Happy Mother's Day!

Here's a photo of my mom & one of her dogs:

We'll be picking mom up around 8 this morning and heading off to the Flea Market in Grayslake, Il.  Keep your fingers crossed that we find loads of fun goody's!

Patriotic Home Decor

Just some photos for today everyone.  I'm quite tired now and still have to cook some chicken (cook is a dirty word!) and clean my bathroom.  These are our 4th of July home decor do-dads:













All are now available here.

Tomorrow we have flea market to go to.  Scott & I will pick mom up and head up there.  Keep your fingers crossed that I we find some great do-dads!

Art Quilts

One thing always leads to another.  It's funny how that works.  I thought crazy quilting was unlimited but I've since discovered that Mixed Media Art Quilts are truly without boundries.

My Spring Song Art Quilt is ready for finishing:



Today, I added the tiny birds nest and the eggs, some paper punched butterflies and a light dusting of glitter on the flowers.  I'm particularly fond of Martha Stewart's glitter.  When I do the machine finishing on this, I'll have to use my zipper foot to get around that nest.  I should have some sewing machine time over the weekend.

Early this morning, I started on my Teatime Kittens Art Quilt:



I have some little poly clay strawberries that I made awhile back so I plan to use those and I'm thinking maybe a few cupcakes?  Not sure yet.

My approach to these is to layer whatever suits my fancy at the moment and then work with that as a blank canvas.  As with my crazy quilting, I do like to have some sort of a focal point and theme to work with.  I really enjoy letting these art quilts take me where ever they want to take me.  There's no right or wrong.  It's all about feel and what I want to play with at the time.  It's very freeing!

I thought I'd share a few photos from my garden with you.  First are my Bleeding Hearts:



Years ago, my husband and I planted a Bleeding Heart.  It did very well and quadrupled in size!  Until the Lily Of The Valley took over that part of the garden and choked the Bleeding Heart out.

I had mentioned at that time, to my neighbor Larry, that I lost my Bleeding Heart due to the Lily Of The Valley.   Scott has since dug that all out.  Last year, when I was so sick and crazy, I was out on the front porch, looking at the garden and saw a Bleeding Heart plant a foot or two from where our original one was.  For a moment, I thought I was really losing my mind!  And then Larry came over for a few minutes and asked if I noticed anything different in my garden.  What a sweet man!  He planted a new one for me!!!!  It's blooming now and everytime I look at it, I think of my dear neighbor and his kindness to me.  People will always remember how you make them feel!

I can't remember for the life of me what these are called:



I love these because they just grow and grow and grow!

Have a great evening everyone!

Trash To Treasure - Repurposed Junk

I really have to start taking photos before I start a "trash to treasure" project.  There is just a huge difference between what I start with and what I end up with.

As my long time readers know, I love flea markets.  I also love junk stores, garage sales and resale shops.  One never knows what little treasure might be hiding in the shadows waiting for me to come along and re-purpose it!

This was the most ugly tealight holder I've ever seen.  But I saw potential!  Note to self:  MUST REMEMBER TO TAKE PHOTOS BEFOREHAND!!!



Just look at my little Cottage Teapot now!  I painted it pink, added flowers and glitter and now it would be the prettiest little centerpiece in a cottage style kitchen!

Here's another of my re-purposed objects:



Again, this was ugly as sin!  It was a music box but the music didn't work.  The cage was wood & broken and the bird was red, black and white.  Not anymore.  My Cottage Birdcage is now white, the bird is pink, white and blue and I've adorned it with flowers & glitter.  It's like night and day!

Friday is garage sale day and Sunday is a huge flea market so I expect to find something that I can alter from junk to pretty!

In other news, mom & I have started on some July 4th things.  These are mom's little USA Heart Ornaments:



Aren't they sweet? I love the 4th of July!  I'll be at mom's tomorrow and Friday and hopefully will finish up on a few of the patriotic do-dads that I started on.

In the meantime, I've been working on my "Spring Song" Mixed Media Art Quilt:



I'll be adding a little nest with eggs to the bottom right-hand corner.  It will also get just a twinge of glitter.  I have one more sewn up to stitch on and I plan to sew up a few more next week.  I will be writing some tutorials on doing Mixed Media Art Quilts.  How to layer fabrics, how to embellish and what you can embellish with (just about anything) and so on.  It's really not all that different from Crazy Quilting.  Just no seams to cover.  Anyway be sure to stop back for those articles.

Let's see, what else did I do today?  Oh, galletas pour mi padre!  Sorry, just practicing the little bit of Spanish that I know.  I made some Chocolate Chip Sugar Cookies for my dad:



You can find the recipe here if you would like to try them.

Before I head out for the day, please drop me an email if you would like to be added to my mailing list for our upcoming Kitty & Me Designs newsletter.  I'll add you to the list right away and send you a coupon for free shipping.

That's for today everyone!  Have a great evening!

Pretty In Pink Mixed Media Art Quilt

I have a few finishes to share today.  I spent most of the day on Sunday running my sewing and doing the hand finishing on these projects.

First, my Pretty In Pink Mixed Media Art Quilt:



I love this!!!  I used one of my great-aunt's knitting needles as a hanger.  The tassel was given to me by my friend Cherry Petersen and it just so happened that I had some of that yarn in my own stash so I zig-zagged it around the outside edge of the quilt.  A nice finishing touch!  I signed and dated the back of the quilt as well.

I really love mixing fabric and paper and glitter and embroidery and just about anything I have laying around in my stash.  I'm certainly planning on doing a number of these and I have started on my Spring Song quilt but I'll save that photo for tomorrow.

The next time I put a couple of art quilts together, I'll write up a tutorial on how I do them.  Stay tuned for that.

Next, I finished up on my 2 newest Crazy Quilt Hanging Pillows:



Although I love both of these, the green and pink one is my favorite!  Ya'll know I just love pink!

Last but not least are my Sweet Dreams Lavender Sachet Hearts:



Cottage Style Crazy Quilting!!!  If anyone has trouble sleeping like I do, a lavender sachet hanging on the bedpost does help to quiet the mind.  Trust me, I know!  Anyways, I made several of these and had a good time filling them with lavender.  The scent is just so soothing!

So those are my finishes for today as far as needlework goes.  I have some pretty Trash To Treasure finishes to share tomorrow.  And we have a big flea market on Sunday in Grayslake, Il. so there should be some great flea market finds next week.

As for my next projects, definitely more art quilts.  It's my latest thing!  I'm also working on a few little Marie Antoinette brooches and in the craft department, Mom and I have both started on a few July 4th do-dads!  FUN!!!

If you'd like to see more photos of my finishes or larger images, please click here.

So that's my post for today.  I have some laundry to fold (what else is new?) and then I think I'll switch to my laptop in the Living Room and see what everyone else is blogging about!

Have a great evening everyone!