Jennie's Threads

Nap times this week have been spent on embroidery - I'm working on the Rosalie Quinlan block of the month Best Friends Forever and this morning I finished the first embroidery. It will need a bit of a press... This was the first time I've used hanky linen - it came pre-printed - and I really like it - its a shame I can't find it locally. And on Monday my little baby girl turned 1 month old! That went fast! And this is my favourite photo from late last week! I figure Mia is my biggest WIP at the moment! Linking up with WIP Wednesday

It's Wednesday. Little Miss Mia is now 3 weeks old. I've been doing a bit of sewing. My third block for my Patchwork of the Crosses quilt is finished - this is a great project for five minutes slots when Daddy does the nappy change! And I'm starting a new project - before Little Miss arrived I'd been collecting the Best Friends Forever Block of the Month from Rosalie Quinlan as I thought this would be a good project for nap times. But I  failed to do any preparation before she arrived.  So this evening's nap time was spent picking out the threads and getting ready. I've written this post one-handed and it's now time to feed, so I'm linking up with WIP Wednesday and I'll be back later to see what everyone else has been up to!

For the last couple of years I have taken part in the Pantone quilt challenge: A Tangerine Tango mini quilt from 2012 and an Emerald Green block keeper from 2013. This year the colour is radiant orchid. Reading the comments on this colour, it isn't universally popular, but I like purple, and often find that when I ask people what colours they would like in a quilt, they say purple, yet it's such a hard colour to find when fabric shopping. Hopefully a year of Radiant Orchid will result in some more fabric collections which include purple. Last year I made a cushion cover for a swap in purple, pink and turquoise and at the time I knew it was a colour scheme I wanted to revisit (and keep), so I raided my stash. I decided to use the challenge as a way of solving two quilting requirements: last September we went to the quilt show at Harrogate with some friends and Liz was on the look out for a new project. She saw this quilt on display (I've found the blog  - scroll to J

Nappy 1: I'm grabbing five minutes while Daddy does the nappy change to blog about my Sunday sewing. Of course, if Miss Mia decides to pee just as the nappy comes off again, then I may have ten minutes, while Daddy fights her into another sleep suit. If not, I may need a few nappy changes to get this full post written.... Daddy teaching Miss Mia to stick her tongue out! On Sunday morning Miss Mia had a nap and Mummy did some sewing - three Farmer's Wife blocks - not particularly difficult ones but linked with the theme of four patches. Homeward Bound Northern Lights  And Prairie Queen I also picked up some Safari Moon fat quarters when we introduced Mia at the local patchwork shop on Saturday - I'm thinking of using this colour scheme for my Toes in the Sand quilt  - I finally got my hands on the pattern last week. Nappy 2: I didn't quite get the post finished in one nappy change. But Miss Mia did come down stairs in a different sleep

More nap-time sewing this morning - these blocks took two naps to complete! I'm still getting used to the look of an all-solids quilt - a little bit out of my comfort zone... but these blocks are nice and straightforward so ideal for snatched moments.

My husband turned to me tonight when he got home and said "you seem more energised today". I guess with a two-week old baby in the house, that's quite a  compliment! I think a number of things have contributed to this today. The first was a lie-in - Mummy and Mia both slept until 10am today! Going out for lunch also helped - down to the cafe on the quayside with Linda, Steph, Ellie-Jo and Mia. But the key to a good day is some sewing - even if it's just ten minutes snatched while Daddy does nappy duty. It makes me feel normal. And my go to project has been some English Paper Piecing in the shape of Patchwork of the Crosses (you can find more info on this project in my previous post here ). I've completed my second block And block 3 is basted Linking up with WIP Wednesday

I'm a bit of a sucker for BOMs so when Anne Marie over at Gen X announced her 2014 BOM back in December I decided to play along. Never mind that I didn't get any further than the February block in last years BOM.... (and still haven't). The plan was to make a Hangover Blankie for my husband - he picked out the colours and I picked out fabrics from my stash and selected Kona Shadow to go with them as the background. Then I didn't do anything. I really wasn't impressed with the colour scheme or the fabrics I had picked. On Sunday I decided to make a change - swap out the prints from my stash for solids. On Monday morning I ordered Kona Canary, Lime, Purple, Tangerine and Denim and they arrived this morning. Mia is asleep at the moment and I have made the January blocks. And I couldn't very well leave you without a picture of Little Miss...

I am seriously going to enjoy nap time. Unfortunately nap time is a little elusive at the moment... Mia fed for 5 hours straight this afternoon. Such a cute grumpy face! But yesterday she napped and I stitched with some good friends. I started a new project - some English Paper Piecing - easy to pick up and put down again. The project is Patchwork of the Crosses . I hadn't heard of this pattern until a few months ago when Sharon started the same project. It looked interesting and I read up the background of the pattern. The original quilt was made by Lucy Boston , an author, quilter and gardener who lived at Hemmingford Grey - a manor house in Cambridgeshire less than an hour away from where I grew up - doing so much American style patchwork I was totally sold on something so local for me. I started pinning to my EPP pinterest board and then picked my current favourite colour palette and lots of fabrics from my stash. So the plan is initially 9 feature blocks and

A six-day-old baby in the house means no sewing time - I have basted a few hexies.... in the quiet moments. This was a photo from yesterday with a very besotted Granny - I love this photo. But I have had a lot of thinking time whilst feeding. Yesterday Stacey at the Tilted Quilt posted about her Quilty Bucket List and that got me thinking... so what would I love to make/finish (obviously long term given recent developments). Double Wedding Ring Quilt: When I was little I remember my Gran making a double wedding ring quilt (by hand) and ever since this quilt has been in the back of my mind. Last year my local quilt shop offered a cutting service for this pattern, and I leapt at the chance. I'm using Poetica from Art Gallery and haven't made much recent progress but one day this quilt will go on my bed. Dear Jane: I love sampler quilts and this is the Mummy of all sampler quilts. This is another project I have already started and will be a very long term labour of lo

***warning - lots of photos*** It is the first of March and therefore time for a review of what I achieved in February. There was some sewing for the first 23 days - I finished the quilt for Baby I made progress on the quilt for a friend's Baby and I finished my Thread Along Quilt  top I made some Dear Jane blocks (you can see them here , here and here ) and some Farmer's Wife Blocks And then on 24th February I went into labour and 12 hours later at 11.26pm we welcomed Amelia Lily to the world. Mia for short, weighed 9lbs 1 oz (4110g). We came home on Thursday after a few days in hospital and now we are juggling feeds, nappies and sleeps. Three hours old I love how suspicious she looks in this picture... We had a very handmade home coming with a knitted cardi and blankie from Grandma - my name was mud as the blanket was over 230 rows each with over 230 stitches plus a border.... I don't knit so I don't really understand - Grandma made sure I