Espritpatch

We had a busy today as we drove down to London (and back!) to apply for a passport for Baby Girl, always an experience but we can't go home without it. Anyway, it all went as well as it could despite the nearly 4 hours in the car... With so much time spent in the car, I managed to do some sewing of course. I made one hexie flower for the craft forum swap which will be on its way to Sandra very soon! She wanted a blue and cream flower. I have also started on my flowers for the Inchy Hexie Swap but these are not quite finished yet. When we finally got home tonight, I was quite tired and decided to sit down and do a little bit of sewing rather than rush around the house to do countless jobs... And that was good as I managed to finish one UFO! My first and only OPAM for the month... In November 2010, I participated in a swap for a candle mat. The instructions given were for making 2 at a time. So I finished and sent the first one out then but the second one was only partly pieced a

This week I received this lovely framed hexie: It will fit very well with my collection. Thanks Suzzie! Celine

This week as well as doing some hand-sewing, I have practised embroidery stitches again on my first CQ journal block that I showed you a few days ago. I have taken inspiration from Sharon at Pin Tangle with her Take a Stitch Tuesday challenge and have browsed through all the ribbons, lace, motifs, threads and beads I have accumulated through the year for CQ - sadly largely left untouched over the last few years - to embellish my first block. I have always been of the "less is more" approach to embellish my blocks in the past so I would say this one is moderately heavily embellished for me! I am happy to have completed this first block and have really enjoyed making something different. It is relaxing to sit in a chair and do a couple of stitches now and then. Celine

More Dear Jane progress to report, how good is that? Hubby has had to travelled to the US on business this week and while he was away, his parents have kindly come over to help me with the kids. That also meant that I have deserted my sewing machine while they were here and have done some hand sewing instead while my MIL was doing her cross-stitch. I have finally completed the triangle I started over a week ago before the week-end. TR12 Jane's Oak was a simple applique triangle but it was a good one to start back on the triangles and yesterday I also finished another block, applique again B12 - Starflower This takes my grand total to 113 blocks, 6 triangles and 2419 pieces. Slowly, very slowly my quilt is growing! Here is my virtual wall this week: Celine

Another year to challenge myself to finish at least one project every month. It is a great to keep motivated and also to keep track of what you've achieved month by month. Plus it gives fantastic opportunities for blog-hopping! OPAM 2012 is here and sign up are until 31 January 2012 on Peg or Kris 's blogs, so if you are tempted don't delay, sign up now! Celine

Yesterday evening was Friday Night Sew-In and I didn't sign up for it as I wasn't sure I'd found some time to do anything at all. But in the end between a feed and a few cuddles to Baby Girl, I managed to find a little time to finish off my Rainbow Scrap Challenge block that I started earlier this week. This month was red so I dived into my red and white (background) scrap baskets to make this pretty Circle of Geese. I had admired those blocks for a while and thought it would be a good one for a rainbow quilt. And it doesn't use that much of the focus colour but quite a bit of background and my white scrap basket is overflowing so that should help to get it down. I used a paper-piecing pattern from Piece by Number that was very easy to follow. This week I also prepared a block for my CQ Journal 2012 . I was going to go for a monochromatic block (as I usually do) in red to keep with the colour of the month. But when I selected my fabric for the centre of my block (a

Here are my first 5 blocks for the Just Takes 2 mystery quilt. I have chosen to do mine in blue and cream (Kona Eggshell). I had a stash of blue vintage fabrics that I bought years ago because I liked the look of them but without a project in mind so I think they'd be perfect for this one. I have used bits and pieces of these blue fabrics in various projects including the candle mat swap I did in November 2010 but I still have almost yardages left for each of them so hopefully that will work for the quilt. Anyway here are my blocks: Block 1 (8 pieces) This fabric is very special as I bought in Japan when we went there 4 years ago, it even has Brenda's name on it!  I followed Sophie 's idea and pieced the block (curve piecing) rather than applique-ing the circle on the background Block 2 (17 pieces) Block 3 (9 pieces) Block 4 (36 pieces) Block 5 (21 pieces) Total = 91 pieces I have block 6 cut as well and ready to be sewn and I also need to get on with the n

At the week-end I received 2 lovely flowers from Hanne in Denmark. I sent hers mine at the same time as she sent hers! Here are her pretty dotty flowers and spring like card. The flowers will fit very well in my growing garden! Celine

STOP PRESS: I have completed one Dear Jane block yesterday afternoon! OK it was a relatively easy one that I choose to do with reverse applique but it is a milestone for me as I hadn't done a block since 2007. I did 3 triangles in 2010 but that was the extent of my progress in the last 4 to 5 years. I have over 100 blocks done so I am really not that far but equally, there is still lots of work left to finish this quilt that I would really really love to be able to send to Belgium for the exhibition in April 2013 which Brenda is planning to attend. That's a motivating factor I think. Anyway, here is my A3 which will definitely feature in the "Finished is better than Perfect" category! This blocks now bring me to 112 blocks completed and 2415 pieces altogether. I have also started a triangle yesterday TR12 that I am hoping to finish quickly enough. Stay tuned for more I hope! Celine

This month we are making blocks for Ulrike who sent us 2 white strips and 2 printed strips of fabrics and asked us to make some Bento box blocks with them. Amelie found a very good tutorial to make the blocks from the Quilts of Love blog  and the blocks got together very quickly. So much so that I have decided to make a quilt for myself as well. I have combined this with the  Rainbow Scrap Challenge . The colour is red this month so I have made 2 red Bento box blocks. Although I am slightly cheating because I haven't used scraps for my blocks but fabrics from my stash. These are fabrics I bought because I thought there were pretty but without a project in mind and the fabrics have been sitting in my stash ever since (some of them for over 5 years I guess), waiting for the right quilt/time. I was also scared of cutting it off because there are pretty - how silly! Anyway, here is a way to use and ENJOY the fabrics I bought because I liked them! Anyway here is my first red block

This week I received a lovely sashiko flower from Jeanette for our framed hexie swap for December, I love the colours! I also received a surprise framed hexie from Helen at Aunty Henny's  made of gorgeous Japanese fabrics And here is a picture of all the lovely hexies I have received to date, I am starting to have a significant number! Celine

This week, I have managed to finish my 2 flowers for Hanne on the Inchy Hexie Swap. They are now flying to Denmark. Hanne had asked for bright green and bright blue petals with a yellow centre so I used some fabrics from my scrap basket that I used in my son's Hungry Caterpillar Quilt. I hope they fit in her lovely and bright garden. I have also made a start on a few projects this week ( Just Takes 2 , Rainbow Scrap Challenge , Bee Europa 2011 ), maybe it isn't a good idea to spread myself around at this stage, but I couldn't resist. I hope to be able to show you some of the blocks I am in the process of making soon! Celine

Of course my time to play has gone significantly down with a 2 weeks old baby who LOVES feeding - that alone keeps me occupied for the best part of the day and night! It didn't help either that I felt poorly at the week-end and my blog is not very active these days. But... I have actually managed to sew some blocks for a swap on flicker called Mini Scrap Block Basket Swap . We were to make string blocks based on a tutorial by Film in the Fridge . I made 3 sets of 4 blocks and mailed them by the deadline of today. Hooray! I really like the look of the blocks when they are put together and I regret not having time to make more. The good news is there is a second round starting now with a mailing date of 10 March and we are making the same block again so I will definitely *try* to make a couple more sets. If you also want to join the fun, head over to the flicker group and sign up for the swap. See you soon with more! Celine

Have you seen this new mystery quilt designed by Brenda Papadakis of Dear Jane and Gay Bomers of Sentimental Stitches ? It is based on the red and white quilt exhibition which was held in New York last year. The blocks will vary in size from 3'' to 15''. The first few blocks are available to download now if you are interested in taking part. You need to head over to the Just Takes 2 blog and register to access the files to download. I am thinking of using blue and cream to make mine... Watch this space! Celine

I haven't had a hexie-related post for a while, which is quite unusual as it seems that this was all I was doing the last few months.... so I have kept all the hexie pictures for this one. First this is the hexie I received from Donna earlier in December for the hexie flower swap on the Craft Forum . and the one I got from Gloria on the same swap at the end of December: Second is the framed hexie that is now on its way to Lyn for the swap on the Craft Forum . Her theme was red work which is quite fitting for the season really. So I designed a Christmas Tree for "Noel". I hope it fits in her collection Third is the hexie flower I will be sending to Jeanettte for the swap on the Craft Forum . Another red and white around Christmas time! These are the lovely hexies I received from Kris on the the Inchy Hexagon Swap . She sent me a gorgeous card and a piece of spotty fabric to make more flowers as well as some cute hexie templates. Lovely additions to my garden! And la