Ghastlies winners and a bonus

Are you ready for another week of Ghastlies blog hopping? 

Day 6 Happy Holloween!

What you really want to know are the winners from fridays post, 2 lucky winners won 4 yards of Ghastlies fabrics from Alexander henry Fabrics

Yes,   2 winners!

Manda who commented on this blog and

Dannelle from Mrs Tammy Ghastlies blog

Congratulations to both ladies! 

(Manda I've sent you an e-mail to get your details, please contact me)

So if you would like even more chances to win some wonderful prizes, you'll need visit as many more of my Ghastlies Sista's as possible for maximum chances!

The full list for the rest of the week can be found here!

Thanks to Madame Ghastlie and Alexander Henry Fabrics for the genrosity :)

And in other news today you can find me here too!

I'm on the Banner!

Happy Halloween!

Bloggers Quilt Festival

Although I'd really really love to be going to Quilt Market in Houston, or even the Festival that follows, sadly I'm here, but lucky for us all Amy has organised her Bloggers Quilt Festival for those of us not going...

So it would be rude not to, right? So to those of you visiting for the Festival, welcome, and enjoy!

It was a difficult choice, so I've gone with my second favourite quilt I made this year is Arcadia Hexagon Park... 

This quilt was Designed by Lynne Goldsworthy, of Lillys Quilts for Moda Bakeshop, and when I saw it there I was immediately drawn to it, not just because it was designed by a friend ...

I confess, I'm not a love of grandmothers garden, but this, well this was different, yeah right! 

Clear instructions, and Lynne's voice telling me how to do this as I sewed through it ...

What I learned, well, that would be to concentrate, I mis-cut three of my layer cake squares, and had to do a little fudging to make it fit!  Oops!

I love the Arcadia line by Sanea, and when it came to quilting this one, it turned into a very organic process which I thoroughly enjoyed ...

I love how the Superior Lava threads glows with the sun shining through ...

this picture just sums up how magical this quilt is for me.  I hope you like it too!

Please head on over and visit all the other peeps entering the Bloggers Quilt Festival, you are in for a wonderful feast of loveliness  :)

Happy Quilting!

Ghastlie Friday Fright Night

Well, it's my time to reveal to you the lurgy that has plagued so many of us with this Ghastlie flu ....

I'm afraid I just couldn't resist them when I saw them...

and had to order just a little to satisfy my Ghastlie desire ...

I needed a sewing machine cover ...

My Berni needs to be tucked up overnight  ...

I hope it's not too frightened! 

It's been half term here and my Ghastlie plans have been scuppered, this Ghastlie flu has sent my mojo into hiding ...  still, there's still plenty more Ghastlie inspiration to be seen ...

Make sure you check out all my Sista's who are blogging their own Ghastlie stories today :

ME

Ms Deonn Ghastlie

Mrs Marlene Ghastlie

Mrs Kim Ghastlie

Mrs Tammy Ghastlie

And a full list of all my Ghastlie Sista's can be found here!

Make sure you leave a comment, (just the one comment per person, and make sure I can contact you either through your blogger profile or by e-mail)  there are some great prizes and a name is selected from each blog and sent to Madame Ghastlie who will pick a Grand prize winner each day.  Make sure you visit all the blogs and leave comments for maximum chances to win! 

I'll be back tomorrow (evening, cos I've escaped the Diva) to announce the Grand Prize winner :)

Here's to a frightful weekend!

Ghaslies Blog Hop

Welcome to our 1st Annual Ghastlie Blog HOP








If you have this thing for Ghastlies


and they have tied you in a knot


and you wish you could get them out of your mind


than this may be a thought.



We heard her plea for a cure


Mdm Samm was pos/it/ively sure


that we could stitch the nights away


in hopes that we MAY----


( all 54 of us)


BUT....

The side effects are Ghastlie


there is no mistaking too.


if you don't run this very minute


YOU too will catch the FLU...




We suspected all along


this was her master plan


she did not want to be alone,


with all YOU Ghastlie FANS...



So here is today's all important schedule for the Ghastlies Blog Hop :

Monday, October 24th

Ms Carol Ghastlie

Ms. Wendy Ghastlie

Miss Kirie Ghastlie

Miss Hollie Ghastlie

Ms. Carrie Ghastlie

There is all sorts of fun going on over the next 2 weeks, with daily Grand Giveaway Prizes from Madame Ghastlie, (there will be some postage to pay on Grand Prizes, but this will be well worth it!),  some of the bloggers will also have their own giveaways too.  With 54 Ghastlie blog hoppers, you'll have 5 or 6 to visit each day  ... are you ready? 

There's a button  her and on the side to help you navigate your way around the Ghastlies Blog hop, have fun!

I'll be back on Friday for a Ghastlie Fright Night!

FMQ Friday

 I got a head start this week on the fmq practice, on Monday I have a bonus time that allowed me to play a little with the 'Slate Tiles' pattern ...

I found this to be quite an easy pattern to do, but identified a few things that made it easier for me to be fluid in my quilting, but to have sharp corners to my slates ...

this is the back ... oh what did I learn?

I have far great control by slowing the speed down, pedal to the metal means you have less control, slowing gives me more time to think about what I'm doing and going to do next...

and in order to create corners to my slates, I found I needed to stop, just for a moment, like taking a breath, with the needle going up and down in the same place just 2 or 3 times, and then move on in the new direction ...

And then I got to thinking about the choices I make when it comes to thread, my choice of thread has been Aurifil 50 wt mako cotton both top and in the bobbin...

but what if I change threads? 

So I tried it to see what effect it would have on the quilting ...

on this piece I retained the 50 wt in the bobbin, but used 3 different threads to see what the effects would be ,  L to R above we have Valdani 35 wt cotton, Aurifil Invisible thread, and finally an Aurifil 40 wt mako cotton ...

the invisible thread gives great texture, and my stitches were much smaller, yes, it was harder to see them to try and keep the stitches even ...

the 40 wt makes the stitches more visible or should that be more noticeable ...

and the 35 wt (the heaviest/thickest) made the stitches very obvious... and less easy to control and keep the quality even ...

I also had to reduce the tension on the top to let this thread through without pulling the bobbing thread through from the bottom ... but I did have a few loopyish stitches too ...

so I conclude, I'm sticking to what I like, the 50 wt, I like the delicate look that it produces, fine stitches that allows me to play with some tiny quilting

did I tell you I'm using a size 70 Microtex needle?  (tiny I know, but worth it)

and I had a play with my BQS Pillow Fight swap pillow whilst I waited for my central heating to be fixed!

So how did you do this week on the fmq challenge from Cindy?  Head over to her blog Fluffy Sheep Quilting to see how everyone else has done, there's a Linky

Have a great weekend, happy playing!

Winter Stitching List

I've had a thunk and I'm as good as I'm ever going to be with my Winter Stitching List ...

Well, it is a plan (read as movable feast!) to take me through to spring :) 

1. Finish and post on time Modern Christmas Table Runner Swap, deadline is mid November so this is achievable.

2.  Finish and post Brit Quilt Swap - Pillow Fight, again deadline is mid November so another achievable goal.

3.  keep up with all the Brit Bee Blocks - :)

4. Complete some secret Christmas Gift sewing  :) 

5 Finish at least one of my own quilts a month, whether it's a UFO or a new project. 

6. Finish my own Brit Bee Quilt, I still have some blocks to piece

7. Finish piecing Jacobs Ladder quilt

8.  Finish piecing Happy Quilting Stars quilt

9.  Finish Commission Quilt No 1

10.  Make good in roads into Commission Quilt No 2

11. Catch up on the Brit Mystery Quilt

12.  Finish Dresden quilt

13.  Finish Sassy Christmas Stars

14.  Expand the Quilting Service business :)

15.  Don't sign up any new swaps until the new year!

It's a long list, with plenty of big projects, but I figure if I take one project and focus on just that, I may make good progress :)  Well, that's my plan!

I'll be linking this up with Sarah's blog, so head on over and see what everyone else has on their list! 

(secretly holds head in hands, OMG what have I set myself up for! Well mid March is still several months away!) 

Pillow Fight continues

Yesterday I was confined to barracks.  I had to wait in for a courier to collect my No 1 Juki to take it to the very nice man at Franklin's for a service  :)  You know how it is, he'll be here some time during the day ...

which meant I needed something to do, that didn't keep me in the studio at the bottom of the garden...

so, I gathered some supplies ...

and got busy with the paper scissors ...

set myself up by the front window so I didn't miss the man in his van ...

and had a pressing time ...

got busy with the fabric shears ...

and got all the pieces ready for my partners pillow ...

I hope you like it partner, my next step will be putting this onto background fabric ...

something for the weekend, for now, it's time for work!

Oh, and the man with the van arrived about 1pm - bonus!

A Winter Stitching List and a Modern Christmas Table Runner update

I think it's time I knuckled down and finished a few things, so it's a great idea to join in with Sarah's Winter Stitching.  I'll be making a list, I think that might keep me focused, particularly if I print it out really BIG and put it in the studio and on the fridge where I'll see it often! 

So, what's going to be on your list of things to do over the winter months? 

So, yesterday I had a good day, I managed to squeeze in a little stitching on the Modern Christmas Table Runner for my secret swap partner ...

on Sunday I had my hst's sewn together, so I got busy with getting messy ...

there's something very satisfying about a lovely pile of trimmings, don't you think?

so we started the morning with 3 lovely piles of 2 1/2" HST's

and after a cancellation, a bolt out of the blue phone call and some lunch ...

I got this far before the Teenage Diva got home, and it was time to start dinner ...

oh, and I almost forgot, I got my Pea Room block of the month made too, phew, just in time!

and I managed a little FMQ'ing play, but I'll leave that for Friday :) 



Bit of a Ghastlie weekend!

OK So it wasn't THAT bad!

Firstly I have this Ghastlie cold - yuk!

which in turn leads to Ghastlie procrastination! 

Hmm, who knew this could happen!

I did have a little play with these Ghastlie fabrics ....

and moved onto working on the Modern Christmas Table Runner Swap for my partner ...

do you know how Ghastlie it is to make 126 Half Square Triangles!

and then I moved onto the latest round to the Brit Quilt Swap - Pillow Fight!

I have a good idea for my partner but needed to try a little experiment with some bondaweb (not my normal fusing medium)

so I can then convert it into this ....

trust me, my compass work was Ghastlie!

But the Ghastliest thing about this weekend was the treatment of my credit card, which is now hiding in terror!

Mmmm, Tanya Whelan ...

Amy Butler, Kitty Yoshida and some Erin McMorris ...

oh and a little more Amy Butler for good measure ...

and just a little autumn inspiration for a commission quilt in the making.

No wonder I had a Ghastlie weekend!  There may be a few more Ghastlie moments to come!

Happy Quilting!