Happy Pink 4th Of July Saturday!

Hello everyone!  Happy Pink Saturday and Happy 4th of July!!!  I'm thrilled to be participating Beverly's Pink Saturday again!  What a fun way to bring the pink blogging community together!

I had a really fun idea as to what "pink" to share this week but I decided I would save it for next week due to the holiday weekend.  I know everyone is out and about and celebrating so for this week, I thought I would share my one and only 4th Of July do-dad:

As you can see, it's not red, white & blue, it's pink and blue!  My mom made this for me a few weeks ago.  She knows I can't stand much in the way of bright colors so she made me a patriotic table mat in soft pastel colors! Very patriotic but soothing on my nerves!

So that's my contribution to Pink Saturday this week.  I'd like to wish everyone a Happy & safe 4th Of July!

And a special thank you to our host Beverly at How Sweet The Sound Blog.  Please hop over to Beverly's blog and visit some of the other lovely pink contributers!

Friday Morning Ramblings

Good Morning everyone!  First, I would like to thank Cathy Kizerian for being my guest blogger yesterday!  It was really fun to share my friendship with her, here on my blog!  My next Guest Blogger will be posting on July 15th.  Please be sure to stop by then.

I would also like to thank everyone who left comments here and for Cathy on her blog.  I am only able to reply to comments if email addresses are public.  If you left a comment for me and did not receive a reply, it's only because I don't have your email address but please know that I so much appreciate your comments.  I love meeting new stitcher's and crafter's!!!  And special thanks to all of my new followers!  I hope that you will continue to visit me.

In other news, I'm also done with my Crazy Quilt Peacock purse!  I decided to write up a tutorial on how to do the peacock.  It will have an eyelash yarn tail and I was thinking that some of my crazy quilt readers might enjoy knowing how to do it!  I'll have that tutorial for you in a few days.  I will also have the final part of my Art Quilting 101 tutorial.  As usual, I try to do too much at once (ADHD) and sometimes, I fall a little behind on things.  All I left left to do is to add the hanger, take photos and post!!  Coming very soon!!!

And speaking of my Art Quilting 101 Tutorial, I would like to share a photo that Linda B sent to me:

This is an art quilt that Linda made for her daughter using my tutorial.  Linda, it's lovely and thank you so much for allowing me to share this photo with my readers!  If you would like to visit Linda's blog, please click here.

If anyone else is working on an art quilt using my tutorial, please feel free to email me a photo and I will gladly post your photo here along with a link to your blog or Flickr site.


Another photo that I would like to share with you is from Allie.  I absolutely fell in love with this photo yesterday when I visited Allison's blog:

This sweet little feathered angel got into Allie's greenhouse.  How wonderful that Allie was able to hold this precious little birdie after the rescue!!!

Many of my long time followers know that Robin's and Hummingbirds are my absolute favorites!  Everyone knows, that starting in February, I begin to watch for the Robin's to come back.  When I saw this photo, my heart melted.  What a special moment for Allie!!  Thank you so much Allison, for granting me permission to share your photo with my readers!  If you would like to visit Allie, here's the link to her blog.

My final photo for today is another photo of my Lucy!  She loves to sleep all curled up in the bathroom sink!

Isn't she just the cutest little thing?!!!!

Well, that's my chattering for today everyone!  Be sure to stop by tomorrow.  It's Pink Saturday!!!!

Guest Blogger - Cathy Kizerian

Hello everyone!  I'm so pleased to introduce you to my first Guest Blogger - Cathy Kizerian.

Cathy and I met last Summer when I was in the depths of depression hell!  Like so many of my sweet blog readers, Cathy was very kind to me and shared her depression experience with me.  Please give Cathy a warm welcome and enjoy her blog post!

Hello!  I’m Cathy Kizerian (although once upon a time it was Cathy Flox), a benignly crazy fabriholic.  From shoelace-strung embroidery cards at age 4 to handmade felt troll doll clothes (age 10), to sewing, crocheting and embroidery as an adult, fabric and fibers have always been part of who I am.

Over the years, I’ve sewn clothing, stuffed toys and curtains, embroidered pictures, crocheted afghans, made beaded jewelry and quilted.  Although I still sew (it’s a basic skill, isn’t it? – like riding a bicycle), nothing really seized me as THE THING.

But in 2000, I discovered Crazy Quilting.  CQ is for me – as it is for Pam – a passion.  It opened my eyes and heart to the joys of whimsical and spontaneous creativity with fabric and thread – and laces and beads and buttons ...  you get the idea!  And so I began collecting all those necessary stash items.  But collecting is contagious, and soon I was adding hankies, vintage linens, vintage aprons, vintage patterns, vintage fabrics and whatever else caught my eye.  Whew!  As I said, I’m “crazy”!!

In 2002, my first contest submission was accepted by Quilting Arts Magazine, and my CQ’ed autumn block was published in their 2002 calendar.  I was “Miss November.”   Since then, I’ve placed in CQ stitching competitions, won the Crazy Quilting International Purse Contest (2008) and got second place twice (2009 & 2010).  I’m an owner/moderator of the Yahoo Crazy Quilting International group  and also I write a personal blog, Cathys Crazy By Design.

Pam and I have been friends for about a year, having met through her blog.  We’ve shared our common challenge: depression, and along the path we discovered so much in common that it would be too long to list!  I’m so thrilled to have the honor of being Pam’s first Guest Blogger!  I’m naturally gregarious, and jumped at the chance to meet new people and make new friends!

Honestly, I had hoped to present you with some whiz-bang, knock-your-socks-off tutorial (that would win international acclaim and change life as we know it), but my muse had different ideas.  I think.  She’s nowhere to be found.  So…. the next best thing that I can think of is a GIVEAWAY.    More about that in a sec.

I’d like to first announce the opening of my Etsy shop (FINALLY).
I’m in the process of listing things as you read this, so please come visit!  I’ll feature my unique hand-dyed Golden Laces.  These are those gorgeous laces you see in so many Australian publications, dyed with potassium permanganate.  Totally different from Pam’s beautiful laces – there’s plenty of room for both of us!  In addition, I’ll be selling from my vast collection of vintage laces and trims, vintage linens and other vintage collectibles.  Finally, my offerings will be rounded out with aprons – mostly the quirky Farmgirl (denim-bibbed) aprons, but also some cute and kicky styles using wild or vintage (or both!) fabrics and patterns. 

 To enter the contest, just visit my blog and leave a comment.  The two prize packages are pictured there.  You’ll get one entry for your comment, a second entry if you are one of my followers, a third entry if you link to my giveaway in your blog, and a fourth entry if you are one of Pam’s Kitty & Me followers.  Just let me know in your comments!

I hope to “see” you all soon.  Make sure I can contact you, because I’d love to visit YOUR blogs and see what you’re up to.  And big hugs to Pam, who is so creative and thoughtful – she epitomizes the Great Blogger/Great Friend!!  Thanks!



I would like thank Cathy from the bottom of my heart, for being my Guest Blogger today.  If you enjoyed meeting Cathy, please let me know and then hop over to Cathy's blog and leave a comment for her as well.  And please remember to enter Cathy's contest!!!

Crazy Quilt Peacock Purse - A Work In Progress

I've just been sitting here and stitching my crazy little head off!  I'm currently working on beading the lace applique piece on the left-hand side:



Once I have the applique beaded, I'll start stitching the peacock.  I've been wanting another peacock purse for myself but I think I'll put this one in the shop and do a pink peacock purse for myself.  I'll have to add it to the list as I sewed up a block yesterday with a Marie Antoinette theme and that one is definitely for me!

Speaking of my crazy quilt purses, I loaned this one to my sister:



I have a feeling I may never see it again!  Kathi just loves it and she has co-workers drooling all over it too!  LOL!!!  I'm really not a "red" person.  I much prefer pink and other pastel colors.  I know Kathi is enjoying it and that's what matters to me!

If you'd like to see my other crazy quilt purses, click here to go to my Flickr site.

A couple of weeks ago, I shared a photo of the 1929 Ford Model A Tudor Sedan that Bubba has been working on for years!!  I asked him if he a photo from when we bought it.  This is what it looked like back then:



And then this is what it looks like now:



I'm so proud of him!  He really has stuck with it and little by little, he's getting it together.  It's been a rough road restoring this car.  But perseverance does pay off!  It's not done yet, but it gets closer by the day.

In other news, be sure to stop by tomorrow to meet my Guest Blogger!  She's an incredibly talented Crazy Quilter, she collects many of the same things that I do and she will share her passions here!

I will be hosting a guest blogger twice a month now.  I want to introduce my followers to some of my favorite bloggers and heaven knows, I have many!  There are so many talented ladies out there!  Just so many!  And I'm sure I've found a few that many of my readers have never met.

So please be sure to leave my guest a comment here and if you would be so kind, please hop over to her blog and leave another comment there.  And please let me know how you like this new feature on Kitty & Me Designs blog!!!

Crazy Quilting Crazy Me!

I think I mentioned the other day that Crazy Quilting has been screaming at me again.  It started either Thursday or Friday.  It's all I've been able to think about doing lately!  It really is my true passion.  I enjoy doing other things and I've done quite the variety of projects lately but I'm definitely moving back towards my passion.

I pulled out a block that I had pieced awhile back (I always keep a few blocks sewn up and tucked away for when I don't have the time to run my sewing machine) and I started stitching:



I hand painted my lace pieces early this morning.  This block will have a peacock on it.  I've done several peacocks like this but it's been awhile:



The above purse is one I did a few years back!  I have always loved this one.

Anyway, I started the beading on the blue & green block this afternoon and will have another update for you tomorrow.  I wanted to start on the peacock but I'll have to turn my big computer on to print up my pattern for the body.  I was too lazy today!  LOL!!!

Actually, I wasn't lazy at all!  I pieced 3 more CQ blocks, all for purses with ladies on them:







They don't look like much at the moment, but you know, by the time I'm done piling on the stitching and embellishments, they'll look like a million bucks!

I'm assuming that my need to get back to Crazy Quilting is a sign that my depression is again receding some more.  I'm past the medication withdrawals but still feel the meds are too high.  I will get off this stuff. It might not be until next Spring or Summer, but I will get off of it!  In the meantime, I saw my Dr. again last week and she told me that when I see her again the end of July, she'll drop it again.  It'll be interesting to see if I feel better with another reduction in the dosage.  Will have to ask her if I can expect another week of withdrawals.  I don't care if I have withdrawals.  Trust me, I've been through worse!

One of my main concerns is that the Zoloft has parked 13 extra pounds on my butt and I refuse to tolerate that!  I'm having a terrible time getting it off. It just doesn't want to budge and with the way I eat, it shouldn't have gone up in the first place!  I mean, I live on fruit & salad!  Anyway, just a bit of a vent here.  I'll get on with my post!

In other news, I plan to do the finishing on my Mary's Garden Art Quilt tomorrow.  I'll write the final part for the tutorial and get that posted in a few days.

Oh, and I keep forgetting to mention that we're having a huge sale in the shop!! HUGE!!!  We're going to change directions just a twinge.  More crazy quilting, more embroidery with crayon tinting, more of Kathi's gorgeous jewelry and some embellishments!

I think I have some angels who are trying to tell me something.  Several of my long time readers have emailed me recently, asking I will ever offer hand-dyed vintage lace like I did a few years back.  It took 3 messages before it finally clicked in my ADHD brain!!!  So, I have decided (since I can't walk away from a bag of vintage lace at flea markets and antique shops) that I will indeed begin offering that again and I'll also offer some hand-dyed silk ribbon, perhaps some dyed fabric and some of the other little do-dads that I find in my junking travels!

So, we're having this huge sale in the shop to make room for Autumn & Winter things and for some supplies.  I know that many crafters and stitchers do not have access to the wonderful flea markets and shops that I do and it certainly would be fun for me to offer those treasures.  I just love playing with dyes!  It's like coloring Easter Eggs!  LOL!!!

So, please visit my Etsy shop and see if there is something that you can't live without.  I really need to make a section for Embellishments! 

I guess that's the news for today everyone!  I'm quite tired now so I'll leave you with a photo I took this afternoon in my "garden":




My garden is a mess.  It's overgrown with perennials and weeds.  I was way too sick last Summer to do anything with it and this Summer, I still don't have the energy.  Fortunately, in every mess, there is inkling of beauty!!!