Espritpatch

... was very limited with this stupid leak in the living room. Anyway, now that my Linus quilt is finished and handed over, I went back to some paper piecing yesterday, starting my Bee blocks for the Bee Weave it or not! and also catching up on my Circle of Geese BOM. I never had chance to make my May block - yellow circle and I still have the June one - purple circle to make. I finished the first quarter of my May block last night, diving in my scrap basket and my stash (I don't have many yellow scraps). Slowly getting there... Celine

It has been a very wet day, both inside and outside. I got up with baby Girl this morning to find that water was dripping from the ceiling in the living room on the sofa and on the floor. Charming! A pipe near the hot water cylinder had a leak and the water had accumulated between the floor board before dripping down. We had a visit from a plumber as part as a home emergency cover but all they do then is stop the leak, they don't repair it so no heating and no hot water for us until it's fixed, great with 3 kids. Thankfully we have an immersion heater for the hot water. And because it is so horrible and wet outside, the kids couldn't play in the garden much and we couldn't get the sofa to dry either. Grrr... Anyway back to the topic of my post. Earlier this year, my quilting group proposed a challenge to all who wanted to play. We were each given 2 FQs to make a baby quilt for the annual fete in June: one spotty fabric (white on turquoise) and one of the Alphabet sou...

Today was our quilting group annual exhibition. I have hardly gone to any of the meetings this year because I am a little bit busy at home so I didn't have anything to contribute for the actual exhibition. I finished my Linus quilt last night and gave it away this morning but I'll show you in another dedicated post! We also have a sale table at the exhibition and for that I contributed a few items including those lovely leaves. I used some of my scraps that I had sewn together for a block swap I never managed to be ready for. This time I used an old pair of jeans for the backing and a lovely piece of ribbons rather than the eyelet. I have sold a few but not all so I will probably list the few left in my Etsy shop which has been empty for far too long! Another good month for my OPAM too. Celine

Back in 2008 or 2009 (I can't even remember when) I started a wall hanging for a baby present. Well it was never finished. I didn't go further than the applique centre panel.  And by now, the baby is no longer a baby and has received another present. So this little teddy has been abandoned with its pot of honey and a few bees until this week. I finally had an idea on how to use the panel, what about treasure pillow / pyjama tidy / secret cushion /  pocket pillow. I am not sure what is the best name for it! I found in my stash a lovely teddy bear fabric that I had bought a few years ago, perfect for this project! I cut out a square and free-motion quilted it. I then took my applique square and cut the top with a gentle curve, cut a background piece and a wadding piece the same shape and made a pocket for my pillow with my new shaped panel. I really like how it has turned out, don't you think this little bear look happier now that he will be tre...

This month, we are making a Box block for Miriam. I pieced mine while I was piecing my Linus quilt to maximise my strip piecing. My finished block will be on its way to Germany very soon. Celine

A little snapshot at what I have been busy with this week. I am still trying very hard to finish my Linus quilt that I need to hand over on Friday afternoon if possible. It is coming along quite nicely, I have the top pieced and now need to quilt it and bind it. Do-able, I guess unless I spend the evening trying to calm a screaming baby again... I have also made more progress on my Maisy quilt. I have finished the middle row and have also put the 3 last rows together now. I only need one more set of blocks back to finish the quilt, I am hoping they will come my way soon! I am linking this to WIP Wednesday. Celine

Last week brought me some nice surprises in the mail. First I had these lovely hexies flowers from Karen. She is the first person to venture outside the polka dots and I really love the flowers she has sent me with a lovely hand-made coordinated card. Then I received Irene's flowers. Funnily enough, Irene has also ventured outside the polka dots pattern. Her hexies are gorgeous too. My garden is growing well. Thanks ladies. I also received my first star for Quarter 2 of the [3x6] Sampler Quilt Mini-Bee on Flicker . I love the star Kira has picked and the fussy cut flower in the centre is just perfect. I haven't decided which block to make yet but that will be next on my list after I have finished my Linus quilt. Celine

The colour of the month is purple for the Rainbox Scrap Challenge. I have just finished my Bento Box blocks with purple fabrics from my stash. For the first block, I have used an Hoffman screen print fabric that I bought 10 years ago (yes 10 years) when I started patchwork. It was one of this case of Pretty fabric but no specific project in mind for it, so it has been sitting in my stash ever since. The second block uses fabric by Timeless Treasure with shinny raised dots on it. It is pretty but you can't iron it because it melts! 2 more blocks for my Rainbow quilt! And this is also my BOM Rehab for this week-end. Now back to my Linus quilt. I am glad to report that I have almost finished piecing the top. Getting there! Celine

... is tonight. Are you joining in? I am planning to because I need to finish a Linus baby quilt for next week-end and it is really only at the first stages. Let's say that I did cut my pieces this week and started sewing a few blocks last night. Oops, not much time to get going really! Celine

Sunday is Father's Day here in the UK. School and pre-school offer for the kids to buy their Dad a present as a fundraising activity so of course both of the eldest wanted to buy a gift for Daddy and had to take money with them. I made Mr Cars a purse last year but it is far too big for a couple of coins really. When we did the mosaic for the RATZ swap on Flicker , I spied a few little things that I thought were gorgeous and one of them was this  tutorial by Erin for a earbud pouch . I thought that could be perfect size for a kid's purse. On Monday night I made this one for Miss Strawberry Shortcake, perfect with Hello Kitty fabric on the outside and Maisy as the lining. The pattern and tutorials are great. It takes less than one hour to make from start to finish. Miss Strawberry Shortcake loved her new purse so much that she insisted on going to bed with it last night! And yesterday night, I made this London one for Mr Cars. He picked the fabrics himself. Lining is ...

On our return at the week-end, I had a lovely package waiting for me. I received a lovely initial key-fob from Ellie Bella in the RATZ swap . This is the front with a felted C and the back with a lovely flower. It is hard to see on the picture but Ellie has embellished the flower with embroidery and added a lovely lime green button in the middle. I love the fabric she has used too! Another great swap! Yesterday I sent off these string blocks for the MMBS swap . I only managed to make 9 this time. I was planning about 40 to have enough for a quilt, but time ran out on me. Maybe I'll make another round to complete my pile of blocks. And I also received 2 more Maisy blocks from Ulrike. They are so gorgeous. I can now put together the lower half of the quilt... when I get some time. Celine

Another week-end and another few hours spent in the car. We drove from our holiday resort to my Mum on Saturday morning where we had a family party for her BIG birthday. We gave her her 3 new cushions, which I think she liked! and had a great time with the family, meeting my new niece (6-weeks old now) and just enjoying being together with all. And yesterday we drove back home because the half-term break is over and school is starting again for the last stretch before the summer holiday. All these hours in the car meant that I managed to steal some time for myself, stitching my "Life is Beautiful" blocks. Of course, my precious stitching time is often interrupted by demands for food/drinks/another DVD/reading a book etc... but what can I expect with 3 kids in the car? But I still managed to finish the block I started last week-end, on the way to our holidays, my May block (block #9): Success is not to succeed but to try and I have also make good progress on my June block...

In parallel with my cushions and string blocks for the MMSB swap (there is still time to play if you are interested), I have worked on my Maisy quilt in the last few days/week. Row 4 is now finished with Muriel and Ulrike's blocks Picture #10 is framed and attached to the Irish Chain Suzanne had sent me. And the centre picture is half-framed but... I cut it to small when I squared it, forgetting the seam allowance #?!$# and I can't find any big piece of background fabric at the moment. I can't remember if I have enough left so  I might have to piece some strips to finish this one off. Celine