Espritpatch

The last quilt I finish this month, binding is on and Miss A can snuggle with Hello Kitty. She is actually sleeping underneath it tonight because summer has forgotten us! It is so awful today that I have only been able to take indoor pictures. I am so in love with this quilt I must say! Starting from this tub of little 1.5' squares of Kona solids in January through to the quilt top in May and the quilting earlier this month The binding is now on, the threads are buried the  label is on too! Quilt stats:  Fabric: Kona cotton  Backing: Paddington Bear from my stash! Binding: Kona cotton turquoise Quilting with Superior Threads King Tut #993 and Aurifil 4650 in the bobbin Pattern:Hello Kitty by Amy Newbold Started in January 2016 and finished on 29 June 2016 Size: 36' square And this is another OPAM for June as well as one item crossed off my  Finish Along Q2 list ! Linking to  Let's Bee Social ,  Needle and...

Only one block completed so far this week, this is my last (belated) block for the Simply Solids bee. This block was for Jo. She asked for a snowflake like the ones you make with paper that you fold and cut out. I finally got around to try and make her this block with a snowflake inspired from a charm on one bracelet I recently bought: That's another bee which is finished and one of my goal for March (#2) completed! If you want to try cutting out a six-pointed snowflake, visit this website for clear and detailed instructions. Linking to Jen at  Building Blocks Tuesday , Sue at Brit Thursday Sewing Linky , Kelly at Needle and Thread Thursday . Celine

The half-term holidays is over and we have been back for over a week but I really don't know where the time disappears. This week has been very busy at work and at home and I didn't find much time to blog or sew really. I am still playing catch up like last month with my bee blocks... I didn't think it would take me that long to get back on track but here we are, I am still trying. Anyway, I played with solid fabric this week and made Nat's dancing stars blocks for Simply Solids Bee . I really like the look of these little stars.  They are paper-pieced from a free pattern by Amy Ellis . I must say that reading the cutting instructions for a full size quilt had my head spinning (500+ squares in different colours!) The blocks are not too difficult to make but a little bit fiddly if you haven't tried paper piecing before with all the triangles! They go together quite quickly, and a lot quicker that if you had to cut all the individual pieces together. I am...

October is already nearly over and it will be Christmas time before we know it. Scary thought! I guess I better get started on Miss Baby Advent Calendar, but for now, I am working on my bee block, to finish catching up and not get behind again! And last night I made this block for Bee White Black  Suzy sent us some solid black and white + one colour asking us to make a strip or rectangle block. I had a vision in my head for a pink wave block which I thought would work quite well with a bargello type design so this is what I went for. I hope Suzy likes it! Linking to Needle and Thread Thursday  and Thursday Threads . Celine

I am not normally very confident with improv block but Amy set the challenge for her Simply Solids Bee blocks. While I was catching up on Ange's blocks and making my test blocks, I had cut a variety of pieces in solids both in terms of size/shapes and colours. It was ideal to make Amy's block as I didn't have to cut pieces purposefully, which would probably have been all too similar in size/shape. I decided to try and use my cut-offs as much as possible, balancing the colours and the shapes. And I must say little by little my block grew bigger until I had about 3 units ready to be put together. And if I can say so myself, I really like how Amy's block has turned out. So even if it is very late, I hope she likes it too! Celine

It is finally half-term here in the UK and we should have been going back home to take the kids to my Mum for the week but plans have had to change. It seems that we have had bugs in the house constantly since September and that at least one of the kids is ill at any one point. Anyway, we decided against travelling with ill children and are still waiting to see whether we can take them there soon or not. That has meant that instead of being stuck in traffic last night, I had time to play in my sewing machine and I finished my test blocks for Simply Solids Bee . I am queen Bee in November! After changing my mind about 20 times I decided to go for the Pyramid Log Cabin blocks from Lady Harvatine's quilt-along I will ask my fellow bee members to make one block with warm colours and one block with cold colours if they are happy to, of course! The block in itself is quite simple to make, it is constructed like a normal log cabin but starts with a triangle instead of a squa...

This week-end has gone like a flash again. I am not sure what I did but I certainly didn't do as much sewing as I was hoping to do. I did manage to finish 2 bee blocks for the Simply Solids Bee (another one when I am playing catch up...) and finished my 2 blocks for Ange. They were not too difficult but I must say the center doesn't look as good as I was hoping. There are so many seams coming to the middle that it is hard to have it neat. Ange asked for some bright blocks so I hope mine are bright enough! I also worked on my improv block for Amy which isn't quite finished yet but I am getting there. I am always a bit intimidated by improv blocks but I must say I quite like how my units have turned out so far. Linking with Building Blocks Tuesday and Sew Cute Tuesday . Celine

So it is past 10 pm here and I have just switched off my work computer. I was hoping that my main WIP this week, the quilting on my frame (which I haven't used for 2 years) of my Maisy quilt (ready since last year in August!) would no longer be a WIP (after being a UFO for over a year) but unfortunately, it will still be when I go to bed very soon. I was really looking forward to a little bit of quilting tonight but with 3 out 3 children ill at the moment and lots and lots of work to do, it won't happen today. I am really happy to have got my frame out again and to have finally managed to use it again after a disastrous Sunday. I have quilted on it Monday and Tuesday and I only have part of one row and one border left on the quilt so hopefully it shouldn't be a WIP for much longer. My (secret) goal is to have it ready to be finished (hand sewing the binding) on Sunday in front of Downton Abbey. Let's see if that works! My other WIP this week are my solid bloc...

It was so hot at the week-end that I was glad to spend some time in my sewing room as it is the coolest room in the house! I played with some solid fabric to make 2 wavy blocks for Alice for the Simply Solids Bee . I wasn't sure initially how well I would cope with the blocks she has asked for but in the end there were fun to make. First you cut the fabric free-hand, yes that's without your rotary cutter! I used this tutorial that Alice had recommended to find out how to sew the strips together. And I must say it goes together quite easily in the end. I did a block in yellow/green and one in pink/purple/blue Linking to Building Blocks Tuesday . Celine

I have finished some bee blocks this past week, but I still have more to do. I am working on my Simply Solids blocks for Kerri and I am nearly there! Here are my 2 in-progress blocks: But I have also made some progress on something for me, or rather for Miss Strawberry Shortcake. I have put together all the blocks I had (made by my fellow bees in February for Bee Europa ) using the layout she decided on and got this 5 x 5 flimsy. Now it fits her toddler bed at the moment but she will most probably move out of the toddler bed for a bigger bed in a year or so. The fabric and pattern are not baby-ish so I figure she could still use her quilt so I have decided to make it bigger with one additional row. So I am making more blocks to be able to complete her quilt soon-ish. It has been so long since I have put together something bigger than a purse or a bag, it feels so great. I can't wait to get going with this one and I know she can't wait either! Linking with Lee...

And one more pick in the packages I sent earlier in the week. One of the letter was only going a couple of miles down the road from me to Patti. It was her block for the Simply Solids bee. And she choose a great design, she picked this winged square block from Amy at During Quiet Time and send us some solids in purple with some linen. I absolutely love how her block turned out and can't wait to see her quilt. Patti sent us some 5' squares and pointed us to this method to make half square triangles. I hadn't tried it before but it works great. One to bookmark for the future! I am linking to We Did it Wednesday at Sew Much Ado . Celine

Today I was hoping to post some finished blocks and some in progress blocks and I will but they are not the ones I thought/wanted to have at this stage! I was hoping to be able to show you the blocks I made for the [4x5] Modern Mini-Bee which were due to be posted last Saturday, well I had a bit of a delay on this one. One of the problem of leaving it a tiny bit late... I knew I had all I needed in terms of fabric choices to make up my blocks and I was right... but what I forgot to check was whether I had enough. And of course, when I digged out my background fabric, I realised that I didn't have enough Kona Ash and it was far too late to get some on time to make my blocks. And when I tried to find some Kona Snow, which I know I have *somewhere* in the house, well I couldn't find it anywhere. I definitely have some but I don't have a clue where it has gone. With the building work in the house, things have moved around so much that I still haven't been able to find an...