Stitching On Green

Despite not being home most of the day yesterday, I did manage to finish stitching on my little Mint Green Cat Doll:

And here is a closeup of the seam stitching:

I'll add this photo to my  Crazy Quilt Seam Treatment Inspiration page.

And here is my next little project:

This little green block will be a St. Patrick's Day door pillow.  In case you weren't able to figure that out!  LOL!!!

If my day goes as planned, and I'm not holding my breath, I'll have a sewing machine day today.  I want to piece a few new blocks.  I like having a pile of ready to stitch on blocks just sitting here waiting for pretties!  It feels like it's been forever and day since I've had time to play with my treadle machine!  I also plan on sewing up that little green cat doll so stop back tomorrow to see him!

Mint Green Cat Doll

I didn't have much stitching time yesterday.  Just a little bit.  Here's what I have so far on my Mint Green Cat Doll:

I spent much of my day yesterday, organizing my fabric stash.  I still have to go through my dresser where I store my lace stash.  I'll do that later this week.  I do feel like accomplished something and now, when I get to my sewing machine, it'll be easier to choose fabrics and just play.

At the moment, it's 5:30 am and I plan to sit here and stitch for the next 1 1/2 hours before I do anything else!

Crazy Quilt Pillows

Last week, I was able to do some finishing and finally completed these Crazy Quilt Pillows that I stitched before Christmas:

These are so sweet, aren't they?  I think I'll do a few for St. Patrick's Day!

Today, I'll be working on organizing my craft storage room.  I really want to run my sewing machine but if I don't neaten up my fabrics and laces a little bit, it'll be like parting the Red Sea to get in there!

These are available in our Boutique!

Tussy Mussys

I've had so many requests for more of mom's Victorian style Tussy Mussys!  No one does these beautiful paper cones like mom does!  Here are her latest tussys for Valentines Day:

These are now available in our Boutique!

Crazy Quilting and Waste Canvas

I've received several emails recently regarding my use of Waste Canvas and stitching the seam embroidery on crazy quilts.  One of the big concerns is that the manufacturers packaging recommends wetting the waste canvas to pull it out after the stitching is completed.

Wetting the waste canvas is not necessary and I do not recommend it for crazy quilting.

Waste canvas was designed years ago for working charted patterns on non-cross stitch fabric such as sweatshirts and tee shirts. 

As many of my long time blog followers know, I am a retired professional counted cross stitch designer.  I worked with many magazines and manufacturers such as The DMC Corporation, Bucilla, Kreinik and Zweigart. 

I discovered modern crazy quilting about 10 years ago but struggled with keeping my seam embroidery evenly sized and spaced.  I decided to apply my cross stitch skills to crazy quilting and tried using waste canvas for my seam embroidery.  I was so pleased with the results that I eventually put the directions together in my Elegant Crazy Quilt Seam Treatments book and offered it as a PDF file download.

This book contains complete directions for working with waste canvas on crazy quilts. 

Early in 2011, I released Volume 2 of Elegant Crazy Quilt Seam Treatments which is also still available and contains another 180 charted patterns for crazy quilt seam embroidery.  There are however, no directions in Volume 2.  Only patterns.

Back to my discussion of working with waste canvas, the reason I don't recommend wetting the waste canvas is first, because in crazy quilting, we use many non-washable fabrics and we also use many hand-dyed threads and fibers that aren't washable.  If these fabrics and threads get wet, thread colors may bleed and fabrics might be damaged.

8.5 count waste canvas and 10 count waste canvas threads pull out very easily from beneath the stitching without wetting it.  The trick is to pull the excess waste canvas threads out, from around the outside of the stitched area first.  Then, pull all the short (width) threads out from underneath the stitches and finally, the long (lengthwise) waste canvas threads will pull out very easily.

Waste canvas will only allow you to pull out one thread at a time so don't get in a hurry with it.  Patience is necessary but the results are very worth the little bit of extra time it takes to use it.  If you find you have a stubborn waste canvas thread, get yourself a pair of tweezers, grab the waste canvas thread as close to stitching as you can (without grabbing any of your stitches) and give it a gentle pull and it should release for you.  If you're waste canvas thread breaks underneath your stitches, do not panic!  Try pulling it out from the other side.  If that doesn't work, try pulling the waste canvas threads out from another direction.

Honestly, it's much easier than you think.  It probably sounds complicated and fussy but it really isn't!  It's actually a lot of fun! 

I am pleased to announce that there will be an Elegant Crazy Quilt Seam Treatments Volume 3 coming later in 2012.  It will contain yet another 180 charted borders for crazy quilting and cross stitch samplers. 

With all that said, working crazy quilt embroidery with waste canvas and charted borders opens a whole new world of seam treatment options!  The possibilities for unique, embroidered borders are endless!

Both books are available only as PDF downloads.  I send the files manually within 24 hours of receiving an order.  Shipping fees are refunded via PayPal, also within 24 hours.

Before I run into town for errands, here is the progress on my latest Crazy Quilt Cat Doll:

One More Cat Doll

It felt so good to have a "stay at home" day yesterday!  I didn't get to sew up any new blocks but I did all my finishing done and a ton of other things so I feel like I finally accomplished something!

I finished this little Yellow Cat Doll:

I mentioned yesterday that this cat is a gift for a friend who recently lost her kitty.  I'll package him up today so I can mail him tomorrow.

I also finished up my Valentine Pillows that I stitched before Christmas.  I'll have photos of those over the weekend.

I'm going to stitch one more cat doll.  This one will be a gift for a friend too but it's a "just because" gift:

Today, I'm going to go over to mom's for awhile.  I have to wait for my "driveway cleaner upper" to come and shovel for me.  I think we got about 5 inches of snow yesterday. 

For now, I'm going to stitch for at least 1 hour before I do anything else!  Have a great day everyone!

Yellow Crazy Quilt Cat Doll

Well, we made it 1/2 way through Winter without snow.  Today, they're calling for 3 - 6 inches.  I'll spare you my complaints!  You may be thinking, "Winter just started on 12/21.  What's she thinking?"  You see, I have my own system of determining the seasons.

According to my calender, Spring always starts on March 1st. It has to! Therefore, Summer starts on June 1st, Fall on September 1st and then Winter starts on December 1st.  It has to be that way.  It's the only way I can get through the dark, cold days of Winter.  Ha, ha, ha!

Okay, so I hope I've amused ya'll with my odd way of dealing with the cold and snowy months of the year.  Mom always asks me how I got to be so weird.  I tell her, I'm not weird, I'm eccentric!  LOL!!!  Now that I'm 50, it's ok for me to be eccentric!  Besides, you know the reputation we artistic people have!

Anyway, I somehow managed to finish up my little yellow cat doll that I started last week:

This one is a gift for a friend who recently lost her little fur baby.  When I can, I like to make a cat doll for my friends when they lose a kitty.  It gives them something pretty to look at and something to hold when the emptiness gets to be too much to handle.  Our fuzzy babies give us so much while they're here with us and when it's time for them to go, the empty space that they leave in our hearts is almost unbearable.  My cat dolls truly are, still Comfort Dolls.

Anyway, here is a close up of the stitched seam that I did with my Waste Canvas Technique:

Since I'm planning to put a few miles on my sewing machine today, I'll sew this one up so I can get it mailed to my friend either tomorrow or Saturday.

I'm going to stitch up one more cat doll and then I'm going to move on to some other things.  I want to sew up some new blocks but haven't decided yet what to make.  I'll guess I'll wait and see where my muse takes me!

A Little Too Busy These Days!

I'm feeling a little too busy these days.  Seems every day I have some dumb thing I have to do or some place I have to go that takes too much time away from what I really want to be doing.

Today I see my Dr. regarding my medication.  I know she'll let me take the final step when I'm ready.  I confess, I'm a bit frightened now that I'm down to getting off of it.  It's been a long road.  A very long, hard, bumpy and frightening road.  And now that I'm at the end, it's a matter of being "ready".  I assume that it'll be like everything else.  When I'm ready, I'll know.

I have not had much in the way of stitching time.  5 minutes here, 10 minutes there.  Too many interruptions.....no sooner do I start stitching and someone's pounding on my door or my phone is ringing or I have to drop what I'm doing and run somewhere.

Tomorrow, I hibernate!  In my house, by myself.  Just me and my cats.  We're supposed to get a few inches of snow tomorrow.  We made it 1/2 way through this Winter with no snow!  And I'm okay with that!  So I guess I'll let it be my excuse to have a "do what I want to do" day!  I will be running my sewing machine and I will be stitching!

In the meantime, I've added a few more of my mom's beautiful door pillows to our Valentines Day Shop:

These are both made from vintage handkerchiefs!

Well, I think I'll get offline now and squeeze in 10 minutes of stitching time before I have to get myself together to head out.  Have a great day everyone!  I think I'll be back to my regular daily blogging schedule now!  LOL!

Valentines Day Cat Dolls are Here!

I'm pleased to say that my Valentines Day Cat Dolls are now available!  These are numbered and dated as will be all future Crazy Quilt Cat Dolls.  Be sure read about my numbering system!

To order, visit Kitty & Me Designs!

Coming Soon

Arrggg.....No Stitching Time

Ok, so I didn't get to stitching yesterday.  But I did get my floors cleaned and my laundry all caught up!  I finished my little Valentine Cat Dolls and will post photos of those soon.  They are so cute!  I did a bunch of other things too but at the moment, I just can't recall what it all was.  Whatever it was, it seemed to take me the majority of the day yesterday.

I did get the rest of our handmade cards listed in our Boutique:

At the moment, all I have left to list are my cat dolls.  I do know that mom has been sewing on more vintage hankie door pillows and she'll be working on some new Tussy Mussys today.  I'll be heading over there shortly and I'll make a few more cards.

We're not planning on too much more in the way of "crafty" things.  Mom and I really love stitching and sewing so we're moving in mostly that direction.  But I have always loved paper and I love making cards so there will always be a few of those in the works!

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!