu's can be any size. Your two designs should be the same size.
(You can use plain fabric on the back if you choose to.)

Stitch your designs leaving about 1 1/2 inch all around the design.

If your fabric is floppy (Lugana, especially the opalescent, falls into this category), or very open weave, you might want to fuse some lightweight interfacing on to the back of your fabric squares.
(Optional)

Backstitch a square border, using 2 strands of floss, around the design. Leave as many threads from the design as you wish, 2 or 3 is best. This step is very important. This backstitch border has to be the exact same length on each side (perfectly square), as you will be using it to stitch the front and back of the biscornu together. If the backstitch border is not square, you will never get your biscornu sewn together correctly.

Trim your fabric 1/2 inch from the backstitching line. (If you're suing a loose weave fabric, you might want to zigzag the edges on your machine to prevent fraying while you are joining the pieces.)

Finger press the seam allowances to the back of the stitched pieces, all four sides, along the backstitched lines.

Place pins in the exact middle of each of the sides, on both stitched pieces, at the backstitched line. If you have to count your backstitched threads to get to the exact middle, do so. It is very important to find the exact middle of the sides.

You are going to stitch your two pieces together, right side out, so you will always be able to see your backstitched line. Using two strands of floss, join one of the corners of piece 1, to the middle of one side of piece 2, using a simple whip-stitch.

Continue to join the two pieces together, stitching only under the backstitch thread on each piece, not piercing the fabric, pulling stitching thread tight enough to not leave gaps in the stitching, but not so tight that the seam is distorted, until you get to the corner. I always stitch twice through the backstitch preceding a corner, and the first one starting the next side. Line up the ext part of the seam and continue whip-stitching, until you reach the next corner. Continue around the biscorn, keeping the seam allowances to the inside, and matching the backstitch lines as you stitch the seam, from corner to corner.

As you stitch you'll see your biscornu take shape, with eight sides.

When you have only one seam left to sew, it is time to stuff with Poly Fiberfill. (If your biscornu is small, you may want to leave the last two seams un-stitched before you add stuffing.) Make sure you get stuffing right into the corners and stuff so the biscornu is full, but not overstuffed, or it will be difficult to stitch the final seam.

Stitch the remaning seam and fasten off your thread. Make sure the thread is securely fastened and run it through the biscornu and back out through a seam, tugging the thread a bit, before cutting it off where it emerges. The end will disappear back into the biscornu.

Attach your buttons, one on each side of the biscornu, directly in the middle. Use a double strand of quilting thread and thread the two ends through the eye of the needle, leaving a loop on the other end. Attach the first button to the thread, using the loop, either through the shank on the button or going through both holes on the button then putting the needle through the loop and pulling thigh (just like a look start in cross stitch.)

Push the needle through the center of the design on one side of the biscornu and out through the center of the design on the other side of the biscornu. Thread the other button onto the needle and push the needle back to the first side, pulling the thread taught to make the traditional dent in the center of the pillow. Sew through each button a couple of times, then fasten off your thread. Your biscornu is complete.

Friday, January 23, 2009

Easter Purse Completed!

I finished this up this morning:

Easter Purse Completed

Isn't that Springy looking?

I'm not sure what I'll stitch on next. I have 5 purses to put together now and 3 Comfort Dolls but I'm not feeling up to sewing at the moment. I may do a bit of vintage iron-on transfer embroidery.

And here are pages 41 & 42 of my 1936 Herrschner's Catalog:

Herrschners 1

1936 Herrschners Catalog Page 41

There's only 2 pages of this catalog to go. I'll post them over the weekend.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Inauguration Day!

I must confess, I absolutely love the pomp & circumstance of Inauguration Day! I have ABC on in the living room and I'm listening to it as I type. Normally, I don't watch the news or regular TV. I don't care to be bombarded with the negative messages that come through, even in commercials. Instead, I listen to QVC most of the time. Lots of pretty things to look at and the show hosts are so cheerful and uplifting to listen to. And every now and then, I do indulge in a little something special for myself.

But Inauguration Day is something special and I'll admit that I have put a lot of hope and faith in our new President. I see a light in him and I know he'll do well for our country.

I'll be working on my laptop in the living room today. I'm designing a project in cross stitch to commemorate today's events. Normally, something like that wouldn't be my thing but it's been calling to me for days and when my father in law suggested a special commemorative sampler, I knew I had to do one. I'll make it available as soon as I have it ready.

In the meantime, here is an update on my Easter purse:

Easter Purse

The appliqué is beaded and embellished now. I love the SRE at the bottom! I was going to bead this with seed beads and then I thought to myself, geez louise girl! you're going to be here for days beading this. That's when I thought to use the bugle beads instead. It took about 2 hours to do the bugle beads.

I was asked about my little chick image in the middle. That image is from some Victorian clipart that I have. It's a copyright free image. I don't use a traditional image transfer method. I print my images on fabric using my computer. Also, I use cotton fabric rather than the silk that's usually used for crazyquilting. I've found that images transferred to silk look washed out. At least to me. With the cotton fabric, the images are crisp and bright and I'm all about that!

If anyone is interested in having some of these images, I will be happy to make some available. Please leave me a message here or in email and I'll gladly put some together. I can print 4 images on one sheet of fabric. I can also put some together with a few embellishments. In fact, I've been thinking of doing some embellishment packs since my stash has it's own stash! Ha, ha, ha! Give me some ideas of what you're looking for such as vintage ladies, holiday images and so on and I can get some things together.

Finally for today, here are pages 39 & 40 of my 1936 Herrschner's Catalog:

1936 Herrschners Catalog Page 39

1936 Herrschners Catalog Page 40

Check out the white with black polka dot dress at the bottom of page 39! That is just screaming at me! I love it!!!

Well, there's only about 4 pages left to this catalog. I hope you've been enjoying it!

Happy Inauguration Day everyone!

Monday, January 19, 2009

The Easter Purse Continued....

I stitched for about 2 hours this morning:

Easter Purse

The seams are embroidered, the appliqué is sewn down and I started on some SRE. Now for the glitter! The beads & sequins really bring out the beauty in the borders and overall design.

Over the weekend, I added a few 6 Inch Pre-sewn crazy quilt blocks to my Etsy shop. These are the same size as my Button Blocks. I've hand-basted the sewing line and added some lace:

Pre-sewn 6 inch Crazy Quilt Block

Speaking of my Button Blocks, I'm really wanting to put some together so I've decided to take 25 of the pastel colored ones and put them into a quilt. I will continue to make Button Blocks for a bigger quilt down the road and I may use some for door-hangers. I really enjoy making them and looking at them so I thought it would be fun to put together a small quilt for now while I continue to make them. I'll keep you posted on that when I get to it. I think I need a few more pastel colored ones first. I plan to stitch on more of them once I complete the stitching on the Easter purse.

I also want to share with you a new blog that I recently found. Needlework News keeps tabs on other needlework & craft blogs and posts links to interesting articles, new designs and ideas, helpful products and complimentary patterns. It's worth checking out!

Finally for today, here are pages 37 & 38 of my 1936 Herrschner's Catalog:

Herrschners 1

Herrschners 2

These dresses are so beautiful, aren't they? I would so love to have a closet full of these!

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Easter Purse Continued

A quick update on my Easter purse:

Easter Purse

I'll be sewing the pink appliqué down today. I plan to add some SRE embroidery to it and of course beads and sequins!

I love the pastel colors and I know this will be perfect to take when Scott & I go to breakfast on Easter morning.

The seam treatments are my own charted borders for Waste Canvas. I've done so many of these borders, that I have a hard time choosing which to use sometimes. I do have my favorites and many times, it's a matter of theme or fitting the space. I am planning on putting Volume 2 together. I want to pick up some PDF software to put it together myself. Volume 2 will only be borders. The instructions for working with Waste Canvas are available in Volume 1. Click here to learn more.

In the meantime, here are pages 35 & 36 of my 1936 Herrschner's Catalog:

1936 Herrschners Catalog Page 35

1936 Herrschners Catalog Page 36

Aren't these dresses something? Oh, I would so wear these! Wait until you see the next couple of pages!

Ok, I'm off for now to list a few 6 inch blocks in my Etsy shop.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Easter Purse

Well, it's minus 17 degrees outside but it is bright and sunny! Isn't January over with yet?!

I finished up my little cat doll for The Comfort Doll Project:

Comfort Doll CQ Cat

I need to get me in a sewing day. I have 4 purses to put together now and 3 Comfort Dolls! I was planning on doing finishing this weekend but I think my in-laws are coming so it might have to wait until during the week.

This morning, I started on an Easter purse:

Easter Purse

Doesn't it feel good just to look at this? So Springy! This is how I deal with the Winter season. I focus on Spring.

Honestly ladies, I don't know where to store anymore purses! I have so many now and they're everywhere. In my closet, in my nightstand and in my dresser. I can't help myself, I love them and it's so much fun to have seasonal purses as well as purses to match some of my outfits. Ok, so this time of year, they don't have to match my outfits, they just have to match my coat which they all do because it's black.

Ok, I'm rambling now. Sorry, cabin fever. I haven't been out since Monday!

Anyway, here are pages 33 & 34 of my 1936 Herrschner's Catalog:

1936 Herrschners Catalog Page 33

1936 Herrschners Catalog Page 34

There's only a few more pages to go on this catalog and then we'll move on to another catalog or a booklet. I didn't realize I had so many fun things to share!

Enjoy!

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Comfort Dolls

Yes, it was snowing here again this morning. I sat and finished up on this little Bonnet Lady:

Bonnet Lady Comfort Doll

The colors a bit off. It's really a little softer than it looks here. I used seed beads instead of French Knots. It's not that I mind doing French Knots. I just like the sparkle and dimension of the seed beads.

My next little project will be another one of my cat dolls:

Comfort Doll CQ Cat

How's this for some bright, warm colors! This will be to send to the Comfort Doll Project as well.

Speaking of Pat Winter, she had decided to close her Etsy shop and then changed her mind as well. I guess it's something in the midwest air! or the water! I'm really glad to hear that she's keeping her shop up and running! Pat has some pretty things in there if you'd like to check them out.

Finally for today, here are pages 31 & 32 of my 1936 Herrschner's Catalog:

1936 Herrschners Catalog Page 31

1936 Herrschners Catalog Page 32

Check out the price of the Hosiery! 75 Cents! Wow! I think I paid $8.00 for the pair of pantyhose that I bought to wear to grandma's funeral back in September. I wore them once and had to throw them away because I snagged them. Me & pantyhose do not work well together!

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Cats & Quilts Counted Cross Stitch Series

Well, as you've probably all noticed, I've gone back to my old format. Sometimes we try to make changes and they work and other times, they just don't.

Anyway, I have loads of stuff to share with you today. First, I started a little Bonnet Lady from my collection of vintage embroidery iron-on transfers:

Bonnet Lady Comfort Doll

Like the little kitty I did over the weekend, I will be sending this to Pat for the Comfort Doll Project. If you would like to stitch this little design, here is the pattern:

Bonnet Lady

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

In other news, I mentioned last week that my counted cross stitch followers were saddened by my retirement. Again, changes just don't always work so we'll just say, that I'll be designing cross stitch on a part time basis.

I decided to do a series of Cats & Quilts designs. There will be one for each month of the year. I've completed January & February:

January

February

If you're interested in stitching this series, you can find the patterns here.

Finally for today, here are pages 29 & 30 of my 1936 Herrschner's Catalog:

1936 Herrschners Catalog Page 29

1936 Herrschners Catalog Page 30

Check out the prices on the DMC Embroidery floss! 5 cents per skein!

Well, we didn't get as much snow as they had predicted last night. Fine with me. And it's been bright and sunny all day. Nice change from that overcast grey that we've had so much of since the beginning of December. It's supposed to get really cold for a few days and then warm up again.

Well, enough of the weather. Enjoy today's pattern and catalog pages.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Still Snowing

It's still snowing here. I pulled out my little white bunny yesterday and put him on my coffee table. He kind of cheers things up and makes it feel more Springy.

I didn't start a new project but rather instead, I did some sewing. I sewed up an Easter purse block which you'll see in the near future and then I did some cat dolls and some 6 inch blocks:

Cat Aqua Brown

The Brocade on the top of the cat is one of my newest pieces of fabric. I bought it at JoAnn's on New Year's Eve. I couldn't wait to use it on something! Anyway, I've added the pre-sewn cat dolls to my Etsy shop and I'll add the 6 inch blocks when I have some free time.

Meanwhile, the 1936 Herrschner's Catalog continues. Here are pages 25 & 26:

1936 Herrschners Catalog Page 25

1936 Herrschners Catalog Page 26

Enjoy!

Friday, January 09, 2009

More Pages From My Herrschner's Catalog

Well, it's snowing here again. What a surprise! Don't laugh, but I have this sweet little white bunny that I bought at Michael's last year and I'm going to go upstairs and get him out and put him on my coffee table. He's covered in very chunky glitter and he is so pretty and sparkly. That should help it feel a bit more cheerful and Springy to me. He doesn't scream Easter, he's just a bunny.

Anyway, I haven't started another stitching project yet so today's offering will be pages 23 & 24 of my 1936 Herrschner's Catalog:

1936 Herrschners Catalog Page 23

1936 Herrschners Catalog Page 24

I was recently asked if I still do cross stitching. No, not really. The only cross stitching I do is my charted borders on my Crazy Quilt projects. Some of the designs have cross stitches. I still enjoy vintage outline embroidery and I'm thinking of pulling out my transfers later today and doing a little something from them to send to Pat for the Comfort Doll project.

Thursday, January 08, 2009

1936 Herrschners Catalog Continued....

I haven't started another project yet since finishing my Sewing Machine Lady. Today, I'll simply offer you pages 21 & 22 of my Herrschner's Catalog:

1936 Herrschners Catalog Page 21

1936 Herrschners Catalog Page 22

Enjoy!

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Sewing Machine Lady Purse Completed

I finished up on this purse last night:

Sewing Machine Lady Purse Completed

I have to find some time to sew up these last 4 purses that I made.

I did a couple of Glitter Cards the other day too:

Valentine 1

Valentine 2

Yes, these are available in my Etsy shop.

I don't feel very chatty today so I'll leave you with pages 19 & 20 of my 1936 Herrschner's Catalog:

1936 Herrschners Catalog Page 19

1936 Herrschners Catalog Page 20

Be sure to click on the images to go to my Flickr site where you can view the large version.
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