OPAM November

HAPPY DECEMBER!

We are already one day into December... Soon it's Christmas! Yikes! 

Have you started preparing for Christmas? I've done some house cleaning and putting up Christmas wall hangings. Living in the tropics, I'm not going to make '7 varieties' of cookies! :) My favorites are gingersnaps and Norwegian dough nuts, so IF I'm baking, these will be the two varieties I will make. 

November kept me busy making items for my Etsy shop 

I love this Advent Calendar! It's so cute!

Advent Calendar, sold to the US 

A custom order to the US; two mug rugs

I've had some Christmas stocking panel forever and why not turn it into a wall hanging? :)

A cute Santa mug rug. 

Actually I made two... One is sold and off to the US

I've been working on the Postage Stamp Quilt - see my previous post - and I'm happy to say I have a flimsy! :) I don't have backing for it, need to get something on sale. I won't have time to finish it this month so it will be a UFO next year! :) 

I'm currently working on some nurse mug rugs for my shop, hope to get a few listed one of the first days. 

Addicted to charms / Postage Stamp Quilts

Confession; charm addiction! 

Yes, I think I am addicted to these tiny squares. Every time I have a finished item, small pieces of leftover fabrics are cut into squares. The sizes vary from 1.5" up to 5", depending on how much fabric is left. I don't cut bigger pieces though, they can always be used for other projects. 

I'm also participating in Postage Stamp Charm Swap 2015 - organized by The Curious Quilter - and due to a delay, 1300 charms are now finding their new home in the US. 

Yesterday I received 200 2.5" charms together with a cute owl card,  from the US

Thank you, Glenda and Snow! 
Still more to come! Can't wait! :)



In between other projects, I have been piecing together 2.5" charms and finally had enough for a twin or double quilt.
These charms are all from previous swaps. Since this photo was taken, I have added the border on the right side and am working on the border for the top and bottom. 

... and here's my helper.... errrr..... QUALITY CONTROLLER! 

... what else to do while waiting for his dinner?! :)

I swap 2" and 2.5" charms, and so far I have worked with 2.5" only. I've been curious how to work with 1.5" charms and decided to give it a try

These are 1.5" charms - 1" sewn into quilt. 
This is a project that will take F-O-R-E-V-E-R, I know! I have a couple of shoe boxes full of 1.5" strips so I'm going to use some of them for this project. That means more cutting, but since I love cutting it will be a nice break from sewing. :) 

OPAM October

HAPPY NOVEMBER! 

November already! Yikes! 

Most of these items are for sale in my Etsy Shop

I don't like this.... I want more time to blog, but it seems that doesn't work out at all. It's all about priorities, and this year I have given priority to my Etsy Shop

How often do you make quilted items for yourself / your home? I haven't made anything for a very long time so perhaps it is time to give it priority? Well, first of all I have one custom order to do, thereafter, we shall see....

Warning: Photos heavy! I have several finished items for October. Some of them were WIP's back in September, I had to wait for either batting or backing fabric to finish them.

Some Christmas / Winter Cardinals Table Runners

I have used fabrics from Holly Taylor's 'Winter's Song' collection. Love these fabrics. 

Fall / Autumn Table Runners / Candle Mats

Beautiful fabrics from Holly Taylor's 'Turning Leaves' 

... and 'of course', so nurses! :) 

These are great gifts for a nurse. 

This drawstring bag is a nice gift for a quilter.

Sold! 

Some fun fall coasters

Custom order already received in the US; 10 fun winter coasters.

More great gifts for nurses; mug rugs

Looking at this blog post, it's not strange I haven't had time for other things over the last month! 

We have done a couple of wonderful hikes in the Black River Gorges, and one of the hikes you can see here. 

Today I'm going to prepare a custom order; 4 place mats to Canada. 

OPAM September

September came and went, we are already a couple of days into October. 

Such dreary weather here today, it's good to snuggle up with a cuppa. 

I've been busy with this and that and everything. I'm waiting for batting and fabric to finish some items. It feels like shipping from the US takes forever this time. Isn't that typical when waiting for something?! Oh well, I'm not out of work! I'm currently working on some drawstring bags. I love making them, they are fun and easy to make. 

Here's what I have been up to lately. Oh, and I almost forgot the most important; I have a couple of UFO finishes! 

Log Cabin quilt in purple, black and white. 

To avoid buying more fabric, I added some strips to the back. It looks nice, I think... it adds some interest to the back. 

Another finished UFO from last year; 4 autumn place mats

I had some leftover fabric from some mug rugs I made earlier, just enough for a place mat or small table topper. I love sweet pea flowers! 

I couldn't resist some Holly Taylor fabric..... set of 2 place mats

I've had this cute gingerbread fabric stripe for quite some time and wasn't sure what to use it for. You may not believe me, but one early morning I 'saw' this runner in a dream... The vision woke me up, totally awake, and it turned out exactly like the one I 'saw'........... 

In addition to finishing these items, I have been playing with 1.5 inch charms! I'd never have thought I have patience for such tiny fabric squares, but yes, they are FUN, ... and a bit tedious! I have a few, small blocks, but that will be another post. 

HAPPY  QUILTING! 

September PSQ charm swap

 Are you ready for the September PSQ Charm Swap?

Have you been cutting squares like a mad (wo)man? 

I have lots of charms already cut and stored in boxes and it was quite easy to fill up small plastic bags with 100 charms in each - ready to fly out of Mauritius. :)  

You can read more about the swap here 

... and here is all the info you need BEFORE you sign up for the swap.

 

OPAM finishes for August

HAPPY SEPTEMBER!

Where did August go?! I must have been busy! Actually I have; house & garden, and quilting - of course. One week went by to paint the bedroom walls and while doing that, 'Nina' was in for a long overdue service. Got her back yesterday and I'm ready for more productive days. :)

Autumn is my favorite time of the year and I love the colors. I'm definitely living in the wrong country; no such colors here in the tropics. 

I've been working with autumn themed fabrics lately and here's a few items...

Set of 4 place mats

Table runner

Table runner

I've had these flannel fabrics for ages and decided to turn them into a baby quilt. 

A finished UFO table topper. You can see it here as a UFO.  

Enough snowman fabric for a candle mat

A set of 2 Christmas place mats

These items are for sale in my Etsy shop

I'm currently working on some Halloween mug rugs. I thought I didn't have Halloween themed fabric, but yes, I found a few! :)

Do you stick to your fabric diet so far this year? I had forgotten I'm on fabric diet and have bought way too many fabrics lately, but how to avoid beautiful autumn- and Christmas fabrics?! I hope to do better the rest of the year and ONLY buy what I actually need! :)

HAPPY QUILTING!  

Autumn is approaching..........

.... on the Northern hemisphere...

Autumn is my favorite season of the year; its gorgeous colors and crisp air. 

I don't get anything of it here in the tropics, except some trees on the plateau that change colors. Crisp air? Only on 'cold' days during the tropical 'winter' that lasts from June throughout August. Days are getting warmer now...

Living on the Southern hemisphere, I can only dream of a Norwegian autumn. :)

As I just mentioned; I love autumn colors and have a few finishes

 

Table topper (SOLD!)

 

Candle mat or table mat

Mug rug, of course! :)

The candle mat and mug rug are for sale in my Etsy Shop

I love to use up bits and pieces of fabrics I love and I'm currently working on a set of four place mats. The 'plan' is to finish them today.... Most probably that will fail, as usual when I make plans! :)   

Due to computer issues, I have missed out on what's going on in blogland. Our CPU is seriously ill and is at the ICU. I'm on a borrowed laptop now, huge thanks to dear friends! One advantage being without the computer for some days, is that I managed to do a lot of sewing. I have several finished items that need photos.

 

 

OPAM finishes for June

HAPPY JULY! 

June passed as quickly as the other months. 

I've been busy quilting and have some finished items. I made some Christmas items, but ran out of fabric and batting and finally got it earlier this week. The batting should be in this week. 

While waiting, I made some mug rugs from Christmas scraps. It feels good to use up those small pieces of fabric as well as batting. 

I've had this piece of fabric forever. Finally decided to fussy cut the houses and couple and made them into a set of 4 coasters. 

A piece of lobster fabric was just sitting there from the others I made earlier.

I made a bigger trivet of what was left. 

'Had forever fabrics' turned into a table topper. 

Nifty Nurses mug rugs 

I love making these mug rugs.

Actually I'm working on a custom order of 6 nurse mug rugs. Four of them are almost done, and I love the personalized look. Photos of those will be later when all are finished.