100 Details In 100 Days - Withdrawals

I woke up this morning, kind of missing Sharon's 100 Details In 100 Days project. Apparently, I'm not alone. I read Sharon's In A Minute Ago blog every day and she too is missing it. So, I decided, for fun, to give you another Fractal design today. This one is the last from my "archives". Print it on a commercial inkjet fabric sheet and work into your crazyquilts, altered-art and other mixed-media projects. Or print it on paper and use for greeting cards! You can find all of the fractal designs that I've offered here in a "set" on my Flickr site. Click on the fractal to check them out.



I started on this Thanksgiving doorknocker yesterday afternoon and will most likely complete it later today:



I was asked where I get the wonderful vintage images that I use in my crazyquilt projects. Well, I have a nice collection of Dover Publication books containing these Victorian Vignettes. Click here for a direct link to the books that I use.

After choosing the images that I want to use, I scan them into my computer and print them on commercial inkject fabric sheets. I can usually get 6 images on 1 sheet. That makes them small enough for my 5 inch doorhangers.

I have a few chores to complete today and then I plan to sew up 3 Christmas CQ's for doorhangers. I also need to start working on my mother's Christmas gift. Wait until you see what I'm doing for her!!

Another Finish and 5 Weird Things

Thanksgiving 1
Originally uploaded by Kitty And Me.

First, I completed the stitching on this Thanksgiving Ornament yesterday afternoon. I love the blue grapes! And again, my cat is a bit obscure. Can you find him? I'll probably start on the next one later today. But duty calls first so I have to run into town for some groceries before I can play!

I was tagged by both Pat Winters of Gatherings blog and LinMoon although I cannot for the life of me remember which blog she runs.

Anyway, I have to list 5 weird things about myself. Where do I start?!!! Ha, ha, ha!!!

1. I cannot sit still. I know that probably surprises alot of my readers considering how much I work and stitch but it's true. I just can't sit still. I have to get up and move around every ten minutes. The reason I get so much done is that when I am sitting still, I still can't be still. I have to be doing something.

2. I go to bed between 8 and 9 PM and I get up between 4 and 5 AM. Even on weekends, holidays and vacations, I can't sleep past 5.

3. I have anxiety about riding in the car and due to motion sickness when I was little, I can't stitch or read in the car. The anxiety probably comes from not being able to sit still for very long. So I have a DVD Player that I plug in and I listen to my movies. That helps to distract me and gives me something to do.

4. You know how many women like shoes? Well, I like them too, I just don't like them on my feet. Shoes are confining to me. I walk around barefoot in the house all the time. Even in Winter. And I don't like socks on either!

5. I hate noise! Barking dogs, lawn mowers, motorcycles, screaming kids...noise goes through me like finger nails on a chalkboard! And yet, I have to have the TV or radio on all the time. Not very loud, just barely audible for a bit of background sound. We sleep with the TV on! If the electricity goes out, I am an absolute basket case. As much as I hate noise, I can't stand dead silence either.

So those are my 5 weird things! I could have done more! LOL!!!

So now, I tag Gina at Patra's Place, and Angie at Norththreads and Linda at Chloes Place. Although Linda is quite busy right now and she may not have time for this but I'm hoping she does!

Thanksgiving Doorknocker 1

Thanksgiving 1
Originally uploaded by Kitty And Me.

I finished up the Christmas project that I was working on yesterday and then I started on the first of the 3 Thanksgiving doorknockers that I mentioned in yesterday's post.

I'm not sure if these will end up in my Etsy shop or not. Their fees are going up come November and I'm not sure that Etsy is the right place for my work anyway. I may start looking for another outlet when the time comes.

I hope to finish this later today but in the meantime, I want do a bit of finishing on my sewing machine.

A Stitching Day

It's another cloudy, dreary Autumn day here in Northern Illinois. On days like this, all I want to do is park myself on my sofa in front of my television with my favorite DVD's and stitch. And guess what? That's my plan for the day!

I have a Christmas project that I want to finish up and then I plan to work on these little Thanksgiving doorknockers for my Etsy shop next:







Allison from Works In Progress blog left a comment for me the other day asking me a few questions about my work. I hope she doesn't mind that I quote her here. I thought I'd post my replies for everyone to read:

So you and your mom sew together sometimes? Did you start out learning from her?
Lucky, lucky you....and I love her little Baby project.

Yes, my mom and my grandmother taught me how to stitch when I was about 8 years old. I've had a needle in my hand ever since!

How on earth are you so prolific? How many hours a day do you stitch? I know it's not your full time job...your commercial pattern work must be...

I have a passion for threads and fabric and an extreme desire to create objects of beauty from raw materiels. I've always liked "making things up", creating my own patterns rather than following someone else's pattern. That's not to say that I don't work from patterns because I do. I love to stitch from my vintage Iron-On Transfer collection, but I find much satisfaction and joy in taking an idea from my mind and manifesting it into a tangible item or pattern.

In general, I stitch about 3 or 4 hours a day, some days more and some less.

No, the items I make for my Etsy shop is not my full time job. That is an outlet for my desire to stitch. My commercial pattern design work is what I do fulltime. I work with manufacturers such as The DMC Corporation, Kreinik Manufacturing and Zweigart. I do kitting designs for Bucilla/Plaid Enterprises, I work with magazines such as The Cross Stitcher and Just Cross Stitch and I work with leaflet companies such as Imaginating Inc. I've been designing needlework patterns fulltime for well over ten years and have had literally 100's of designs published. If I have any readers who haven't seen my design work, please hop over to my main Kitty & Me Designs website and click on "My Art" to see what I do.

Thank you Allison for your lovely compliments!

Handbag Books

Most of my regular readers know that I'm a handbag junkie! I love cute little, one-of-a-kind, embellished handbags.

While poking around at Amazon.com a couple of weeks back, I found these two books which I just had to have:



The Decorated Bag by Genevieve Sterbenz shows how to make and/or embellish a variety of styles. Lots of different techniques in here with gorgeous photos and good step-by-step instructions.



Creating Romantic Purses by Marilyn Green and Carole Cree contains patterns and instructions for making beautiful embellished handbags using vintage lace, buttons, fabrics and beads. The bags are stunning and the photos are amazing! Again, excellent step-by-step instructions for making wonderful handbags!