Jennie's Threads

When Jess was born I was pretty much up to date with this project. Inevitably I fell behind once she arrived. We're currently working on light 6" blocks and I have made pretty good progress so far: I've been picking out fabrics for a lot of blocks, then cutting for a lot of blocks, and then piecing. It means it feels like I'm making no progress for quite a while, then all of a sudden I can make ten blocks on a weekend; here are eight of the ones I made in the last two days. It's time to take a bit of a step back and see what I have and what I still need. So here are all my 6" light blocks so far in colour groupings. I definitely need more red blocks! I have a few more blocks cut ready for piecing, then it's back to the stash as I continue to catch up!

This week has been about preparation, rather than sewing. I'm still hoping to meet my deadline of a full sized quilt by mid July - it's for friends that we don't see often - by which I mean, once a year, and that once a year is coming up quickly. I'm using Sweet Serenade by Basic Grey for Moda, which was released a few years ago now. I confess when I first bought it, I didn't have a plan for it, I just knew I liked it. But I also knew that it wasn't really my normal fabric choice. It was fabric I would enjoy sewing with, but perhaps not the end result so much. Then I realised it's colour scheme was perfect for these friends. I've spent this week cutting out all the pieces for the remaining 20 blocks. And by Thursday night when I finished I was feeling like I hadn't achieved much. Obviously I had and when I started piecing the blocks, they went together beautifully quickly. But I needed a quick finish on Friday Earlier this month, Fat Qu...

The Summer Sampler : I am addicted to both quilt-alongs and sampler quilts, so this project ticked all the boxes for me. Twenty blocks over twenty weeks. Requirements: 20 fat quarters. In honour of #sewmystash2016 I pulled out a hoarded fat quarter bundle of Dreamin' Vintage by Jeni Baker for Art Gallery Fabrics made up of 20 fat quarters. A beautifully summery range of fabric for a summery quilt. Perfect for the girls of the house! And yes - at the back there in the photo is enough fabric to back the quilt too! I was very excited on the day the first block was released, and made up my first block. And I didn't love it. I was really disappointed about it. The second block was released a week later. I'd thought about it a bit and decided that the off-white Art Gallery Pure Element I had was going to make an appearance: perhaps a bit of  solid in there would help the prints in the range shine. I liked it better. But still didn't love it. Final roll of th...

This was a thoroughly unexpected quilt from start to finish. Last weekend my parents came to visit and Mum happened to mention she needed a gift for a colleague who is having a baby. I suggested a quilt - cause it's what I always give. We spent a few hours browsing Pinterest and eventually decided on a variation of the yellow and grey quilt I finished a few months back. We selected navy, blue and splash of orange. But after raiding my stash, lime green was included too. Mum and Dad headed off for a few days in the Lakes, and I headed for the fabric shop, to pick up the navy fabric, batting and a backing fabric. That was Tuesday morning. I did all the cutting Tuesday evening, pieced it on Wednesday and Thursday, quilted it on Friday and bound it on Saturday. I like it so much, that I'll be making another similar one in the coming weeks for me to gift! The Navy fabric is from Timeless Treasures, and I bound it in the same. The rest are all from my stash: Art Gallery, P...

May was a bit of a slow sewing month. Instead I've been enjoying time with this these two fruitcakes! Jess is now 6 weeks old, desperate to see whats going on and be involved, giving out great big smiles, and starting to chat away! I forget how quickly they start to interact. And speaking of chatting away, Mia doesn't stop! She's taken a liking to map-reading in the photo above! Having completed 43 blocks in April, I had a feeling May would be a drier month - just 27. But my running total for the year is still a healthy 283, so my 365 blocks in a year goal is well on track! But this month's blocks were more varied: I finally made a second Zodiac block. This project has been held up because I do freezer paper piecing and I had to replace my iron, and it just didn't get hot enough to melt the wax, making freezer paper foundation piecing a thoroughly unenjoyable experience. I've now replaced my iron so hopefully I'll get caught up o...