Treasures from the Flea Market in Grayslake Illinois

I had a lovely morning with my husband today.  We went to the Antique and Collectable Flea Market in Grayslake, Illinois.  One of my favorite Flea Markets in northern Illinois!  A perfect "something to do" the 2nd weekend of every month.  Especially in the cold months because it's all inside!

I found some nice treasure there today!  First, a couple of vintage rhinestone brooches.  Well, one is a brooch and the other little bee pin:

Next, I found some pretty vintage buttons in pink, green and purple:

Some of my prize flea market and antique shop finds are vintage handkerchiefs.  I found quite a few today.  First some Christmas ones:

And then some everyday hankies with pretty flowers:

Something I've been collecting for many years are little vintage cat figurines. Are you surprised?  LOL!!! I have quite a few but they have to have a certain look to them.  They don't have be really old but they have to have that old look.  I found this little one today:

 Last but not least, the piece de resistance.  I found this gorgeous old hat box:

And you'll never guess what it was filled with!!!!!

And can you believe, I only paid $15.00 for the box and all the old lace?  Talk about a Crazy Quilter's dream day!!!!

Blue Cellphone Pouch

Last night, I finished up the stitching on my little Blue Cellphone Pouch:

And here are closeups of my stitched seam treatments:

The Herringbone Stitch, a Fan Stitch and finally a Satin Stitched Leaf, all worked with my waste canvas technique.

I'm keeping a Seam Treatment Inspiration Gallery (found at the top of my blog) so take a peek for other seam treatment ideas.

This is my next little Cellphone Pouch:

I'll start on this one later today.  I first want to hand paint those lace pieces.

Crazy Quilt Snowman Purse Completed!

Well, it's almost complete!  I still have to sew the snap on:

I made this purse for my sister Kathi.  She isn't into all the fluffy, ruffly, foo-foo stuff that I like so I kept it more simple for her.  The crazy quilt piece is actually a flap and the purse is larger than my normal purse style.  The trim is all sewn on by hand and put a strap on this one rather than the purchased handles that I usually use.  I also hand sewed the sequin trim on the strap.

Kath, if you want to come see me this weekend, I can give this to you!

Pretty Cellphone Pouches

I'm working on some pretty Crazy Quilt Cellphone Pouches for Christmas gifts.  I mean, who doesn't have a cellphone and who wouldn't like a pretty pouch to keep it in?  Mine is a IPhone and I like to keep mine in a pouch to protect the screen from getting all scratched up just in case my keys decide to have a party in my purse!

Anyway, I finished up my purple and green pouch yesterday:

I didn't want to do any Silk Ribbon Embroidery on these because that can also get caught on keys and other purse contents.  So I figured, buttons are a safe addition.  These are vintage Mother Of Pearl buttons accented with large seed beads.

And here is the seam embroidery up close:

All of these seam treatments, including the feather stitch, are worked with my Waste Canvas technique.  Click on each photo to see a larger version.

And here is my next little cellphone pouch:

I painted the appliques and sewed the lace and trim on last night so now it's ready for embroidery and beads.

Needful Things

My sweet friend Pat Winter always refers to crazy quilt supplies as "needful things".  Ok, so I stopped at my favorite stitching store yesterday afternoon, Welcome Stitchery in Crystal Lake, Illinois.  I needed waste canvas.  And I of course came out with more than just that!

My favorite threads to stitch with are the Watercolours by The Caron Collection.  These are a 3 ply thread and I use a single strand which is pretty equal to a #5 perle cotton.  I love the shaded threads and since I have a tendency to pile on the embellishments, I like a little bit heavier thread so my stitching shows up!  So, I needed 3 new colors of that.

My second favorite threads are the Kreinik metallics!  I needed (I really did) a gold #4 braid but I've also been collecting the Hologram Blending Filaments for my spider webs.  So I picked up the silver and the red Hologram Blending Filament and those are my needful things for the day!  It's my story and I'm sticking to it!

When I got home, I started stitching a little cellphone pouch:

I thought I'd make a few cellphone pouches for Christmas gifts.  And speaking of my sweet friend Pat, purples and greens always make me think of her!

Here's the news on my dad, so far, none of the test results found anything abnormal.  They're going to do one more test, and if that's normal, then it was most likely a small kidney stone.  Mom is already trying to get him to drink more water!

Thank you everyone for keeping him in your thoughts.

Snowman Dolls

My Crazy Quilt Snowman Dolls have arrived!  Here they are:

I also thought you'd enjoy seeing the latest additions to Kathi's Pretty Gemstone Jewelry line:

Snowman Purse Complete

When a person doesn't sleep well, they tend to have a lot of stitching time!  I finished up this Crazy Quilt Snowman Purse:

Talk about a Winter Wonderland!  Be sure to click on the image so you can see it up close.  I used tons and tons of sequins for sparkle and lots of snowflake buttons.

This purse is for my sister Kathi.  She gave me the cross stitch piece earlier this and asked if I would do a crazy quilt purse for her. 

Here are close ups of the seam embroidery:

Due to the size of the cross stitch piece, I didn't have a lot of room for elaborate seam embroidery.  These are examples of what can be done in small spaces.

In other news, I'll have a diagnosis on my dad later today.  I'm really trying to stay out of the "worst case scenario".  I'll know when I know.  I guess it's human to go to the worst and it's certainly how my crazy mind works.  For now, I'm really trying to stay in today.

Snowman Purse

Earlier this year, my sister Kathi gave me this little cross stitch snowman piece that she stitched and asked me if I would make it into a purse for her.  I sewed the block up earlier this Summer and decided, I'd better make it for her now so she can enjoy using it at Christmas:

This should be a fun project!  I've sewn all the lace and trim on and embroidered all the seams.  Now to get onto the beadwork!

Before I head offline, please keep my dad in your thoughts.  He may require surgery.  I'll know more on Tuesday.

Winter Lady Crazy Quilt Purse - Stitching Complete

I finished up the stitching on my Winter Lady Crazy Quilt Purse last night:

It's very glittery isn't it?  The leaf sequins to the left look a little orange in this photo but they're actually pearly white and sparkle in a pink tone.  And yes, I know that snowflakes and butterflies don't exactly work in the same scenario but hey, I call it art!

Here are some of the interesting seam treatments that I used on this block.  All are worked with my Waste Canvas technique:

These designs are available in my Elegant Crazy Quilt Seam Treatments Ebooks.  I've started a new page (found at the top of my blog) titled, Crazy Quilt Seam Treatment Inspiration.  I will keep an online photo gallery of my seam treatments there for your inspiration and eye candy enjoyment!

Winter Lady Crazy Quilt Purse Continued

Other than going into town for groceries and doing some laundry, I spent most of yesterday stitching on my Winter Lady Crazy Quilt Purse:

I'll be sitting here and doing some more beadwork on this before I head over to mom's for the day.

Also, I've decided to add a new feature to my blog.  As I stitch on my Crazy Quilt projects, I'll take close up photos of some of my seam treatments and post them on the page titled, "Crazy Quilt Seam Treatment Inspirations".  You can find it at the top of my blog.

Since I use my Waste Canvas technique for the majority of my embroidery on crazy quilts, I thought this would be a nice way to give my readers some ideas for seam embroidery and how to embellish them.  I'll start doing this when I complete this purse.

Finally for today, we're having a nice Christmas Sale at our Boutique:

Christmas Village Houses and Bottlebrush Trees are on sale.  We won't be doing anymore of these of so please, get them while you can!  The sale is only available at our Boutique.

Winter Lady Crazy Quilt Purse

After running up to WalMart for a few things yesterday and doing a little laundry, I spent a quiet afternoon with my cats, Food Network and my Winter Lady Crazy Quilt Purse:

I love the soft, feminine colors on this one.  Perfect for a Winter Bag!  And it'll go quite nicely with my faux fur coat!

I also sewed up my Snowman Dolls and I stuffed them.  Tomorrow, I'll make the little stocking caps so their heads stay warm!  ;)

White Snowman Doll and Crazy Quilt Winter Purse

First, I'd like to say thank you friends, for your kind words of encouragement.  I know at some point, I'll be off this medication and past the debilitating withdrawals.  I know the day will come when I feel human again.  Just don't know when that'll be and that's the hardest part of all this.  For now, it's a one day at a time thing.

I finished up on my white Crazy Quilt Snowman Doll:

One of these snowmen is already spoken for.  I don't know which one yet and I might keep one for myself because I just love them!  I'll get them sewn together in the next few days and then I'll post most more photos.

For now, I decided I needed a new purse.  This is a block that I sewed up earlier this Summer:

I loved the lady image.  I'm not even sure where I found it.  I think it's on one of my vintage image CD's.  Anyway, I sat on the floor in my little supply room yesterday playing with my laces and trims and decided that pink accents would work nicely with the background.  Are you surprised?  LOL!!!  I just love pink!

Anyway, I'm going to try to do this purse in a little different style.  I love Pat Winter's Boho Bags so I may do this as a flap with lots of lace and fringe around it.  First I have to get it stitched.  When I'm done with this one, I think I'll make a purse for my sister.

I was going to start on my Winter project, the Peacock Crazy Quilt that I posted last week.  At the moment, it seems a little overwhelming to me.  I'm sure it's just because I don't feel great right now.  I think a new purse will be nice.

Pink and Blue Crazy Quilt Snowman Doll

As many of my long time blog friends know, I'm in the process of trying to get off the Zoloft that I've been on for the past few years.  Although I don't care to talk about the horrible depression that I went  through 3 years ago too much anymore, I have to tell ya'll, these withdrawals are killing me.  I really don't know how much more of this I can take.

I'm down from the 100 milligrams that I was on in the beginning to about 18 milligrams a day.  The process is so slow and it has to be but I often wonder if I will ever feel good again.  After all these years, it's really hard to hang onto that hope.

I'm doing my best to focus on my stitching.  It's always been my #1 coping skill.  I finished up my Pink and Blue Snowman Doll yesterday afternoon and have started on my 5th and final Snowman Doll which is all worked in white.  Here's the pink & blue one:

I had planned to do some sewing today but I'm not sure I feel good enough to pull out my fabrics.  I guess I'll see what things are like later.  Honestly, I could lay on my bed all day and watch Food Channel.  That's so not me!  Where's that motor on my ADD butt?  I know it's there.  I can feel it in the background but the side effects and withdrawals are dominating.  Why is this stuff so addictive?  And why don't they make antidepressants that aren't addictive?  And why don't they make a pill to get off this stuff?  They have a pill for everything else!  Arggg.....

Ok, I think I just needed to vent for a few moments.  I keep looking at the clock thinking, ok, another hour and 1/2 and I can take that pill and then I'll feel better.  Yep, that's the medication talking.  Then I get these thoughts that go, "maybe I can't get off this stuff.  Maybe the depression isn't gone yet.  Maybe I still need this stuff."  Withdrawals will drive a person nuts!

I have my Dr.'s permission to drop the dosage again when I'm ready.  I'm just holding out until this trip to "withdrawal hell" passes.

Well, that's where I'm at at this moment.  I keep telling myself, I made it this far.  Like the song goes, "hold on for one more day."

Victorian Crazy Quilt Cat Dolls

I just finished photographing my latest litter of Crazy Quilt Cat Dolls!  Without further adieu, here they are:

 Enjoy the photos!  I'm going back to stitching on my Snowman Dolls now.

Blue Snowman Doll

I had a wonderful time with Linda, my student yesterday.  I taught her a variety of embroidery stitches including how to work with my Waste Canvas technique as well as basic Silk Ribbon Embroidery stitches.  For lunch,  I made homemade creamy Chicken & Rice soup, homemade rolls and Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Sugar Cookies.  YUM!

I had some stitching time last night and finished up on my Blue Crazy Quilt Snowman Doll:

Is he too cute or what!!!  I have 2 more to stitch and then I'll be sewing them together.  Can't wait to see what they look like!

I'll be taking photos of my Christmas Cat Dolls this afternoon so be sure to stop back and see them!

Little Pink Snowman

Here's my little pink snowman doll:

This little one is complete.  As you can see, I added a lot more beadwork and lots of sparkly snowflakes.  My next snowman doll is blue! 

In other news, my Christmas cat dolls are complete!  I'll post photos of those in the next day or so.  And wait until you see what my mom is making!  Christmas Crazy Quilt Pillows!  Lots of crazy quilting to come!!!

For now, I can't wait to sew these snowmen dolls together and see what they look like!  I might crochet little scarves for them.  And I want to do little stocking caps for them if it works out.  Stay tuned!

Pink Crazy Quilt Snowman Doll

I didn't get him finished yesterday.  Was getting things ready for my class tomorrow but I did have some stitching time:

I am going to sit here and stitch for 1 hour before I do anything else today!  Don't you just love pink!  I may have a hard time parting with this one.  I want to get more pink into his little face but I think I can do that with some pink snowflakes.