Jennie's Threads

Emily, over at Momy's Nap Time is hosting a linky with a bit of a difference. Thoughtful blogging about quilting. Each week a different question. This first one is about your sewing history.... it's nice to look back so here goes. design by Margaret Sherry My Grandmother was a seamstress - she entered things in WI (Women's Institute) competitions and won prizes, she created collections of dolls, telling the history of British traditions which she toured round local WIs, she knitted, crocheted, made lace. And she did it all by hand. My Mum has a dressmaking background, but hasn't done any for many years. Lots of other bloggers talk about getting hooked on quilting when they were pregnant or new mums. I got hooked on sewing aged about 5! I was bought a long stitch tapestry kit, then another, and another and another.  By the age of eight I made my first ever cross stitch card. And for another 15 years I was a cross stitcher - Design by Maria Diaz I dabbled in ...

I didn't post yesterday for WIP Wednesday - but I had a good excuse - it was my birthday and we went out for dinner (I love Frankie and Benny's) and then the cinema to see Les Miserables (or as Michael calls it, Miserable Les). I managed not to cry, Michael managed not to fall asleep! So that means that I'm having my own little WIP Thursday! Doesn't have quite the same ring to it does it? This Saturday coming is the first Saturday of February and I'll be sharing my second block of the month. This block gave me quite a headache. Or more accurately, my maths is rubbish! Did you know that 3 plus 3 plus 6 does not equal 10? Well, that was the main problem. So I had a bit of a redesign and the flying geese I showed you earlier in the week bit the dust!  I also totally changed my fabric - it just wasn't doing it for me. I've gone, unconsciously, for a bit of a spotty theme! Makower, Flea Market Fancy, Tilda, a batik and then two prints from Architextures....

I said I was flitting between different projects this weekend! I had a lovely dinner at Linda's this evening - celebrating my brother-in-law's birthday - and when I got back I fancied doing some hand sewing in front of the telly rather than machine sewing over the telly, so I couldn't hear it (which is normal). The hand embroidery for the next block in my BOM wasn't quite ready, so I went for my go to hand sewing project - my hexy table runner. And I think I may have finished adding hexies - what do you think? This is laid out on the table it will eventually live on, on the backing fabric I have already selected. I've tried to make it look random and wobbly, not regimented with 4 hexies in each row.... Now I need to applique it down, pick a backing fabric, pick a binding fabric, decide whether to go with cotton or polyester wadding, quilt it, and bind it - was I daft enough to put this on my 1st Quarter Finish Along? I may try and order some more ...

I've been working on bits and pieces again this weekend: Steph's Quilt (Hot Cross Buns): I've been working on this for ages on and off. I have the backing and wadding and binding. I just need to get on with it - after yesterday's incy wincy Dear Jane block, these long straight lines were exactly what I needed! I've also done some more of Daniela's Quilt: I have 72 half blocks. From now on there will be pinning involved, so progress may slow a bit! And I've been working on February's block in my BOM of themonth - foloow the link at the top of the page for more information - you can join in any time, stitch the whole thing, or just a single month for someone special. February will be posted next Saturday! Here's a sneak peak Hope you've had a productive weekend!

More snow last night! Not quite as much as last week, but enough. It's already melting today. Last night was also the first Friday Night Sew In of 2013 and I spent it with Jane. I made two blocks: D6: Challenge - it was anything but a challenge - beautifully easy foundation piecing! I used an Art Gallery fabric with quite a large scale print for that huge area in the middle. And C7: Megan's Mountain Laurel. Now, I like fiddly, but I may have found my limit - look how small one of the foundation pieced sections was - that's on the inch markings on my cutting mat! Inevitably with pieces so small, my finished block isn't perfect, some of the lines are wobbly, some of the points don't meet etc. But I am thrilled with the results and I AM NOT redoing this block! The fabric is from Noteworthy by Sweetwater. In the original quilt, the diamonds in the corners were appliqued - I decided to foundation piece those as well. And why pink? Well, Angel over a...

My block from yesterday is finished! I love it - all of the credit goes to Lynne , whose design this is. This is the start of my entry for the Emerald Challenge I can't decide if I want to make it into a cushion cover, or some kind of "thing" for storing blocks - I'm doing a lot of BOMs this year, and want someway of storing the blocks which is flat. The fabrics are Kona Ash with some Basic Grey, Architextures, Summersville, Art Gallery, Marcus Fabrics, and some totally random fabrics from my stash. Linking up with WIP Wednesday!  

2013 Pantone colour of the year is Emerald! I'm working on a project with greens that I think are "emerald" but it turns out it's rather a hard colour to quantify...my emerald is a bit less blue than some people's emerald... I have two more sections to piece... watch this space (the block pattern is from Lynne )

I have my first finished quilt top of 2013 - Pac Mania This was such an easy pattern, even with the curves and actually went together very quickly,even though I spread mine out over 6 months... The fabric is a jelly roll of Ruby from Bonnie and Camille and Kona Snow and the pattern is from Jelly Roll Dreams by Pam and Nicky Lintott. It's now basted and ready to quilt - and not actually as wrinkly as it looks in these photos. I decided not to add the borders in the original pattern, but instead use the leftover jelly roll for a scrappy binding.  Unless anyone has a better suggestion, my plan is to stipple in all of the background, then I'll bind it, and see how it looks. If it needs it, I may to some echo quilting by hand in red perle cotton. And I got my bee blocks for January Stash Bee done Cecillia asked for greys and yellows with Kona Coal - it was buying some for this project that inspired me to use it for the Skill Builder BOM - thanks, Cecillia

Wow - this block went together quickly - I'm not sure I actually followed the instructions word for word, but... ...I have as 12" block complete with sashing! The green is the same as on my first block ( here ) and Westminster Fibres, I'm not sure about the yellow - maybe Metro dots. The solid is more purple in reality and is a Kona - maybe lavendar, and the pink is Art Gallery. This is block 2 in the Skill Builder BOM at Pile O'Fabric

Yesterday it snowed. I know in the UK it takes like 1/2" to create chaos, but yesterday we must have got about 6" - that's a lot. I was stuck at work and watched as it kept snowing. The drive home was a bit hairy, but as I was so late there was no other traffic. I had a little moment trying to turn into our estate when the brakes just didn't work - the curb eventually did the job, with no damage and virtually no audience! Today I was booked in for a class at my LQS - a bit of the snow had melted. The roads seemed clear on the traffic reports and I chose to ignore the weather forecast of heavy snow and headed out. Good choice - there was no snow all day and I had a ball! It's always entertaining when Suzy and Sue come to a class - they are like naughty school girls - each trying to do better than the other and telling other they're doing it wrong. Today's class was a "get to know your sewing machine" day and we made a needle case using t...

My engineer husband's comments whilst building his nephew's pirate ship! Argh!

Today was the first day of the Skill Builder BOM hosted by Alyssa at Pile O' Fabric . I've had my fabrics picked out since New Years Eve and today I got to play with them. Here is block 1: Sound Wave The fabrics are not from a single range - I really wanted to mix and match from my stash for this quilt: Art Gallery, Moda, Westminster Fibres, Happy Mochi Yum Yum, Flea Market Fancy, and Noteworthy, plus a couple of fabrics without selvage... the background is Kona Coal. Fancy joining in?

If I'm honest, I'm feeling a little uninspired this week. I'm sure some of it is due to an appalling week at work. But I think some of it is also due to a large number of WIPs and no deadlines.... so I'm going to try and use this week's WIP Wednesday to show you some of my WIPs and maybe, just maybe, think about some reasons for sewing them and some deadlines. If any of you have a boot that they would like to kick me up the arse with, then all comments gratefully accepted! Pac Mania: I started this as a class because I wanted to practice my curves, I liked the pattern and I had a Jelly Roll. That's why I started. I have sewn a seam here and there and finished the curves Monday night. A very good friend of my Mother-in-law's lost her husband on Sunday after a long battle with cancer. I know her a bit. I think she may need a quilt over the next few months. So I should get this quilt finished for her. And as my quilting budget for the month has gone, maybe ...

I haven't really concentrated on one project this weekend, and because of that I haven't got masses to show you. Here's what I have done: I've worked on Daniela's Quilt: 144 seams chain pieced and pressed. This is one of those quilt that seems to be progressing really slowly, but I think I'm not far off of that point where it suddenly comes together very quickly. But I have a lot ore LONG seams to go. I have worked on Pac Mania: I have stitched a lot of curved seams and now have enough to start laying it out to see what it will look like. There are more blocks to go, and there will be a lot of squaring up before I can start to join them, but it's nice to see the progress. There's going to be a lot of  negative space so I shall have to think long and hard about the quilting - any suggestions? I have worked on Rhubarb and Custard: all of the blocks are now trimmed to a uniform 6"x6" and I started joining the first row. I'm using...