Pink Ribbon Purse

Where did Summer go?  The leaves are turning orange and starting to fall, it's quite cool in the mornings so I've had to turn the furnace on and our Pumpkin Patch is ready for picking!

 I finished stitching up my 5th cat doll for this "litter":

I plan to sew these this little crazy quilt cat dolls up during the week.  It's always fun to see a bunch of them all together!

So what's my next project?  Well, I have to tell you, the word "cancer" is starting to go through me like fingernails on a chalkboard!  Every time I blink an eye, someone I know is coping with this horrible disease.  I know way too many people who are coping with it, have coped with it or have died from it than I can even count!  And I blame much of it on all the crap that's put into our food!  But that's not where I'm going with this.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month so I thought I would make a purse and donate a portion of my fee to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.  This is the sewn block:

The pink ribbon cross stitch design is one that I designed years ago.  My friend and model stitcher Kim, worked up that cross stitch piece for me.  I plan to embellish this with lots of white, feminine lace and I'm thinking it needs some white Mother Of Pearl buttons but I'll worry about that when I get that far!  For now, I thought you would like to see the block before I start stitching on it.

When this purse is ready to list in my Boutiques, I will also make the cross stitch chart available again as a free PDF file download for anyone who would like to help the cause.

For now, I have a student coming this weekend to perfect her crazy quilting techniques!  I'm looking forward to it.  And I know when she leaves, I'll feel sad.  I always have a good time with my students!

Crazy Quilt Class Project Door Pillow

I had a great time with my crazy quilt students these past few days.  I was feeling a little sad when they left because I enjoyed their company so much!

I finished up the little door pillow that I made while they were here:

I think I'll send this to my aunt as a little surprise!  I have another student coming this weekend to perfect her crazy quilt techniques.  I'm looking forward to it!

Teaching Crazy Quilting

I had a wonderful day with my students yesterday!  2 sweet ladies from DeKalb came up to learn Crazy Quilting from Start to Finish.  I taught them how to do the Sew & Flip method of foundation piecing and how to embroider the seams with both my Waste Canvas Technique as well as Carol Samples Dream A Seam Templates technique.  I also showed them how to do basic Silk Ribbon Embroidery stitches.

Today, we'll be beading, embellishing and finishing into a door pillow.

I'm thinking of offering another class for Crazy Quilting.  I see the need for Basic Embroidery stitches such as the Lazy Daisy stitch, Stem stitch, Feather stitch, Herringbone stitch and so on.  I could combine it with Silk Ribbon Embroidery.  I'll start working on putting that class together in a week or so and then offering that option.

For now, I have to get myself together for today!

Teaching Classes

I'm teaching today so I don't have anything new and exciting to share with you.  This is my 2 day, Crazy Quilting from Start To Finish class.

I still have to finish up my last Crazy Quilt Cat Doll and then I'll be doing a couple of purses.

If you would like to enjoy some eye candy, please hop over to Kitty & Me Designs or Kitty & Me on Etsy. 

Handmade Christmas Tree Ornaments Inspired By Nature

These beautiful Christmas Tree Ornaments are mom's latest additions to our Boutiques.  All are inspired by nature:

A pretty white bird on a glittered pinecone!  These sold out in just a few days last year so mom has redesigned them for 2011.

These Partridge In A Pear Tree ornaments also sold out in a heartbeat last year.  Again, mom has redesigned them for the 2011 season.

This is a large ornament measuring about 7 inches wide.  Perfect for a very full Christmas Tree!  We only had one red bird so mom only made one of these Red Cardinal Bird Ornaments. 

In other news, I hope to have my Crazy Quilt Cat Dolls all finished up the end of the weekend.  I'll post photos as soon as they're ready!