Kittens In A Teacup

I went through my Hoosier cabinet this morning (I keep my tablerunners and vintage tablecloths in it) looking for my Christmas linens.  I remember when Nightmare was here, I would open the bottom door to the Hoosier cabinet and he couldn't get in there fast enough.  While looking through my things, I found a few with some of Nightmare's fur on them.

I took this photo of Nightmare last year when I was looking for my Christmas things.  He loved it in the Hoosier cabinet.  He thought he was hiding or something.  Anyway, I cleaned the cat hair off of my things.  It was hard but I had to do it.  He was a beauty, wasn't he?  I so love black cats and Nightmare and I were so bonded.

And here's Nightmare laying under our tree last year:

I also put one of my embroidered Christmas pillows on my bed today and then washed the ones that I usually keep on the bed.  Simba, loved this pillow:

If you remember, I lost Nightmare in May, exactly 1 year to the day after I lost my Simba.  I don't mean to sound sad.  Christmas is hard sometimes.

Anyway, I've been stitching on my Kittens In A Teacup Pillow:

All of the seam embroidery designs are from my Elegant Crazy Quilt Seam Treatments books.  Here are some closeups:

And here's a closeup of the lace trim around that curve:

I hand painted the lace pieces for this.  I remember reading The Thorn Birds years ago and in the book, a dress color was referred to as "ashes of roses".  That was the color I wanted for the lace.  I think I managed that!

I'll leave you with one of my favorite Christmas songs called, "Johnny Bring The Pinetree In".  It's a rare song that was played on WLIT in Chicago back in the 80's.  I never hear it anymore but found it on YouTube last year.  Enjoy!

New Items At Etsy

I've spent all weekend listing the newest items that mom and I have made for our Etsy shop.  It's a time consuming and tedious process but I can honestly say that I don't mind doing it.  I can only list a few items a day though.  These are mom's newest pretties:

It looks like Mom is into hearts these days!  And I'm into Cat Dolls.  These are my newest items:

All of the pretty things are available at Kitty and Me Designs on Etsy.

Black Friday Anyone?

Is it just me, or is there anyone else out there who can't stand the term, "Black Friday"?  I know what it means...it's better to be in "the black" than in "the red" but geez, it's so dark and ominous!  What was wrong with "day after Thanksgiving sales"?  That sounds so much happier!  And who comes up with this stuff?  Is there someone out there who has nothing better to do than come up with these goofy terms?  I guess I'm from the Disney generation.  I like everything to sound happy and uplifting.

Well, I don't go out the day after Thanksgiving anyway.  I did a little more shopping over at Etsy and I still need a few more things but for the most part, I'm done with my shopping.  I much prefer to buy handmade and vintage than to go out and put up with the noise and the crowds.

And I did some stitching!  I finished stitching up my Pink Kitty Pillow:

These always look prettier in person than they do in the photos.  Anyway, my next project is also kitties in a teacup:

When I finish up this one, I'll sew them both together at the same time.

Okay, I have some new things that mom made to photograph.  Be sure to listen to The Cinnamon Bear episodes.  Just scroll down and click on the links.

Pink Bee Crazy Quilt Purse

I'm still stitching on my Pink Kitty Pillow but I do have something fun to share today!  I made this Pink Bee Crazy Quilt Purse for my cousin for her birthday:

You may remember the Green Bee purse that I made for myself last Winter:

Kim had seen mine and she loved it so I decided to make one for her.  They're very whimsical and cheerful, aren't they?  Kim's birthday is December 7th, but mom and I gave her our gifts yesterday.  And yes, she loved the purse!  She loves bugs as much as I do.  Well, neither one of us want them on us or in our homes but we both love cute little bugs.

Well, that's my rambling for today.  Be sure to scroll down and listen to Episode 1 of The Cinnamon Bear!  It's a classic radio Christmas story from 1937.  Episode 2 will be available tomorrow morning (Saturday, 11/30 at 9:00 am Central time)!

Crazy Quilt Inspiration

I spent yesterday morning finishing up some things that I had stitched.  My little pink cat dolls are finished so I'll share photos of those over the weekend.  I also finished up this little door hanger for a friend:

I spent yesterday afternoon doing some Christmas shopping at Etsy.  I don't know about anyone else, but I really can't get into running from store to store.  I much prefer to sit here, with a cup of tea and some chocolate and just look around at all the wonderful things on Etsy or Ebay.  I have a little more shopping to do but I'll do that next week.

I did some more stitching on my Pink Kitty Pillow too:

Okay, I didn't get a lot of stitching done on it but it's coming a long nicely!

I was asked where I find the cute little pictures that I use on some of my crazy quilt pieces.  I have tons of clip art CD's and vintage photo cd's and Dover books but I also find lots of pretty images at Pinterest.  Yes, Pinterest where one can waste hours and hours of time!  I try to limit how much time I spend there because it's so addictive! 

Anyway, I've pinned tons of pretty vintage greeting cards, tinted photos, vintage photos, antique postcards and so on.  There are over 5,500 pins on my Vintage Images board.  So if you're looking for some Crazy Quilt Inspiration, or if you need a break from cooking and baking for tomorrow, hop on over and look at the pretty pictures!  I don't know if everything is copyright free or not.  Probably not but I'm tired of losing sleep over the whole copyright thing.  Most of the images are old photos, old postcards and old greeting cards.  I really don't think anyone will care if you want to use them.  Enjoy!

I'm getting ready to head over to mom's to help her with getting ready for tomorrow.  I need to get there early so we have time to Pin!  LOL!!!  Yes, mom loves pinning too.  Actually, she likes to look at the pictures but has no clue how to pin.  I'll have to set her up with her own board and show her how to pin if she wants to look around when I'm not there.

Be sure to stop by tomorrow to read about the fun holiday activity that I have planned for this coming Christmas season!  I know everyone will enjoy it!!!!

Until tomorrow......