Espritpatch

With lockdown, I have discovered sourdough. I have made bread for years before but always with yeast. At the beginning of lockdown, I couldn't find yeast easily so I tried a starter sourdough following all the tips on The Perfect Loaf website . And i haven't looked back from my first loaf. We've kept the bread in a tea towel to keep it fresh. My husband kept saying that it would be nice to have a bread bag. So finally, this weekend, I made one. I used a tea towel, cut the hems to avoid too much bulk. I made a little sleeve at the top for a cord and that was it.  One OPAM for August, this was nt on my Q3 FAL list.  Linking to  Monday Design Wall ,  Monday Making ,  Wednesday Wait Loss ,  Midweek Makers ,  Needle and Thread Thursday ,  Peacock Party ,  Whoop Whoop Friday Celine

Lent started early this year and February is a busy month in our house for birthdays. So I have been baking for the birthdays. But I can't say that the baking has taken me away from the sewing, it is more work that has been so busy that I have hardly had time to sit at my machine and sew...  First of all was my middle daughter 9th birthday just before Lent. She went to school with cakes before half-term and then had a party and a "space theme" cakes with cupcakes to give away. And then this week-end is the turn of our youngest, whose official birthday is coming up. She is born on Christmas day so she has an official day in February to celebrate! She is a big Paddington fan so we tried a Paddington cake for her! And of course, there is more to come still. Celine

There hasn't been as much sewing as usual/planned/hoped because we have been away for a week, skiing in the French Alps. We have been really blessed on our week off with fantastic weather and good snow. We all went skiing and had a great week away. It was so nice to see the blue sky everyday and the bright white of the snow under the sun. I was planning lots of hand sewing while away but the weather was so good that the temptation of the slopes kept me away from the needles! We've returned nearly a week ago now but this week has been really busy with work but also with a nasty stomach bug that has sent me to bed for a full day. And finally there has been more baking for our little queen "official" birthday. Celine

Today is sweet and sour here, I have made a birthday cake but there is no-one to blew the candles, well the kids could do it for their grand-pa but sadly he is no longer with us to savor this moment or any others. My beloved Dad would have turned 65 today and I am really sad that he has left us so young. Yet he wasn't a sad person and would like us happy so with a yummy cake to celebrate him I try to portray happy memories to my children that he would so much have loved to have the chance to meet . Celine

So over 2 weeks have passed since my last post, and I wished I had kept the same rythm, but I haven't! There has been more cake [after all Big Boy turned 10], more travelling [a 20th birthday party for my cousin in France and some work meetings] and also unfortunately lots of time in bed... I caught the flu and it has really struck me down badly. I went to bed at 8pm (unheard for me!) for quite a few nights in a row and spent the whole Sunday in bed with temperature. Of course, all that together meant a lot less time in the company of my sewing machine. And this will also mean that I won't complete all my blocks this month, but I have made a few since last time! I have tried to go through the to-do list and add some for fun! So I have made good progress on my geese blocks, finishing Laurie's Geese in the Forest with 2 more blocks and also Anneliese's 4 geese blocks I now have only one set of blocks left for my #100dayschallenge! I also made my March (and ...

Another week-end, another birthday to celebrate and another baking marathon. This time it was for our youngest "official" birthday! She had a great time and was happy to have her special party too! And despite half term and the baking, I was happy to manage to squeeze some sewing... I made 10 more tiny 3.5' blocks for the 365 quilt challenge and I am still behind! Some were easy and fast, and some were very fiddly with tiny HST! I also finished my orange bubble for May, not my strongest colour! I also worked on my Lazy Bums geese, which are also on my list for the #100days challenge and I got 3 blocks done, 2 for May and 1 for Laurie. I also made my 2 film strips for Britta for Scandi Bee And I made some great progress on my blocks for the #hkqal as the first row is completed! So this is another productive week with an additional 22 blocks, taking my total this month to 44 so far! L inking to  Building Blocks Tuesday ,  Sew Cute Tuesday ,...

This week-end was a birthday week-end for my middle daughter. We celebrated her birthday on Friday, Saturday and Sunday so there was lots of planning and cooking involved and not much sewing time!   So this week has been productive in some ways but not so much on the sewing front. Admittedly, I have a number of blocks in progress, that I am really hoping to finish soon... but for now, I have picked an "abandoned" WIP and made 2 blocks for the Farmer's Wife 1930 Quilt-Along. I know you haven't seen any of those since probably October.... Anyway, here is Mrs Keller and of course the one I coldn't miss this week-end: Charlotte (with some horses of course!) And I also finished my 2 February flowers for Christine. With these additional 4 blocks, my total is now 22 for February for the 350-blocks project. L inking to  Building Blocks Tuesday ,  Sew Cute Tuesday ,  Let's Bee Social . Celine

I had another long due block to do and I am pleased it is finally finished. It was exactly difficult, Rachel wanted a flower but initially I had no idea what to so! and finally when inspiration struck, thanks to the Block lotto blocks from a few months ago, there was no time to do it. Finally I finished it this week-end and it is on its way back home! But of course, that was after the traditional biscuits for the teachers for Christmas and also a little pouch inspired by the lovely one I received from my friend Esther (hers is the Liberty one on the right) that my youngest gifted to her key teacher as she is moving up to bigger school after Christmas. One more block for the 350-blocks project taking me to 10 and also one more OPAM. Linking to  Building Blocks Tuesday . Celine

Where does the time disappear, I am sure the days have shrunk in length, I can't believe it is nearly 2 weeks since my last block post. Admittedly we have been quite busy, we have reached this time of year where we celebrate the kids' birthdays, all 3 over about a few weeks. The festivities started last week with a trip back to France to celebrate all 3 birthdays at once with family and friends (also known as extended family!) So of course, I have been busy baking and baking again. And then this week my eldest princess turned 6, so more baking has been and will be involved (one more cake to make tomorrow)! And then stupidly enough I thought it would be such a good idea to make her a Frozen dress for her birthday. Yes such a good idea when you have no experience of sewing clothes. My original plan was to make my skirt with the sew-along in January and then to tackle Frozen but that didn't quite work out. And Frozen dress is so simple with a bodice in 4 parts, a yoke ...

I have been busy baking recently, as well as trying to steal a little sewing time now and then but the blog has been very quiet. I made a Christmas stollen last week which came out very nice. A few people asked me for the recipe on Instagram so I thought it would be easier to share it here! Christmas Stollen Ingredients: 75 g sultanas 75 g mixed cut peeel 75 g glace cherries 60 mL dark rum 400 g unbleached white bread flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 50 g sugar 1 1/2 teaspoon yeast 1 egg 140 mL lukewarm milk 50 g melted butter 50 g pinenuts 225 g marzipan 1. Soak the sultanas, mixed peel and cherries in the rum for a few hours. 2. Mix together the flour, salt, sugar, yeast, egg, melted butter and milk to a soft dough. Leave in a warm place to rise until doubled in size. 3. Knock back and knead into the dough the soaked fruits and pinenuts. 4. Roll into a rectangle. Roll the marzipan into a suasage shape and place it in the middle of the rectangle. Fold the dough ove...

Where does the time go? It seems that every month fly by quicker than the previous one. I can't believe that June will soon be over and I have hardly done any sewing at all. The first week-end was our son First Holy Communion, where we spent a fantastic week-end with the family. 17 of us all together for the occasion for the week-end, it was really good but of course, also very busy. So ahead of the big day, I spent quite a lot of time in the kitchen and preparing for my big boy with little spare time for anything else. And after the event, we had family staying with us so I don't think I found any time near my machine for the first 2 weeks of June. Last week-end, I went to a chocolate making workshop with my friend. It was very good and gave me lots of ideas of what to make and I spent most of last Sunday playing with chocolate, quite a pleasant activity... if only there was more hours in the day! and my first ever chocolates with mint ganache And of course ...