Pinterest

Just a quick blog post for today.  I have a list a mile long of things I need to get done.

I wanted to share this awesome website that I found.  Pinterest is a virtual pinboard where you can post photos of things you find all over the web and organize them into your own catagorys such as recipes, home decor, craft ideas, things to buy and so on.  It's really fun to collect these photos in one place.  A link back to the original source is included so you can go back to the website if you want to.

 This is a lot of fun!!!  If you join, look me up!

Back To Stitching On Kitty Dolls

After a lovely weekend in Galena, I'm back to my normal routine!  I finished stitching on my Pink & Black crazy quilt kitty doll:

Be sure to click on the image so you can seem my little spider up close!

I have one more cat doll to stitch and then I'll sew them all together!  I hope to have plenty of stitching time this afternoon!

Home From Galena Illinois

Other than the rain all day on Saturday, Galena was beautiful as always!  Scott and I had to have walked miles and miles and miles!  Main Street in Galena is 1 mile long in 1 direction and if we walked it once, we walked it at least 30 times!

I was rather annoyed with my AT&T phone service though.  I had no internet access west of Rockford and once in Galena, I had no phone service most of the time.  What is up with that?  For what we pay for these phones and our service, we should be able to have internet and phone in the Sahara desert!  I will be contacting AT&T today with a complaint!  I was able to get a few text messages through to my sister.  She said that we were at a getaway and I shouldn't be worried about phone service and internet access.  LOL!!  Yeah, right!  I wanted a getaway in Galena.  I didn't want to leave the planet!  Ha, ha, ha!

Here are a few photos from Galena:

Post Civil War home of Ulysses S. Grant, 18th President of the United States (1869 - 1877).  We toured Grant's house a few years ago when we where here.  It's beautiful inside but surprisingly small!
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Statue of U.S. Grant in Grant Park. 

Well, that's my post for today everyone.  Enjoy the photos and if you'd like to learn more about Ulysses S. Grant, you can read about him here.

Good Morning From Galena Illinois!

Yesterday, we drove 2 1/2 hours west of where we live in McHenry, Illinois to Galena, Illinois for the weekend.  We always come to Galena for Labor Day weekend.  Unfortunately, it rained all day yesterday so walking up and down Main street was not quite as much fun as it usually is.

We spent some time at the Antique Mall which is on Route 20 (Grant Highway) just east of town.  I found some really great goodies there!

I found some pretty ruffled lace and an old hat with velvet millinery flowers which I'll take off and use for my crazy quilting and other crafting projects:

 I also found a little bit of old lace which will be wonderful on my crazy quilting:

Next, I found some vintage embroidery patterns.  It's fun to fine some that I don't have since my collection is now quite extensive:

Next, I found some gorgeous vintage hankies!  I love vintage hankies!

Last but not least, I found this pair of embroidered pieces.  I thought perhaps mom could make something pretty out of them.  The stitching is very nice!

Thankfully, it will be sunny all day today so we can walk up and down Main street and enjoy all the wonderful little shops and boutiques!

Before we head out for today, I thought I'd share photos of this pretty Praying Mantis that we found outside by the hotel door:

I was afraid he would get stepped on so I picked him up and moved him to a safer place.  He didn't want to let go of me though!  He has little barbs on his front feet for hanging on to things.  Scott had to carefully pry his little feet off my finger!

These are beautiful, harmless creatures.  We usually only see them in late Summer and early Fall.

If you would like to see some photos of downtown Galena, you can find them in my blog post from last year when we were here.

More Cat Dolls

I've been slowly but surely stitching up a few more crazy quilt cat dolls.  This one is ready to sew together.

And this one is almost done.  It needs some more beadwork:

I'll finish this one up next week.  For today, Scott and I are heading out to Galena, Illinois for the weekend.  Of course, I can't stand not having my computer so I'll be taking it with me and I'm sure I'll have some photos of this beautiful place to share with you tomorrow.

Handmade Boutique

With mom, Kathi and myself making things for our Boutique, there are days when I feel like all I do is spend my time on the computer, taking photos, editing photos, writing descriptions and uploading!  Ok, so nothing in life all fun and games all the time.  For every fun thing, there is a down side.  For me, I just try to stay on top of things to keep myself from getting overwhelmed.

With all that said, here are the newest additions to our Boutiques:

A pretty Birdhouse Door Pillow by mom!

Victorian Style Christmas Tree Bird Ornaments by me.

and a Hot Pink Needle Felted Rose Brooch by Kathi.

I'm still working on some new Crazy Quilt Cat Dolls and then I have a custom order purse to do and I'm planning on a Pink Ribbon Breast Cancer Awareness Purse to have ready by October for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Summer's winding down and I'm very much looking forward to having more stitching time and a little less to do outside.  Although I will very much miss my hummingbirds when they leave.  They're quite active at the moment!

Frames For Peacock Crazy Quilt

Yesterday, I shared photos of my Winter Crazy Quilt Project which will be a Peacock Quilt.  Deb at Mosaic Magpie blog asked if I would post a photo of the frames that my dad made for me.  Here are the frames:

Since I want to stitch on the side pieces simultaneously, I asked my dad to make me two frames. 

Here is a photo of the blocks which are now attached the frames with thumb tacks:

 I have never liked stitching without a hoop or frame to hold on to.  I stitched my Lucky quilt entirely in hand with out a hoop and I will never do that again!

Hoops or frames will hold the piece taught so that it doesn't get askew and out of shape from the stitching.  It helps to keep the stitching tension more even.  However, with crazy quilting, due to the fancy fabrics and embellishments, a hoop or frame that fits the entire piece is necessary.  Hoops will leave marks on fancy fabrics and it's too hard to move a hoop around once the embellishments start to go on. 

I'm very fortunate that when I need a custom sized frame, I can ask my dad or my husband to make me them for me!

Winter Crazy Quilt Project 2011 - 2012

I won't start on this until the end of October or the beginning of November but it's ready to stitch so I thought I'd share it with you today.

My Winter Crazy Quilt project for this will be a Peacock Quilt:

This beautiful peacock design was a pre-stamped design on black satin.  I stitched it back in the 1980's and never finished it into anything.  I think it's the perfect focal point for a crazy quilt!

I want to stitch on the side pieces simultaneously so my dad made me 2 custom sized stitching frames.  I've already added the blocks to the frames and secured them with thumb tacks so this project is ready to stitch on.

If you're new to my blog, I cope with Seasonal Affective Disorder Syndrome, which has already set in by the way!  And it's only the end of August!  Anyway, I've found that having a Winter Crazy Quilt project to work on throughout the cold, snowy and dreary months, helps me to get through until Spring which is my favorite season.  By March or April, I'll have a nice finished crazy quilt to hang in my home.  This quilt will hang above the television in my bedroom.

Snowman Ornament Needle Felted

I just had to share this sweet little needle felted snowman ornament that Kathi made:

Is he too cute or what?  And he's so soft and fuzzy!  She made him entirely of wool roving and he's all needle felted.  Not sewn together piece by piece.  He's needle felted together!  I've done some needle felting but I can't imagine doing anything as 3 dimensional as this little cutie!

Kathi also made some beautiful needle felted rose brooches:

Gorgeous!  Absolutely gorgeous and so creative and where she finds the time to make things with a full-time job, I don't know!

Anyway, I thought you would enjoy seeing Kathi's latest creations.  I'm still working on making more cat dolls.  I'll have more photos as soon as I get a few more stitched.

A New Litter Of Little Cat Dolls

As ya'll know, my Crazy Quilt Cat Dolls are one of my signature items!  I've literally made dozens of these!  My inventory is running a little low so I thought I'd make a new litter of these little cats.

They don't look like much now, but when I sew them up, they'll look like these:

I have a few more that I want to stitch up and then I'll put them together.

Crazy Quilt Gatherings Volume #3 August 2011

The new issue of Crazy Quilt Gatherings magazine is now available!

Be sure to see Mary Anne Richardson's review of Elegant Crazy Quilt Seam Treatments Volume 2 EBOOK!

Gatherings Magazine is available to order from Magcloud.

Recipe Sloppy Joe Salad

With Summer winding down and Fall right around the corner, I'm starting to think of some new ideas for different meals.  Scott and I are into healthy eating so I'm always trying to think of different ways to make meals into salads and to keep the carbs down to a minimum.

I recently tried something new and it's really good!  I always loved Sloppy Joe sandwiches so I thought, how about making the Sloppy Joe mixture and putting it on salad?  Wow!  Is this awesome!!!

Basically, it starts with a Barbeque Sauce.  You can use a store bought sauce from a jar but I prefer to make my own.

Sloppy Joe Barbeque Sauce

1 medium onion diced
1 cup Ketchup (Hunts brand has NO High Fructose Corn Syrup in it)
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons Vinegar
1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
1/4 teaspoon Dry Mustard
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon Corn Starch

Saute the diced onions in the olive oil.  Cook until transparent.  Add all other ingredients except Corn Starch.  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Add corn starch and continue to boil, stirring constantly until the sauce thickens.  Remove from heat and add to 1 pound cooked ground sirloin.  Serve over lettuce and tomatos with shredded chedder cheese and Ranch dressing.

I've also made this will shredded chicken and I've made it with shredded pork.  It's good every way I've tried it!

Enjoy!

Halloween Crazy Quilt Door Pillow

Buenos Diaz Mi Amigas!  I finally finished up on my Halloween Crazy Quilt Door Pillow!

It's so bright and cheery!  And it's really starting to feel less like Summer and more like Fall now.  We've already had to pick some of our pumpkins from our pumpkin patch so the critters don't have them for lunch!  I'll be getting out my little decorative scarecrows this weekend and a few of my other Fall things.

I confess, as much as I usually love Summer, I've had enough of the terrible thunderstorms and the bugs for one season.  The mosquitos are horrendous this year!  We don't dare leave our deck without one of our little OFF Clip On thingy's or we'll get devoured by those little vampires!

So what am I working on now?  I've been terribly restless lately, probably due to withdrawals from the medication I've been on.  I'm having a terrible time sitting still and although I have a commission piece to do, I thought I'd stitch up a few of my little cat dolls first.  I did get my winter crazy quilt project all set up to start on but I won't start on that until late October.  I will share pictures with you soon.  So in the meantime, a new litter of kittens are coming!

Scarecrow Doll

Before I share my finished Halloween Crazy Quilt piece, I want to share this precious little Scarecrow Doll that my mom made:

Isn't he just too cute?  My mom really comes up with some neat things!

Ok, so I finally finished up on my Halloween Crazy Quilt Door Pillow:

I've been terribly restless lately and have a hard time sitting still but I made myself work on this yesterday and now it's ready to sew together.  I have to run and get some groceries and then I'll make myself put it together.

Cards With Glitter

Cards With Glitter!  Ya'll know how much I love my glitter!  All that glitters IS gold to me!!!  And there is no better place to pile it on than on handmade cards.

Mom and I have been making things like crazy!  I think it keeps us from being crazy!  LOL!!!  Anyway, for today, I thought I'd share our latest card creations:

 Aren't these pretty?  Even prettier in person!  Also available at Etsy.

Ok, I'm off to finish up on my Halloween Crazy Quilt Door Pillow.  I ran my errands yesterday so I could have today free to stitch, bake and do whatever!