Espritpatch

Happy Easter to you all with 2 lovely hens that the girls have done with their childminder. I am wondering whether the UK will have a white Easter as snow doesn't seem to be so far yet. Hopefully we shouldn't get any in Barcelona. With the very cold and long winter, I am really hoping to get a bit of sunshine and warmth!

April will be my month as a Queen Bee in Sew Euro Bee An. After much thoughts and hesitations over which block to pick, I have set my heart on a scrappy X block inspired by Bonnie Hunter's but with a slight variation as I want the scrappy strips to be bordered by a solid white strip. I am writing a tutorial for the block as I also want it a different size from Bonnie's block. Bonnie is using foundation piecing but I did mine with normal piecing. Ready? Click on read more below for the full tutorial with pictures!

This week, I have started some new Bee Blocks. I have made my test block for the [3x6] Sampler Mini Bee . I choose the Stepping Stairs block in the FQ Shape Workshop book. I made one block in my colour scheme - pink using a solid raspberry for the small squares. I really like how this has turned out and I can't wait to make the others. I have already cut some fabric for my other blocks I haven't made any progress on my EPP block because I have been working from home since last week, so no commute time to do my hand sewing. I am hoping to finish my second block tomorrow or Thursday... Watch this space. I have also worked on my Wonky Stars for Floh in Sew Euro Bee an . I am nearly there so I should be able to send them back soon. I will be linking to Lee for WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced . That's all for this week. See you soon! Celine

Soma has posted on Flicker that she is starting a Spring blog hop in April. Well it isn't really spring here, but we can dream! It will all start on 1 April and will go on for a month, with 10 paper pieced patterns. Check it there if you are interested. And while visiting Soma's blog, I wandered around and hop onto this blog where there is a BOM for Lord of the Rings fans , All that is gold does not glitter, Not all who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes a fire shall be woken, A light form the shadows shall spring; Renewed shall be blade that was broken, The crownless again shall be king. started in January so it isn't too late to catch up if you wish. Something I should add on my list for my hubby... or maybe the previous BOM from 2011 would be better? They fell to talking of their times together, of course, and Bilbo asked how things were ...

We had a very cold snap this week-end again with some snow. There is still some in the garden tonight. My Mum was over for a brief visit this week-end. She hadn't seen our new extension yet so she was impressed! While we were chatting away, I did some of my hems on my curtains. I managed to sew 3 widths worth by hand, finishing one French door curtain, that I can add to my OPAM list... not bad for a week-end! I calculated this week-end, that with the new curtains in the house following our building work, I have 18 widths of fabric to hem by hand... and so far I have finished a grand total of 5! Slowly, I will get there! I also managed to find a little bit of "me" time last night and finished off a few of my Bee blocks. I first finished my " Pinwheel in the Park " block for Leona for Bee White Black ! Leona had cut all the fabrics for us so it was easy to put the block together. And I also caught up with all the Granny Bee Blocks that I hadn't manag...

Today is Miss Strawberry Shortcake leaving concert at pre-school... Where does the time go? Didn't she start just yesterday? I don't know it seems months go by so quickly these days. Anyway, I thought it would be nice for her to have a little token present for the lady who was her key contact. I had wanted to join in the Triple Zip Along on Flicker when Debbie ran it in January/February but of course that never happen. The idea at the time was to make a triple zip pouch during the Zip Along so it would be ready in great time for today. Well, good planning but I forgot to factor it the time or lack of in my case.

Just to brighten the grey skies we have here, I received 2 lovely flowers from Ana in Portugal. I love the fabric she has picked! Thank you Ana.  I still need to finish my February and March flowers for my partners - working on them. And I am missing December and February flowers from my partners... Celine