Another Snowman Ornament

I stitched this piece up the other day.  It'll be another ornament:

I'll have to sew up a few more things now.  I've stitched everything I have.

New At Etsy

Just a quick little post to share our newest Etsy items.  First is my Autumn Leaves Crazy Quilt Door Hanger:

I also finished up on my little Crazy Quilt Cellphone Cases:

And this is mom's newest item:

 Okay, so now that I have all of our newest things listed in our Etsy shop, I'm off to do some laundry.

Another Sneak Peek

Volume 3 of Elegant Crazy Quilt Seam Treatments is coming along nicely.  I have 10 more pages to do with 6 borders per page.  Here's a sneak peek at a couple more borders:

And here they are beaded:

And here is the stitched project:

Once I get a few more things stitched up, I'll need another sewing day!

Praying Mantis

I found this beautiful creature sitting on the front of my house this morning:

I you haven't seen a Praying Mantis before, they're about 4 inches long and totally harmless.  This little ones have always been one of my favorites in the bug world!

In other news, Elegant Crazy Quilt Seam Treatments Volume 3 is well under way.  I expect to have it finished in another week or 2.  I stitched up the cat doll for the cover:

I'll get him sewn up in the next few days.  For now, I'm back to work on a few more borders.

Free Shipping at Kitty & Me

Since today is the first day of Autumn, mom and I thought we'd jump start this beautiful season with a Free Shipping offer in our Etsy shop:

Use Coupon Code:  Blog923 for Free Shipping on all domestic orders.  Offer excludes our Crazy Quilt Fabric Packs since shipping is already included in that price.

Sneak Peek

I finished up stitching on my last cellphone pouch:

All of the borders on this piece are in my upcoming "Elegant Crazy Quilt Seam Treatments" Volume 3.

I plan to get these sewn up and in the shop this coming week.

I also started on a little Autumn door hanger:

And here's a closeup of the that pretty green seam treatment which also is a border coming soon in Volume 3:

I've been experimenting with a few different ideas, one of which you can see on this door pillow.  Look for the leaf border stitched on 14 count Aida.  That border is from Volume 1.

I have loads of new ideas so if you don't already follow my blog, please do so you don't miss out on some cool new crazy quilt techniques!

Mom The Celebrity!

Last week, mom's picture was in our local newspaper, The Northwest Herald:

As you know, my mom is legally blind.  She has a small amount of central vision which gives her the ability to still do a little bit of sewing and make a few cards.  Mom always said that she was determined to use what vision she still has for as long as she can.

Mom is pictured here with the president of our local Lion's Club and her Seeing Eye Dog.

Red and Black Purse Is Done

I sewed up my red and black purse yesterday morning and then did the hand finishing yesterday afternoon:

I'm not really a red person but this was a nice change of scenery for me.

And here is an update on my current cellphone pouch:

The seam embroidery is from Volume 3 of my Elegant Crazy Quilt Seam Treatments Book.  It's coming soon!

More Cellphone Pouches

I've been stitching on some little cellphone pouches for my Etsy shop.  I completed this one this morning:

 And I'll start stitching on this one later this afternoon:

I sewed up the black and red purse this morning that finished last week so all I have left to do is the handwork.  I'll have photos of that soon.

For now, I'm going spend and hour or two working on Volume 3 of Elegant Crazy Quilt Seam Treatments.

Also if you're using kittyandme.com to access my blog, please bookmark me at http://www.kittyandmedesigns.blogspot.com/ .

And if you email me using my kittyandme email address, please change your address book to this one.

I've decided to drop the domain name for my blog so it'll default back to the blogspot address and I'll lose my kitty and me email address but that's okay since that's where most of my junk email comes from.

Crazy Quilt Cellphone Pouches

I'm planning on sewing up that red and black purse tomorrow but in the meantime, I'm stitching up a few little cellphone pouches for my Etsy shop.  This one is done and ready to sew together:

I started this one yesterday: 

First I stitched up the little cross stitch motif which is one my own designs.  It will be available in an upcoming crazy quilt book:

I stitch it up on 14 count Aida and then simply appliqued it to the pieced block.  I expect to finish this up later today or tomorrow.

In other news, Nightmare seems to be doing better.  Scott and I suspect he had a stroke.  It was those symptoms that made me take him to the vet.  Then the blood tests showed that his kidney's are starting to fail.  He's eating the special diet now and seems to be recovering from the stroke symptoms.  He's still a bit "off" but is definitely doing better.  He's laying in my lap as I type.

My Lucy had a stroke back at Christmas and it took her a good 6 to 8 weeks to recover but she's fine now.  As long as we can give Nightmare quality of life, we'll do what we can to keep him healthy and comfortable.

Red and Black Purse Done

I finished stitching my red and black crazy quilt purse early this morning:

I'll share another photo when I get it sewn together.

I also wanted to mention that we're taking one day at a time with Nightmare.  I talked to our vet again this morning and she said that his numbers for the kidney function are not in the dangerous zone yet.  But all I can get him to eat is rotisserie chicken from the grocery store and white bread.  Yesterday he was fine with eating the special kidney diet, today he won't have any part of it.

Since everything else is normal, my vet suspects that having lost Simba in May, that Nightmare is losing his will to live.  I think I mentioned that Nightmare was a year old when we adopted Simba and Nightmare immediately took to Simba and mothered him.  So like I said, one day at time.

New Items by Mom and Kathi

I've been so behind on things all Summer, I thought I'd better get caught up!

I've added a few new things to my Etsy shop.  These sweet little Owl Decorations where made by mom:

And then I've added several pair of earrings by Kathi:

Also, our Crazy Quilt Fabric Packs are available at Etsy:

Please hop on over and take a peek at all of our new things!

A Note On Nightmare

First, I thought I'd share an update with you on my Red & Black crazy quilt purse:

As you can see, I've done quite a bit of work on it over the last few days and hope to have time later to stitch on it a bit.

I also wanted to mention that my precious little Nightmare has been diagnosed with Kidney Failure:

Yes, I have him wrapped up in a quilt.  He's always liked that.  Anyway, I lost my Francis kitty to Kidney Failure back in 1996:

Having been through Kidney Failure with one kitty, I already know that it's a disease that tends to go quickly.  It's just a matter of time.

Needless to say, I'm heartbroken and devastated.  I just lost Simba in May and then my mom's Lakota in August.  I had been planning on adopting a kitten in the Spring of 2013 but depending on when things happen, that might have to move up a bit.  We'll see.

Nightmare has been with me since he was 3 weeks old.  He thinks I'm his real mother and has separation anxiety anytime I go outside or leave the house.  He's the one who's always been in my face under my feet.  Constantly.  But he is strong willed, stubborn and determined so who knows.  He'll be 17 in October.

Purses Finished

I did some finishing over the weekend on the last 2 purses I made:

It feels good to be getting a few things done.

Red and Black Purse

I have some progress to share on my red and black purse:

The beaded piece was too big as a whole so I cut it and used it in 2 places.  I think this balances out nicely.

I also (painstakingly) restrung every bead and rhinestone on them to be sure they didn't loosen up.  It is a vintage piece and it was handmade so I wanted to be sure that they stayed put.

German Raw Apple Cake

I mentioned in my post yesterday that I was going to make some Apple Cake.  I tried a recipe that I never tried before and I must say, this cake came out awesome!

Yes, I put sprinkles on everything! 

The recipe came from a cookbook that I bought many years ago when Scott and I were in Lancaster, PA.  It's called, Lancaster County Cookbook by Louise Stoltzfus and Jan Mast.  The copyright date is 1993:

Here's the recipe:

German Raw Apple Cake

2 1/4 cups cake flour
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup sour milk or buttermilk
2 cups diced apples

Topping: 

1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1.  Sift together flour, salt and cinnamon.
2.  Cream together shortening, sugars and eggs.
3. Stir baking soda into sour milk.  Add milk and dry ingredients alternately to creamed mixture.  Fold in apples.  Spread into greased 9 inch X 13 inch baking pan.
4.  To prepare topping, combine all ingredients and sprinkle over cake batter.
5.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 - 40 minutes or until done.

I didn't have cake flour so I used all purpose flour and I didn't have any nuts so I just did without them.  I made a simple glaze of powdered sugar, milk, cinnamon and vanilla and drizzled it on the cake after it was cooled.  Then I added the sprinkles.

I don't know if this book is still available or not but every recipe I've tried from has been excellent!

Black and White and Red All Over

I did some sewing yesterday.  I assembled my last 2 purses and just have to do the hand finishing on them.  I also pieced up an new purse:

I found that beaded piece at a flea market last Summer.  It was cut off of a vintage dress.  I think I only paid $5.00 for it.  I'm attracted to anything that sparkles and even though I'm not huge on red, I had to have it.

Anyway, I pieced this up yesterday and will pull some lace and trim for it today.

And now that it's September (Scott and I have been married 24 years today) I am craving apples so I think I'll make some Apple Cake.

The Peacock Quilt

During my blogging break, I've been trying to clean out and rearrange cupboards and working in my yard which was done a long time ago due to the extreme heat and lack of rain back in July.  I have just about everything cut back and ready to try again come Spring.

It's been a tough Summer, losing my Simba in May and then my mom's Lakota in August.  But I have worked on some projects.  One of them is my Peacock quilt.  You may remember me posting about it quite awhile back:

I finally pulled it out and stitched on it:

Here are closeups of the side panels:

You can click on the photos to see larger versions of them.  Most of the seam treatments were worked from Volume 1 & Volume 2 of my Elegant Crazy Quilt Seam Treatment books.  I will be working on putting Volume 3 together soon.

And here's a closeup of the embroidered peacock:

This was a pre-stamped design on black satin.  I stitched it back in the early 80's but never sewed it into anything.  I came across it a few years ago while rearranging my stash and thought it would make a nice focal point for a crazy quilt.  I added crystals to the eyes in the feathers for added sparkle.

I'll put this together soon and post an update when it's done.