New Pillows, Purses and Door Hangers! Oh My!

I've finally finished up all of my projects!  And Mom has been working away too!  Here's an update on our finishes.  First, I finished up 4 new Crazy Quilt Pillows:

And here are the most recent Crazy Quilt Purses that I made:

And them made this pretty Summer Watermelon Door Hanger:

And these sweet little Porcelain Doll ornaments:

I finished stitching up another pillow project but I'll save that photo for next time!

Everything is available now in my Etsy shop!

Painting Has Begun!

Okay, I finally made myself start the process of painting my computer room.  I don't think the word "hate" is a strong enough word for how I feel about painting walls and trim.  But, I told myself if I want it pink, I have to do it so I went to the hardware store and picked up everything I needed to get started.  Here are a couple of the before photos:

It was a pretty sponge painted sage green with white trim and Wisteria stenciled here and there.  Very garden feeling but I've been looking at it for over 10 years and I'm tired of it.  So at the moment, it's all white.  It took 3 coats of white to cover up that green!

On either Friday or Saturday, I'll start sponge painting the pink on.  I bought 1 quart of the pink paint and 1 quart of the glaze.  I just have to mix them together.  So when I have the sponge painting done, I'll post another photo.

I also pulled out a stencil with roses on it that I bought awhile back so I'll be stenciling roses in here once the pink glaze cures.

I found a white corner desk in a catalog so I'll order that tomorrow and next week, I'll get my new computer ordered from Dell, if I can figure out their website and all the options.  One step at a time, right?

Meanwhile, I finished up my little pink purse.  Well, the stitching is done.  I just have it pinned in place so you can get the gist of what it will look like when it's finished:

And I started a 3rd purse in the same style:

I have a little more to do on the computer and then I'm going to go stitch for awhile.

November 1st Deadline

I've been stitching on some small Crazy Quilt purses and making progress on my 2nd in this set:

Notice the little tatted flowers on the right.  I made those yesterday morning!  The center flower is from a vintage hankie.  I really need to use some of my collection before I start buying more!  I love vintage hankies!

JUST A REMINDER:  The deadline for projects, tutorials, eye candy and Ad Copy for the Spring 2015 issue of Crazy Quilt Quarterly magazine is November 1st.  I know it's a little tight for everyone right now with Pat working on her last issue and me working on my first but I need to have all my ducks in a row so to speak, well in advance.  If you have anything you want me to include in the Spring issue or if you want to place an Ad, please email me asap!

Also, I'm looking for an Easter themed Crazy Quilt project.  It doesn't have to be a big project, just something small for eye candy!!!  Please let me know if you have something you want to share!

Getting Ready To Paint

Well, I have everything I need to get my room painted pink!  The white base coat paint and the glaze and the pale pink paint for sponge painting.  Still waiting for DH to fix the drywall crack under the window though.  I took my Marie Antoinette quilt down.  I have to clean that and I took the valance down and will wash that tomorrow.  I will use that valance again because I like it.  I'll take before and after photos so you can see the change.  This room is very pretty now.  It's sponge painted a soft sage green and I have purple Wisteria stenciled in here. But it's been this way for well over 12 years and I'm tired of it.  So soon it will be pink!

Once I get the painting done, I'll be stenciling roses in here.  I already pulled out my stencil and just have to run to Michaels to get the stencil paint.  I can do that as I feel like it though.

I've been working out the details of my new Dell computer too.  My dad has been helping me.  Our next step is to pick out a monitor.  Don't know why I can't figure all this out on my own but it's sort of overwhelming.  The computer I have now is about 15 years old and everything has changed so much over the years that I just feel better having my dad help me.

I found a white corner desk in a catalog so I need to get that ordered.

In the meantime, I've been putting pages together for my first issue of the magazine.  The cover is done and I have about 15 other pages all done and ready to go.  So far, I'm very pleased with it.  I hope everyone else is too.

For now, I finished stitching up a little purse:

This isn't sewn together yet.  I just kind of have it all pinned into shape.

I started another one of the same style:

I have a 3rd one to stitch as well. Once they're all stitched, I'll put them together.

I guess that's my news for today.  It's time for me to get off the computer and go fold some laundry!

Sharing Finishes

After picking up some groceries and collecting some of the trash that blew into the yard this past Winter, I spent the afternoon photographing some new finishes by Kathi, mom and myself.  I better remember to charge the camera battery now!

Kathi made these sweet little Cat Earrings:

And mom made some more little Easter Bunny Dolls from vintage quilts:

And I finally have photos of my latest Crazy Quilt Purses:

I crocheted the trim at the top of each purse.  I though it would be fun to make these a little differently than I've done my purses in the past!

Last but not least, I finished up this little blue cat doll:

I have a friend who needs a hug so I'm going to send this one to her.

I'm off to make some salad and cut up some strawberries.  I just made a meatloaf and Scott is cooking it on the grill.  I have no idea how that's going to taste but I guess we'll find out.  He's as bad as me.  He just can't wait to get outside!

Cutting Fabric Pieces

I spent my morning getting my latest purse blocks all ready to sew together.  I pulled lining and backing fabric and have everything measured out and cut.  Tomorrow, after my chores of course, I will sew these together:

I also have this little cat doll to sew up:

Also, while I had my fabrics out, well some of them, I sewed up this block:

My very dear and long time friend Lula has a birthday coming up in April.  She loves her I Phone!  So I thought I'd make her a cellphone pouch.  Years ago, Lula sent me a little embellishment pack from Embellishment Village.  Are they still in business?  It's been so long since I've been to a Quilt Show that I have no clue anymore!  Anyway, the little kit is for making a seascape so I'm going to use it on this block.

I also (on my beloved treadle machine) pieced my block for my 2015 Crazy Quilt Calendar.  I can't share that one though.  I asked everyone to keep their blocks a secret until the calendar is released.  Yes, typical publisher!  But that's how it works and that's how it's always been.

So for now, I'm going to get offline and go stitch.

Stop And Smell The Roses

Stop and smell the roses!  Isn't that what this purse reminds you of?

I finished up this crazy quilt piece this morning.  I love the vintage image and tried to pull the colors from that.  I'll get this sewn up as soon as I can.

My next project will be this purse:

I thought a pretty seascape piece would be nice for Summer.  I haven't had time to sew up any new blocks lately so I pulled this one from my stash.  I always keep a few pre-sewn blocks tucked in a drawer in case I can't seem to get a sewing day in.  I do my stitching early in the morning and then again late in the afternoon and evening.

I'm also in the process of rearranging my bead stash.  Basically just trying to neaten things up a bit.  After doing a few projects, my stash tends to get messy so I try to take the time once in a while to straighten everything up.

In other news, my sister gave me a few new things to add to my Etsy shop.  These are those fun and very cool Jewelry Scarf Necklaces:

I asked her if she could do more when she has time.  I think they're really pretty and fun!  And of course, I asked for some pastel colors.  You know me and my pastels!

Finally for today, here is a new photo of mom:

Mom's birthday was Saturday so this was taken over the weekend at Kathi's house.  She's holding one of my nieces dogs.

Mothers Day Brooches

Well, we got another 4 inches of snow this morning.  There's no place to put anymore!  I'm having trouble getting my car in and out of the driveway.  But, we're almost a week into March and it has to warm up and melt sooner or later.

I'm so looking forward to sitting out on my deck with some iced.  Just sitting and watching the birdies.

I have an update on my current crazy quilt purse project.  I think the photo is a little blurry.  But it's enough to see for now:

I used a few of the seam treatment patterns that I shared in yesterday's post:

I'll be adding more to this shortly.

I have a few new brooches to share today too:

I thought these would make nice Mother's Day Gifts.

Well, I guess I'll go stitch until Bubba gets home.  If I don't get offline now, I just keep complaining about the weather!  LOL!!!

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that yes, my room will be pink!  But I'm sure you already figured that out!  

Isn't It Spring Yet?

It's been a long, cold, snowy Winter.  And I am so looking forward to not seeing any snow outside!  I know, I complain every year about the cold and the snow but it's really been a bad one this year.  I can't remember a Winter in my entire life that has been this cold for this long.  They're calling for 40 degrees over the weekend.  I do hope that it's the beginning of a warming trend.  The snow piles are so high here, it's hard to get out of driveways and parking lots!

My sister saw 7 Robins about 2 weeks ago in her yard but I've yet to see one.  But I keep my eyes open whenever I go now because one of these days, the Robins will be everywhere!  Of course with all the snow we've had this season, it'll be July before they can find any worms to eat!  LOL!!!!

I turned my computer on to blog yesterday and I had no DSL service.  I spent over an hour checking the filters on my phones and trying new phone lines to each phone and finally I realized it wasn't my DSL, it was that I didn't have a dial tone.   I then spent 1 1/2 hours on hold (on my cellphone) with the phone company only to have to go outside, in the cold with the snow melting off the roof and hitting me in the head, while I do a  test on their equipment!  I had no dial tone out there either so I had to call back again (another 1/2 hour on hold) to get a service guy out here.  Thankfully, it's fixed now.  But it's just crazy how much of my day was wasted when I could have been stitching!

Anyway, I finished up the stitching on one of my little cat dolls:

I have a few more of these to stitch on.  I'm doing a craft show in May and thought it would be nice to have a basket full of my cat dolls.  But I like to alternate small projects with larger projects so my next piece will be another purse:

I mounted this one on the frame this morning.  In a little while, I'll sit down with my stash and pull some lace and trim pieces for it.

And I'm thinking that sometime this week, I need a sewing day.  I need to piece some more projects to stitch on and I haven't put any miles on my treadle machine lately.  I so much love to sew on that machine.  I love my electric machine too but I use that one for finishing.  There's really nothing like sewing on an antique treadle!

And isn't it so beautiful to look at?  I just leave it open all the time because I love to look at it. 

Crazy Quilt Purses Finished!

Just a quick blog post for today everyone.  I've been on this computer for way too long today and I feel like I have tunnel vision! 

I finished up my latest Crazy Quilt Purses:

I should have taken photos of these hanging on my hall tree so you could see the beautiful vintage lace on the bottom of the blue purse and see how the tassels dangle on the 2nd purse.

I have some ideas for other styles that I'll start doing on future projects.  For now, I'm off to stitch on my peacock purse.

Crazy Quilt Purses

I don't think I shared photos of these while I was stitching on them.  I worked on them between Thanksgiving and Christmas and since that's sort of a crazy time for me, I just stitched but didn't snap any pics.  I finally got around to doing the finishing on them the other day so here are my latest Crazy Quilt Purses:

I have a few more things to finish up on.  I decided to finish the example blocks that I made for my online crazy quilt class into Door Hangers.  There's 9 of them all together.  I'll be keeping 2 of them but I'll put the rest in my Etsy shop when they're ready.  Just in case anyone would like to have one.  I'm planning on getting them assembled next week so I'll post them all here again when they're ready.

I also plan on having a fun sewing day next week.  One where I can just pull out my fabric collection and sit in front of my treadle machine all day.  I love to piece blocks and I want to sew up a huge pile of them!

Victorian Crazy Quilt Handbag

My latest purse is finished!  Here is my Victorian Crazy Quilt Handbag:

I love the contrast of the black and the pink!

I also have a few photos of my Mom's new Hanging Hearts:

I'm currently stitching up a few Crazy Quilt Cellphone Pouches.  I'll post photos of those soon.