Occupy Your Sewing Room

Boy, did I ever need this. I haven't had any time to sew since a week before Thanksgiving. We had a special guest coming for dinner and it sent me into a frenzy of cleaning, no my house isn't that dirty, normally I just vacuum  up the tumbleweeds of dog hair that roll through the living room, but nervous energy set in and I cleaned closets and everywhere else that I don't normally think about.
Then my computer died and what a stressful mess that was. I did manage to put together a Christmas wall hanging for SewCalGal's Christmas Quilt Show, which oddly caused some strange reactions from some people. My life has been really weird for weeks. 
So, when the time came to Occupy Your Sewing Room, I pulled a couple of WIP's out and thought I would just finish them, But.....that very day these came in the mail

There's nothing like some pretty new fabric, when life has been.... odd. That's Martinique by Moda. I told everyone to leave me alone, dinner would be whatever involved a phone call and I started cutting.
Here's the finish, yes I finished it!

But, I didn't stop there, no it felt so good to be creating again, I started on this

Not finished, I'm working on the borders and life did rear it's ugly head again, did you know Christmas is almost here and there seems to be lots to do? I had to make a couple of trips to the mainland, but I feel refreshed and ready to tackle it all.
I do want to share one of the true joys in my life and the reason I laugh everyday. As soon as I hung the quilts and grabbed the camera the photo assistants woke up.

See the bottom of the picture? Yep, that's a Brady Bug peeking out at me, which led to Maya needing to help

And things went down hill from there, but all is well and no quilts were harmed in taking these pictures.
Thanks so much to Barbara from Cat Patches. When I signed up I thought it would be fun, I didn't know that it would help save my sanity.
Thanks for coming by,Dana

Christmas Quilt Show 2011

Oh my goodness, am I late for the party? I so love looking at all of the contributions to the Christmas Quilt Show over at SewCalGal's blog. I've been having some computer problems, which seems to have scrambled my brain. 

I started out making a table runner using the sleigh and reindeer from my GO cutter. I had eight reindeer, the sleigh and started making little houses, didn't like it. Then came snowmen and trees, didn't like it. 

I looked out the window and saw the row of palm trees across the street and knew what I wanted to make.

Feels like home. 

I hope you're enjoying the show. I'm off to visit the other wonderful quilts.

Thanks for coming by,

Dana

Two Colors Foto Finish

I can't believe how long I've been gone from the blog world, I even missed last weeks Foto Finish, which was Pets, how did that happen? I probably didn't even realize it was Saturday. 

I've surfaced long enough to join in on this weeks, which is "Two Colors". Here's mine:

This is an Anthurium which I love. It opens like this and looks like a butterfly, so pretty.

I'm diving back into busy, but go on over to Cat Patches and join in the fun.

Thanks for coming by,

Dana

Ghastlie Winner

I feel like I'm in mourning for the end of the hop. It has been such a wonderful experience and I enjoyed meeting all of you. I'm still glowing from all of your kind words. Thank you.

A very special Thank You to the amazing Madame Samm who dreamed this hop up and gathered us all together. 

Congratulations to Debbie, who is the winner of the $25.00 gift certificate, I've sent you an email.

I hope this hop is an annual event, I've already seen peeks of next years Ghastlies and I'm making my plans.

Thanks again everyone,

Nov 1 Ghastlie Winner

The winner from the Nov. 1 Ghastlie Blog Hop is:

Congrats Jacqueline from Mrs Gramma Sheri... 

Thanks for all of your wonderful comments, I'm still answering them and don't forget you can enter until Nov. 4th at the end of the blog hop for my giveaway of a $25 gift certificate to IHAN.

The blog hop continues today with these Ghastlie sisters:

Mrs. Jane Ghastlie
 Mrs. Mary Ghastlie
Mrs. Michelle Ghastlie
Mrs. Dawn Ghastlie 
Mrs Mary Ghastlie

Have Fun!

The Ghastlie Blog Hop!

It was a dark and stormy night..... I always wanted to use that since I'm Stormy Days and there isn't a better time than MY DAY for the GHASTLIE BLOG HOP.  

Before I show you my creations, I want to thank the amazing Madame Samm who became bewitched with this fabric, and put this hop together. All of us Ghastlies have had a great time and I have made some really weird special friends. 
Now on with the show. 

Please follow me (eerie voice)

Here's the husband holding the quilt for me, isn't he just so handsome.

I fell in love with this fabric last year and almost wasn't able to find any, it sold out fast. Luckily some stores restocked and I was able to make this wall hanging.

I wish you could see the pebbling and spider webs that are quilted on this quilt. I had such a great time making it, cackling the whole time. My daughter wanted one, but I didn't have enough fabric, so NO, it's mine all mine. 

This year, the Ghastlies came back and guess what? they are knitting. Now you need to know that a while back I told my daughter she needed a hobby to relax, of course, she started knitting which is the only craft that I can't figure out. 

I made her this

It's to hold her knitting needles and stuff, I don't knit so it's stuff.

This is the front, isn't that pretty, it reminds me of a cameo and I love the decorative stitch around the border.

The inside pockets and flap so the stuff doesn't fall out, her current one doesn't do that.

Then I made this

I used Geta's awesome tutorial to make this, I've made a few and they are fast and easy and perfect for gift boxes.

Then, how could I resist making this?

A little mini coffin. This was too much fun to make, except for the hot glue gun part, which is something I should never be allowed to own. 

The inside, perfect for trinkets. 


The mask in the earlier pictures and the hat above are machine embroidery designs from Urban Threads


Well, that's all for now, I hope you had a wonderful time. Please visit my Ghastlie Sisters who are showing their talents today



Miss Daisy Ghastlie
Mrs. Dana Ghastlie you are here
Mrs. Elaine Ghastlie 
Mrs. Gramma Sheri Ghastlie
Ms. Suz Ghastlie


I also have a nice surprise if you've made it this far. Make sure you leave a comment. Samm has some wonderful prizes each day and I will be picking a name to be sent to her for the daily grand prize. I'll pick this name tonight and the winner will be announced tomorrow.


Now for a thank you from me. I know some of my Ghastlie sisters made two of their creations so they could give one away. My extra walked out the door with the daughter, but I just happen to have a $25.00 gift certificate from I Have A Notion for one lucky person. Rules, there are always rules. You don't (DO NOT) need to follow me to win, but make sure I have a way to contact you, remember Word Press and Blogger don't play well together. If you have Word Press you will show up as a no reply. Leave a comment, any old thing, what you liked best in the hop, just hello will do. I will pick a name at the end of the hop on Nov. 4th 


Now get back to hopping!

Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween everyone! The Ghastlie Hop is the perfect way to celebrate with eye candy, instead of the that chocolate stuff.

Today's Ghastlie sisters are:

Mrs. Toyna Ghastlie
Mrs Tiramisue Ghastlie

Mrs. Angela Ghastlie

Mrs Pauline Ghastlie

Mrs. Karin Ghastlie

Mrs Barb Ghastlie

And don't forget to come back here tomorrow. It's finally my day.

Occupy Your Sewing Room

This is one of the best ideas I've heard in a long time. Barbara over at Cat Patches is organizing an
Occupy Your Sewing Room
From Dec 3-10 pick a day, any day and sew, sew, sew.Doesn't that sound so decadently wonderful? Especially before we all get crazy with the holidays.
So make your signs and demand the time just for you. There will be a link up party on Dec.11th to show off what you got done. Anyone can join in, not just bloggers, you can use Flickr, Shutterfly or any photo sharing site that allows you to generate a URL. 
Now I'm off to make my KEEP OUT!! signs.
Dana

Bloggers Quilt Festival

Today is the start of the Bloggers Quilt Festival over at Amy's Creative Side. If you're not familiar with the festival think lots of eye candy and tons of inspiration. 

Here's my contribution:

I call it my Never Ending quilt, because that's how it felt, like it would never be finished.  Looking through a quilt magazine I saw a beautiful quilt and the description was all about using those bright big prints that I can't seem to resist. I should just say I collect them since I buy them and rarely use them. 

One problem, after making a bunch of the squares and starting on the wide pieced sashing it was horrible. The colors were discordant  and the whole thing looked a little muddy.

It ended up in a UFO bag and forgotten. Six months later looking for something else I found some beautiful blocks and some ugly ones. I made a few more and took some apart and completely scrapped the wide sashing. I hand dyed the yellow fabric to make the simple sashing.

I thought I was finally done but when I went to sandwich it, I realized it really needed a border to pull it all together, so back to the stash. I found the perfect orange and yellow to use. 

I love the way it came out and I changed the name to Never Ending Sunshine since it's so bright and cheerful.

You can link up to the festival until Nov. 4th and you can enjoy the show at any time. Amy still has links up for past shows so you can really immerse yourself in quilts. Enjoy the show.

Thanks for stopping by,

Dana

Day Four of the Ghastlies Blog Hop

Today you need to visit:

 Mrs. Katherine Ghastlie              

Ms Sharon Ghastlie

 Mrs. Gooden Ghastlie

Ms. Selina Ghastlie

Mrs. Melinda Ghastlie

I'm sure we are going to see more wonderful creations. Leave comments since each day a grand prize winner will be chosen by Madame Samm. All the prizes have been wonderful. 

I am writing this early, because I am testing the schedule feature on blogger. My day for the hop in Tuesday Nov. 2 and I'm going to write my post nice and early and schedule it because we may be having company.

Hopefully, I'll be right here enjoying the hop.

Update, she looped around and ran back where she came from. Thanks Rina.

Thanks for stopping by,

Dana

Day Three of the Ghastlies Blog Hop

Have you been hopping? All of the bloggers have come up with some really creative ideas for the Ghastlie fabric. I am in awe.Today's bloggers are:

Mrs. Barb Ghastlie

Miss Karen Ghastlie

Ms. Loralynn Ghastlie

 Ms. Jen Ghastlie. 

Ms Penny Ghastlie

Mrs Rhonda Ghastlie

Make sure you leave comments everywhere because at the end of the day each blogger will pick a name and send it to the fabulous Madame Samm and she will pick two winners today to win 4 yards of the Ghastlie fabric.

The Ghastlies Are In The House

The Ghastlies are finally here!Poor Madame Samm found herself with a strange addiction to this Ghastlie fabric, what to do with it? How to work with it? Of course being the amazing Madame, she had plenty of ideas and along the way found quite a few friends who had the same addiction. WE ALL LOVE THE GHASTLIES!!!
So today starts the first annual Ghastlie Blog Hop hosted by the wonderful Madame Samm. Here's the line-up, you don't want to miss a day because there are some horribly wonderful prizes. Plus some of the Ghastlie sisters are planning their own giveaways. 
  Monday, October 24th
Mrs Kirie Ghastlie

Ms Carol Ghastlie 

Ms. Wendy Ghastlie

Ms. Carrie Ghastlie

Mrs Holly Ghastlie

Tuesday, October 24th 

Mrs. Annie Ghastlie

    Mrs Doris Ghastlie

 Mrs Brandie Ghastlie

Ms. Alidiza Ghastlie

Mrs. JudyC Ghastlie

                                     

  Wednesday October 26th     

                   

Mrs. Barb Ghastlie

Miss Karen Ghastlie

Ms. Loralynn Ghastlie

 Ms. Jen Ghastlie. 

Ms Penny Ghastlie

Mrs Rhonda Ghastlie

 

  Thursday October 27th 

           Mrs. Katherine Ghastlie              

Ms Sharon Ghastlie

 Mrs. Gooden Ghastlie

Ms. Selina Ghastlie

Mrs. Melinda Ghastlie

  Friday October 28th 

Miss Trudi Ghastlie  

 Ms. Deonn Ghastlie

Mrs. Marlene Ghastlie

 Mrs Kim Ghastlie

Mrs Tammy Ghastlie

  Monday October 31st

Mrs. Toyna Ghastlie
Mrs Tiramisue Ghastlie

Mrs. Angela Ghastlie

Mrs Pauline Ghastlie

Mrs. Karin Ghastlie

Mrs Barb Ghastlie

  Tuesday November 1st 

Miss Daisy Ghastlie
Mrs. Dana Ghastlie (Me)

Mrs. Elaine Ghastlie 

Mrs. Gramma Sheri Ghastlie
Ms. Suz Ghastlie

 ON Wednesday November 2nd

Mrs. Jane Ghastlie
Mrs. Laura Ghastlie 

Mrs. Mary Ghastlie

Mrs. Michelle Ghastlie

Mrs. Dawn Ghastlie 
Mrs Mary Ghastlie

 ON Thursday November 3rd

Mrs. Sharon Ghastlie
Mrs Corrie Ghastlie

Mrs Cheryl Ghastlie

 Mrs. Linda Ghastlie
Mrs. Pickles Ghastlie

 ON Friday November 4th

Mrs Nan Ghastlie

Mrs. Gmama Jane Ghastlie
Mrs Joan Ghastlie
Mrs. Nancy Ghastlie

 Ms Susan Ghastlie
Madame Ghastlie 

So come join in the fun, but beware, you may just find your self with Ghastlie flu.

Foto Finish Spooky

The theme for this weeks Foto Finish over at Cat Patches is Spooky. If you have a spooky picture go on over and join in the fun.

That's my soul dog Hudson. He's not with us any longer and even three years later I still miss him everyday and say good night to him before I turn off the light. 

We were the best of friends and he was always by my side. 

Good night Huddy, I love you,

Dana

Enough Already!

We are into our 5th day of rain, not just rain but high winds, lightening, and the possibility of tornadoes. They just closed our schools because there are 42 bridges in the Keys and it's dangerous for the buses driving in wind. That's our version of snow days. The real problem is that we aren't used to this. Unless it's a hurricane (I don't like using the H word) it doesn't rain here for very long. We are all sun lovers so after about 3 days the crankies kick in and everyone is acting just a little crazy. Right now my house is shaking from the thunder, I have a worried dog trying to climb into my lap, the satellite is in and out (just enough I can hear the warning chimes going off, but can't read what they are warning us about), the internet is sputtering and I have my own case of the crazies. This is all because some little no name, want to be H word, who doesn't have the force to grow big is passing by. Vent over.

Stormy Days is because that is the best time to quilt although this is too much. Anyway, after all of the charity quilting I looked around with that "what's next" frame of mind and saw this:

That's my strings bag and it is overflowing. I usually use small blocks for my strings 6" or 8", but it seemed like a good idea to use 12 1/2" blocks this time, faster, bigger, perfect. After 2 blocks I knew that wasn't for me. I had to pin and iron as I went, which I don't want to do. So I made 4 and made this:

Pretty, right?

Then I went back to 6" blocks and made this:

More pretty. Now I can't make another string block without screaming and the sad thing is that I took that picture of my string bag after I made these. 

I'm off to wander around my house, cuddle my dogs and pull my hair out. Hope you're weather is better.

Thanks for stopping by,

Dana

Foto Finish Orange

Over at Cat Patches the Foto Finish theme is Orange. I've missed a few weeks either to a lack of time or ideas, but I can do orange. 

This is a Hibiscus that grows in my back yard. The plant is huge, much taller than I am. This plant started life at a neighbors house with about 5 other hibiscus in her yard and they were all big and beautiful. She was an older woman and loved her plants. When she reached a place in life where she could no longer live alone, her daughter took her in and they sold her house. Before she left, she gave me a bunch of her potted plants, since her daughter had no room for them. 

The people who bought her house ripped all of the hibiscus out of the ground and piled them by the road for trash pick up. My girlfriend and I ran a  raid and dragged them all to my house, much to my husbands horror. 

To plant anything in the ground here you literally need a jack hammer and lots of dirt, since we live on an island made of rock (old coral) and lots of my plants grow in pots. These hibiscus were way to big and needed to be in the ground. It took us days to get them all planted and they have thanked us many times by producing these beautiful flowers. The iguanas like to visit them too, since hibiscus is a favorite food. I really like the iguanas too, which is a very unpopular view here in the Keys.

Thanks for stopping by,

Dana

Christmas Quilt Show

 

I hope you're all getting your holiday projects started, or at least thinking about them, because one of my favorite Quilt Shows is coming. SewCalGal's annual Christmas Quilt Show will be from Nov. 28th through Dec. 2nd. This is always such a great way to kick off the holidays. 

Any Christmas or Winter quilt project is accepted, even ideas you've come up with in EQ6 or EQ7. 

So get ready for that warm and fuzzy feeling, you'll see lots of quilts and gifts and read some wonderful stories. You don't need a blog to enter, there will be a Flickr Gallery, so no excuses. I hope to see you there.

Dana

100 Quilts for Kids Link Up Party

Today is the link up party for 100 Quilts for Kids. I've already shown you the girl's quilt I made for the sew along.

And here's the boy's quilt finished.

That pattern was fast and easy, so I made another quilt for a boy and a girl.

I'm delivering them to the Women's Abuse Shelter tomorrow. I've delivered gifts to them at Christmas before and I know that the women and children have often had to walk away from everything to get to safety, but I wasn't sure about the quilts. When I contacted them to see if they were interested their reaction was so wonderful that I dug into my quilts and found 5 more to take. So tomorrow I will be delivering 9 quilts in all. Feels good.

Thanks for stopping by,

Dana

Happy Birthday Cori!

I can't believe it's been 26 years since this beautiful baby was born and completely changed our lives.

She is the reason I know what unconditional love means and I'm pretty sure she's responsible for most of my gray hair. 

She taught us the meaning of joy and we found it in so many little things she did

.

I know what bursting with pride means, because she has made me so proud my heart hurts.

AND

She has made my blood pressure rise and caused many a sleepless night.

Laughter, tears and worry, what would I have done without any of them. 

It was hard to find pictures of her without her making a face or an obscene gesture. Yes I said it.

For those of you that I haven't bragged to, Cori is working and going to school for her doctorate, plus seeing clients and still partying. That's my kid.

I Love You, my fabulous daughter. You make me proud, happy and joyous everyday.

By the way, Cori shares her birthday with the also fabulous Brady Bug.

Happy Birthday Bug!

Thanks for stopping by,

Dana