Espritpatch

In an attempt to get 30 blocks completed by the end of the month, I have been madly chain piecing this week to make more blocks. I have mainly focused on my Farmer's Wife blocks and  I completed a grand total of 10 in a week- yeah! (but I'll do a separate post with the Linky party) but I also made various other blocks. 2 more double chevrons for my Mod Along Quilt That's my January blocks completed, now I need to make 10 beads on a string for the February blocks (yes I am a bit behind already!) So these 2 chevrons along with the 2 flowers and the 10 Farmer's Wife blocks gave me 24 blocks for the month. I needed 6 more to meet the 350 blocks challenge Desperate times call for desperate measures so I started looking around my sewing room for fast and easy blocks to make before midnight! I first found a part pieced X-string block that I finished tonight: And next I targeted my Impromptu blocks. I have all the 9-patch blocks to transform into floating 9-patch ...

I did find more time for hand sewing this week, especially yesterday courtesy of the train company which was running with huge delays thanks to an electrical problem. That made my commute far much longer than normal and gave me time to finish my February flowers for the Inchy Hexie swap . Jennifer wanted some vintage looking flowers so I hope these ones fit in her garden. I also received those lovely stepping stones from Maree and some from Michele too. Linking to Building Blocks Tuesday and WOW . Celine

Another week-end, another birthday cake! This time a delayed birthday cake for Miss Baby since she turned 2 on Christmas day. I made her a teddy bear cake and she had much fun blowing  her candles! We also had Miss Strawberry Shortcake first dance show, we were so proud to watch her perform on stage for the first time ever! And today I completed 2 pillow cases. This is not even UFOs since it wasn't started. I bought the fabric a few years ago and it was just sitting there. So we now have hers and his! 2 more OPAMs and of course this was my challenge for February for a Lovely Year of Finishes. I must admit the only reason I did those today was because they were on that exact list. The power of committing in writing! Linking to the February Finishes Party Celine

So in between baking cakes, cakes and more cakes and travelling (or while travelling actually), I did finish a few blocks this month even if I haven't reach the magic 30 number for the February 350 blocks challenge. First I finished my Lucy block for Susan with pink, green, yellow and orange and it has gone all the way to her Then I finished Hannah's EPP block for Bee Europa and also Alia's block for Get Your Hex on as well as 2 sets of hexies for Janet for the Inchy Hexie Swap All these were on-the-go blocks because they are all hand-stitched, which goes to show that i have spent a fair amount of time on the road this month! I also finished my block for Lucy for Simply Solids and 2 slab blocks for Dorothy for Siblings Together 2 and also 2 double chevrons for myself for the Mod Mod Along So that's 10 blocks completed so far, I need another 20 by the end of the month, this might be tricky! I will need to go for some quick wins! Linkin...

I can't believe it is over a week since my last post. I must say it has been very busy with a big birthday party for the kids at the week-end in France and me doing 2 return trips to France in less than a week. Lots of baking, lots of travelling and very little sewing.  I did finish my mini for the Super Swap , that I showed you in-progress last week  and sent it off on Monday all the way to Sweden. And of course, this is another OPAM for February and one item of my list for February. And today I received my mini for the Super Swap from Jan. My first thought when I opened it was that I had hit the jackpot. This is Jan's second mini with that design and I had put her first one in my inspiration mosaic but of course I never thought I'd get the exact same quilt! And I love the fabric she has chosen for me, lots of text prints. Linking to Needle and Thread Thursday , Brit Thursday Sewing Linky and Whoop Whoop Friday . Celine

So we have hit the birthday season in our house - again. Of course, it is a nice time of the year for the kids and it brightens the terrible weather we are enduring at the moment. But it also means I get to spend loooots of time in the kitchen baking cakes and more cakes. I have already 5 for Miss Strawberry Shortcake's 5th birthday this week, so I haven't had that much time for sewing really But I did manage a few things. I made good progress on my mini for my Super Swaps partner (I only have the binding to hand sew now). I used a pattern from the Pretty Patchwork Holidays book for the Harvest Wine table runner. Well, one word of caution if you want to make this pattern, the templates printed in the book are wrong, you need to print the updated templates from the website here . I had already cut all my fabric when I realised so I used what I had cut but it did require some fiddling around with the curves! Anyway, I finished the quilt top last week-end but didn't get...

I have finished my "It's Raining in New York" mini quilt for my Sew Sew Modern Swap and I really like it. I could easily have kept it. I think I will have to make myself one. I quilted the centre with some concentric petal shapes and echo quilted around the quarter circle to give volume to the spiky arcs. I also made 2 nesting baskets with some grey Essex Linen and purple Pearl Bracelet. I really like those baskets from Nova  (the pattern is about 35 pages long with lots of customisations, options etc!) Now my package is on its way across the Atlantic, fingers crossed my partner likes it. So that gives me 3 OPAMs for February and one item to cross off my list for the Finish Along Party . Linking to WIP Wednesday , WOW  and Finish Along 2014 . Celine

So the first month of the year is already over, time goes really fast at the moment, I think. I work better with list so let's make one for February and see how much I can cross off! And because I just discovered Melissa and Shana's challenge to finish one project a month: 2014 - A lovely year of finishes , this is yet another incentive added to the OPAM and Lazy Bums to get things done The 350 blocks challenge for February is to make 30 blocks! That's quite a lot for a short month, but I will try anyway! What else can I add to the list? 1. Finish off my mini quilt and small item for the Sew Sew Modern 4 swap 2. Make a mini quilt for the Super Swap 3. Catch up on my Simply Solids blocks (December and January) 4. Make my Siblings Together 2 blocks (January and February) 5. Inchy Hexie swap (finish January and February) 6. Block for the Lotto 7. Double chevrons blocks for Mod Mod Along 8. Start my Once Upon a Time Sampler for the New FO challenge 9. Make s...

A productive month I think, hopefully this is not just New Year's resolutions (that I didn't make anyway). Maybe it was help by the fact that our computer was down for about half of the month! January stats: Bee blocks: 14 (2 for I love Lucy International, 2 for Siblings Together 2, 4 for Granny Square Bee, 3 for Bee Europa, 1 for Stash Bee, 2 for Sew Euro-be-an, 2 for Inchy Hexie Swap) Block lotto: 6 Farmer's Wife: 12 OPAM: 1 mini quilt for the Doll Quilt Swap 14 Linking to Fresh Sewing Day Celine