Espritpatch

  Another month over, and another year as well. And what a year! With so much time at home, I think I have been more productive than I am normally and I am pleased that December has been a particularly good month for my sewing. I finished most of the gifts I wanted to give on time, which is always a bonus! Both the hexie bear rug and the Tinsel Tree quilt are finished and gifted The Christmas PJ were delivered on Christmas Eve and my Moneta is also finished, just! I have made 5 pouches and gifted almost all of them The Retro Tetro quilt has the binding on, I just need to hand sew it on the back now. Linking to December Furtle . Celine

  Probably my last finish of the year, I put the last stitches on my glittery Moneta dress yesterday evening, ready for the non-party on 31st!  I bought the fabric in the Black Friday sale in November 2019 but I never managed to make anything with it last year before the end of year festivities. I had kept it on my to-do list last year and eventually cut a Moneta in spring that I thought of finishing for Easter. Well no need to remind you what happened in spring but priorities moved to sewing some NHS scrub and the cut pieces fell deep in the UFO basket... Well, I unearthed everything earlier this week with a goal of having a new dress for the new year and I am happy that I can fulfil that goal.  The Moneta dress is not a new pattern since I have made another 2 but this is first time I try it with the collar. I like the look of it, it makes the dress quite different I think. As with the others, I lengthen the bodice by 5cm because I am tall but otherwise I didn't make any other a

Just a quick look back on the  Fettle Those Finishes  list I wrote  with   Archie the Wonder Dog  in October.  I had a shorter list than usual and some that I was planning to finish for Christmas, so let's have a look at how much I have completed. Quilts: 1. Super Mario quilt - I made 4 more blocks 2. Threadology quilt -  finished 3. Baby Bear Rug -  finished 4. Snowflake Quilt-Along - top  finished 5. Tinsel Tree Quilt-Along -  finished 6. Retro Tetro Quilt-Along - nearly  finished 7. Halo quilt - sadly no progress 8. Harry Potter quilt -  sadly no progress Bags, accessories: 1.  Moonwake handbag - no progress 2. Persephone x 3  -  no progress 3.  Handy bags  -  no progress 4. Kuori phone pouch  -  no progress 5. Little Mynta wallet  -  no progress 6. Infinity Cross-Body bag -  no progress 7. Scrunchies  -  no progress 8. Deyjon bag  -  no progress 9. Magdalena Circle Bag  -  no progress 10. Accessories as Christmas presents - partly done Dressmaking: 1.  Fumeterre skirt -  finish

 Planning?? Really?? Is that still possible in the unpredictable world we live in at the moment. Or maybe planning is actually what will keep us/me sane. To be honest, we do have big projects (as a family) for 2021 but more on that later, hoping that they will happen and we can then share.  Yvonne's Planning Party  is on once more. I participated the last 2 years but I am not sure how well I have fared really. Maybe because I had too many projects and I am always tempted by more. So I should try and focus on some real wishes I have for next year, some projects that I would like to see moving out of my head and into reality. Let's try and pick just a few from each "category" Quilts, let's try to: Finish at least 2 UFOs (top favorites would be Super Mario, Harry Potter, Halo quilt and Gipsy Wife)  Finish the 2 WIP that I have started since Autumn: Snowflake quilt and Retro Tetro Get rid of 2 other UFOs that I will never finish - not sure which ones yet, I need to go

  Surely 2020 is not all gloom! I am joining Cheryl to look back on this so peculiar year and find some sparks of joy in my creative world. So what are my best from this year? In no particular order: 1. The most unexpected project: sewing scrubs for our local hospital 2. The long forgotten project: 2 quilts from blocks that were in a draw for over 15 years 3. The most satisfying dressmaking project: Hubby's quadra jeans 4. The tiny-teeny mini piecing: Mini series quilt-along with Alison Glass and Giucy Giuce 5. The cute present: Hexie bear rug for my nephew Linking to Best of 2020 Celine

Nothing better than a deadline to get going, right? I bought 5m of Christmas jersey in October to make new PJs for the kids. With the rush to get presents finished and sent before Christmas, I didn't have time to start until this week. I used the 11th Hour Gear Pattern by New Horizons Designs that I have been using so many times so far. This time, I cut a size 10 for my youngest, size 12 (+2 inches on the legs) for the middle one and size 16 (+2 inches on the legs) for the eldest. I started cutting on Wednesday night but didn't manage all 3 pairs.  So after the Christmas cooking was all done on 24th, I decided to just do what I wanted and not what I needed to for a change! Leaving so late meant that I had to go with my stash. I was hoping 5m would work out for all 3 pairs but of course, they are getting bigger so I ran out of fabric for the sleeves for the smaller top. I had another jersey in my stash that I used for it. As for the ribbing, I used a variety of what I had left

  For most people in this part of the world, Christmas is different this year. No big family gathering, limited travel to avoid spreading this nasty virus. We would normally be in France visiting family, enjoying shared time together but not this year, we will wait until it is safe to do so. So yes, it is sad in some ways but I feel very grateful for all we have, I feel privileged and lucky as I know many have lost so much this year. Yes we have had some curved balls our way too (losing my job and being infected with Covid-19 comes to mind...) but they have been manageable and we have / are bouncing back. Difficult to know when the situation will improve, difficult to know what the future will be like but for now, let's make the most of what we have, treasure our loved ones and be patient and hopeful that things will get better. Wishing you a lovely Christmas whatever your plans are. Celine

  Another long-time UFO that has been rehomed... the triangle blocks. These blocks came from the Simply Solids bee in 2013 (!) , I guess this was hosted on Flickr at the time. The theme was to make blocks with only solid fabric (obviously). I asked my fellow bee members to make triangle blocks in either cold or warm colours. When I found the blocks again earlier this year, I had 19 of them, about 18' on the side and 16' in height but they were not all the same size. I guess some could be trimmed or other made bigger quite easily.  They look nice all together but I don't think I'll ever do anything with them in the end. So I decided to part with them and let someone else put them to good use. Another very old UFO which will hopefully find a new lease of life! Celine

  Since Sunday night, we have been placed in Tier 4 (out of 3? until Saturday) and full lockdown (what is the difference, apart from the name?) is looming for us but I think for the whole country too. Christmas plans have been smashed last minute for lots of people sadly. We knew that it would be very difficult/virtually impossible to go back to France so we had abandoned any plans to go a while ago. Nothing worse than a roller-coaster of emotions the week before Christmas with 3 children in the house. It felt it would be too much after such a heavy years if we planned to go and everything collapsed at the last minute.  So if you can't share the warmth of being together and the love of seeing your family, the next best thing (after video calls, or maybe before?) has to be a quilt for sure! My plan was to send my Christmas tree to my Mum earlier this month but I didn't finish it as quickly as I had planned/hoped (nothing new here!) You might remember that this was the quilt that