Espritpatch

November had started very well, with a quilt top ready mid month but then I have had so much work that the sewing time has been squeezed to hardly nothing. Happy that I have finished 2 stitcheries though. Looking through the massive list now to see what need to be added back to December! Hoping for finish 1. Make up pouch for Christmas present - this will be my choice for Novem ber  for the One Monthly Goal with Patty - done... just in time, one more OPAM 2.  A very merry Christmas town - finished 3.  Fair Isle quilt - top is pieced! - now need quilting Bee Blocks  1.  Flower hexies for the Inchy Hexie Swap (November ) - not done 2.  Bubble Bee (Novem ber ) - in progress 3.  I love Lucy International (October,  November) - in progress 4. Scandi Bee (Novem ber) - finished WIP 1. Wanta Fanta - need 5 more blocks - finished 3 more blocks, only 2 to go! 2.  Elephant Parade...

This month I managed to finish another stitchery.... just in time to enjoy in the season! I started the Very Merry Christmas stitch-along in August last year and of course, when I fell behind, I abandoned it after Christmas... I also started 2 new cross-stitch projects in January so that was more exciting than finishing a Christmassy one.... I know I am hopeless at not joining in... I brought this one back out now and then and little by little... well it is finally finished and I am very please with it. Just need to frame it now!  But for now, I will call this an OPAM since it is "finished" and this is one off my  Q4 Finish Along list  too! Linking to  Sew Cute Tuesday ,  Let's Bee Social ,  Needle and Thread Thursday ,  Whoop Whoop Friday Celine

Not much sewing time sadly in the last couple of weeks after a very good start earlier in the month but at least I have made a few blocks... Three more Wanta Fanta blocks and this week/end I made my last 2 Scandi Bee blocks for Kay - pineapples! and one block that I promised through the Get Your Quilty WIshes Granted. I don't think I've ever made a Maple Leaf block before! These 6 blocks take my total this month to 43 blocks. Not sure how many more I'll be able to squeeze before the end of the month... Linking to  Building Blocks Tuesday Celine

In the summer, I got tempted to try making some soap. So I ordered all the ingredients I needed and started playing, using the cold process. It is actually very easy to make and after it is poured in the mould, the soap has to be left alone for a month. I picked into the box now and then (because one month is a long time to wait to see the result of your work!) and noticed that there had been an "explosion" in my box... After searching online, I realised I had a "volcano" soap. And although the soap is not pretty because of the volcano effect, it is still very nice to use and we have already used 2 bars. I convinced myself that I shouldn't stay on a mixed experience where I must say I was somewhat disappointed with the result and I should try again. But I must admit, I keep putting it off. Having put hand made soaps on my list of presents to make, I couldn't push it much longer... Finally on Saturday, I got all the ingredients out and decided it was time t...

It seems that the evenings disappear before I manage to switch on my sewing machine at the moment, so sadly I haven't got much to show since I finished the quilt top last week. However, I had to go into London on Friday. And of course, no train trip can be complete without some sort of hand-stitching. Sara had just released the last 2 patterns for the sashiko sampler that she started in the summer so this was an ideal companion for the journey. Square 8 was called Fundo (scale weights) Square 9 was another curve design: Seven Treasures And now the sampler is all finished, all stitched. I have thoroughly enjoyed the journey and I love the finished result. I think I will frame it to have on the wall in my bedroom or in the hallway. But for now, I will call this an OPAM since it is "finished" and this is one off my Q4 Finish Along list too! Linking to    Sew Cute Tuesday ,  Let's Bee Social ,  Needle and Thread Thursday . Celine

The top is finished! My Fair Isle top has gone from pieces of fabric at the beginning of the month to a quilt top 2 weeks later, wow!  I finished piecing it on Sunday and I am so happy to have got to this stage, relatively quickly. During the week, I pieced the other rows with all the blocks I had finished last week-end and I loved them so much that I thought I wouldn't put it off until I was finished with the top. All I had left was the red zig zag rows - which required a bit of attention to ensure there was indeed a zig zag! and the reindeer blocks with the snowflakes. This is another example (you can read my previous post about this) where I wish I hadn't cut the strips to the exact size but left a little leeway to cross cut the strips. It didn't turn out too bad with the 6' strips but it was worth with the 12' ones and there is no opportunity to square off the sides if you have cut the strips to the exact size. With all those new blocks (13 altoge...

Last Saturday was supposed to be a "virtual" Sewing Day with a few of the Lazy Bums girls. I, of course, had great plans of sewing loads on the day... I picked up this long fallen out of love project: The Fair Isle Quilt from the sew along that I didn't manage to follow in 2014. In advance of Saturday, I had already pieced all the "building blocks": HST and blocks of strips. One word one the strips actually... the pattern tells you to cut strips of a certain size for the building blocks. The strips are then sewn together and the building blocks cross cut into sections. So for example, if you need 4 sections 2' wide, the pattern would have told you to cut 8' strips. This is of course correct but I would have preferred to have cut longer strips (like 1' longer than needed). I know it waste a little fabric up front that way but you are sure to get all the sections you need, cut square. There are a lot of sections to cross cut so you want to be a...

November... already! It's time to start thinking about Christmas presents now if I don't want to rush them at the last minute..... Hoping for finish 1. Make up pouch for Christmas present - this will be my choice for Novem ber  for the One Monthly Goal with  Patty 2.  A very merry Christmas town  3.  Fair Isle quilt - fabric is cut... Bee Blocks  1.  Flower hexies for the Inchy Hexie Swap (November )  2.  Bubble Bee (Novem ber )  3.  I love Lucy International (October,  November) 4. Scandi Bee (Novem ber) 5. Block lotto WIP 1. Wanta Fanta - need 5 more blocks 2.  Elephant Parade  - 6 more blocks before the top can be put together 3.  Farmer's wife 1930 QAL and original FW - I am so behind...  4. Postcards from the World 5. 365 challenge quilt - let's try to sew the third border with all these tiny 3' dark blocks 6. To...