Isn't It Spring Yet?

It's been a long, cold, snowy Winter.  And I am so looking forward to not seeing any snow outside!  I know, I complain every year about the cold and the snow but it's really been a bad one this year.  I can't remember a Winter in my entire life that has been this cold for this long.  They're calling for 40 degrees over the weekend.  I do hope that it's the beginning of a warming trend.  The snow piles are so high here, it's hard to get out of driveways and parking lots!

My sister saw 7 Robins about 2 weeks ago in her yard but I've yet to see one.  But I keep my eyes open whenever I go now because one of these days, the Robins will be everywhere!  Of course with all the snow we've had this season, it'll be July before they can find any worms to eat!  LOL!!!!

I turned my computer on to blog yesterday and I had no DSL service.  I spent over an hour checking the filters on my phones and trying new phone lines to each phone and finally I realized it wasn't my DSL, it was that I didn't have a dial tone.   I then spent 1 1/2 hours on hold (on my cellphone) with the phone company only to have to go outside, in the cold with the snow melting off the roof and hitting me in the head, while I do a  test on their equipment!  I had no dial tone out there either so I had to call back again (another 1/2 hour on hold) to get a service guy out here.  Thankfully, it's fixed now.  But it's just crazy how much of my day was wasted when I could have been stitching!

Anyway, I finished up the stitching on one of my little cat dolls:

I have a few more of these to stitch on.  I'm doing a craft show in May and thought it would be nice to have a basket full of my cat dolls.  But I like to alternate small projects with larger projects so my next piece will be another purse:

I mounted this one on the frame this morning.  In a little while, I'll sit down with my stash and pull some lace and trim pieces for it.

And I'm thinking that sometime this week, I need a sewing day.  I need to piece some more projects to stitch on and I haven't put any miles on my treadle machine lately.  I so much love to sew on that machine.  I love my electric machine too but I use that one for finishing.  There's really nothing like sewing on an antique treadle!

And isn't it so beautiful to look at?  I just leave it open all the time because I love to look at it. 

Must See CQ Embellishments

I'm still bouncing off the walls here.  I've got a notebook started with my plans for my first issue of Crazy Quilt Gatherings magazine.  I have loads of great ideas already!  And I certainly welcome any and all suggestions so please send them my way!

I've been stitching on a cat doll but didn't get too far on it yet so I'll wait on photos of that.

For now, I'm going to send you over to Kathy Shaw's blog.  She's offering an online Crazy Quilt Class for beginners which would be perfect for anyone who as never done CQ.

Also, Kathy has posted the cutest little Cabochon Turtle embellishments!

There is a link for where you can purchase these!!  I may have to get one or two.  I love them!!!!

A Little More Information On Crazy Quilt Gatherings Magazine

I thought I would take a few moments to give you a bit more information on my plans for Crazy Quilt Gatherings magazine. 

First, I have no plan to change the name at this time.  I love the name that Pat chose.  It sums up what the magazine is about.  A gathering of tutorials and eye candy by crazy quilters from around the world.  It's the sharing of ideas, techniques and projects.  What name could be more perfect than Crazy Quilt Gatherings.  The only change that I intend to make at this moment, regarding the name, is to add, "by Pamela Kellogg of Kitty & Me Designs".  I asked Pat if she was okay with me keeping the name and she absolutely was.  Thank you Pat!

My first issue will be the Spring 2015 issue.  I'm starting to make my plans now because I kind of like all my "ducks in a row" so to speak.  I would like to keep this beautiful publication in the same style that Pat has always done it.  Basically, I would like to add to it rather than change it. 

One thing that I need to do, for my own "ducks in a row" mentality is to have a set publication schedule.  The release dates will be as follows:

Winter issue will be released on November 1st, Spring issue on February 1st, Summer issue on May 1st and Autumn issue on August 1st.

Down the road a ways, I will add a tab at the top of my blog with helpful information for anyone who would like to submit projects and eye candy photos for publication.

For now, I'm going to need a little extra lead time for the first issue.  It's quite a way off yet but if anyone wants to contribute articles or photos, the deadline will be November 1st of this year.  Hopefully this gives everyone plenty of time to plan their projects.  Since it'll be the Spring issue, please think about pretty Spring themed projects!

Also, if anyone has suggestions of things they would like to see, I would love to hear them.  Please leave comments or send me an email.

In the meantime, Pat still has 3 more issues to fill with articles, tutorials and projects!  Please her your content!!!

White Peacock Purse

First, I want to say thank you to everyone for leaving me such kind comments regarding my latest endeavor.  I'm thrilled to be the new owner and publisher of Pat Winter's beautiful Crazy Quilt Gatherings magazine.  I will write more about that in a 2nd post for today but first, I want to share my White Peacock Crazy Quilt Purse:

As you know, I don't spare the embellishments on my projects!  That's one of the things I love about crazy quilting.  No rules, no limits.

I think I mentioned yesterday that I'm going to stitch up a couple of my Cat Dolls.  I'm doing a craft show in May and I think they'll do well.  I also have a few more brooches to finish up on.  I thought these would be nice for Mother's Day and for my craft show.  Please stop by again to see these projects!

Big Announcement!!!

If you're a crazy quilter, you are undoubtedly familiar with the beautiful work of Pat Winter.  And if you follow her blog and read her Crazy Quilt Gatherings magazine, you are probably already aware that she has decided to retire as owner and publisher at the end of this year.

I am excited to announce that I am the new owner and publisher of Pat's beautiful magazine!!!  I'm honored, I'm thrilled and I'm bouncing off the walls!!!!

If you're new to my blog, I thought I'd share a little bit of background in my needlework career.  My mother and grandmother taught me to stitch when I was about 7 or 8 years old.  I'm 52 now and have been stitching ever since.  I caught the counted cross stitch bug back in the 80's and when I couldn't find a pattern suitable for a gift, I decided to chart out my own idea.  I liked doing it and decided to chart out a few more of my design ideas.  Back in those days, I worked on graph paper with colored pencils. 

I did a design with a snowman and an original poem that I wrote.  This was 1989 and my husband was quite taken with it.  He suggested that I send it to a magazine to see if they might publish it.  I took his advice, on a whim actually, and sent to Leisure Arts.  I was floored when they called me several weeks later with an offer to purchase my design.  What a rush that was for me!

I continued to create more designs, on graph paper with colored pencils and submitted them to other magazines.  One by one, they sold.  Eventually, my husband told me I needed a computer so in 1996, we went out and bought a computer and I started designing full time.

I worked with many needlework magazines both national and international.  I worked with manufacturers including The DMC Corporation, Zweigart, Charles Craft, Kreinik, Bucilla and others.  I published many of my own designs and sold them in my Etsy store.

In 2002, a friend of mine sent me a copy of Quilting Arts magazine and in that issue, I discovered the elegant art of Contemporary Crazy Quilting.  I was well aware of the history behind Crazy Quilting.  I frequent antique shops and flea markets and have seen many of the Victorian examples that still exist.  I was always drawn to them because of my love for needlework but when I discovered, that my collection of treasures, old lace, beads, buttons and vintage jewelry, could be sewn onto a crazy quilt, well....I was hooked.  And I loved the freedom, the "no rules" approach to crazy quilting.

I retired from designing counted cross stitch in 2009 to pursue my love of crazy quilting and to have more of a hands on experience.  I love to stitch!  I need to stitch!  I need to create so I redirected my Etsy shop from my cross stitch patterns to my stitched items, along with handmade things by my mom and my sister.

One aspect of crazy quilting that always eluded me was keeping my stitches even and straight.  I guess I was so used to working on a grid that when it came to doing free hand stitching, I was lost!  It occurred to me that I could apply my cross stitch skills to crazy quilting and decided to try using waste canvas for stitching my borders.  Well, this opened a whole new world of charting patterns so I went back to my cross stitch software and started charting out border designs.  Elegant Crazy Quilt Seam Treatments was born!  It was huge hit with other crazy quilters who struggled with keeping their stitches straight and even, so 2 more volumes came along. 

Then I did a couple of other instructional books and a 9 block class series called, Crazy Quilt Color & Composition.  All are published at Magcloud where Pat publishes her beautiful magazine.

When I read that Pat was going to retire, I inquired about taking over Crazy Quilt Gatherings.  It seems that the stars were in alignment for both of us.  I'm so excited!!!  But enough about me.  I just thought you'd like to know a little bit about my background.

I'll talk more about this exciting news tomorrow.  For now, a special thank you to Pat for entrusting her gorgeous magazine with me.  Please continue to submit your articles and eye candy photos to her for now.  She has 3 more issues to fill with your wonderful stitching and ideas!!!