Jennie's Threads

I'm still going strong with this block of the month... here's month 6's offering! I think this might be my favourite block so far.... And guess what!? I quilted one of the blocks this month too!

Earlier this month I finished a little embroidery I started back in March. The pattern is called Bloom by Jessica Long at Namaste Embroidery and it was run as a Sew-Along which I failed to keep up with! After my success using colour-tinting on my February embroidery , I had another go for this, and again I'm really pleased with the results. I love the depth it gives the piece without the need to infill entire flowers or leaves, yet it doesn't over-power the embroidery. I have bought a greater variety of pencils already so expect more colour-tinting to come! I've done embroidery for a long time, firstly cross-stitch and then free embroidery, but I rarely use any more than 2 threads (of 6-stranded embroidery thread - normally DMC). This was a little different as large parts of the work were done in all 6 strands. And much as I love the finished look with the large flowers popping out boldly, I did not enjoy sewing it. Even after changing to a larger needle, there was a l...

Back in March, I introduced you to a new project: Geo Diamons is an EPP project designed by @anomiealicec and run as a block of the month. All of the blocks are the same, and whilst I'm using slightly different fabrics, mine are all the same colour. I'm hoping this will result in some really good patterns with the repeats, but it also means it's a bit boring to share here every month. But we're up to month four now, which means I can start to show you how some of those repeats are going to look... here are a couple of different layouts! I'm really pleased with progress and aiming for this to be finished and on Josh's buggy next May.

This month's meet up of the North East Modern Quilt Guild was a special one! Chris English headed north to join us for a day of sewing our scraps! It was such a good day - there was a real buzz in the room, there was fabric flying everywhere, and we all learned something new! Chris teaches two techniques: crumb blocks, combining scraps with an old shirt, and Portholes. Here's what I made in the workshop: I used an old shirt of Michael's - and I love that green colour, and the portholes are filled with a stripey maternity T-shirt which I'd embellished (otherwise known as hid a stain) with a Tula frog. I have no need of it anymore, so it was nice to be able to recycle it! And when I got home I kept going. And instead of a cushion, which was the aim of the workshop, I ended up with a whole quilt.... The added borders are leftovers from quilt backings (otherwise known as Asda duvet covers). I need to find an appropriate, recycled, backing and then I'm going...

I've really been enjoying my embroidery this year, after not doing very much last year. One of the challenges I set myself at the start of the year was to learn to colour tint my fabric before adding the embroidery - I love buying the pre-printed panels, but I'd like to do this myself as well. And the opportunity to learn this arose in February. Meg Hawkey of Crab Apple Hill Studio hosted a stitchalong to celebrate National Embroidery Month, and the first step was colour your fabric. I bought the pencils she advises,  the blending stumps, something called fabric extender and the pigma pen. And I gave it a go. My first attempt ended badly. Because the one thing I didn't buy was a new, clean paintbrush. So when I came to add the fabric extended, it went all bleary and muddy as, despite cleaning the paintbrush thoroughly, it obviously wasn't clean enough. It was unsalvageable so I started again, and I was so much happier with the results. The practice piece was, in...

May has been quite the month! It's my final month of maternity leave and has been dominated with chicken pox... Mia got her first spot on 9th May and by the end of the month both Jessica and Joshua were covered in spots... But at least it's over and done with before I go back to work... My highlight of the month was ticking a box on my bucket list: two years ago we visited Belsay Castle and viewed the quilt show held by the Quilters Guild local region. At the time, I was just finishing off my 365 Quilt Challenge and said how much I would love to see it hanging at the next display at Belsay. The show happens every two years, and was on over the bank holiday weekend. Here is my quilt hanging in the Library! Despite the chicken pox, I have been sewing! I finished my Trinket Quilt: A pincushion : And a cushion : I finally framed the Moon Moth embroidery I was working on 6 weeks ago: And finished off the set of zipper pouches I'd been working on ...