Jennie's Threads

I'm so please to finally share this finish with you - it's been a while in the works and I've missed a few deadlines - the baby's birth, the baby's christening... unfortunately the weather has conspired against us for any good photos... My new official quilt holder upper! My sister-in-law, Steph, asked me to make a quilt for her friend back at the start of summer. We knew she was expecting a girl and Steph had a very specific colour scheme in mind: cream, beige and pink - not my normal go to, but very pretty. A found some ideas on Pinterest and Steph picked the pattern from those. All of the fabrics came from my stash. I really don't know what the neutrals are, but the pinks include Art Gallery, Lily and Will, and Pearl Bracelets. I normally struggle with pink, as I never have the shade I need, but this pretty, girly baby pink seems to be abundant in my stash. After some grovelling around the dining room floor I had my layout. I started piecing this bac...

Last week there were three blocks for the Farmer's Wife quilt-along , but in an effort to get ahead, I made four. I would like to have all the blocks pieced before Baby, hence trying to get ahead. I started off with Katherine: I used a Safari Moon print (pink) with a lime green Kona solid and the navy is from Doe by Carolyn Friedlander. The layout of this block confuses me. I don't dislike it but I don't understand it... Then Old Maid: the peach fabric is one of my favourites and is from Geometric Bliss by Jeni Baker for Art Gallery. The coral is Michael Miller. This is one of those blocks that definitely looks best on point. Then Susannah: the pink solid is Art Gallery and the green is Kona and I think the print is from Moda, but I don't know what line. And my extra block was Nellie, mostly because it was opposite Old Maid in the book and was another rotary cutable block. Let me tell you, that this block has 50 pieces in it, and a lot of seams to m...

I nearly didn't enter a second quilt in this Autumn's Blogger's Quilt Festival, but then I remembered this one. This is my entry in the applique category. At the start of the summer I signed up for the Harry Potter Mini Quilt Swap and spent a long time thinking about what to make... there are so many fantastic quilts and inspirational artwork on Pinterest, that I didn't really know where to start ( these are just some of the pins I collected ). I was re-reading the books at the time, and at the start of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry visits Ron's house, the Burrow: "It's not much, but it's home". Well, that was the inspiration I needed. Originally I had planed to foundation piece my vision, but that was a stupid idea. Instead, I sketched out my idea, and then layer at a time, created the background hills, the trees and hedges, and finally the Burrow, nestled in the little valley. I used free motion applique for this quilt: ev...

Do you know I haven't finished a single quilt this year larger than a baby quilt? I know I have loads of excuses, but it doesn't feel right, not making a bigger quilt. And it means that I've had to go back to last year for this Blogger's Quilt Festival entry. My entry is Michael's hangover blanky, made using last year's Block of the Month series from Gen X Quilters. This was a little out of my comfort zone, made from all solids, picked by his Lordship at the start of the year. Although he knew I was making it for him, with a small baby in the house, I had fallen behind in early summer and as far as he was concerned, I hadn't touched it since about May. So I caught up in secret and then had to quilt it in secret. This is not a small quilt, and once it was layered up it wasn't easy to hide, but I caught snippets here and there, and embroidered the label while he was sat in the next room.. I think he was genuinely surprised I had got it finished. I ...

The news of the day is that my phone has died. I did a system upgrade and it failed to restart.so I'm using a windows tablet and it will take some getting use to. . . I apologise for a lack of links in this  blog post. We're three weeks into the Farmers' Wife quilt along with Gnome Angel and I have some more blocks to share with you.  First up is Coral.  I cut into my brand new Carkai fabric by Carolyn Friedlander.  It is gorgeous. I couldn't resist this combination of orange and purple.  I rotary cut the pieces for this block and it went together very easily.  Next was Caroline.  Another rotary cut block this time using mini Pearl Bracelets, Emmy Grace  and a low volume  which  I can't identify. The third block is Betty.  Rotary cut from Cotton & Steel  and Pearl  Bracelets.  I'm looking forward to next week  and planning a group shot at  the end of it.  For now I'm linking u...

It's been about 2 months since I last did any work on this quilt top. Not because I don't like it, and only partly due to pregnancy. One of the big reasons for not working on it is because my stash lives upstairs and I sew downstairs. I've found it hard to plan the fabric selection for this quilt in advance. I need to pick the fabrics for one or two tiny blocks or sections at a time, sew them up and then see what colours I want next. This would involve lots of going up and down stairs. Having realised this, I packed a suitcase with a selection of my favourite fat quarters, and I've hidden it under my sewing desk. And I will NOT be opening it in the presence of my daughter! So with the secret downstairs stash, I can progress. I cut all of the pieces of low volume sky at the start of this project, so that was a nice easy start to the evening. I then foundation pieced the triangle section - note to self: reverse it first! And then there was quite a lot of hand applique. ...

I could really copy across my previous list for this quarter... but that would be dull. So I'll start with the hopefully achievable goals: First up I have the last few swap commitments to complete, and once these are finished, no more swaps for a while! I'm making a mini quilt for round four of the Schnitzel and Boo mini quilt swap: this is my fabric pull and this is the pattern I'm making. The final swap is the UK Easy Swap: a zippy pouch for this one! Last year I made advent calendars for my niece and nephew and this year I want to make one for Mia - I've seen some sneak peeks of a new Lilipopo embroidery design that I think will take centre stage, and these are the colours - they don't scream traditional Christmas too much, but are still seasonal and girly. Next up are the baby quilts... firstly Inside Addition. I still have a few more blocks to piece before this becomes a completed quilt top. The yellow and grey one. I need a better...

It's that time again: rounding up my Q3 finishes. Or lack thereof. But first I have a final finish to share with you today and it's actually a finish from months ago that I mentioned in my blog post rounding up the #handpiecedminiswap but that never got it's own blog post. On my original list was a zippy pouch extra for this swap. I used some fabrics that I received in another swap, as in a roundabout way I thought my partner would like them - she had said in the sign up that she liked Liberty of London fabric, but I didn't own any. Liberty of London are quite floral, and I had been gifted a C&S floral print which seemed perfect. I added in some coordinates, a little hand quilting, a matching pincushion and needlecase and had an extra that my partner seemed to like! But how did the rest of my list go? Well, not great, but with a really good reason - I hope you agree! In case you missed it, here is the reason: Baby Craigs, due April, 2016! Just like my las...

I haven't been very successful with my ALYoF goals recently. I didn't make my July goal, with no real excuse. My August goal remained untouched. And I didn't even bother to make a September goal. But gradually I think my energy is returning - slowly. So I'm going to try a goal for October. It's a repeat.... my July goal was a baby quilt. The quilt is a christening present. The christening was last weekend! It's a finished quilt top, but I do now have backing material, and I got it basted yesterday evening! Bring on the quilting! That gives me plenty of time to get it quilted and finished by the end of the month!