Old Fashioned Valentines

I didn't get to any stitching time yesterday.  I've always said, if I don't stitch, I don't feel good.  But there are days when it just doesn't happen for what ever reasons.  I will be stitching later today!

I was quite productive yesterday.  I sew up my 4 Valentine's Day cat dolls and now they just need stuffing.  That's at the top of today's "to do" list!  I also plan to pull out my steam cleaner and clean my hardwood floors.  And want to get my laundry done.  Yes, laundry is what I live for!  LOL!!!!

Before Christmas, mom and I made some Old Fashioned Valentines Day cards:

I also have a few new every day cards to add the shop which is also on my list for today!

I also listed this gorgeous Victorian Fairy pillow that mom made:

I don't know about anyone else, but I just love Valentines!  I think they're so pretty!!!  Ok, I'm off to stuff those little cat dolls!

Crazy Cat Lady

I can't help myself!  I'm one of those eccentric crazy cat ladies who dresses like a gypsy and has cat figurines all over my house!  I'm going to stitch 2 more crazy quilt cat dolls before I move on to something else.  The next 2 cat dolls will be gifts.  First a yellow cat doll:

After stitching this is shades of yellow, I'll add aqua blue flowers and embellishments.  I'll share the next one when I finish this doll.

I stopped at moms yesterday to have a cup of coffee with her and she surprised me with 2 more beautiful door pillows for the shop.  Both are made from vintage hankies:

You may remember seeing the vintage hankie with the red rose last week.  I bought it at the antique mall.  Mom really has a knack for turning vintage hankies into little works of decorative art!  These are both available in our Valentines Day Shop!

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!