New Crazy Quilt Project

I spent some time with my sewing machine this morning and did the finishing on a few projects so I expect to have some photos of completed things to share tomorrow.

I also started on a new crazy quilt block.  I'm not sure what I'll do with this but I pieced the block awhile back and have been wanting to stitch it:

Here's a closeup of the silk ribbon embroidery on the hat:

And a closeup of this border worked with Sharon B's templates:

I also wanted to mention that we're offering Elegant Cross Stitch Sentiments For Crazy Quilting at a special sale price:

For a limited time, it's available for $24.95!

Sharon B's Stencils

I wanted to share with you a new tool for Crazy Quilting.  In case you've never been to Sharon B's blog, Pintangle, Sharon is a master crazy quilter who lives in Australia.  She's been stitching and teaching for many, many years and has recently released a wonderful set of stencils for marking crazy quilts:

I'm not going to post a ton of Sharon's photos here.  Just this one.  I'll let you hop over and check out Sharon B's Stencils for yourself. 

I just received mine on Friday and have already used them to create several borders:

I'm currently working on small projects so I haven't been able to experiment too much yet.  But I will be!  These stencils are awesome! 

In other news, here are a couple of new photos of my baby kitties:

I tried to get a new photo of Cotton but he still has that eye infection and I think the flash hurts his eyes.  Cotton and Wrigley are best friends, as you can see in this photo!

Crazy Quilt Class Maria's Lesson 6

I have another beautiful block to share with you today.  This block is by Maria and it's Lesson 6 of my Crazy Quilt Class:

Maria did a beautiful job!  Her strawberry is worked with French knots & beads and the top of the strawberry is worked in stumpwork!  Gorgeous!  Maria crocheted her strawberry flowers and check out those gorgeous buttons in the bottom left-hand corner!  A lovely addition!  All of the elements are here including a beautiful spider web and spider.  This block is stunning Maria!  Thank you for sharing with my readers!

Another Students Crazy Quilt Block Lesson 6

I have another students block to share with you today.  This is Kathy's Lesson 6 block:

Isn't this a pretty block?  Kathy used a photo image of strawberries and then enhanced them with some embroidery and silk ribbon work.  And then some strawberry buttons.  Which I think I've seen at Hobby Lobby.  I love the border with the detached chain flowers inside a circle.  Very original!  And check out the spider!  Ooooh, a very scary spider!  Love it!

Beautiful work Kathy!  Thank you for sending this to me to share with my readers!

Another photo that I thought I'd share today is my Crazy Quilt Cat Pillow.  Well, the stitched piece anyway.  I still have to sew it into a pillow.  The stitching is complete now:

I love this block!  I can't wait to sew it together!

I'll leave you today with a cute photo of my babies:

I got lucky and happened to see them both laying on the chair together.   On top of my stuff.  Which cats always seem to have a tendency to do!  But it looks like Wrigley and Cotton are going to be best friends!  Can you believe how much Wrigley has grown?  He was only 3 pounds when we adopted him!  Cotton is only 3 pounds now.  And I don't laugh but I measured Wrigley's tail again and that grew too!  It's over 14 inches long.  I've never had a cat with such a long tail before!

Student Block Lesson 6

The first student block of Lesson 6 has arrived in my inbox!  And it is a beauty!  This is Karin's Strawberry Fields block:

All elements are included!  Karin's appliqued strawberry is just lovely and it stands out perfectly on the white lace!  There are strawberry flowers here, free hand embroidered vines and check out that gorgeous spider web!!!  Not to mention the incredible spider!  And some lovely beadwork!

I am seeing some amazing results from my students!  The blocks are so well balanced, the techniques are perfectly executed and the creativity is shining through!  I so much look forward to receiving photos from each lesson.  Karin, this is beautiful.  You did good girl!

And speaking of crazy quilting, here are two of my finishes.  A couple of my Crazy Quilt Cat Dolls:

These two cats are gifts but I just sewed up a whole pile of them so there will be more!  And speaking of my cat dolls, it's come to my attention that some stitchers are trying to duplicate my cat doll pattern from my photos.  From now on, I will not post the works in progress of my cat dolls.  Only the finished cats.

I'd like to ask that if anyone becomes aware of someone trying to duplicate my cat dolls, please let me know.  This pattern is my own original and it is NOT for sale and although I've been asked several times, I will not make the pattern available.  These cats are my signature.  I make them for special gifts and they are my signature item in my Etsy shop.  They are exclusively available from me and I really want to keep it that way.  Please read about the history of my Crazy Quilt Cat Dolls here.

And then, speaking of cats, here's a new photo of my little Cotton ball:

Cotton of course was in motion!  But I think he likes Pinterest!  I took him to the vet this morning for a little check up.  He has an eye infection so I have to give him an antibiotic and an eye gel twice a day.  Scott's going to have to help me with that one!  But other than that, he's in good shape!  And I think he's going to my little Mama's boy.  Nightmare was my Mama's boy and I miss that.  Lucy is more bonded with Scott.  I can't quite tell yet who Wrigley is more bonded with.  Probably me because I'm here all the time but it's a little hard to tell at this point.