Espritpatch

  Sadly no sewing at all in December but I am happy to report very little crafting, almost all involving the Cricut that I finally seem to have tamed! First there were many more Pillow Case Holders for the school plus one for my friend with a little diamanté and then there were some paper crafts with some gift labels and money holders And finally, not Cricut related but I finally finished the center part of the Nutcracker Parade during the holidays. Linking to December Furtle Céline

  I had great hopes when I joined Gail's PhD in 2023 challenge in January but I didn't do that well after all... Of the 12 projects I listed; only 3 are now completed: the Impromptu quilt (initially started in 2013), the mini Storm at Sea (started in 2010) and the Messenger bag. One more has seen some progress: I made more blocks for the Harry Potter quilt but the top is not yet finished. I unearthed 2 projects but didn't manage to work on them in the end so no progress for the Morgan Jeans or the Forester Coat. As for the last 6 projects, there has been no change to their UFO status sadly. So I will for sure be able to join the new PhD team for 2024: MS P Designs ! Linking to PhD in 2023: December report Céline

  December has not been very productive in terms of craft but I am happy to have at least taken time to create cute personalised labels for my gifts with my Cricut. I had found those beautiful labels on a facebook group and they came out very pretty. Since I used some plain paper, I asked my artsy daughter to colour them in for me, task she duly accomplished! I also made 2 personalised wallets to give concert tickets/cash which came out very pretty I think. Linking to  D esign  Wall Monday ,  Midweek Makers ,  Wednesday Wait Loss ,  Happy Needle and Threa d ,  Put your foot down ,  Brag about your Beauties ,  Off the wall Friday ,  Can I get a Whoop Whoop ,  Peacock Party ,  Patchwork and Quilt . Céline

 2023 is not quite over but we're nearly there... it has been a mixed bag in terms of sewing and crafting for sure with some productive times and some completely empty ones sadly. Life for our family has continued to be quite difficult overall so that's had an effect on my motivation, time and energy to craft for sure.  Never mind, time to dream for 2024, full of hopes for a better year for the world and for us too. I think it should be a rather busy year with some planned major changes (again) but despite that let's join in the fun with Yvonne's Planning Party and set a few goals for the new year. Before planning for next year, let's see how I fare on last year's plans.  I had planned/ hoped to finish 3 quilts, I finished 2 but didn't touch the third one.  I had selected 4 WIPs to progress and worked on 3. In the dressmaking department, my UFOs are still UFOs but I managed to make 2 blouses and PJs for the girls.  Bags and accessories, I didn't make the

  2023 is not quite over but we're nearly there... it has been a mixed bag in terms of sewing and crafting for sure with some productive times and some completely empty ones sadly. Life for our family has continued to be quite difficult overall so that's had an effect on my motivation, time and energy for crafting for sure. Now looking back at the year, here are my Best of for 2023. An oldie that's finally finished: the Impromptu quilt. 10 years since it was started, nearly finished 2 years ago, long arm quilted this spring and binding finally on in November.... Quick and easy project that I had meant to try for a long time, overcoming my fear of using my Cricut... the Pillow Card Holder Sewing up one of my favourite fabric: my City Pléiades Dress Linking to Best of 2023 Céline 

I made another batch of little pillow card holders, with a bit more colours this time and I remembered to take pictures!!  Still using the same pattern:   Pillow Card Holder pattern from Sewing Seeds of Love . I cut a pile of them on my cricut from various scraps of faux leather which had a nice enough wrong side since these are not lined.  Once cut, they only need folding and they are finished with 2 snaps. Task I delegated to my daughter since she was off sick from school.  And then my husband was called to the rescue to hammer the snaps and secure them.  I also made a special one, adding a hot fix crystal that I bought in New York last year and never got around to use! This one was gifted to my friend when she visited, an early Christmas present! All 12 have been given away, the main batch to school for their fundraising and the diamanté one to my friend.   Linking  to  D esign Wall Monday ,  Midweek Makers ,  Wednesday Wait Loss ,  Happy Needle and Threa d ,  Put your foot down , 

  I have no doubt December will be ultra busy, what with the festive period and everything else we have to deal with currently... but I'm so hoping to carve out just a little time for some sewing here and there. Maybe this is just wishful thinking of maybe that will help to keep me sane somehow...  Qui lting 1.  Dear Jane - hoping to finish row E, would be nice to finish it by the end of the year... all the blocks are cut now. 2. Farmer's Wife - will I finally make a few blocks on this one? Dressmaking 1 .  Undies 2. Winter coat (started 2 years ago) 3. Reusable kitchen towels 4. Reusable make up pads Bags 1.  Town bag by Grainline - cut and started but not progressing, really hoping to finish this one too... 3.  Scrappy baskets 4. Corkordion Wallet 5. Sac filet 6. Bag for the girls - these will be my  One monthly goal 7. Zippered pocket for my friend 8. Pillow card holder Cross-stitch 1. Nutcracker stitch along Céline

A busy month, a difficult month, a month with difficult memories but also a few happier moments. Lots to progress this month still for all of us and not necessarily enough energy or time to sew as much as I had planned/ wished. A few makes this month that I'm happy to have finished! 2 pairs of PJ, one for each girl even if the elephant one is in the recycling bag as the fabric was damaged after all... A collection of pillow card holder, even though I forgot to take a picture, with more in the making at the moment.  And the biggest one, my Impromptu is fully finished now. I'm so happy I can cross this one off my list! Linking to  November Furtle Céline 

  10 years since I started this quilt and last night I finally added the last stitches! It was originally a quilt-along on Flickr (!) (one of so many I joined) that started in 2013. I managed most of the basic blocks and when there were some additional cuts to do, I froze and put it aside... for a very long time!  I finally got the bag out in June 2021 and finished the quilt top just before our international move to get it quilted before we left the UK but I had an adventure with my parcel that got sent to the wrong address but eventually (luckily) came back to me. By that time it was too late to get it quilted in the UK... Last year I contacted Kim in France to quilt it for me but the parcel sat for nearly another year before I got everything out, ironed the top and the backing to send it on its way. And finally this spring I sent it to Kim who quilted it beautifully.  All that was left was for the binding to be added. I wasn't sure what solid I used for the top (since it had be

  I seem to concentrate on the easy and fast to sew at the moment. Maybe it is the satisfaction of achieving something even when I have limited time and energy... Anyway whatever the reason, about a week or so after I cut it all up, I finished a new PJ for my eldest daughter. She seems to be growing overnight so everything gets too short too quickly. I bought this bright and colourful poppy fabric over a year ago at a local fabric market but hadn't got around to use it yet. I thought I had enough for a full PJ but I could only cut the top so I digged into my stash of plain jersey and found a lovely black one for the PJ bottom. Once again, this was a quick make as all is assembled on my overlocker. And once again I used the 11th hour gear pattern by Pattern Niche , all in size 16. Another finish for November! Linking to  Wednesday Wait Loss ,  Brag about your Beauties ,     Patchwork and Quilt . Céline

I heard this week that my daughter's school were planning to sell small objects during the parents-teachers meetings to fund raise for the final years' school trips abroad. I was trying to think about what I could contribute that would be fast and easy to make but would still sell. They hadn't asked for any contributions but I figure I could help maybe. Looking through my patterns stash I remembered the Pillow Card Holder pattern from Sewing Seeds of Love which actually doesn't require any sewing at all. I had this one on my to-do list for a while and then dropped it. All it required really is cutting with the Cricut and then inserting 2 snaps. And that exactly what had stopped me so far... using my Cricut to cut the piece... so I finally got it out and of course it was much easier than anything I feared.  The pattern comes with the svg file so it just needs uploading onto the DS software and it is ready to go! I used faux leather from my massive stash for them, select

Weather is awful, life is difficult so I could easily hibernate... making PJ is almost hibernating I guess, but at least something come out of it.  This week I picked up the pieces I had cut in October from my scrap box to make a new pair of PJ for my youngest, with leftovers from a PJ made to her sister a few years back. Another game of a Tetris to fit as many pieces as possible on the leftover piece of elephant fabric. Only the back of the PJ top was cut out from a piece of black leftover fabric.  Again I used my tried and trusted  11th hour gear pattern by Pattern Niche   in size 10. Another one finished with self made labels too. Linking to D esign Wall Monday ,  Midweek Makers ,  Wednesday Wait Loss ,  Happy Needle and Threa d ,  Put your foot down ,  Brag about your Beauties ,   Off the wall Friday ,  Can I get a Whoop Whoop ,  Peacock Party ,  Patchwork and Quilt . Céline 

At least I carved out a little bit of time for sewing in October but much less than I was hoping for. Although November is my birthday month, it will be a difficult month with some painful anniversaries. Maybe I will find some sewing time to make the memories less painful... Christmas is around the corner too so maybe I will try and make a few gifts? Qui lting 1 .  Impromptu quilt - Finally the binding is on and need to be sewn by hand so I will keep it as  my   One monthly goal 2.  Dear Jane - hoping to finish row E, all the blocks are cut now. 3. Farmer's Wife - will I finally make a few blocks on this one? Dressmaking 1 .  PJ for M 2. PJ for A (cut) 3. PJ for C 4. Peppermint Belle Shirt 5. Undies 6. Nightdress for me 7. Winter coat (started 2 years ago) Bags 1.  Moonwake bag 2.  Town bag by Grainline - cut and started but not progressing, really hoping to finish this one too... 3.  Scrappy baskets 4. Corkordion Wallet 5. Sac filet Cross-stitch 1. Nutcracker stitch along Céline