Handmade Valentines

Busy day yesterday!  I went through some old paperwork and weeded out a ton of stuff.  I had tax stuff going back to 1997!  Needless to say, I sat with my shredder for over an hour and got rid of what was no longer necessary to keep.  That felt good!

I also finished up on my little pink Valentine Cat Doll:

It's very pink, isn't it?  And here is the seam treatment close up:

Be sure to see my Crazy Quilt Seam Treatment Inspiration photos here.

I'll get this litter of Valentine Cat Dolls sewn up in the next day or so.  They never look like much until they're all put together!

I also added some new Valentine Door Pillows to the shop.  Mom made these from vintage linens:

I still have a bunch of our Glitter Cards to list.  We made them before Christmas but I just didn't have time to add them until now.  I'll do that this afternoon.

For today, I have some errands to run.  I'll stop over at mom's and have some coffee with her and then go from there! 

Normal

Finally, after a very nice holiday season, life returns to normal.  Sorry, but I like normal!  The tree is down, the ornaments are wrapped, boxed up and put away in the closet and all my pink things are back in place! 

I didn't actually do any stitching yesterday but I did pull some lace pieces for this Valentine Cat Doll:

I plan to sit here and stitch for 1 hour before I do anything else today!

Our New Year's was quiet.  Mom and dad came over and while Dad and Bubba watched football (I hate football!), Mom and I planned our projects and deadlines for our Boutique items for the year.

We had Chinese food for dinner and ate some cookies and now I'm ready to have my routine back.

I have some new Valentines to add to the shop this week so I'll start on that this afternoon.  Later this week, I want to sew up my Valentine's Day pillows and Cat Dolls so I can add them to our Valentine's Day Shop which by the way, is now open.

The new issue of Shabby Lane Shops magazine will be available on January 5th in Barnes and Noble, Hancock Fabric Stores and at Shabby Lane Shops:

Have a great day everyone!  I'm off to stitch!

Happy 2012!

First, I'd like to wish everyone a Happy New Year!  Our New Years Eve was nice and quiet.  Scott took me to Joann's for my annual New Year's Eve shopping spree.  I was very selective about my purchases since I already have a stash that most crazy quilters would die for!  I bought 6 - 1/4 yards of fabric.  3 Brocades which I absolutely love stitching on!  And 3 organzas with glitter.  Ya'll know how much I love my glitter!

I can't wait to have me a sewing day!  I also bought a couple packages of heart shaped buttons since I use a lot of them and then this cherry blossom garland to drape over the top of my Pink Garden Quilt:

I have this hanging in my living room over my electric sewing machine.

After Joann's, we went to WalMart.  Heaven help us!  It was a zoo yesterday!  But we wanted to pick the final 2 movies in the Harry Potter series so we bought them, came home and then watched Part 1.  Later today, Scott and I will know how things turn out with Harry and his friends.  No, I didn't read the books.  I do love to read but I love to stitch more and I can stitch and watch a movie at the same time.

Today, my mom and dad will come over for a few hours, we'll get some Chinese food and just take it easy.  Mom and I are going to work up a simple plan for our Boutique.  Basically, what we want to make and when we need to have it done by.  We've basically decided that we want to do more needlework and sewing and less in the way of craft things.  Needlework is our specialty so we're going to focus on that.

Yesterday, I forgot to share a close up photo of the seam treatments on my last Valentine Cat Doll:

The top border is worked with my Waste Canvas technique and the bottom border is worked with Carol Samples templates.  Click here for more Crazy Quilt Seam Treatment Inspiration.

Finally for today, I thought you would enjoy seeing this picture of my Lucy:

I took this on Friday when my cousin Kim was here.  She laid her coat in the chair and Lucy made herself quite comfy cozy in it!  Oh, to be a cat and live with me!!!

Have a very Happy 2012 everyone!

Another Valentine Cat Doll

I spent yesterday shopping in Crystal Lake with my cousin Kim. I had a very nice time with her as I always do.  Before she picked me up, I had a little stitching time and finished up my red and white Valentine Cat Doll:

Very traditional, isn't it?  And here's a photo of the next cat in Hot Pink:

It easy to see the outline of the cat on this one.  As you can see, I run a basting stitch on the sewing line.  This way, I can see how far I can go with beads and other embellishments.  When I complete the stitching, I just pull out that basting stitch.

Today is my annual New Years Eve shopping spree at JoAnn Fabrics.  I really don't need a thing.  I picked up some of my favorite Watercolour threads by The Caron Collection yesterday along with another yard of waste canvas.  I received some nice CQ supplies for my birthday and Christmas too so today, I'll try to be selective about my purchases.  Wish me luck!

Slow Motion Stitching

I feel like I'm in slow motion these days.  The problem with Christmas is that it seems like it never ends!  I did have a little stitching time yesterday and worked on my Valentine Cat Doll for a little while:

I am so looking forward to Monday when life goes back to "normal"!  The tree and other things get put away tomorrow.  I like a very routine and structured life style and for the entire month of December, my routine is gone!  It's not that I can't bend enough to have fun, it's just too much all at once.

Anyway, I will have a little time for stitching today and hopefully, I'll have this little kitty doll finished for my blog post tomorrow.