Small Pillows For Easter

For the past week, I've been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Robins but instead, I keep getting snow.  What's up with that?  Even the most mild of Winter's seem to go on and on and on!  But I know those Robin's are on their way!  They usually show up here in Northern Illinois the first week of March.

I made some more progress on my current crazy quilt block:

It still needs more bead work and I think it needs some silk ribbon flowers.  Stop by tomorrow to see where it goes.

In other news, it looks like my mom has been busy!  I didn't think she was working on anything for the shop but she gave me some new things to list.  Beautiful little pillows for Easter!  Sweet little hanging pillows:

I don't know which one I love the most!  All are available in our Boutique.

Finally for today, a cat photo!  This is Lucy and this is what I have to work around:

Lucy loves to lay on my laptop.  Probably because it's warm.  I really want to be a cat in my next life and live with someone like me!

Update On Current CQ Project

Just a quick update for today Ladies.  I didn't have a lot of stitching time yesterday.  Just enough to add a few beads and the spider:

Here's a closeup of the spider on his little gold web:

I'm going to tear myself away from my computer now and stitch on this for an hour or so before I go into town for errands.

Online Crazy Quilt Classes

I spent the majority of day yesterday working on my custom order.  Here's where I'm at with it:

This photo looks kind of washed out again.  It's much prettier in person.  I'll try to get a better photo tomorrow.  The next step is to add beads and sequins.  Lots of bead and sequins!  And if you look closely to right of the focal point, you can see my spiderweb worked with Kreinik gold Blending Filament.  I'll add the spider today too!

In other news, Maureen at Maureen's Vintage Acquisitions is hosting Online Crazy Quilt Classes!  She added my first class on working with my Waste Canvas technique.  If you'd like to learn how to create perfectly sized and spaced stitches everytime, do sign up!  Maureen is offering all sorts of creative classes.  Please hop over to her website and check them out!

Finally for today, I thought you'd enjoy seeing my new table centerpiece:

Yes, that's my Simba!  He suddenly thinks it's fun to lay in the middle of my dining room table!  I don't think it's fun, but it is cute!

Spring First!

Finally, it's March 1st!  According to my calendar, it's Spring!  I just won't have it any other way!  LOL!!  March is coming in like a lion though.  Terrible winds yesterday and it looks like southern Illinois had some awful tornados.  Hopefully, March will go out like a lamb!

I have loads to share today!  First, I finished up my little pink purse.  Here's the stitched piece:

And this photo should give you an idea of what it will look like on the frame:

I paged through my books the other day that have the directions for attaching the purse to the frame.  I don't like how they do it but I have a few of my own ideas.  I still feel kind of clueless but I'll figure it out, one step at a time!  I'm going to get this assembled over the weekend.

In the meantime, I'm getting ready to start on another custom order.  I don't usually take on this type of project.  The lady who made this block asked if I would stitch and embellish it.  Normally, I prefer to work from start to finish but I must say, I loved the colors on this project so I agreed to do it.  Here's the pre-pieced block:

Last night, I pulled some trim and lace pieces for it:

I went ahead and hand painted the floral lace pieces right away so I could start stitching on this today.  The colors look a little washed out here.  I'm sure future progress photos will show a little better. 

One other thing that I wanted to share with you today is regarding storing supplies.  As most of you know, I'm a craft supply-a-holic!  I love craft supplies and have way more than I'll ever use but I don't care.  My only concern is in how to store my things.  I do have a room devoted to storing my supplies but I don't want it to look like a storage room.  It's 10 feet square and I have to have my big computer in there too.  I'm trying to organize my things so they're easy to see and get to but not all over the place!  I want to get a smaller desk for my computer and put a comfy stitching chair and lamp in one corner.  Just a little quiet space where I can stitch if Scott is watching football or racing.

Anyway, I'm sure this has been thought of and applied before but for anyone who needs extra storage space, get yourself a "back of the door" hanging shoe bag:

I picked this one up at WalMart for about $8.00.  The pockets are clear plastic so I can see what's in them.  And what's in them?  My collection of fancy yarns.  No, I know I don't crochet much but I love fancy yarn.  I like to use it on my crazy quilts and when I make purses, I like to crochet my own trims for the bottoms.  Anyway, now I can see them all so I can use them more!

This would be perfect for storing lace, threads, beads, buttons, anything really!  Even fabric if your collection is small.

Spring Hanging Pillows

I finished up my last 3 projects the other day and have photos to share!  Yeah!  One of my favorite things to make is door pillows aka hanging pillows.  I've made 100's of these over the years.  Some for myself, some for gifts and some to sell.  I have my little door pillows hanging on every door knob in the house and I change them for the holidays and seasons.  I love them!  They add color and a nice homey feel without taking up any space!  So here are my latest:

Also in our Boutique are another pair of earrings that Kathi made:

Her St Patrick's Day Earrings have sold out but a little birdie told me that there might be some Easter earrings coming!  These items and more can also be found at Etsy.

I'll be finishing up the stitching on my little pink purse today and then I have another custom order to do.  A pre-sewn block that I was asked to stitch and embellish so be sure to stop by tomorrow for updates!