It's Been a Very Long Time...

Its been a very long time since I've posted.  I've been busy working and now being a mom to my little boy Ayden. But, I haven't stopped quilting. I am currently working on a few things of course, but my main focus at the moment is a pirate appliqué quilt for Ayden.

I chose a pattern by Amy Bradley's Pirate Quilt  and I love it! It has been really fun working on this quilt.

Dara 

Life has been so busy...

Hi...
It feels great to be posting on my blog. Life has been so busy teaching at the collage and at a middle school. I haven't had a moment to do what I love the most...Quilt.

I have also been busy taking care of this little cutie...

Meet Lola. She is so adorable. Weighing in at a whopping 2.5 lbs in this picture. 

Here she is at 10 weeks:

I was able to finish my Noah's Ark quilt because it had to go to London with my baby cousin. 

Happy stitching!

I won't stay away so long. 

Dara 

Mug Rugs are done and The Winner Is........

I received my Mug Rugs on Saturday from Joyce and I absolutely love them! She also sent some extra goodies. Thanks so much Joyce!

Here are my finished Mug Rugs ready to go. I mailed them out this morning with a couple of extra goodies. I hope my Partner loves them.

Now time to announce the winner of the Blog Hop Party Giveaway
 I do apologize for the posting delay, it was a busy weekend.

Thank you to everyone who made a comment. I wish I had a book for everyone and I read every single comment. Some of you guys had me laughing.
Thanks again.

We had one reply comment (to add an email address), which isn't counted, so Joyce Carter is #1 and Becky is #88.


The Winner is...............

# 79: Nancy Sue

Nancy Sue I have sent you an email.

Congratulations!!!

Thanks again for stopping by,

I'll be doing another giveaway soon.

Dara 

It's time for a Blog Hop party!

Update: This giveaway is now closed as of Saturday 3/16 @11:59pm: I will post the winner by Monday 3/18. Sorry for the delay. 

Thanks so much for stopping by! 
Quilting Gallery is hosting a Blog Hop Party to chase away the Winter Blues. 

Click HERE  to check out all the other wonderful bloggers who are participating in this Blog Hop Party Giveaway. Good Luck!!  (The list of participants will be posted by late afternoon on Friday, March 8).

I'll be giving away a fantastic book, Storm At Sea Quilts by Wendy Mathson. This book includes a pattern to make your own Storm At Sea block with different design ideas. 

 Unfortunately, I will not be shipping internationally this time. This giveaway will start Friday March 8 until Friday March 15 at 11:59 PM (US-EST).  On Saturday, March 16th I will use the Random Number Generator to choose a winner and announce the winner.

Now...here's how you enter: 

You have 1 chance to win and i'll make it easy :)

 I live in South Florida and our winters are never really cold.  However, to get rid of my "Winter Blues", I love to snuggle on the couch drinking hot chocolate while working on hand appliqué. 

Please leave me a comment telling me what you do to get rid of your "Winter Blues". 

Remember:  If you're a "no-reply blogger" please leave your e-mail address within the comment so I can contact you if you're the winner.

 Good luck!

Have fun blog hopping,

Dara

Noah's Ark Quilt and Blog Hop Party

 I wanted to show you all my Noah's Ark quilt in progress. I took a clip art picture that I found from Googling Noah's Ark and turned it into an appliquéd quilt. Im adding nine patch blocks all around the appliquéd panel. I'll be sure to show you guys my progress while finishing it up. I'm making it for my cousins baby that was born in February. I'm hoping to get it done soon. This quilt is going all the way to England. 

Be sure to visit on Friday because I've joined the Blog Hop Party and I'll be giving away something. 

Till then...

Dara 

Sneak Peek...

Here's a peek of one of my Mug Rugs for the swap.

Dara

Mug Rug Swap

Is anyone still there? I haven't written in a while...
I've joined the Mug Rug Swap.

Michelle from the Quilting Gallery teamed up with Amanda from The Patchsmith to bring the online quit world a mug rug swap. I'm excited!


I have pictures of my Mug Rug. I'll be posting them this week and I wanted to show you all my Noah's Ark baby quilt I'm working on. 

Till then...

Dara

I've been MIA...

It feels great to be blogging, boy have I missed it. Lately I have been playing around with my embroidery module for my machine. I absolutely love it.  


Here are some pictures of what i've been making.

I just completed a quilt for a baby boy using the embroidery module.  I made applique horses. Here are some pictures:

The machine stops and prompts me to add fabric scraps and to change the thread color. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Dara

I need some sewing inspiration...

Hi everyone,

Things have been a little hectic lately with recovering from my surgery, starting a new position, and everything else in between. I haven't had much time to sew and test out my new sewing table. Hopefully I can get my sewing time sorted out and I can have some dedicated sewing time.  Early April, C&T Publishing had a Spring Fling sale and I stocked up on some great books. This defiantly should be the inspiration I need to get sewing again. 

Happy quilting,

Dara

My "new" sewing table

Hi everyone!

I wanted to share and post some pictures of my sewing table that Mr. Sew Snuggly made for me.  This project took about a week to complete and he was eager to use power tools. I wanted a sewing table with my machine dropped and I already had a table, so hubby and I looked online and found images and tried to make our own. So, he cut a hole in the table, made a box, and had a custom glass top made. It came out pretty well. It took about five evenings and whammm...I'm a happy Mrs. Sew Snuggly :)

Here are some pictures:

Cut out a square bigger that the machine

Made a box (Front open)

Attached the box to the table 

 Made a template for the glass

Added a ledge for the glass. (the brown squares are removable  stickers)

Stained the ledge and put a thin layer of felt in the box 

All done!

I've read that a flat surface is good for FMQ. I hope it helps.

Happy Quilting,
Dara 

Liebster Blog Award!!

I am flattered and honored to be given the Liebster Award!! It is humbling to know someone thinks my blog is deserving of an award. Thank you Tessa. Tessa @ The Sewing Chick has generously nominated me. Tessa has a great blog and I see why she was also given the award. You should definitely check her out. 

The Liebster award is a way to recognize up-and-coming deserving bloggers with less than 200 followers. You pay it forward by awarding 5 more bloggers with the award. Here are the rules:

1. Copy and paste the award on our blog.
2. Link back to the blogger who gave you the award.
3. Pick your five favorite blogs with fewer than 200 followers, and leave a comment on their blog to let them know they have received the award.
4. Hope that the five blogs chosen will keep spreading the love and pass it on to five more blogs.

This was a tough decision because there are so many great small blogs that I love... So without further ado I would like to nominate...

1. Kim @ One Krafty Kitty Momma
2. KocanQuilt @ Quilting, Losing and Tea

3. Judy @ Sew Rip Repeat
4. Corina @ CW Quilts... sometimes   

5. Stephmabry @ Hope Sewing is Genetic 

Happy quilting,

Dara

I'm almost back to normal... :)

Hi all! :)
I hope everyone is doing well. I've been MIA because I had surgery last Thursday and I'm just coming around. I finished my Kaleidoscope quilt but wasn't able to post it until today.
Here it is...

Since I'm stuck on the couch. I'll be working on the applique on my Lone star quilt.

Talk to you soon...until then
Happy quilting,
Dara

A finish (Almost) :)

Today I was able to finish piecing my kaleidoscope quilt. Take a look...

now...on to the quilting. I'll be back with a picture of the finished quilt.  :)

Hope everyones doing good...Happy quilting,

Dara

I haven't sewn all week...

I've been spending some time with my twin sister. Especially today since it's our birthday!

Till next time... :)
Dara

What I've been up to...

All last week while I was blog hopping I was trying to finish up some of the quilts i've been working on. I realize i'm a slow quilter, but thats ok...

I was able to finish quilting and binding this quilt:

I was able to start quilting this quilt:

And I was able to finish piecing this quilt:

   

I also started a kaleidoscope quilt:

I used  the pattern form Don't call Me Betsy. 

 I'll be back to show some more of my progress.

Dara