OMG November

Towards the end of the year there is always this rush to finish projects. And at the same time there are so many quilt-alongs going on. And of course the different SWAPs ongoing. I love the swaps and have been pacing myself as between a hectic job, the family, crafting for myself I just don't have the time to participate in a lot. Not if I want to make something nice. I have received some very nice swap gifts this year and they deserve their own special blog post.

 

My November OMG will be to finish my #tqswinterswap organized on IG by Janelle @tinyquiltswaps

A few years ago I bought a book from Jen Kingwell "Quitl lovely: 15 Vibrant projects using piecing and applique" and I had yet to use this book. The last chapter is dedicated to cushion covers and I decided that before the year is over I had to use the book. 

 I choose two patterns from the book and will make two different tops:

One will be in Christmas colours and prints

 One is more sober in winter grey tones

When both are finished I will ask the IG group for a vote and send the final winter swap gift in December. 

And the other cushion cover/mini quilt will be for me. 

What I really like about these swaps is of course making something for someone else according to what they indicated. I ended up challenging myself with some new techniques.

My OMG for November is finishing both miniquilts/cushion covers

Linking up with Patty at Elm Street Quilts

October finishes

Several projects got out of the way this month so a lot of feelings of accomplishments floating here around.

1) OMG October

My main OMG for this month was to finish a baby quilt for a baby born this month. And the quilt is given to the grandmother so on its way to the baby this weekend.

The new mum loves pink!!! The baby being a girl the quilt just had to be pink, and not any pink .... pastel pink (if that expression even exists in English).

Enough pink fabric in my stash left over from my very pink scull quilt .... just these were very very bright pinks. A trip to a small shop (one of my favourite yarn shops who also happens to sell some baby fabric) and some more fabric buying over summer in the Netherlands and the basics for the quilt were there.

I used the pattern disappearing four patch block from the designer/quilter Material Girl Quilts. I watched her tutorial and started cutting and sewing and more cutting. Once all blocks were done i was not sure on how to best place each block. I tried a few options and ended up making a black and white picture to see how the balance was. After a few try-outs I was happy and started the assembly of the blocks in to a top.

 For the quilting I was not sure what to do and in the end decided to use curvy lines to create soft lines.

Some details: the new mum loves dogs and when I saw the dog-paws fabric I just knew I had to use that also for the binding. And the flamingos are just too cute.

Linking up with Patty's OMG at Elm Street Quilts.

2) Socks

I bought this yarn a few years ago for the colours, I had bought two colour schemes, one more purple and this one with more turquoise. And I don't think I will ever buy this sock yarn again. I don't like the way it knits up. I do love the colours, very warm and rich. I started knitting these a few months ago and was so dissappointed that sock number 2 never got finished. I tried a few times and .... not much progress. This had to change. I got a few knitting sessions going and last week finished these socks. They are too ugly to wear - but in winter I might wear these at home to keep my feet warm.

 

3) Scarf

Last winter bought yarn for a scarf. My youngest already had one, my daughter knitted one for herself, so high time to make one for my eldest. He choose the colours and I knitted. This was my on-the-go project

OMG October

Autumn is here with a lot of rain, perfect crafting weather. School started a month ago and am still running around getting things done, or at least that is how it feels. All three kids started their after school activities and once a week I plan go get some exercise done. I found this great cardio class followed by a one-hour stretching class. Exactly what my muscles need after sitting so much behind my back.

 On the crafting path, I started making a baby quilt, a very very soft pink baby quilt. The little darling was born two days ago and this will keep her warm.

I found the pattern, disappearing four patch block, online a few weeks ago from the designer/quilter Material Girl Quilts.

The new mum loves soft pink, so over summer at different occasions I bought fabric, not sure yet what pattern to make, knowing that the design will show up when I am ready. Which of course happened.

I decided to make the quilt a bit bigger - I do have loads of pink fabric now and a baby quilt does not use up a lot of fabric.

My October OMG is to finish the babyquilt so that i can gift this as soon as possible. Thank you Patty at Elm Street Quilts for organizing

September finishes

 After two months of little crafting I got back in September and finished my July OMG project. 

Early this year I discovered swaps on IG and became a huge fan. I participated in a few between January and March and decided that over summer this was not feasible. I signed up for the Autumn cushion cover/mini quilt swap and the project was due early September.

As the cushion cover that can also be used as a mini quilt arrived at my secret partner's home I can post a picture. 

This was definitely a challenge; my partner wanted a landscape .... and i went back and forth between different ideas. In the end i decided to use applique and make lots of leaves, trees and acorns

 

 

All in autumn colours. The backing was also adapted to the theme.

And ofcourse some African fabric ... I had some delicious orange South African fabric waiting to be used.