The Top Is Done

It took me 6 days but I finally completed the top of the McHenry Landmark Crazy Quilt:

 

 

The lace, trim, yo-yo flowers and buttons are all sewn on by hand.  The lace is vintage, given to me by my mother in law.  The buttons are vintage Mother Of Pearl.  Took me hours to go through my stash and find enough of them with the shank and the right size!  The leaves have vintage 2 hole MOP of buttons on them too but they have a green tint to them.  They kind of blend in which is what I wanted.  The only thing not vintage are the little vines.  That trim is in my stash and I thought it was perfect to go with the little blue flowers.

 

Here's a closeup of one of the corners:

 

So the next thing to do is go to Hobby Lobby and get the backing fabric and about 50 black buttons to sew on the back for the purpose of holding the layers together so it doesn't sag while hanging.  Despite no do-dads other than buttons, this quilt is quite heavy.  

 

It measures 65 inches wide X 55 inches high.

 

Be sure to click on the photos to see them up close.

 

I'm going to take a little break before finishing it up.  I had to do all the hand sewing while sitting on the floor.  My back needs the break! 

 

When it completed, it will hand in my hallway.  I'm planning on doing a presentation on it for the Historical Society at some point. 

Back To The McHenry Landmark Crazy Quilt

It's been awhile since I've been able to work on the McHenry Illinois Landmark Crazy Quilt.  When my dad got sick, I had to put everything on the back burner so I could focus on taking care of him.  He actually helped me arrange the blocks before he got sick!

Anyway, I went to Hobby Lobby yesterday. That was tough.  All I could think about was mom.  We used to go there together and spend hours just looking at everything!!

Anyway, I bought black satin for the borders so I'll get to sewing that on over the weekend.  Then I can do the handwork. 

I have some vintage lace that my mother in law gave me so I plan to hand-sew that on and then I'll be adding all these little fabric yo-yo's in the corners.  I think I made these while dad was in the hospital:

These will go in the corners as flower sprays.  I will use vintage "Mother Of Pearl" buttons in the centers and probably add some embroidered vines.

But one step at a time.  Once the border fabric is on, I'll have to hand sew more of that trim around the perimeter of the blocks.

So....Methinks I'll actually get it done soon!  But the handwork will take me awhile!  Wish me luck! 

 

Shamrocks

 Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!!

 

 

 

Free St. Patrick's Day Cross Stitch Chart

I worked up a little St. Patrick's Day freebie cross stitch pattern a few weeks ago.  Almost forgot to post about it!  This is a little Four Leaf Clover design.

Here's the link where you can download this PDF and my entire free cross stitch pattern collection.

Happy Stitching! 

New Cross Stitch Patterns Colorful Cats for March and July (America 250 Cat)

In December, I started a news series of Colorful Cats Cross Stitch Patterns.  One for each month of the year.  January and February were released a few weeks ago but now I have 2 more patterns but I didn't do them entirely in sequence.  

March of course has a Springy St. Patrick's Day theme complete with a few Shamrocks for good luck!!

But then I skipped to July.  There's a method to my madness. I wanted everyone to have time to complete the special America 250 cat in time for Independence Day.

 

These are now available for purchase.  Ask you favorite needlework shops for my patterns or find them here:  kittyandme.etsy.com

Cross Stitch Easter Eggs

Despite my collection of cross stitch patterns by other designers (and there are many), every now and then, I like to stitch one of mine.  Actually, I'd like to stitch a lot of mine but there really are only so many hours in the day.

From my Easter Borders Cross Stitch leaflet, I stitched the eggs as a single motif:

I love Spring and this design was calling out to me for quite awhile!  I worked on it while watching the Figure Skating which of course reminds me of my mother (everything does) because she loved to watch the Olympics.

Anyway, I have a little pile of things that I need to sew together and finish and hopefully, I'll get to those soon.

Here's the cover of the pattern booklet:

These can be stitched as repeat borders or as individual motifs like I did.

There's also one for St. Patrick's Day and one for Valentine's Day:

 

 

If you're interested in stitching any of theses, you can find them at Kitty And Me Designs on Etsy.

Be sure to stop back to see my upcoming patterns.  You won't want to miss them! 

Updated Colorful Cats List - February 2026

 

It's been awhile since I updated the Colorful Cats list so here you go!  kittyandme.etsy.com

 

COMPLETE LIST OF COLORFUL CATS 

 310 (exclusive) - Keepsakes Cross Stitch 

Acorn (exclusive) - Acorns And Threads

America (exclusive) - Stitchery X-Press 

Antoinette 

Applejack 

Blizzard

Bluebird

Bubbles (Free Birthday Cat - join Fans Of Kitty And Me on Facebook and sign up) 

Bumblebee 

Butterfly (exclusive) - Cross Stitch Boutique 

Candy Cane 

Candy Corn 

Celebrate 

Champagne 

Cherry Berry 

Cobweb 

Confetti

Cupcake 

Cupid 

Delightful (exclusive) Needlework By Jim

Easter 

Egbert 

Emerald 

February 

Freedom 

Frosty

Fur Elise

Gingerbread 

Gingham 

Grapevine 

Hollyberry 

January 

Jeannie 

Jelly Bean 

Jingle

Jubilee 

July America 250 

Kitty (exclusive) Kitty And Me Designs 

Koala 

Ladybug 

Lemonade 

Liberty 

Lollypop (exclusive) Hobby House Needleworks 

Maggie (exclusive) Maggies On Main 

Maple Leaf 

March 

Mardi Gras 

Merlin

Mermaid 

Midnight 

Mistletoe 

Morning Glory 

Mozart

Mystery

New Year 

Nickolas 

Nightmare 

Pansy 

Partridge 

Patrick 

Phantom 

Pharaoh 

Poinsettia 

Pumpkin (exclusive) For The Stitcher’s Soul 

Rainbow 

Rosebud (exclusive) 123Stitch 

Salem

Sapphire (exclusive) Stytching Country 

Scarecrow

Shamrock 

Shortcake 

Snowflake 

Spooky 

Sunflower 

Sunrise (exclusive) - The Crafty Framer 

Sunset (exclusive) - Stitch By Stitch

Surprise 

Valentino 

Violet

Vivaldi

Watermelon 

Wildflower (exclusive) - The Crafty Framer

Willow

Shamrocks, Bookmarks and More.

The February releases are now available here at Kitty And Me on Etsy.

 I can't wait to stitch one of these Shamrock Biscornu Ornaments:

I've never actually made a "Biscornu".  I sew everything into door knob hangers.  Maybe I'll give it a try.  If you need instructions on sewing one together, there are many links across the internet but you can find mine here written by Cathy Drolet:

Biscornu Finishing Instructions 

Also available are the Bible Bookmarks:

These are so pretty and Springy!

Also, if you missed Jubilee, the Colorful Birthday Cat for 2025, she's now available. 

 

If you haven't signed up for the 2026 Birthday Cat (her name is Bubbles), hop over to the Fans Of Kitty And Me Designs Facebook Group.  The instructions are pinned at the top of the page.  You will receive her as a PDF file on your birthday via email!!

In case you haven't seen her, this is Bubbles:

 

Valentine's Day Free Cross Stitch Pattern

I have a new Free Cross Stitch pattern for you today!  I love Valentine's Day so this is the Floral Valentine Heart:

You can download the PDF file along with all my other free patterns here:

Kitty And Me Designs Free Cross Stitch Patterns
 

Happy Stitching!

Pam 

Last Day To Save

It's cold up here in Northern Illinois and I know most of the USA is dealing with some kind of severe weather so pour a cup of tea and visit Kitty And Me on Etsy.  

Today is the last day to save 20% on all PDF download files.  Use Coupon Code:  WINTER

And stay warm!!! 

 

Coupon Code and New Patterns Coming Soon!

Oh, it is so cold here today!  And with most of the USA in some sort of extreme weather, I thought I'd offer a coupon code so everyone can enjoy a little online shopping!

Save 20% on all PDF download files at Kitty And Me on Etsy.  Use Coupon Code:  WINTER or use this link:   https://kittyandme.etsy.com?coupon=WINTER

This offer is good thru Sunday January 25th. 

I finished up a set of Shamrock Biscornu Ornament patterns.

 

I can't wait to stitch one of these!!  I'll release them in the next week or so along with these Bible Bookmarks:

 

Give Thanks To The Lord

I think I finished stitching this on Christmas Day.  

It's from Kooler Design Studio and it's on their website.   I had intended on having it done for Thanksgiving and sewing it into a door hanging pillow but it didn't quite happen.

It's a lot of stitching and worked with 3 strands on 25 ct Lugana over 2.  I love stitching fruit designs because their so colorful!

And this is my latest design project.  Bible Bookmarks:

 

 

 I expect to have these at Kitty And Me on Etsy around the end of the month.

 

 

 

Stitched Floral Heart

Thought I'd share one of the Floral Hearts that I stitched:

This stitched up really quick. Just a few hours. The only thing I did on mine is I changed the border color from DMC 208 to  #4 Braid 012HL by Kreinik. I like my glitter!! kittyandme.etsy.com

 

 

 

 

 

Merry Christmas And New Releases

Merry Christmas everyone! 

All new releases are now available.  Ask for them at your favorite needlework retail shop or find them at Kitty And Me Designs on Etsy.

Merry Christmas and Coming Soon!

First, Merry Christmas to everyone!  I hope ya'll have a wonderful holiday season!!

I've been working on new designs and have another to share:

I'll release all the new patterns tomorrow at Kitty And Me on Etsy.

Have a wonderful Christmas! 

 

Coming Soon!

America 250

 

Coming Soon!

 

I'll release the new patterns right after Christmas so watch my posts and Kitty And Me Designs on Etsy!

Colorful Cat January Error

Everyone, Kris Herber found an error on the January Colorful Cat. The white "fur" with the blue snowflake near the bottom on both sides of the cat's face, should be worked in DMC white (the open stars) and not with the Kreinik 032. I apologize for any inconvenience. 

 

Spring Crazy Quilt Blocks

I stitched these a couple weeks ago.  I found the little cross stitch pieces in with my mom's sewing stuff.  The odd thing is, I think I stitched them.  Not sure why there were with mom's things but I worked them into these blocks.

 I didn't do a good job of cropping the Valentine block.  Some of the buttons are vintage some are new.

I need to order some silk ribbon to dye.  I'm running low on some colors, esp. purples. 

I have 2 more blocks sewn up and ready to stitch on.  I also want to finish up the cross stitch cornucopia that I've been working on.  So many wonderful things to stitch!  Too bad we have to sleep! 

New Releases Coming Soon!

I'm starting to think Valentine's Day and Spring.  Sorry but I can't stand Winter!  The snow, the cold, the wind... oh and then the freezing rain.  Not my cup of tea!

These are new patterns that I'll be releasing later this month.  First is some pretty little Floral Hearts:

 And then, Home Is Where The Cat Is:

 

These will be in my Etsy shop.  

I have a couple of finished Crazy Quilt Blocks to share but I'll do that tomorrow or the next day.