Jennie's Threads

I have done it!!! On 17th June 2011 I bought the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt book from Amazon. On 30th May 2012 I finished the one-hundred-and-eleventh and final block. Here are the blocks I made in that final sprint for the finish line (when I picked the fabric for these last few blocks, Michael said I should avoid orange - he'll be pleased how seriously I took his advice!): #99 W.C.T.U: I really wasn't sure about this block. I was very tempted to swap it out for something easier, but I was worried I would regret it later. Also, it would have been the thirteenth block I'd swapped. I don't believe in that kind of thing, but it convinced to plough ahead. I did, however, avoid the stripe in the middle. And I'm really pleased with how it turned out (so much for no orange). #102 Whirpool: this is one of my favourite block designs #105 Wild Goose Chase: I couldn't decide on a colour scheme for this block, which is why I left it so close to the end. In

Today I got a parcel!!! It was my swap from the Modern She Made Swap. I got a beautiful table runner/wall hanging from Laura that is already hanging in my hall! I also got a fantastic little travel sewing kit, perfect for my upcoming holiday! And a fat quarter of spotty fabric - perfect for all the baby quilts I need to be making! Thank you very much Laura!

One hundred and one, one hundred and two, one hundred and three would have been a more appropriate name for last night's post. Oops. Tonight I have two more blocks: #94 Tall Pine Tree. I foundation pieced this one and it's a bit wonky. Nevermind. #95 Temperance Tree: I don't like trees. So I replaced it was a straightforward Sawtooth Star (I think this came from the Jelly Roll Sampler book too). Six left...

That's right - one hundred Farmer's Wife blocks! But first, we are enjoying summer here this weekend - it may be all we get! Yesterday we helped some friends clear and turf their garden and enjoyed a BBQ followed by Eurovision and some hand sewing! Today, I've been working on these little blocks, but we've just got back from taking the dogs down to the beach. We live just over half a mile from the beach, but don't go down there nearly as often as we should. Tonight was so calm and the sky was a little hazy so you got a pastel rainbow effect along the horizon. Needless to say, the photos don't do it justice. The pier Michael and the dogs The beach huts So, on to the blocks - I have 12 to show you: #44 Gentleman's Fancy: foundation pieced #45 Grape Baskets: if you haven't noticed by now, I don't like basket blocks, so I replaced it with the old favourite, Card Trick, rotary cut. #47 Homemaker. I have to say that this block beat

I haven't shown my Farmer's Wife blocks much attention recently. I was getting itchy fingers. So I've made a few this last week. Eight to be exact. Plus one I made at the beginning of May. #27 Darting Birds: a few months back, someone in the Flickr group happened to mention that this block looked like four little robots. Well, after that it was all I could think of, so I kept skipping it. In the end I rotated four of the quarters so that all of the little robot heads were in the middle, and it looked like a star instead of robots. #32 Farmer's Daughter. This was a bit of a challenge... it's a five by five grid on a 6x6" block, so rotary cutting was a bit of an issue. But I think I beat it - I rotary cut the pieces to make a block that would come out 6.25"x6.25", then shifted my needle position to take a bit of an extra of each seam allowance. It worked - my finished block is 6x6"! #33 Farmer's Puzzle: this has a bit of the Swastik

Today Lizzie emailed to me to let me know she had received her mug rug. And I got mine yesterday. We both took part in the Mug Rug Swap hosted by Quilting Mumma. That means I can now share some photos! First off, this is the mug rug I got from Lizzie from Sweden. I love the hedgehog pocket and the colours are so beautiful and summery. I've taken it into work and pinned it up next to my desk - the pocket is just the right size for my ID badge, which I am continually burying under paperwork! And I got some of the hedgehog fabric in my parcel too, as well as some other scraps, and a lovely card with a moose on it :) And this is the mug rug I sent to Lizzie. It's another of my own embroidery designs, but this time I stitched in six different thread colours, rather than just one. The word "fika" in the middle is Swedish for a coffee break. You may recognise the fabrics from the sewing machine cover and my neon stained quilt - they just seem so summery, I

Firstly I want to say a hug thank you to everyone who left such wonderful comments on both my recent blog post and my recent Flickr uploads - it means so much to me to know that other people like my designs. A couple of people suggested I sell my designs, and I want to thank you especially - it's in the early planning stage, but later this year I have plans! My embroidery Yesterday I finished the sewing machine cover for the Modern She Made Swap . I love how it turned out - so summery and bright, and I'm really pleased with how my embroidery looks framed in orange.  The front of the machine cover  The back of the machine cover  A bit more embroidery So here is the info: Embroidery: designed by me, stitched in DMC 740 stranded cotton, approx 6" in diameter Fabric: Kona White with various citrussy prints, including Art Gallery, Clothworks, Moda and random scraps that I have no idea about! Applique: I used a tutorial from Purl Bee  for making circu

This weekend marks the start of the Bloggers' Quilt Festival hosted by Amy I've struggled to decide which of my quilty finishes I wanted to share with you, but I've decided on this incubator quilt. Back in February/March we learnt that two of the regulars at our local quilt shop who were expecting Grandchildren had lost them within hours of their due date. Both babies had been still born. The mother of one of the babies asked our Local Quilt Shop if they could donate some quilts to the unit at the RVI in Newcastle where premature babies are cared for and where parents of still born babies are allowed to spend a few precious hours with their babies. So far the shop and its customers have donated over seventy quilts for this cause. I have donated two so far (you can see my other one here ), and I fully intend to keep making one or two a month. But this was my first one: That's the background of the reason I made the quilt, but it was also a quiltin