New Cross Stitch Borders for Spring

 I've released some new Cross Stitch Border designs for Spring.  

Designed to repeat for towel borders, these patterns can easily be stitched as a single motif for pretty little ornaments!

Ask for my patterns at your favorite needlework shops or find them in my Etsy Store.

More Re-Releases

I have a few more re-releases available now.  These designs haven't been available since 2007!

In God We Trust

Easter Bunny Basket

Erin Go Bragh

Merry Christmas Snowman

These are available through your favorite needlework shops or in my own Etsy store.

Free St. Patrick's Day Blog Background

If you like my St. Patrick's Day blog background, you're welcome to use it on your own blog:

Free St. Patrick's Day Blog Background

Copy and paste this code into your HTML do-dad:


<style type="text/css">
body { background-image : url(https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4678/40284350511_f7ebfb01a9_o.jpg); background-position: center; background-repeat: no-repeat;  background-attachment : fixed; }
</style>

<script type="text/javascript">
var div = document.createElement('div');
div.setAttribute('style',"position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 30px; z-index: 50; width: 150px; height: 45px;");
div.innerHTML = '<a target="_blank" href=" "></a>';
document.getElementsByTagName('body').item(0).appendChild(div);
</script>

This background will work on Blogger/Blogspot 2 column blogs.

St Patricks Day Tussy Mussy's

Today's offerings are Mom's latest St. Patricks Day Tussy Mussy's:

I just love St. Patrick's Day!  I think it's because it's the beginning of Spring!  And after a day of 6 degrees below 0, I am so done with Winter!  The only thing that made todays cold temps tolerable was the sun has been out all day!  I'm so looking forward to the Robins coming back.  I love their beautiful song!  And believe me, when I see my first Robin of Spring, ya'll be the first to know about it!  LOL!!!

Green Cat Doll

I'm only doing 1 Cat Doll for St. Patricks Day this year.  This one will be a gift for a friend who loves my Crazy Quilt Cat Dolls:

I'm still experimenting with Blackwork style fill-in patterns and waste canvas.  Here's a closeup photo:

Blackwork embroidery is a beautiful way to show off the sparkle of Kreinik metallic threads.  Here, I used a #4 Braid.

This fill-work came from me wanting to put more embroidery on my crazy quilts but also wanting to use lots of lace and trims.  I truly feel that variety is the spice of life when it comes to crazy quilting.

St Patricks Day Tussy Mussys

I didn't get any stitching time in yesterday.  I did do some sewing though.  I pieced a couple of cellphone pouches, a purse and a change purse.  Now I have a nice little pile of things all ready to stitch on!

Since I don't have stitching to show at the moment, I thought today would be a good day to share photos of my mom's latest Tussy Mussy's for St. Patrick's Day:

I also added 2 new pretty pairs of Kathi's earrings to the shop:

I'm going to do a little stitching now before I have to go into town.  Stop by tomorrow to see what I'm working on!

Door Pillows for St Patricks Day

Mom's latest creations!  Door Pillows for St Patricks Day.  Mom made these from vintage handkerchiefs:

This one was made from a vintage image that I printed on fabric:

Check out that vintage tatted doily behind the image!  I picked up a few of those at the last Flea Market I was at.  I gave them all to mom thinking they would be perfect for her door pillows.

These are in our boutique now!

St Patricks Day Cards With Glitter

I've been chattering a lot lately about St  Patricks Day.  It's the beginning of Spring and it's coming!  I know it's a little bit early but when doing handmade things to sell, working well in advance is a must. 

I'm used to that though.  When I worked with cross stitch and craft magazines, I had to work 6 months to a year in advance so making things a couple of months ahead of the the holiday or season is nothing new for me.

These are the pretty St Patricks Day Cards that I made for the shop:

Although needlework is my specialty, I have to make cards because I have to use glitter!  I love glitter!!!  And these are quite sparkly!  

What Is A Door Pillow?

I've been asked this question several times recently.  What is a Door Pillow?  I've made 100's of them over the years.  Cross stitch, embroidery, crayon tinting and of course, my beloved Crazy Quilting.

I thought I would answer this question today and share my thoughts on it.

A Door Pillow is nothing more than a small pillow with ribbons or cording sewn into the top for hanging on a door knob or hook.  It's purely decorative and a lovely way to finish and display small needlework pieces without the cost of framing.  They can be changed for the holidays and seasons.

Door Pillows are wonderful for gifts because everyone has a door knob!  And they're sweet little home accent pieces.  Just a nice touch to make a home even more cozy.

They've also been called, door knob pillows, door hanging pillows, door hangers and door knockers.  My cousin Kim calls them door knockers!  LOL!

These are my latest Door Pillows for St. Patrick's Day:

Door Pillows can also be used to sit on a shelf.  The ribbons can be tucked behind the door pillow and displayed on shelf with other decorative items.

I love them and I have dozens of them for the different holidays and seasons.  They're easy to store because they're small and because they're made of fabric, they don't break!

Traditional St. Patricks Day Heart

Here is another of my crazy quilt heart shaped door pillows for St. Patricks Day.  This one is quite traditional in color:

And here are closeups of my embroidered seams:

You can find more of my seam embroidery here.

I have one more that I started stitching on yesterday.  I'm going to finish that up now and I think I'll spend the afternoon putting them together.

It's cloudy and dreary here again today.  I sure could use some sunshine!  But I'm sure that putting a few miles on my sewing machine will help!

Little Heart Pillows

Another of my little St. Patrick's Day heart shaped door pillows is ready for assembly:

The pansy is a little brooch that I picked up a flea market awhile back:

And here are close ups of the stitching:

You can see more Crazy Quilt Seam Embroidery worked with my Waste Canvas technique on my Crazy Quilt Inspiration page.

I started another one of these little door pillows yesterday.  I'll finish it up today and have more photos tomorrow.  I expect to sew these up later this week and have them ready to add to our boutique this weekend.

St Patricks Day Hearts

I think we only got about 5 inches of snow yesterday.  More than I care to look at but better than 8 inches!  I made my soup, I put a Harry Potter movie on to listen to and I stitched a heart shaped, St. Patrick's Day door pillow:

The robin on the nest is a little brooch that I found at a flea market last Summer:

I guess you can see where my mind is right now!  I always say, Winter wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't cold and it didn't snow!  LOL!!!

Here are close ups of the seam embroidery on this piece:

Be sure to click on the photos to see them up close.  Both of these seams are worked with my waste canvas technique.

I have a few more of these little hearts sewn up so I'll start on another one today.

St Patricks Day Door Pillow

I was horribly restless yesterday.  But hey, my house is clean!  Nervous energy will definitely produce a clean house!  LOL!!!  But I couldn't sit still long enough to finish up on my St. Patrick's Day Door Pillow.  This is what I have so far:

And here are close up photos of my stitching:

These are both worked with my Waste Canvas technique.

I'm going to stitch on this for awhile now.  We're supposed to get a few inches of snow tomorrow.  Ewww.....I usually go to mom's on Fridays but decided to go today instead.  I don't like driving in snow and my car doesn't like it either!

So speaking of snow, isn't it Spring yet?  LOL!!!  No, I know we still have awhile to go yet.  I bought myself a new coat and it arrived yesterday:

This is a Dennis Basso faux fur mink coat.  I have a full length Dennis Basso faux mink that I bought last year and love it!  It's so gorgeous and luxurious!  But I wanted something that was a little more comfortable to wear while driving so I saved my money and bought this one as more of an every day coat.  Oh, it's so beautiful!  I bought this from QVC.

I have a weakness for beautiful clothes.  And my philosophy is, if I have to put up with Winter, I might as well put up with it in a beautiful coat with pretty accessories!

Have a great day everyone!