Round the World Blog Hop

You may have noticed that there is a blog hop going around where bloggers introduce themselves in a bit more detail and how/why they do what they do. Well it's my turn this week.

I was tagged by the lovely Gina from The Occasional Quilter a little while ago. Gina gave me plenty of time to prepare, so much so that between the holidays and other secret commitments that I can't share yet, I completely forgot about the blog hop until today (hence a very late post).... when it is now time to post all about me. I haven't met Gina in real life (but I hope I will one of these days) but I have been in bees with her and she also is a very good Insta friends, she is always so kind to me.

In case you are new to my blog, I thought I would give you a little bit of information about me!
I am a French mum of 3 who has been living in the United Kingdom for the last 14 years. My eldest son is 8 and my daughters are 5 and 2. I work (a big) part time in the pharma industry. I spend a lot of time cooking for my family and of course on the usual house tasks as well as juggling the kids activities. So sewing is my sanity. When the kids are finally in bed, I am so happy to escape to the sewing room and spend a few hours in the company of my sewing machine. Usually while my dear hubby is painting in the same room! 
I have been quilting for just over 10 years. I have attended a few classes here and there over the years but I am mostly self-taught. Once I started buying fabric online, I got the bug and became almost instantaneously a fabric addict! I can't stop myself if I see any gorgeous pieces of fabric, they always seem to be calling my name. So my stash is ever increasing. My Mum suffered from the same disorder for dressmaking fabric so I guess this is a genetic issue (not sure the pharma world has ever investigated it to date ;-)  ) 
I also spend a lot of time in the kitchen cooking the family meals but also baking cakes and yummy bread.
I did cross-stitch before I started quilting and I have recently gone back to it with the lovely Once Upon a Time Sampler that is an year-long on-going project.

What am I working on
I am never disciplined enough in my sewing to work on one project from start to finish before picking up another one. When I first started patchwork, I couldn't understand how people could have UFO rather than finishing what they started before picking something else. How naive I was at the time, lol! I very very quickly got up and had my very own growing list of UFOs!

I have several type of projects I am working on at the time. I am a swap-aholic so there is always a swap going on. I am currently working on my Secret Sister swap and all I'll show you is some fabric!

And of course the various bees I am in too. I have a couple of blocks on the go

Then there are the quilt-alongs of course. I am planning to get started asap on the Flowering Snowball-along but so far I have only picked my fabric and cut my templates

and there is also the Celestial Star quilt-along that I haven't started either.

And I need to make a school bag for Mr M and one for miss A

There is also my Dear Jane quilt that I haven't touched for years 

and my Farmer's Wife which hasn't been touched for month

my Midnight in the Oasis that I started this year

and now since the FQR 2014 the Green Tea and Sweet Bean as well!

I won't go through my long list of UFOs here ;-)

How Does My Work Differ from Others
I quite often follow patterns, quilt along etc but I also occasionally create my own. I am very proud of My Hungry Caterpillar quilt, which was my own design

or my Maisy quilt which was inspired from a Star Irish Chain but made so much more unique by the centre Maisy blocks that my fellow bees helped me create.

More recently, my Flower Power quilt was my own design too to use up a pile of old BOM blocks 

or my Siblings Together quilt

Of course, my choice of fabric or colour palette is mine as well. 
I do all my quilts from A to Z myself, I do the cutting (I have never used pre-cuts so far), piecing, quilting. I don't own a long-arm but I have a quilting frame that I occasionally use.
Why I do what I do
Sewing is my sanity! And I obsessed with fabric, which probably explains why I do what I do. I love playing with fabric. It is my relaxation!How Does My Creative Process Work 
It depends what I am trying to do. When I follow a pattern, there is only the fabric arrangement to play with. Whereas when I make an original design, I work with pen and paper, occasionally Excel! I don't own a fancy software to design quilt so this is quite limited. 

That's it for me for today. Hope you weren't too bored!
I am tagging some fellow European bloggers so you won't have to travel to far between now and next week. They will be posting next Monday 25th August.

Lou at I' m Studio Lou. Lou has started her blog just over a year ago. A few month back, she started the Little Blog Bee which is when I met her "virtually". I don't think her blog would fit in the Little Blog category anymore, and this is quite right as she has lots of lovely work. Check her dressmaking as well as her patchwork skills. 

Pippa at  Pippa's Patch - Pippa has done the reverse from me. She is a Brit living in France! I have got to know Pippa through several bees and finally met her this year at FQR 2014. Go and read her adventure.

Happy blog hopping!
Celine