Jennie's Threads

Just in the nick of time I have completed the baby quilt I wanted to enter into the fabulous Bloggers Quilt Festival! I've called this quilt "Baby Paws" (very imaginative). It came out of a request from my cousin, who asked me to make a quilt for a freind of hers who was expecting a baby. The nursery theme was green with stencilled paw prints. It didn't take a great leap to get to the design I picked! The greens are a total mixture from my stash: Tula Pink; Art Gallery; Kona solids; Pearl Bracelets; Sketch; Basic Grey; Architextures; Backyard Baby and many others. The cream I've used for the paws, the backing and the binding is Kona Bone. I pieced the squares (all 4" finished), then basted and quilted the cross hatch using my walking foot and a hera marker (the first time I've used one and I love it). I then prepared the paws - I used a new tool called Appliquick which is a pair of metal rods which enable you to neatly turn over the edges on...

I really enjoy this time of year - so many pretty quilts to look at and so much inspiration. This is my fifth Bloggers Quilt Festival and this time I knew exactly which quilt I wanted to enter. If you pop by my blog occasionally, you will have seen this quilt a few times recently as its a recent finish, but definitely not a recent start! This quilt is special for a number of reasons. It was one of the first quilts I ever started. It was a class at a quilt shop - we spent the whole class cutting the fabric and then were sent away to make a QAYG quilt with just an A4 sheet of instructions. Even to this day I don't know how we were supposed to assemble the quilt as the original design, unless we cut narrow strips of wadding and spent hours fiddling on. Given the start, this was a project which got picked up every six months and I did a little bit more, but with no way of finishing the quilt I was never ver inspired. On the plus side, I absolutely love the fabrics and still...

This is my Medallion quilt. Last Friday we basted it - somewhat unsuccessfully to start with - I love my husband, but basting isn't his thing! And tonight I have started quilting. I've stitched about 1/8" inside the red borders on each side. bad lighting, but you can see the quilting I also plan to do some hand quilting - some kind of motif in the corner stones and in the centre. So my question is, do you think it needs more than that, and if so, what? I am out of ideas.... Linking up with WIP Wednesday.

I'm really starting to get my energy back now. I wouldn't say I'm having a blooming second trimester, but it's definitely better than the first! So although I didn't get many finishes last quarter, that totally hasn't put me off of compiling a monster list of finishes for Q4 - some of these may look very familiar... Please don't laugh! I'm calling it being focused but with choice! Hexagon Table Runner This has been on the list for a while, but I feel like I've made really good progress recently. I've started quilting - straight lines, by hand in perle thread. I think I'm about a quarter of the way through. Then it just needs to be bound. Baby Quilt 1: Blue and white So many people I know are expecting babies at the moment. This is a quilt for my manager. She knows she's expecting a boy so I get to do a quilt in boy colours. You can more information about the quilt in this blog post. I need to baste this, quilt this and bind this b...

I'm not sure I've shared this project before... it's for my Mum. Lots of batiks, all sewn together and then black bias strips over every seam. Sounds straight forward doesn't it. I'm cheating a little with pre-made bias, but I still need to be sewing down each side of each strip, and then I'll be hand quilting. It measures just 23" x 15" - the smallest pieces are just an inch finished. I think I'll be spending a while looking at these pretty colours over the next few months. Did I mention that I started this nearly two years ago? Linking up with WIP Wednesday

I love these little blocks! Block 58: Baby Quilts - because I seem to be making rather a lot of baby quilts recently! The fabrics are Kona Sprout, Kona Candy Green, Indian Summer from Art Gallery and Kona Cornflower. Block 59: Archie and Charlie - for my beautiful doggies (little monsters)! The fabrics are Kona Peacock and So Stitchy And block 60: The Danube: I've spent a while this year in a hotel with gorgeous views over the Danube and I lived in Vienna (also on the Danube) for several months back in 2006. The fabrics are Painters Canvas and Indian Summer by Art Gallery. Linking up with Sara at Sew Sweetness

Everyone is having babies! And that means a lot of baby quilts. This blue one was pieced a few weeks ago, but I only got round to adding the borders today. It is 100% borrowed from Sharon ! Thanks, Sharon, for the great tutorial! The blues are randomly picked from my stash and I have backing (Art Gallery) and batting - but forgot to pick up some binding. This one is for my cousin - she is gifting the quilt not having a baby. The brief was green and animal paw prints. So I pulled greens from my stash and then picked up Kona Bone for the paws. I'm also using Kona Bone for the backing and binding. But I forgot to pick up wadding..... The paw prints are just sitting on the quilt top at the moment - I want to quilt the green in a cross hatch all over and then applique the paws on top. Yesterday I made a bag. It was a class at my LQS and I finished (except for hand stitching the gap in the lining closed) in the class - success. Stitched it up at home yesterday evening a...

I have a finished quilt top to share! The medallion quilt I started last weekend now has all its numerous borders! The final border was a bit of a challenge but with a slight change to the pattern it went together ok. The fabrics are a total mixture picked by my Godmother, and when this is finished it will be a gift for her. I bought the batting and backing (above) today so hopefully that will be soon! I just need my husband to come back from a stag weekend and help me baste!

My third quarter goals were a little ambitious, weren't they? Especially given how well I seem to be coping with pregnancy... From the original list of 9 projects I have two finishes. The second finish of the quarter is the one I shared with you earlier this week - my Rhubarb and Custard Quilt . This was a WIP for over three years, so I'm thrilled that I can finally call this one finished and get ready to hang it in the nursery! The other finish is one that I totally forgot to blog about! Remember these hexagons? They became these three mini quilts which were my contribution for the sample swap at the Fat Quarterly Retreat. That leaves quite a few projects which I didn't get finished.... the Three Peaks quilt, my Neon Stained quilt, the double wedding ring quilt, my own BOM quilt and the Indian Summer baby quilt are all untouched. Exactly as they were back at the start of July. My hexagon table runner has progressed - I've pieced the back and basted i...