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

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

Celebrating 35 years of Needlework!!!!

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Crazy Quilt Peacock Purse - A Work In Progress

I've just been sitting here and stitching my crazy little head off!  I'm currently working on beading the lace applique piece on the left-hand side:

Crazy Quilt Peacock Purse

Once I have the applique beaded, I'll start stitching the peacock.  I've been wanting another peacock purse for myself but I think I'll put this one in the shop and do a pink peacock purse for myself.  I'll have to add it to the list as I sewed up a block yesterday with a Marie Antoinette theme and that one is definitely for me!

Speaking of my crazy quilt purses, I loaned this one to my sister:

Silhouette Lady Purse

I have a feeling I may never see it again!  Kathi just loves it and she has co-workers drooling all over it too!  LOL!!!  I'm really not a "red" person.  I much prefer pink and other pastel colors.  I know Kathi is enjoying it and that's what matters to me!

If you'd like to see my other crazy quilt purses, click here to go to my Flickr site.

A couple of weeks ago, I shared a photo of the 1929 Ford Model A Tudor Sedan that Bubba has been working on for years!!  I asked him if he a photo from when we bought it.  This is what it looked like back then:

Model A In The Beginning

And then this is what it looks like now:

Model A 5

I'm so proud of him!  He really has stuck with it and little by little, he's getting it together.  It's been a rough road restoring this car.  But perseverance does pay off!  It's not done yet, but it gets closer by the day.

In other news, be sure to stop by tomorrow to meet my Guest Blogger!  She's an incredibly talented Crazy Quilter, she collects many of the same things that I do and she will share her passions here!

I will be hosting a guest blogger twice a month now.  I want to introduce my followers to some of my favorite bloggers and heaven knows, I have many!  There are so many talented ladies out there!  Just so many!  And I'm sure I've found a few that many of my readers have never met.

So please be sure to leave my guest a comment here and if you would be so kind, please hop over to her blog and leave another comment there.  And please let me know how you like this new feature on Kitty & Me Designs blog!!!

Monday, June 28, 2010

Crazy Quilting Crazy Me!

I think I mentioned the other day that Crazy Quilting has been screaming at me again.  It started either Thursday or Friday.  It's all I've been able to think about doing lately!  It really is my true passion.  I enjoy doing other things and I've done quite the variety of projects lately but I'm definitely moving back towards my passion.

I pulled out a block that I had pieced awhile back (I always keep a few blocks sewn up and tucked away for when I don't have the time to run my sewing machine) and I started stitching:

Green CQ Block

I hand painted my lace pieces early this morning.  This block will have a peacock on it.  I've done several peacocks like this but it's been awhile:

White Peacock Purse A

The above purse is one I did a few years back!  I have always loved this one.

Anyway, I started the beading on the blue & green block this afternoon and will have another update for you tomorrow.  I wanted to start on the peacock but I'll have to turn my big computer on to print up my pattern for the body.  I was too lazy today!  LOL!!!

Actually, I wasn't lazy at all!  I pieced 3 more CQ blocks, all for purses with ladies on them:

CQ Lady 1

CQ Lady 2

CQ Lady 3

They don't look like much at the moment, but you know, by the time I'm done piling on the stitching and embellishments, they'll look like a million bucks!

I'm assuming that my need to get back to Crazy Quilting is a sign that my depression is again receding some more.  I'm past the medication withdrawals but still feel the meds are too high.  I will get off this stuff. It might not be until next Spring or Summer, but I will get off of it!  In the meantime, I saw my Dr. again last week and she told me that when I see her again the end of July, she'll drop it again.  It'll be interesting to see if I feel better with another reduction in the dosage.  Will have to ask her if I can expect another week of withdrawals.  I don't care if I have withdrawals.  Trust me, I've been through worse!

One of my main concerns is that the Zoloft has parked 13 extra pounds on my butt and I refuse to tolerate that!  I'm having a terrible time getting it off. It just doesn't want to budge and with the way I eat, it shouldn't have gone up in the first place!  I mean, I live on fruit & salad!  Anyway, just a bit of a vent here.  I'll get on with my post!

In other news, I plan to do the finishing on my Mary's Garden Art Quilt tomorrow.  I'll write the final part for the tutorial and get that posted in a few days.

Oh, and I keep forgetting to mention that we're having a huge sale in the shop!! HUGE!!!  We're going to change directions just a twinge.  More crazy quilting, more embroidery with crayon tinting, more of Kathi's gorgeous jewelry and some embellishments!

I think I have some angels who are trying to tell me something.  Several of my long time readers have emailed me recently, asking I will ever offer hand-dyed vintage lace like I did a few years back.  It took 3 messages before it finally clicked in my ADHD brain!!!  So, I have decided (since I can't walk away from a bag of vintage lace at flea markets and antique shops) that I will indeed begin offering that again and I'll also offer some hand-dyed silk ribbon, perhaps some dyed fabric and some of the other little do-dads that I find in my junking travels!

So, we're having this huge sale in the shop to make room for Autumn & Winter things and for some supplies.  I know that many crafters and stitchers do not have access to the wonderful flea markets and shops that I do and it certainly would be fun for me to offer those treasures.  I just love playing with dyes!  It's like coloring Easter Eggs!  LOL!!!

So, please visit my Etsy shop and see if there is something that you can't live without.  I really need to make a section for Embellishments! 

I guess that's the news for today everyone!  I'm quite tired now so I'll leave you with a photo I took this afternoon in my "garden":




My garden is a mess.  It's overgrown with perennials and weeds.  I was way too sick last Summer to do anything with it and this Summer, I still don't have the energy.  Fortunately, in every mess, there is inkling of beauty!!!

Sunday, June 27, 2010

This Weeks Treasures

Thank you everyone, for your sweet comments on my Pink Saturday post.  I am really enjoying being part of this fun and very pink blog experience!  I've already met some incredibly sweet and gifted bloggers who also adore the color pink. 

I did a bit of shopping this week.  A trip to Hobby Lobby on Wednesday resulted in some nice additions to my bead stash (like it needed additions!):

Treasures 1

A few things were on sale and few were on clearance!!

I also picked up some large hole paillettes:

Treasures 2

I plan to crochet some edges for my crazy quilt purses using my funky fuzzy yarn and these pretty sequins!

This morning, Scott and I headed up to Elkorn, Wisconsin for the Holy Grail of Flea Markets.  We got rained on but that certainly didn't stop me from finding a few goodies for my stitching!

First, a vintage machine embroidered handkerchief with strawberries on it.  In all years and years of junkin' I've done, I have never seen one of these with strawberries!!!  I also found a pretty little vintage shoe clip.  I love the Jadite colored flowers:

Treasures 4

My vintage embroidery transfer patterns have been rather scarce this season!  Luckily, I found 2 today to add to my collection:

Treasures 3

While dodging the rain in one of the buildings, I found this bagful of pretty trims.  Nothing terribly special but I use braided gimp for a variety of projects and the gold trims are suitable for so many things:

Treasures 6

My final Flea Market find for today is a nice little collection of vintage millinery flowers:

Treasures 5

By the time we were done, the rain had stopped, the sun came out and it was becoming quite juicy outside!  I was glad to get back to our truck and the comfort of being in air conditioning!

In other news, I'm suddenly missing crazy quilting.  CQ is all I've been able to think about so I plan to run my treadle machine this week and sew up a few blocks to stitch on.  I'm wanting to do some new purses.  In the meantime, I had this one sewn up and plan to stitch on it now:

Green CQ Block

This one will have a peacock theme.  Please come back to watch my progress as I stitch on it!

Friday, June 25, 2010

Happy Pink Saturday! My Pink Needlework!

Hello everyone!  I'm thrilled to be participating in Pink Saturday again this week!

Today, I thought you would enjoy seeing my Pink Needlework.  I adore needlework.  I always say I was born with a needle in my hand.  My mom and grandma taught me to stitch when I was around 8 years old.  I've done everything from old-fashioned outline embroidery (I've been collecting vintage embroidery transfer patterns for years), to needlepoint, punch needle embroidery, counted cross stitch, art quilting, Elizabethan Blackwork and so on.  I've done almost every type of needlework imaginable!  My absolute passion is crazy quilting. 

With that said, I will get on with my pink photos!  First, my little kittens in a basket:

Pink Saturday

I stitched this piece a few years back.  It currently hangs in my bathroom.  The pattern is a vintage Vogart embroidery pattern.  My dad made the simple frame and I hand painted it.

The next piece is a decorative towel that I made for my bathroom a few years ago.  It's a peekaboo kitty and also from a vintage Vogart embroidery pattern:

Pink Saturday

This pretty project hangs in my computer/craft supply room.  It's a design I did awhile back when I was designing counted cross stitch for magazines.  It's called, "Garden Jewels".  I adore hummingbirds and I thought they would be pretty with some colorful fruit.  I did not stitch this piece.  It was worked by my dear friend Kim:

Pink Saturday

This lovely pillow is another design from my large collection of vintage embroidery transfer patterns.  I crayon tinted the cardinal bird and then did the embroidery:

Pink Saturday

This pillow is a small piece that I stitched back in the 80's.  It was a pre-stamped design:

Pink Saturday

Here's how they look sitting in my white wicker rocking chair:

Pink Saturday

I bought this precious little sampler at a flea market this past October.  I only paid $12.00 for it!  All that stitching and it was only $12.00!!!  There's something really sad about that.  At least to me.  Anyway, it's dated on the back and was stitched in the mid-70's.  I left it in the original frame:

Pink Saturday

Last but not least, is my Pink Crazy Garden Quilt.  I know many of my followers have seen this numerous times but in case anyone visits who hasn't seen it, I thought I'd post it again.  As I said, Crazy Quilting is my true passion:

Floral Crazy Quilt Finished 2

That's my Pink Saturday post everyone!  I hope you enjoyed seeing my Pink Needlework!

I'd like to thank Beverly at How Sweet The Sound blog for graciously allowing me to participate in Pink Saturday.  I so much enjoy it!  Please hop over to Beverly's blog and visit some of the other Pink Participants!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Ramblings For Today

First, I would like to thank everyone who left comments for me on my Pink Saturday post!  I'm just thrilled to be able to contribute to such a fun and lovely gathering of pink blog posts!

If anyone would like to contribute to Pink Saturday, please visit Beverly at How Sweet The Sound for more details.  I will be participating again this coming Saturday so please stop by to see my pink contribution!

I would also like to thank everyone who voted for my Pink Crazy Garden Quilt photo:

Floral Crazy Quilt Finished 2

I entered the photo at a contest that is hosted by Daisy at Daisy Pink Cupcake blog.  To be truthful, I don't even know what the prizes are.  I would just love to win!  If you haven't voted yet, please hop over.  My quilt photo is #7. 

And speaking of contests, my sweet friend Pat Winter is hosting a Give Away.  Please visit her blog for the details.  All entries must be entered by Friday June 25th Midnight CST.  If you've never been to Pat's blog, you're in for a real eye-candy treat!  Pat's photos are gorgeous.  Her Crazy Quilting is pure perfection and she currently has studio photos on her blog which will make you drool all over your keyboard!  You will love Pat's blog!!!!  Oh, and I forgot to mention the photos of Pat's beautiful home!  Pure eye-candy!

In other news, I will be hosting guest bloggers twice a month.  I thought it would be fun to introduce my readers to some of my favorite bloggers.  My first guest blogger will be posting on July 1st.  Please be sure to stop by for that.  My first guest is an incredibly gifted crazy quilter and she collects many of the same things that I do!  I know you will enjoy meeting her.

I will have the final installment of my Art Quilting 101 Tutorial in a few days.  I need to put it together and take photos for you as I go along.  I spent most of today running errands and cleaning.  Although I really wanted to sew, I never feel right about doing fun stuff until my chores are done!

Finally for today, Kathi has worked 3 more pairs of the Pink Resin Kitty earrings that have been so incredibly popular:

Pink Cat Earrings

These are the last 3 pairs that will be available.  Kathi wanted everyone who wanted a pair to have the opportunity to purchase them.  They are in the shop now so if you've been wanting a pair, please order as Kathi will not be making any more in this style.

I will leave you with Kathi's newest pretties:

Blue Fresh Water Pearl Earrings

Larimar Stone Earrings

Necklace

Paw Print Earrings

Bee Earrings

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Please Vote For Me!!!

I entered my Pink Crazy Garden Quilt in a contest at Daisy Pink Cupcake.

Floral Crazy Quilt Finished 2
I'm contestant #7 in Contest #2.  Please hop over and vote for my quilt!!!  Please!!!  I would just love to win!

Thanks!

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Flea Market Finds!

As per our usual Sunday morning routine, Bubba & I went to a flea market this morning.  I found a few misc. craft supplies.  Nothing unusual or exciting.

The real thrill for me is in 2 of my finds.  First, my little shoe with roses:

Shoe

Shoe

I have no idea if this is old or not.  It was in a booth with tons of things that I know for sure were vintage.  The bottom is marked, "Burton & Burton - Bogart, GA - Made In China".

Truthfully, I don't care if it's old or not.  It's mint green with pink roses on it.  It reminds me of Marie Antoinette and I love it!  However, if anyone can enlighten me, I would be grateful!

I didn't realize until I bought this little shoe that I'm a shoe collector!  I think I have 5 or 6 pretty little shoes!  Who knew?  Not me!  I guess I've just picked up a pretty shoe here and there not even thinking about it.  In real life (LOL!) I love shoes too!  I just don't like wearing them.  I have some really nice shoes but I never wear them.  I love flip flops.  Pretty ones!  I would them all year long if I could.  They're comfy, they're cute and it's like walking around barefoot without being barefoot!

Ok, enough shoe babble!  Later this week, I'll wander around the house with my camera and share my little shoe collection here.

In the meantime, my next treasure is this vintage hat:

Hat

No, I do not collect vintage hats!  Heaven knows, I don't need to collect anything else!!  I buy these when I find them for a few dollars just to take the vintage flowers off of them.  I seem to keep finding pink ones though!  I'd love to start finding some blue, yellow and purple flowered hats!  But, I found pink today.  I've already removed the flowers and added them to the "flower" drawer in my stash cart.  Will have to share photos of that with you too.

For now, I'm very tired and need to go lay down.  I think I'm going threw some withdrawals from the medication that I'm on.  I see my Dr. again on Wednesday.  I plan to try to ride it out but we'll see what she says.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Happy Pink Saturday !

I am thrilled to be participating in Beverly's Pink Saturday!  This is my first contribution and I thought it would be fun to share my pink Crazy Quilt purses!

First, is my Pink Rose Purse.  A vintage machine embroidered hankie with pink roses is the focal point for this one which is one of my favorites!  I use this one quite a bit!  Silk Ribbon Embroidery, charms and loads of beads & sequins give this a soft, cottage style garden look!

Pink Rose Purse

My next purse is my Pink Poodle Purse!  Very fun!!!  I used a vintage embroidery pattern for the poodle which I crayon tinted and then glittered.  Vintage trims and vintage buttons give this purse a lot of interest!  The trim at the bottom is from part of a vintage dress!  It makes the purse a bit heavy, but it's just so cute and so pink!

Pink Poodle Purse

This purse is my Pink Lady Purse.  I did this purse to carry around Valentine's Day.  I wanted something pink with hearts but didn't want it to scream Valentines.  I actually carry this one quite a bit.  A vintage photo of a pretty lady in pink is enhanced with hand-dyed lace.  Silk Ribbon Embroidery, beading and sequins give it dimension and sparkle.  A vintage brooch and vintage rhinestone button add charm and grace to this purse.  I finished the bottom off with vintage lace that I hand dyed.

Pink Lady Purse

Last but not least, my newest pink purse, Girl With A Doll.  A vintage photo of a little girl with her doll is the focal point for this pretty bag.  I digitally added some color to the image.  Hand-painted lace, vintage trims, beads, sequins, charms, buttons and a butterfly brooch encrust this purse and it's matching key-chain.  Notice the 3-dimensional beaded leaves!

Girl With Doll Purse

This purse is available here.

I'd like to say thank you again to Beverly for including me in Pink Saturday.  I'm thrilled to be part of this fun pink day!  Please hop over to Beverly's How Sweet The Sound Blog and visit some of the other participants!

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Baby Wrens

I just had to share these photos with you!  We have a birdhouse in our back yard and every year, a mama wren has babies in it.  I was lucky to be sitting outside on my deck and I could see movement so I knew the babies had hatched.  While mama was away collecting bugs (ewwww) I quietly tip toed up to the birdhouse with my camera:

Baby Wrens 2

Baby Wrens 1

I know there's 2 babies in there for sure, perhaps even 3.  Aren't they precious?

Just had to share!

Also wanted to let you know that Kathi was able to work up 2 more pairs of the pink kitty earrings:

Pink Cat Earrings

I added them to the shop this morning!

Have a great night everyone!  See ya tomorrow.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Art Quilting 101 Tutorial - Embellishing

Now that you have your art quilt all layered and sewn together, it's time to start embellishing it.  This can be a bit overwhelming at first.  I'm sure you're wondering where to start.  First let me say, that you have to let go of how you think it should be and allow it to be what it becomes!  That is very important with art of any type.  Try not to stress over it!  Just go with it and let be what it wants to be.

With that said, there are some basics to help you get started.  You can begin to embellish anywhere on the quilt that you choose but my suggestion is to start with the focal point.  If you used a photograph, that's where the eye will start before moving on and around the rest of the quilt.

Art Quilt Part 2 Photo 1

I started by choosing a few lace appliques.  I always pin them on at first and always wait to dye them until I get a "feel" for the colors.

Art Quilt Part 2 Photo 2

I love to use Silk Ribbon Embroidery with vintage photos because it has a soft look to it.  If you don't do SRE, you can add some "sewn on" satin flowers.  Sew them on or glue them on, it's an art quilt not a sane quilt.  There are no rules.  Gluing them on with a glue gun goes much faster than sewing them on by hand but if you choose to sew them on, not a problem.

Art Quilt Part 2 Photo 3

If you look closely at the above photo, you can see that I kind of followed the fuzzy yarn trail and used that as a vine, adding SR flowers on either side of it.  I didn't cover the entire vine though.  I thought it would add more interest to leave some space for something else later.

At this point, I dyed my lace pieces and moved them around a bit:

Art Quilt Part 2 Photo 6

And because this is a garden quilt, I added the tiny bird's nest with eggs to the glove.  You see, the inspiration comes as you go along.  If you go with the inspiration when it comes to you, you will end up with a very flowy and unique project.  If you're set on it being a certain way, it'll end up looking stiff and too pre-planned.

I had actually just been to a flea market where I found a whole bag full of little birds nests and eggs.  The inspiration just happened.  I went with it and it worked great!

Art Quilt Part 2 Photo 7

As you move around your quilt, dig through your stash and see what other unexpected things you have on hand.  My mom had just dyed some salvage edges of fabric that she had laying around.  Mom always says, "waste not, want not".  She shared some of these with me and the moment I saw the one that says, "Coming Up Roses" on it, I knew that had to go on here!  So I wrapped it around the glove, which by the way, I glued on with the glue gun rather than sewing it on.  Saved time.

Next I pulled out some of my vintage millinery flowers and started to fill in some of the empty spaces on the vine.  I worked with the colors from the photo.  Those too are glued on with the glue gun.

Art Quilt Part 2 Photo 8

Finally, I did a lot of beading and added sequins.  Well, ya'll know I like things to sparkle!  I added some little bugs, some flower beads and alphabet beads spelling out the words, "Marys Garden".  That's the name of this quilt and it's based on the nursery rhyme, Mary, Mary quite contary, how does your garden grow?!

I added the feathers to enhance the bird's nest and then when I stood back and looked at it (always a good way to view your work.  Look at it from a distance for awhile.) I noticed that the pink applique flowers were a little too overpowering and distracted from the photo.  So I pulled out some white pearly paint and with a small paint brush, I painted the edges of the appliques.  Much softer now!

As I mentioned earlier in this post, the inspiration comes as you go along.  You just need to find a starting point and the focal point is always a good place to start.  I didn't have the name of the quilt chosen at first. It came to me as I was working on it. 

One of the most fun things to do is to use unexpected things and things from your stash.  I never recommend going out and buying anything special.  Use what you have and what you have collected. 

One more thing that I plan to do is to add a little glitter to the millinery flowers.  I suggest that you wait on that until the quilt is sewn together or you'll have glitter in your sewing machine and all over your floor.  Of course, if you don't want glitter, you don't have to use it.  I'm into bling but that's just me! 

It's really not all that different from crazy quilting, but there are no seams to stitch on.  That's the difference and the mental block that I ran into when I first tried art quilting.  Once I let go of that, art quilting just happened for me and I truly love it!  I love the freedom of it.

I hope you find this tutorial helpful.  The final part will be on how to finish it.  I'll have that ready in a week or so.  Until then, if you've decided to give this a try, please drop me a comment with a link to your blog, website, Flickr site or Facebook page where I can see your project.  I will gladly post photos here on my blog so everyone can enjoy your project!  And of course, feel free to email me with any questions that you may have.  I am always very happy to help!!!

Happy Embellishing Everyone!
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