Submission Guidelines and Schedule

I thought for today, I would share the Submission Guidelines and Publication Schedule for my upcoming publications.  I'm working on my ideas and although I don't want to jump the gun, I'm still bouncing off the walls with excitement for when I take over Crazy Quilt Gatherings magazine.  I've made a new tab at the top of my blog calling for submissions for upcoming publications.  Along with CQ Gatherings magazine, there will be other publications.  The ideas are running rampant through my brain right now.  But I'm trying to stay focused on just a few things.  I want to give everyone the opportunity to submit their work and see it published.  As Pat always said, CQ Gatherings magazine is a needful thing.  And I thought a few other publications would be fun for everyone as well!  So please read through the following and keep your eye on the tab at the top of my blog for updates.


*Starting with the Spring 2015 issue of Crazy Quilt Gatherings magazine, I will be the new owner and publisher.  This is an exciting endeavor for me and I hope it will be for you as well.  My mission is to help spread the word about the wonderful world of crazy quilting, to share crazy quilt ideas, techniques, patterns and eye candy with crazy quilters around the world and to give crazy quilters the opportunity to see their work published.

There will be a 3 month lead time on each issue so my publishing schedule will be as follows:

Spring 2015 issue - Release date:   February 1, 2015 - Submissions due by November 1, 2014.

*Suggested submission ideas and themes:  Valentines Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Mother's Day, butterflies, birds and nests, bunnies, pastel colors.

Summer 2015 issue - Release date:  May 1, 2015 - Submissions due by February 1, 2015.

*Suggested submission ideas and themes:  flowers, birds, butterflies, patriotic, swans, bright pastels, bugs, Summer themes

Autumn 2015 issue - Release date:  August 1, 2015 - Submissions due by May 1, 2015.

 *Suggested submission ideas and themes:  Halloween, Thanksgiving, Fall leaves, pumpkins, browns, orange, gold, yellow, reds

Winter 2015 issue - Release date:  November 1, 2015 - Submissions due by August 1, 2015.

*Suggested submission ideas and themes:  Christmas, Winter, Snowflakes, Snowmen, blues, whites, red and green

The suggestions for ideas and themes are only suggestions.  Please feel free to submit any of your work at anytime.   

I will add ideas and suggestions as they come to me. These are just ideas, not necessities to get published. It's important to me that you feel comfortable submitting your projects.  I know it can be a little intimidating to put our work our there as none of us want to feel as if our we are being judged.  That's not the case with these publications.  The mission here is to give everyone the opportunity to share.  Everyone brings something to the table.  That's my philosophy!  I hope it's yours too!

Along with publishing Crazy Quilt Gatherings magazine, I will also be publishing several supplemental Crazy Quilt booklets.  This is a list of upcoming publications:

2015 Crazy Quilt Calendar

Release date:  September 1, 2014

The calendar is already full so I cannot accept submissions for this publication.

100 Crazy Quilt Hearts

I do not have a release date for this publication at the moment however, I am asking everyone to start thinking about crazy quilt hearts!  I love them and everyone loves them!

Guidelines:  Hearts can be any heart shape, any color and any theme however, they must be crazy quilted, approx. 6 inches in size and they must be finished into an ornament.   You can submit as many hearts as you would like to.  If I get too many submissions for 1 publication, I will do a 2nd publication.

I will post more information on this publication soon so please check back often.

Basic submission information:  Please send unaltered, high resolution photos 300 dpi JPEG images.  If you plan to send a tutorial, please send a Word.doc or simply write out in an email message with photos as attachments.  Submission can be sent to my email address.  Also, include any links that you would like me to include with your work such as Blog address, Facebook, email address, Flickr and so on. 

Again, please be check the tab at the top of my blog often.  I will update it regularly.  If you have any questions, feel free to email me.

Any Guesses Now?

Wow!  It's been a few days since I've had my computer on.  Busy weekend.  My little old IPhone 3 decided it didn't really want to work for me anymore.  So Scott and I went out and bought new cellphones.  Thankfully, we were able to get our monthly cellphone bill down a little bit which helped to offset the price of the phones.  It's taking me a little while to get the hang of it since we bought Android phones this time rather than IPhones.  I liked the Android because it has a bigger screen.  When I go to bed at night, I like to take my cellphone and look around on Etsy for awhile. 

Anyway, I finished stitching up my "mystery" project.  Yes, it will be a purse but what else will it be?  Any guess from this photo:

If that photo doesn't clue you in, maybe this one will:

Yes, it's a Watermelon Purse!  I thought it was kind of a cute idea!  There will be one more.  I sewed up two because I wanted one for myself and one for my Etsy store.  I have a special order to stitch and then I'll start on the next one.

Also, I still have ad space left for the 2015 Crazy Quilt Calendar.  Email me for details.

Happy 100th Birthday Wrigley Field

If you've been following my blog for a few years, you know that I'm a big time fan of the Chicago Cubs.  Today is the 100th birthday of Wrigley Field:

The Cubs are playing the Diamondbacks and they're playing in vintage style uniforms. How cool!

Anyway, I'm at my parents house and we have the game on and we're enjoying the old photos, the old music and the memories of the times we went to Wrigley Field!  So Happy Birthday to Wrigley Field.  A beautiful ballpark and a very happy place to be!

Keep Guessing!

Yes, this will be a purse when it's all done:

But....what is going to be?  I know, it sounds like a trick question and it kind of is because I know that at this moment, you just can't tell.  My next update just might clue you in!

Here's a photo of the little door hanger that I was working on last week:

I don't think I'll have time to get this sewn together and finished until next week sometime.  But when I it's done, I'll post another pic.

I also have some new handmade things that Mom made:

You've probably figured out that Mom and I both love making door knob hangers!  I think they're fun little decorative things that are perfect for gifts.

Whatever Will It Be?

Leave a comment with your guess!

Loads Of Finishes To Share!

I spent yesterday afternoon running my sewing machine and finishing up a bunch of my crazy quilt projects.  It always feels so good to complete things, doesn't it?

These are my most recent Crazy Quilt Hanging Pillows:

I used Vintage Handkerchiefs for the focal point on all of these.  With Flea Market season coming, I thought I'd better use some of the things I picked up last year!

And these 2 little Crazy Quilt Cat Dolls are a Custom Order:

I started stitching on a little gift for my aunt for Mother's Day so I'll photos of that soon.

Advertisement Space In 2015 Crazy Quilt Calendar

I'm working on the 2015 Crazy Quilt Calendar.  Blocks are already coming in and wow!  Gorgeous eye candy!!!!!  As soon as I have everyone's blocks, I will announce the artists who have contributed their work to help promote crazy quilting!

I will be advertising the calendar in a needlework trade magazine which should help to get it into retail needlework stores.

I have 6 advertisement spaces available in the calendar.  If anyone owns an online store such as an Etsy shop and sells supplies and embellishments for crazy quilting or handmade crazy quilt items, or if you teach online crazy quilt classes, please email me to reserve your space.  The ad size is 3 1/2 X 2 inches. 300 dpi JPEG. Spaces are $40.00 each and available on a first come first serve basis.

Happy Birthday Cotton!

I can't believe that my precious little Cottonball turned a year old on Friday.

Don't be fooled by the white fur and sweet face!  He's a handful!!!  But he's sweet and very agreeable!

I finished up my Happy Birthday Crazy Quilt Door Hanger:

I have a few things now that need assembling so I'll have to take a day this week and get everything caught up.

Hope you're all have a nice Sunday.  I have chocolate cupcakes in the oven, Cubs baseball playing on the TV (yes, they're losing to St. Louis, again) and laundry going.  It's time to go relax and stitch.

Marathon Sewing Day

I spent all day yesterday piecing new projects to stitch on.  I must have put a good couple of miles on my Treadle Machine because I ran it from 9 am to 7:30 pm.  I pieced everything from purses, to hearts, dolls and pillows.  I like to have a pile of things to choose from and I like a few extra things in my stash drawer, all ready to stitch on in case I don't have time to pull everything out and sew.  I don't have a sewing room (at this moment, I hope to change that) so when I pull things out, I have to put everything away when I'm done.

Before I share a few of my pieced blocks, I finished up this little cat doll for a friend:

I just packaged this up and will mail it tomorrow.

I've also been working on my Happy Birthday Hanging Pillow:

I'll be stitching on this some more later today.

Okay, now for my pieced blocks.  Well, some of them:

This is just a small sampling of pieced blocks from my marathon sewing day yesterday.  I may take another day next week and sew up some more things.  I love running that antique Singer machine!

April Showers Bring May Flowers

We just had one of those little April showers.  You know, the kind that pops up out of nowhere, rains for a few minutes and stops.  Well, better rain than snow, right?

I started stitching on another little project that I pieced last week.  This is a Happy Birthday Door Hanger:

The center is from a vintage hankie that I picked up at a Flea Market last Summer.  I don't find them too often but when I do, I buy them.  I just started on this earlier today and I'm off to stitch some more until Scott gets home.

Small Crazy Quilt Blocks

What a nice day today!  Sunny and in the 50's I think.  My daffodils and tulips are starting to peek out of the ground and there are tons of buds on my Magnolia tree!  I sat on my beloved deck for a few minutes yesterday and again this morning for a short time.  DH is going to grill this evening.  The good weather is here! 

I have Cubs baseball on in the other room.  Okay, don't laugh but I love the Chicago Cubs.  They lost to the Phillies the last 2 games but last time I was in the living room, they were winning 4 - 1 in the 5th.  Oh Baseball - the sound of Summer!

I've been stitching on a couple of small Crazy Quilt blocks.  These are both ready to sew together:

Yes, the blue one is a heart.  I finished it up this morning.  If all goes as planned, I'd like to sew up some more purses pieces tomorrow.  I have another friend who need a hug so I'm going to stitch up a quick little cat doll next.  I hope she likes purple.

Yellow Rose Block

I feel like I'm in slow motion on this Yellow Rose Block:

I'm sure I'll have this done later this afternoon.  It's a cloudy, dreary day here.  Damp and cold so I'll just to stitch the rest of the day.  Oh, and do laundry.  Always laundry!

If anyone is interested, mom and I are trying to get our inventory down a little bit.  Use Coupon Code:

Springfling2014 for 20% off on orders over $25.00 at http://www.kittyandme.etsy.com/

I'll leave you with a rare photo of my little Cotton being good:

The only time he's really good is when he's sleeping!  LOL!!!!

Antique Crazy Quilts For Sale

Several years ago, like 6 or 7, I rescued a couple of antique crazy quilts from flea markets.  My intention was to repair/restore them but as we all know, things happen and I never got around to doing it.  I started to repair this one and I think some of you, who have been following my blog for awhile will remember it:

I think I blogged about this one too when I bought it:

Well, I was going through my grandmother's cedar chest where I had them stored and decided that it was time to pass them on to someone else who make better use of them.  So I spent the afternoon photographing them and listing them on Ebay.

If anyone is interested in either one or if you want to read more about them you can find them here:

Antique Crazy Quilt 1888  and the Small Antique Doll Size Crazy Quilt

It Was Spring Yesterday

But today, there's a very cold wind blowing.  It's sunny though so that helps!  I want to get back out in the yard and clean up some more but that wind is a bit cold for me.

I took Lucy to the vet this morning and her weight is holding at 7 pounds 2 ounces.  The special kidney diet is working.  She's sleeping now but she's been more talkative these past few weeks.  I ordered a special vitamin supplement for her for kidney health.  Our vet said it can't hurt so I'll start giving her that as soon as it arrives.  My sister has been giving it to her 19 year old cat who also has kidney disease and her numbers are already getting better after only a week or so.  Lucy's numbers are in the normal range now but this should help along with the special diet.

In other news, I finished up my little seascape cellphone pouch:

I made this for a dear friend who's birthday is April 6th.  I'll run to the Post Office tomorrow and mail it to her.

I've also been stitching on this little 6 X 6 inch door pillow block:

When I finish up on the computer I'll start adding my beads and sequins.

I added some more Color Combinations to my Pinterest Color Palette Board including a few of my own.  For Crazy Quilters who struggle with what colors to use, these palettes should help to narrow things down.  Choose a palette that you like, print it up and match your fabric colors to that.  It's a good starting point for anyone who is new to crazy quilting but feels overwhelmed by where to start.

Finally for today, I wanted to mention that I won't be making anymore of my Crazy Quilt Cat Dolls for my Etsy shop.  I'm going to make them just as gifts now.  So if anyone wants one of my little cats, there are still a few left in the shop.  Order while you can!