I knew this would happen....

I think this is the first time in all my years blogging where I don't really have anything to blog about.....I mean I could show you pictures of my messy dining room table (which REALLY needs attention, believe me), but I wouldn't want you to think I belonged to fabric hoarders or some other strange organization.  I did take pictures on my way to mailing out some packages on Monday, so perhaps you will be satisfied with those?

And yes, I was driving when I snapped this and luckily I did photograph the street because my eyes never left the road and I had to snap and hold the camera with one hand since I was holding the wheel with the other one.  ('Course I did slow down to about 15 mph too.)

And here we are.  If you've ever gotten a package from me, this is where I mailed it.

And, then of course, I had to drive home:

And when I got there, I thought it was time to give Toby a bath.  Bet you didn't know what he really looked like under all that coat, did you?

And here he is all ready for Trick or Treat:



Then, I found a cute picture of another Havanese on the web.  I couldn't help but copy it to show you:

Have a great Halloween!  Don't eat too much candy!

Here mousy-mousy.....

E-gads, I'm telling you, I'm getting to the nitty-gritty with this post.  AND......it's not like I'm not working!  I have been sewing my fingers to the bone, but everything is hush-hush and Christmas gifts, or secret swaps, or one thing or another that I am running out of stuff to show you.  I might have to resort to walking in the park, or cleaning out my basement or taking pictures of something else for next time.  Ugh!  'Course, I'm sure I'm not the only blog you read, so your eye candy might have to come from the next blogger for awhile.  (At least until I have permission to brag on my new stuff.)  OR.....groom Toby and shop for Halloween costumes for him......which, now that I think about it, might be fun too!!!

In the meantime, let me show you my 2-3 hour apiece mice.  YES, you read that right, these crazy mousies take 2-3 hours each to make by hand (and you wonder why I haven't been sewing much??)  It started off where I wanted ornaments for the Trim the Tree swap, but once I perfected the pattern and got going, I couldn't seem to stop.  You'll see what I mean.

I really got a bit crazy with the whiskers.

And here is one, hanging.  They are all fully jointed so you can hang them, or sit them, or even make them do the splits, if you want them to.

I posted these on Flickr and the picture made EXPLORE.  (That's kind of special in the Flickr world)



And then, when I discovered that my church was having a Christmas bazaar and needed donations, I made some more.  After all, I couldn't let my church down, could I?



Problem is though, that everyone who sees these in person wants one.  So, guess what I'll be doing right after I finish a few other obligations?  I'm hoping the group grows to 24.  Two dozen should be enough, I hope!

I'm in a funk!

E-gads!  It's getting to the point where soon I'll have to go to the park and take pictures to show you, I'm afraid.  I'm running out of projects.  Lately, I really don't feel like doing much and I don't know why.  I should clean my house, groom poor Toby, plan nice yummy meals for suppers, clean up all the bags of scraps and junk I have sitting around here, clean out some closets, plus tons of other things I can't think of at the moment!  I need some ambition, is what I need!  Or a fire!  LOL  E-gads, I hope I didn't jinx myself there....that would be terrible!

I did finish the Halloween quilt that I was going to give my daughter for Christmas though:

I gave it to her already.  I am such a sucker for keeping secrets and I thought why shouldn't she enjoy it for this year too?  So now, I'll have to come up with something else for Christmas..........

I did work on my ornaments for the Trim a Tree handmade ornament swap though.  First I made an owl:

And a bear:

And I started making some Christmas mice too.  This was my prototype:



He is really ugly compared to the new ones which I will show you next time.  I could make them all day actually.  I was having such fun with the hand work.  It's been an age since I've done that kind of thing and I so enjoyed it......BUT, I have obligations. SO..... today I will partake of the ladies again.  I have 3 to make and I MUST get myself going on them.  The drawings are done, the fabric is pulled so wish me luck.

In the meantime, I must give you a smile.  After a week or so of rain a few weeks back, and having one drowned rat of a dog each time Toby came in after doing his business outside, I decided to buy him a raincoat. Problem is that once I put it on him, he stood like a statue for a full 10 minutes until I took it off.  The only, and I mean THE ONLY thing he moved the entire time were his eyes.  I wish you could have been here.  My hubby and I had the laugh of the year!  Poor baby!

Just a few things.....

Do you remember #8.......Susie, my friend?



Well, here she is with herself:



Too bad she got a haircut yesterday and doesn't look like herself anymore.  LOL  Oh well, too bad!!

Then, the mailman has been good to me this week.  First, I got pretty coasters from Tiffany (love2quilt7) for the Potholder swap.  How clever to use ribbon and rick rack to embellish, huh?  I gotta remember that one!  You can' beat that neato black and white binding either.  (My favorite binding colors, in case you didn't know!)



Then, I got my mini quilt from the June/July QT swap from Pam (uberstitch).  Pam was a bit late, but I was in no hurry anyway, besides she sent some additional minis which really knocked my socks off!  First the mini:



And then the awesome surprise additions:





That last one is my favorite!  How cool to get my Toby on a quilt, huh?  I know this is possible, but not from me.  My hubby would have my head if I told him I wanted to put fabric through the printer!  Eikes, I can hear it already!  "You what?????"  "Are you out of your mind??"  I think I'll pass, thank you!

So, that's mainly been my week.  I've been working on binding my Halloween quilt that I got back from the quilter yesterday and making ornaments for the Trim a Tree Homemade Ornament swap.  Next time, I'll show you both!  Until then, have a great weekend and enjoy the fall weather (unless you're from "down under" where you lucky people are having spring!!)  I'm jealous!  I LOVE spring!

Just a reminder.....

Christmas isn't far away and NOW is the time to start those fun holiday projects.  Just a reminder that I have plenty of these patterns for sale:



(It really is a bright and lovely cover.......too bad I had to take the photo outside this morning in the rain.  Duh!)  Anyway, the tree skirt is completely pieced and ends up at 40 inches in diameter.  It looks like this finished for all you who are new to my blog:



I must say this this has been my most popular seller no matter what fabrics are used.  My friend, Shirley, even made it in country colors:



So, now for the info.  The pattern is $12 plus about $1 for shipping and you can order your copy by contacting me here:  turznik@execpc.com.  For all you shop owners, wholesale prices are available to you for orders of 12 or more.  Your customers will love you!!  I must admit that the only tricky part is the bias binding.  Everything else is a piece of cake!

Now, back to my crazy ornament making!  I'm thinking that I will be back to my normal self by the weekend, hopefully.  Right now though, I am having such fun experimenting with felt.  Believe it or not, I never worked with wool felt before.  Who knows, I just might have a new little pattern for you?

#13 is all well and good!

Whew!  There for awhile I thought my #13 lady wouldn't make it.  It seemed like an age since I sent it, but it FINALLY arrived and now I may show you all.

The lovely Kat, from here (in Australia...thus the long postal trip) asked me to do a portrait of her.  She told me to do what I wanted, but there definitely had to be a butterfly somewhere on the quilt since it was her trademark.  Kat was the lady who was my swap partner in DQS10, so I got to know her pretty well.  She sent me three or four pictures, but the finished product is usually different.  (Probably since I don't quilt teeth.  LOL)



Note the hair difference.  When I first drew it, I thought her hair was shorter than it was so I had to lengthen it a bit...thus the double line.  (Perhaps I should have made it longer yet.  Although it probably grew while the quilt was traveling since it took almost a month for her to get.  :D)





And here's a picture of Kat with her quilt:



For sure you can see the resemblance, right?  Even though the real Kat doesn't have a butterfly in her own hair?

I do a have a few other ladies to make, but I'm taking a well deserved break from them for a week or so to recharge my batteries, so to speak.  I'm kinda "ladied" out and need a breather doing some other stuff for a bit.  (Don't worry all you who spoke to me about yourselves......I haven't forgotten you, really!!!)

In the meantime, I made these two blocks to go to a Flickr friend who is going through some wicked cancer treatments.  A bunch of us decided to send her blocks of a certain size and design so that she gets some "mail love" for a month or two, and when this horror in her life is over, she will have time to put them all together and remember all the love and prayers that were sent to her.





Can you tell that we're doing birds and windmills?  Duh!

Lastly, I joined this swap and I have been wracking my brain to come up with something marvelous.  Last year I went through the same crisis, so I'm thinking this might be it.  I hate it when something stresses me out to the point where I even dream about it.  Ornaments aren't as simple as you might think. (Especially when you're a high achiever, like me!)  UGH!  I did do a prototype of this mouse, but it needs tons of tweaking yet.  (Don't look at the messy stitching.  I didn't have any grey pearle cotton.)



Poor thing couldn't even stand on his own, although he is fully jointed.  I think I have it figured out though, so stay tuned.  This and other cute felt things will be my main project this week.  I am having such fun doing hand work for a change!  Perhaps I will even make more than my required 3.  Who knows?

It's almost Halloween

I told you I was going to show you my gorgeous new Halloween fabrics and here they are.  One is cooler than the next.  Funny thing is that I'm really not into Halloween too much.  My holiday is Christmas, but I have a daughter who is wild about Halloween.  

When my friend, Annie, posted a pic of her awesome Halloween quilt on her blog not that long ago, I flipped.  Now, I've seen several Halloween quilts in my day, but none of them "hit" me like hers and that's why I had to run right out and get these.  'Course it didn't take long before I was cutting into them with a vengeance and lookie what happened before I knew it:



Think it's bright enough?



I was going to give this to DD for Christmas (I sure hope she's not reading this), but now I'm thinking it might be a nice addition to my Halloween decorating.  Who knows?  I might even have to make two!!

In the meantime, I really should think about making a costume for my Toby.  I'm sure he's going to love trick or treat with all the kids coming to the door.  (Thank you to all of you who talked me into a Havanese........what a wonderful breed!  We love him to death.....even though he's not completely potty trained yet.  LOL)



Isn't he a cutie?

Be a guest......

A guest is what I'll be Monday over on "Sew We Quilt" so pop over there to see me and if you want a treat review some past posts to see lots of super talented people with loads of ideas and hints.  ('Course lots of you already came from there last December when I was a guest and showed oodles of mug rugs.  Smooches to all of you for sticking with me all this time!!!)

Today I want to introduce you to #14 in the Ladies Series (missing from the Sew We Quilt lineup because "she" was traveling).  Her name is "Sandy" and you can see the real "her" here  on her Flickr stream.  Here is my version......as always, first the drawing, then the close up of the eyes and then the finished wall hanging:







If you noticed her heart stud earrings holding the spools, they are supposed to represent all the love that she has for those darling grandchildren that you saw on her Flickr stream.  What a bunch of cuties!

Other than that, (and besides the awesome halloween fabric that I'll show you next time), the only thing new are these coasters that I made yesterday for this swap.  My partner wanted rainbows:



Check out the backs:



Think they're bright enough?  Duh!!!  I sure hope she likes them.  I asked for Christmas coasters so we'll see what I get.

So that's it for today, my friends.  If you're new to my blog, thanks so much for visiting and if you're a tried and true follower.....love, love, love and hugs to you!!!  I appreciate each and every one of you!  Really I do!