Gifts For The Bride

Looks like Mom has weddings on her mind!  Makes me laugh because she doesn't like going to Weddings!  Anyway, the lovely wedding items for the Bride To Be are mom's latest finishes.  First, are her Ring Bearer's Pillows made from vintage handkerchiefs:







All are hand-beaded.

Next, are mom's Wedding Card Bags:





Made from a vintage pattern, these are hand embroidery and hand beaded.  From what mom tells me, back in the day, brides would be given a special bag to keep their wedding cards in.  Neat idea!  These could certainly be used as a purse and trust me, they are so much prettier in person than they are in my photos!

Lastly, mom made this sweet little hanging pillow/tuck pillow from a vintage kitchen towel:



Again, mom added beads!

I'll tell ya, my mother is 70 years old, has serious vision problems & depression problems like I do, but I can't keep up with listing her things!  I keep telling her, "mom, would you please slow down so I have some time to make some things!"  Ha, ha, ha! 

Hey, it gives her some purpose and the opportunity to share her talents.  My mom is an expert seamstress.  Before she went to school to become a nurse (she's retired now), she used to sew models for a fabric store.  Mom made my wedding dress and my bridesmaids dresses.  So beautiful!!!  One of these days, I'll pull out my wedding photos and share.

Well, here is my offering for today.  I started embellishing my Pretty In Pink Art Quilt:



I've already hand-dyed some lace daisies and butterflies for it.  When I finish up here, I'll be glittering some fabric leaves.  Stay tuned.  I feel another tutorial coming on!

Finally for today, I've started a mailing list for anyone who would like to receive our Kitty & Me Designs newsletter.  I'll be offering specials now and then and keeping our customers up to date on our latest projects.  I thought it would be nice for anyone who doesn't have the time to read my blog everyday but would like to stay up on what we're doing with the shop.

If you would like to be added to my mailing list, please drop an email and I'll get you added asap!

That's all for today folks!  Happy Stitching, crafting and sewing!

Sneak Peeks!

I've been doing quite a bit of stitching lately!  In fact, I need to take some time to sew up a few things.  I may do that on Sunday but I also want to get some things planted.  I bought some Hollyhock bulbs and some seeds at WalMart today.  I don't have the energy yet to work too much in my yard but I've been wanting Hollyhocks for years!  They're so old-fashioned!  Anyway, I may do my planting on Sunday morning and then run my sewing machine Sunday afternoon.

Here are the couple of things I want to finish up.  First, I have 2 crazy quilt hanging pillows that I stitched:



I don't know which one I love more but I am leaning towards the green and pink one!

Next, I stitched up several crazy quilt cottage style hearts.  These will be Sweet Dreams Lavender Sachets:



It's kind of hard to tell from the photo what they'll look like when they're done!  Stay tuned for that!

Ok, so it's not a ton of stuff that needs to be sewn up but it will take me a bit of time.

My next project that I'll be starting on is this Pretty In Pink Mixed Media Art Quilt:



I'll be starting on this shortly and believe me, I plan to embellish it!

I have a couple of other finishes to share with you today.  First is my mom's Pink Heart Cottage Pillow:



I think I've turned mom into a monster! She's really liking pink these days and never cared for it too much in the past!

And then there's my Strawberry Fields Birdbath:



I can't help myself!  I just love doing these birdbath's with vintage glassware.  I'm already planning on some Autumn and Christmas birdbaths but I have to find some more old glassware.  Since Garage Sale season and Flea Market season are getting underway, that shouldn't be a problem.

And speaking of strawberries, here's my little Strawberry Basket:



Don't you just love strawberries?  I love the way they look and the way they taste!  Strawberries are my favorite fruit!  Have you ever tried slicing some up into some some sugar free vanilla pudding?  YUM!

MOTHER'S DAY SPECIAL!!!

In other news, I'm offering FREE SHIPPING on MULTIPLE ITEM orders in my shop.  PayPal & USA orders only please.  The offer runs from now through Sunday May 2nd.

We offer so many lovely things that would be appropriate for Mother's Day gifts.  Please take advantage of this offer.

Well, I'm off to stitch.  Wait, must fold laundry first.  Argggg......

Happy Wednesday Everyone!!!!

How To Block A Crocheted Doily Tutorial

Happy Sunday everyone!  I've been busy, busy, busy!  Yes, too busy and I'm winding down now but I am the way I am!  My ADD motor is always going!

I made a big pot of soup, 2 batches of cookies and a loaf of wheat bread.  I have all the laundry caught up and added 2 more of my mom's Victorian Tussy Mussy's for Mother's Day to our Etsy shop:





Aren't they pretty?  Mom really has a knack for these!

Another thing I did today was to block a couple of crocheted doilies and I thought I would write a tutorial for anyone who doesn't know how to do this.  Many crocheted pieces can be ironed into shape but there are some that just won't cooperate unless they are blocked.

This one for example is quite large.  My mom made it for me years ago.  I had it out for quite some time but decided to wash it and put it away for awhile.  I have never had any luck with ironing this piece into shape:



I pulled it out today because I knew it would fit my new little vintage table which I'll show you at the end of this post.

HOW TO BLOCK A CROCHETED DOILY

You will need a cardboard cutting board, a big box of pins and a misting bottle of water.  I scent mine with lavender.

Step one is to lay out your crocheted piece on the cutting board.
Step two is to start pinning it to the board:



I just started with the center of each scallop around the outside.  One pin in the center of each scallop.  After going all the way around, you may have to make some adjustments for shaping purposes.  It's a matter of eyeballing it.

The next step is to add more pins around the scallops.  This rounds them out:



Add as many pins around the outside as you have to in order to shape it properly.  It seems like it might be a lot of work but it actually only takes a few minutes. 

Once you have all the pins in place and the doily is shaped appropriately, mist the entire piece with water and let air dry.  It takes about an hour for large doily and about 1/2 an hour for a small one.

Here's another type of doily that needs to be shaped this way:



Those little flowers are terribly difficult to iron.



Just pin the flowers open, spritz with water, let dry and then remove the pins and enjoy the beauty!

Be sure to click on the photos to see the large versions.  That'll give you a good idea of what to do.

Also, if you have small children, dogs or cats, you may want to do this in a room where you can close the door while it's drying.  They may be a little too fascinated with the pins.

Here's my large doily on my new vintage table:



My husband bought me this beautiful vintage sewing table at a flea market back in February.  It was only $15.00!  He repaired it, stripped it and refinished it for me and added new knobs.  The sides open up!  It's really too cool!  And it's not as dark as it looks in this photo.

Anyway, that was my day!  Now, it's time to relax with a cup of tea and some stitching:



Have a good night!

Buttons

I've been stitching on my little crazy quilt blocks.  My intention for these are to play with my buttons!  Pure & simple, I just love my old buttons!

This is my newest finish:

 

The Marie Antoinette colors on this one are just so pretty!  Anyway, this can be found here.

And this is my current button block:



This of course will have buttons too!

I mentioned yesterday that I did some sewing and worked up a couple of art quilt pieces.  Again yes!  Buttons!  One of these days, I'll have to really show you my button collection!

In other news, I'm planning on having a drawing when I reach 150 Followers.  The prize will be something that I make.  I'm still thinking about that and will have more details soon.  In the meantime, if you enjoy my blog, please click on the "Follow" button in my sidebar.

For now, I was wondering if any of my Facebookers would be willing to hop over to the Top Etsy Shop Facebook Fan Page and vote for Kitty & Me Designs Etsy Shop.  I would really appreciate it!

I think it's time for me to go stitch now.  My mind is feeling a bit scattered.  Well, it's feeling quite scattered so I'll get away from my computer for now.

History Of Victorian Tussy Mussy's

My mom just goes to town on these:



Tussy mussy's are so beautiful and it never ceases to amaze me how Mom makes each one is prettier than the last!  I know she has some more in the works.

Tussy mussy's have become quite popular again.  During the 1700's, pestilence was quite prevalent while indoor plumbing was not.  Ladies would carry little bouquets of herbs and flowers to avoid the unpleasant odors around them.

In the Victorian era, every flower had a meaning.  Gentlemen callers would offer a floral bouquet to their sweethearts and the girls would have to decipher the meaning of the flowers chosen for them using a book called,  Tussy Dictionary.

Today, our Tussy Mussy's are used of course for weddings but we also use them as ornaments, gift holders and home decor just because they're pretty!  Mom's of course are adornments but many paper crafter's make them as gifts and fill them with candies & cookies, laces & other sewing trinkets and all sorts of little bits &  bobs.

Don't you just love old-fashioned things?  I do!

Mom's Tussy Mussys are available for purchase in our Boutique!

I have a couple of finishes to share with you too.  I made these over the weekend for gifts:





I don't know why I suddenly have a thing for making birdbaths out of vintage glassware!  I just love making these!  I've done what, about 6 of them now?  And there will be more I'm sure!  One of these days, I'll make one for myself!

I've been a busy bee all day today.  I ran my sewing machine and sewed up a whole pile of fun new projects.
Some Crazy Quilt cat dolls, some Crazy Quilt hanging pillows, some sachets and several new art quilts.  Oh, I'm just itching to play with those!  But I must finish up the little CQ door knob hanger that I'm working on now.

Please visit our Shabby Chic Boutique!