Jennie's Threads

Christmas is creeping up on us..... and I have made a start on my Christmas present making. By it's very nature I can't share much here, but there's a few things I can show you. I'm also going to update my slideshow with some cards I made for last Christmas and some other photos I found on my camera before I wiped it! To start with I spent yesterday morning finishing off four cushions: two for James, and two for Jane (guess who's is which!) Firstly two pirate cushions. Both are the same so here is a picture of back and front. The pirate fabric came from Harrogate and the spotty and stripey fabrics came from the Fat Quarters. The cushions have envelop backs to I don't have to do any slip stitching, and so they are easier to wash (vital for a three-year-old!). The pink ones are inevitably for Jane. The pattern came from a summer issue of Qutmaker magazine, and I have been collecting up fabrics to make a quilt of the same pattern but in blues and browns (

I have been very busy, but I cant share a lot with you at the moment, because a lot of my current and recently comlpeted projects are Christmas presents or birthday presents - it'll be one hell of an update after Christmas! I can share some patchwork blocks. Firstly one of the blocks that I am stitching by han d - I've completed two and I'm half way through a third: The corner triangles are brown and haven't come out well. Each block wil be the same and I hope to make approx 20 and create a lap quilt. This second block is the first mystery quilt block of the month from The Fat Quarters. We get a different block each month and Linda, Barbara and I are each doing it, but with different fabrics: This is my one. I didn't enjoy the Y-seams very much, but the end result is lovely. The next pattern, which we picked up yesterday, seems a tad more complex! No Y-seams but far more pieces. Today's plan is to make up some Christmas presents. I an share th

It's been a while, but I don't have a lot to report by way of finished pieces. I've been working on some quite large projects recently, and that means that I've made progress on a few things, but I haven't actually finished anything. The quilt that I'm stitching by hand has had a bit of a revival. i was struggling with it because I couldn't get the seams to align. I've now started redrawing the stitch lines on each piece as I cometo it and it was remarkable how, despite using the same template to draw around, each piece was rather inaccurate. It also explains why the seams weren't aligning! I've now successfully complete two 12"blocks and made a start on a third and I'm really enjoying it - I can do it all from the sofa, rather than having to sit at the table with a sewing machine, which is really nice. Once I've completed a few more blocks, I;ll take some photographs and share the progress. Our local fabric shop, The Fat Quarter

Another month is over and a few more projects have been completed. I haven't finished as much this month as some other months, but larger projects have been started and not yet finished, plus I spent a week working on a secret project for Debbie from Letters Tied With Blue.... more information will come, but not yet. The first thing to show you is a bit of a cheat, because I actually stitched it whilst on holiday in Sidmouth in August, but I only mounted and finished it off today: it's a small picture of swallow in a tattoo style that was originally a cover kit on cross stitcher. Instead of stitching it on the provided 14hpi fabric it stitched it on 22hpe hardanger fabric to minimise the pixalated effect. I've stitched it for Steph's birthday, so hopefully she doesn't look at this blog, cause she won't actually get the card till Tuesday! It was Natasja and Ruben's wedding last weekend (I stitched the hardanger ring pillow for them), so I

I have now located a USB cable and here are the photos of the too-small mobile phone cases - despite size issues, they are very pretty. This is the front of Vicky's mobile phone case - it's plain dye purple fabric, then I used a rubber stamp to put on the daisies, then stitched over them in DMC 210 - there were an awful lot of French knots.... Here is the back of the phone case. I haven't actually done anything to it, but I just loved the fabric so much I had to share it - I bought it as a 20p scrap from the Mill in Barton (I still have some left over), and it was only when I came to use it that I realised we had bought the same design of fabric, but in red, to go in Mum's tablecloth. And this is the front of the second mobile phone case (ye to be checked for size). The fabrics are off-cuts from the cupcake quilt (picked by Steph). The flower design is stamped on the contrasting fabric (that I

At the start of the month we (Linda, Aunty Judith and me) went down to Harrogate for the big quilt show. Despite an unnecessary diversion through Richmond on the way there we had a fantastic day. It was our first visit and was fantastic - I could have spent so much money on fabrics... so many pretty colours.... I came home with a fair few fat quarters (but didn't pay full proce for any of them) and stocked up on calico and wadding. I also found some fantastic pirate fabric - I don't quite know what I'm going to do with it, but it's perfect for James (aged 2 and a half) and Michael (aged 25 and a half)! Next year I am going to go with a specific project in mind and buy some of the gorgeous colours. I can't find the cable to dowload the photos from my camera (again), but I've also completed a coupl of mobile phone cases: one for Vicky (which doesn't actually fit the phone) and one for Steph (yet to be tested for size). I've made a start on a case for my

Firstly, apologies for the delay in the lastest post. I've been meaning to post some photos for a while, but I've ony just located a USB cable with which to download them. Having found the necessary cable, I can now provide an update. Towards the end of July I started stitching a small picture of Humphrey the elephant, from Humphrey's corner. This was a first birthday present for Alexander. Unforunately, it wasn't finished until mod August ( his birthday being the end of July), and he won't actually get it until mid September, but for everyone else, here is a sneaky look. I made it up into a small quilt with some green fabric I had bought because I like it a few months ago and turned out to be an excellent match, and some yellow fabric, that I bought for a project that never really happened. I didn't find it the most enjoyable thing to stitch - the backstitch was unnecessarily detailed and although the sketchy nature of it adds to the design, I felt there was

And in between the larger projects I've shared below, I've done a few smaller cards: This was a graduation card for my brother Robin, who graduated from York in July. It's stitched on marbelled blue 28hpi cashel linen from DMC (Vintage Blue 5139) in Anchor threads (with some DMC threads!). It's a Margaret Sherry desing from Cross Stitcher Issue 189, p 30. This was the wedding card to go with the memory book for Jen and Geoff. The celtic knot border came from the World of Cross Stitching, Issue 162, p. 55 (no. 40), though I changed the colours slightly (blues: 158, 794, 3807; greens: 369, 368, 370; outline in dark purple 550). It was stitched in DMC threads on a hand-dyed lilac 28hpi evenweave from Kates Kloths. The charm in the centre was from a shop called Bead Lagoon in Sidmouth, Devon. And finally this patchwork owl from The World of Cross Stitching, Issue 167, p45 (Subscribers extra). It hasn't photgraphed bri

So, in a previous post I promised Hardanger. Having tried a very small piece back in May I was encouraged to try something bigger, before risking the ring pillow I had promised my friend for her wedding. A couple of years back, Linda bought me a hardanger kit by Polstitches called Winter Snowflake. It's very luxurious: stitched in 28hpi Jobelan evenweave called Sky High (hand dyed) in White SA Perle no. 8 (also from Polstitches), DMC Perle no. 12, Polstitches Sky High Perle no. 8, 032 Kreinik very fine braid, Rajmahal art silk 201 and embellished with white pearl beads and Mill Hill Petite Glass beads no. 42010. So that was a success and I was ready to risk the ring pillow. The design is from Col's Creations. It's stitched in 28phi white quaker cloth in Perle threads nos 8 and 12 and DMC Stranded cotton, finished with Gutermann Pearl beads. The central hearts were sticthed round in Kloster Blocks and finished with woven bars. There were Kloster blocks between ea

Well, it has been a month since my last post and I have been very busy. I started off the month working on the memory book for Jen and Geoff as a wedding present. The colour scheme of the wedding was purple and back in March I had bought some lovely purple and green coordinating fabrics from the patchwork shop at the Mill in Barton. The poem I used was one written for the marriage of Jen's great grandparents in the 1880s and has been read at every family wedding since, so it was a very special piece to use. I chose DMC threads to match the colours on the fabrics, calico as the pages and a smal piece of dark purple fabric fo r some of the pockets, then added Mill Hill beads in white and pinky-purple and some mother-of-pearl buttons in two sizes to complete the memory book. I used stamps from Letters Tied with Blue throughout. Here's the front cover of the book. The ribbon round the spine was a perfect match to the purples in the fabric and came from the Sewing Box in Morpet

Well, another weekend is nearly over. Last weekend was very busy and I didn't get a lot of sewing done, but a lot of baking.... When I got back on Sunday night, I made a start on the July stitching: I started a kit from Polstitches - Winter Snowflake - which is a hardanger kit. My previous attempts at hardanger have had mixed success. I first tried it about 15 years and had an absolute disaster! I then did a very small piece back in April and had more success.... So this was my first practice piece before embarking on the Ring Pillow for Tasj and Ruben's wedding. I want to get the ring pillow completed by Jen and Geoff's wedding on 24th July, as we probably won't get to Tasj and Ruben's wedding, and it would be far better if we could hand it over in person, rather than entrust it to the British and Dutch postal systems.... I've nearly finished the Polstitches kit now - I did the stitching very quickly and then took a little more time over the cutting: I only c

So, I appreciate that it has been a while since my last post regarding current work, but I have been very busy, and I have lots of new pieces to show you, some of which I couldn't post photos of earlier, in case people saw presents before they were given! First fo all, the cup cake quilt that you have heard about but not yet seen is finished: It's the biggest piece I have ever completed and measures 36inches (90cm) square. The crazy patchwork blocks were machine pieces, then the applied is stuck on with bondaweb, then I've done hand blanket stitch around every piece (the cupcakes and the writing at the top of the quilt). Around the edge of the design is the cupcake recipe, hand embroidered in backstich, and I have hand quilted in decorative running stitch around each of the nine panels. The quilt is finished off with a pearly button to top each cupcake. As well as my beautiful quilt, I have been doing cross stitch. First some brithday cards as June is quite the busy mo

I am staying with Mum and Dad this weekend, which has given me the opportunity to photograph some pieces that I stitched in the past. So before bringing you right up to date, we'll take a trip down memory lane first! I stitched this map of Pembrokeshire for Dad as a present for Christmas 2005 - this was my first attempt at the Heritage Stitchcraft Maps of British Counties, and as you will have seen (and will see) I still enjoy stitching them. The design is stitched on ivory 28hpi evenweave in DMC threads. This piece goes back even further. I stitched it as a Christmas present for Mum for Christmas 2001. The kit is by Derwentwater Designs and the design is stitched on white 14hpi aida in DMC threads, with some sparkly bits... I designed this one myself for Dad - I think it was a father's day card - maybe June 2005. These flowers were one of my very first pieces - unfortunately I haven't dated it, but I would guess at the mid 1990s... I t

As promised on Saturday morning, here is a final update of the bank holiday weekend. It is now bedtime, and this is the last thing I'm going to do before sleeping. On the birthday card front, I have not succeeded. Although I have made excellent progress with Aunty Margaret's birthday card, it is, as yet, unfinished. I should get it done this week, as there's not a lot of cross stitch still to go and the backstitch is fairly simple. That is where failure ends! As already reported, huge progress has been made on the cupcake quilt: it is now fully pieced and tacked to the batting. I have also quilted round four panels in running stitch in DMC 3863 (mid brown). I haven't done any more of it today, and I'm not going to post a photoof it till it is complete. I hope to call in at the shop in Burrandon one night this week to pick up some extra fabric for the binding, if they still have it in stock. As proven with yesterday's photos, my mobile phone has a snug ne