Espritpatch

I have finally finished my hens! I had finished the piecing in France and showed it to my Grand-Mum on the day we celebrated her birthday. And then I had to take it back to finish it. We are going again this week-end so I really wanted to finish it off to be able to give it to her for good this time. So I did the quilting over 2 evenings this week. No the quilting is not so expansive that it required 2 days it is just that I don't manage to sit down at the machine for very long at the moment. Anyway, only the label left to do and sew now but that can be done in the car on the way there! How do you find them? Celine

Today is the last day of the month so it is also the last day to post a picture of the BQL challenge and I haven't quite finished yet but it will have to do for now... This month was a bargello quilt which I had never tried before. I really liked it also I have discovered that it is really easy to have it wonky with such tiny strips and bits. I used some of my scraps, some of them you will recognise from the Disapppearing 9-patch blocks and went for a pink and beige combination. It seems to be my favorite at the moment! Celine

This is the problem when strolling through others' blog. You read about what they are doing (great), marvel at the pictures they are posting (great), read about the swap they've signed up for (and that's where you get very tempted to join! Not so great? Maybe or maybe not, depends on what else is going on!). Anyway, I was reading about the Christmas block swap that Beth is organising and when I looked up all the details, I HAD to sign up for it! I am never so early to make Christmas' stuff so this year will be a very good exception! Celine

The Quilters' Guild of the British Isles is organising a tombola at the forthcoming Festival of Quilts in Birmingham to raise funds for the Quilt Museum and Gallery. They have asked for contributions of A4 "Little Gems" quilts. I have finally done mine (has to arrived at the Guild by the end of this week). "My Chinese Love" is ready to go now. I did a trapunto chinese character which I then covered with red lace. I am quite pleased with the result, what do you think? If you want to read more about the Little Gems and read others contributions, go to the Little Gem Quilts' blog . Celine

I know it probably sounds mad when I have just started work again but I couldn't resist. I have joined the Stitchers' Angel Swap that Helen is organising. It sounds so much fun. Plus although there are a minimum of 3 hand-made objects to make, the deadline is not until the end of October. This is plenty of time isn't it? If you want to join in, you have to register your interest before 8th August. Celine

First day back at work is over and I survived! Didn't fall asleep on my desk or anything like that! Charlotte also survived her first day without Mummy around. She still doesn't like the bottle so much but she will have to get used to it. I felt quite tired when I first got back home so will have to see if I have any energy to do a bit of sewing before going to bed. I would really like to finish piecing my bargello mini quilt but equally I need to be able to get up at 5.45am tomorrow morning for work. I'll keep you posted! Celine

Today is officially the last day of my maternity leave. I will be back at work tomorrow leaving my little daughter at home with my Mum while my son will go to childminder as usual. How strange will that feel after 7 months at home... Can't believe how quickly the time has gone. But then you are never really bored with 2 little ones! I have done a few things but of course there were plenty more on my to-do list. I haven't even started my darling daughter's quilt. I bought the Teddy's Playhouse pattern from Kids Quilts at the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham last year. The pattern had sold out so I had it sent all the way from New Zealand. Their stand at the show was delightful and I really wanted to buy all the patterns. I bought some Christmas patterns at the same time and made a stocking and a toy bag for my son last December. There were fun and quite quick to make since I managed to finish them both in time for Christmas (just) while starting on 20th December. I have

I've won! Geta has launched a new e-book explaining her shadow trapunto technique back in June and for the occasion, she was having a giveaway where you could win either one of the sample from the ebook or the ebook itself. Lucky me I have won a copy of her ebook. I have been reading her blog for a while and marvelling at her work. I will be able to try my hand at her technique now. Go and have a look at her blog if you haven't visited her before (or even if you have actually!). Celine

That's it my 9-patch have "disappeared" and they are ready to go across the Atlantic for swapping. This was a fun swap and the blocks were quick to made in the end. I like how versatile they are as well depending on how you arrange them. Here is a picture of my 40 blocks. Not much progress otherwise, I have sewn my strips for the bargello and now need to slice it off to sew them back together. Probably to late to do so tonight unfortunately. Celine

I have completed my 9-patch blocks for the swap today with 2 bright and 2 "shabby chic" I can now start making them "disappear" before I send them across the Atlantic. I feel slightly "scared" to slice off my blocks but this is the fun of this swap! I also managed to cut my strips to make a mini bargello quilt for this month challenge on the BQL list. I now need to get on with the sewing. Hopefully I will post a picture soon! Celine

The blog has been more quiet than I thought it would be coming back home as I have been busy caring for my daughter who was unwell. She is hopefully getting better now, at least it seems that the temperature has gone. Not fun for a baby to be ill. Plus because I will be back at work on Wednesday, I had to get started on weaning her of me but she doesn't seem to be to keen on the bottle. No choice though. In the last few days, I have managed to finally get started on my blocks for the Disappearing 9-patch swap. I have finished 4 "romantic" 9-patch blocks from a Moda charm pack and 2 "autumn"9-patch These will give me 16 + 8 blocks for the swap. 16 more to go! I have selected (and started to cut) the fabrics for the remaining 4 9-patch blocks so hopefully I will be able to mail my blocks early next week. Celine

A little while back I entered the mystery night quilt I have started to take apart in the Ugly Quilt Contest organised on the quilting gallery website. Have a look at the 20 quilts in the contest and vote for the one which you think is the ugliest before Sunday 19 th . There are some very good stories to read as well! Celine

I am back home from a holiday in France at my Mum's with the 2 little ones. It has been a very busy time with lots to do. The wedding for which I had made the hats and my clothes customisation went well. I finish my daugther's shoes on the way there on Friday. Need to post a picture really but I don't have one now. The hats have been admired! My brother's 30 th party was great on Sunday. I gave him my mystery present I had posted about before on the blog. I made him a chalk/magnetic board picturing his 2 jobs and passions: tractors (John Deere) and trucks ( Scania ). I was planning to make some personalised magnets for the board for him but I haven't been able to find the right pictures so far so I have asked for his help to localise some for me. I think he likes it. We also had a family meal for my Grand-Mum's 80 th birthday on 14 July (Bastille Day) and I am ashamed to report that I gave her an uncompleted present. Despite spending some time on my hens on 1

Just over 4 hours before we leave to go home and my top for the wedding tomorrow is finally finished. As usual, just in time. I still need to finish the hand sewing part of my daughter's shoes but I will be able to do it in the car if I can't manage to do it before (highly unlikely as I now need to start packing...) See you soon Celine

Today has been quite productive. I have managed to do more painting on my brother's present so it is almost finished. I have also made my fascinator for the wedding this Saturday. I tried the one below in John Lewis on Sunday: and decided to try to make something similar to go with my clothes. I had bought some black, wine and raspberry sinamay. By layering the 3 colours, I managed to match the red from my skirt quite closely. I used a few non standard millinery tool for this fascinator. I used a plate to draw the big circle for the top and one of my son's football to shape it. It wasn't exactly ideal but it worked anyway. This was fun to make and I am pleased with the result. A great design to show off the lovely two tones curled feather I had bought. I now only need to finish sewing my "bubbles" on my top to jazz it up! While I was taking pictures outdoor, I also took one modelling the fascinator I made yesterday to give an idea of the size compare to my head! A