Jennie's Threads

I have to confess that it has been a while since the project listed for May has been out of the cupboard. I did a quick search on my blog, and the last time it got a mention was December 2014, when I announced my plan to finish it in 2015! And then in July 2013, when I added it to a Finish Along list. In fact the last time I can see any evidence that I worked on it is April 2013... Well, today I got my Double Wedding Ring quilt out of the cupboard and took some new photos of it. A couple of pieces of good news: I still absolutely love it; and all the pieces are cut! The bad news: I'm not even half way through piecing it! And there are Y-seams every two inches. And where there aren't Y-seams, there are curves! The colours are still beautiful: the fabrics are Poetica from Art Gallery with Floral Elements as the background. The whole thing was dye-cut as a class at my local quilt shop. So it's cut, it's accurate and there are little nicks for lining up the curves...

The April project for the APQ Resolution was my Summer Sampler quilt . Whilst I didn't manage to get it finished, I did go from 10 blocks to 15 blocks. I struggled an awful lot with the fabric selections for these blocks. The fabrics are all from Dreamin Vintage by Jeni Baker, and the scale of the prints is much larger than I would normally use, and there are prints with sneaky directionality. I even tried some fussy cutting, with mixed success. I think they'll do fine in the finished quilt, but I don't love them all. One of the blocks I do love, is this one: Michael and I are calling the orange "caravan orange" - the exact shade of caravan upholstery from the 1980s! I love it. he's not so keen! I need to do another 5 blocks, decide on a layout and sash it, quilt it, and bind it - not much then! But I'm pleased with the progress I did make! The ladies who ran the Summer Sampler 2016 have just announced the Summer Sampler 2017. Perhap...

I'll start off with a round up of the March project. Nothing. I didn't even touch it. Moving on. And this month I'm going to make more of an effort.This month's project is number 11, which for me means the Summer Sampler 2016. This is perfect timing, as I've seen rumours that there may be another Summer Sampler this year - it would be good to have finished one before being tempted with another wouldn't it - i know - not my normal style! Also - these fabrics are just perfect for this time of year! The original quilt design is 20 blocks. I've made 10 so far, scattered through this post. The fabrics I'm using are a long hoarded bundle of Dreamin' Vintage by Jeni Baker for Art Gallery mixed with some Art Gallery Pure Elements. I even managed to pick up a large piece of one of the prints in a sale to have a matching backing! None of the blocks are particularly difficult - in facet I've made an eleventh block already, so there is re...

I have a problem. I can't actually share this project with you. It's a secret. I didn't think this through properly, did I? I can share a stack of fabric which I pulled many, many years ago. And I can confirm that I have two finished blocks and I need a lot more.... it's a hand project with a lot of raw edge/blanket stitch applique and embroidery. You never know, maybe by the end of the month I'll have a finish for you. If I don't it will remain a tantalising secret!

It's confession time... I had really good intentions for this quilt this month . And they all fell flat on their face. I kept thinking I had loads of time to make some blocks. And then life happened - we had two big birthday weekends - and all of a sudden February is over. And this is all I have to show for it. One, single 6" block. This is Anvil. I do have a plan to prevent this from simply going back in the cupboard for another few years: another of the projects on my APQ resolution list is my Architextures and Botanics quilt. I started both quilts at the same time and there is quite an overlap of blocks already. I don't know which month this project will be appearing, but when it does, I should pair up the blocks and make one for each quilt. None of the blocks are particularly difficult! Let's hope I make more progress with the March project!

Yesterday was the first of the month and the reveal day for the project number for February. Number 8. Oh dear... this is very much an unloved project. Here's its sad little story: Back in 2013 I finished piecing my original Farmer's Wife quilt. I made it from batiks and used black throughout as my background colour. I took it down with me when I went to visit my parents so my Mum could help baste it. Whilst there my Uncle visited. Never have I seen anyone appreciate a quilt so much. He spent over an hour studying it and just simply enjoying it. It was really wonderful to see. When someone enjoys a quilt that much, they definitely deserve a quilt of their own. He was drawn to the batik fabrics in particular because of the colours and the depth - a feature I love about them, though I have to say that I rarely use batiks these days. I keenly started another black and batik sampler quilt, and then just as keenly, moved on to other things. The last time I worked on this quilt w...

January's APQ Resolution project was number 6. For me that was My Small World designed by Jen Kingwell. Here you can see it at the start of the month. I'd finished quilting the sky and started on the rest of it. And here it is today. It isn't finished, but I feel like I've made some really good progress: most notably I've bound it. This makes it a bit more manageable to continue hand quilting it. I picked the dark binding - Architextures cross hatch in black and grey by Carolyn Friedlander - to act as a frame to control the riot of colour in the quilt and I think it works. There is still quite a bit of quilting to do in the middle section but the end is in sight now, so I'm hoping I get there soon and don't just shove this project back in the cupboard. I may have ordered some more quilting cottons to help keep interest in this project alive! In my defence, they are the same cottons I use for all my embroidery including the #1yearofstitches! I use #...

The guys over at American Patchwork and Quilting have just launched the 2017 UFO challenge. This isn't the first year it's been run, but it's the first time I've been aware of it. At the start of the year you list out 12 lingering projects that you want to finish in no particular order, and then each month, a number is announced. Whichever quilt is listed against that number is the project you focus on for the month. Now you know me... I have plenty more than 12 projects hanging about. But this sounds like a great way to pick up the long-forgotten, unloved projects. So here is my list. 1.Gravity Quilt 2. Double Wedding Ring Quilt 3. Skill Builder Quilt 4. Aspen Glow 5. Lucky Stars 6. My Small World 7. Architextures and Botanics Sampler Quilt 8. Uncle Terry's Quilt 9.Vignette 10.Zodiac Block of the Month 11. Summer Sampler 12. Twit Twoo. It's a mixture of the really old, and the not so old. Some are projects I only started in 2016, some are proj...