Jennie's Threads

As it turns out, I haven't shared any progress on my 1930s Farmer's Wife quilt since March last year. There are two reasons for this: firstly, for a while, I didn't touch it at all. And secondly, when I did gradually start making the blocks again, it was so occassional that I never had enought to put together a post. Also, I have been quite lazy... so it's time for a bit of an update. I was inspired to pick this project up again with some of the blocks that inclined themselves towards EPP. Back in November this was what I fancied doing. Prudence was my first challenge: Any other technique and she would have been a bit of a bitch, but with EPP she played quite nicely. A couple of weeks later I pieced Peony - Y-seams, partial seams and so, so many pieces. Fast forward to mid-January and I made Carolina. Some pretty little angles just right for EPP. Then I decided to try and keep up with the blocks from the start of the year, gradually going back and makin...

Whilst 2015 was all about swaps, 2016 was all about blocks.Lots of blocks and lots of projects. I had an original target of a block a day for the year - 366 blocks. I smashed that target by June. So An obvious new target was two blocks a day for the year - 732 blocks. But by October I had made 755 blocks and I started looking at 1000 blocks for the year. I needed 111 blocks in December to hit this target. And I struggled. Christmas sewing started to take priority, and I could feel that target slipping away. So close. And something I would probably never achieve again, at least not for quite a while, as 2017 will see life speed up and fill up as I start a new job. But of course, the end and start of the year sees loads of new projects and sew-alongs spring up and Molli Sparkles announced his Honey Pot Bee and a wild card early block - Diary of a Quilter's Christmas Tree block. I started making a few of these blocks on a bit of a whim, and finished up with 76 of them. By New...

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...

The highlight of my March sewing was a finish! Before she arrives, Baby's Sunrise quilt is finished. You can read all about it here ! My other finish of the month was a dolls house. I had a great time making this at a workshop and added loads of detail playing with felt. There are lots more photos on this blog post . And the rest of the month has been about blocks again. I've made real progress on the Patchwork of the Crosses, not just piecing - 11 blocks - but also cutting for the next eight blocks - that should keep me going for the next couple of years. I've made 7 Farmers Wife Blocks - you can see some here , and I made these four in the last couple of days: Sixteen #365 Blocks (I'm a little behind with these) A couple of Splendid Sampler blocks and the first block of a new project - the Jane Austen Family Album quilt . Including the work to get the Sunrise quilt finished, this brings me to a total of 64 bl...

I know that the WIP Wednesday link up isn't happening any more, but I'm going to try and keep up with it, as a prompt so that I do actually blog. One of the reasons I'm blogging less is because a lot of the sewing I'm doing at the moment is 'just' blocks, and I worry I might bore you. But this blog is as much for me as for you, so prepare to be bored during this year of the block. On the plus side, at some point, next year (or more likely the year after) there'll be a few (hopefully) fantastic quilts coming out of this block drive! First up my first block for a new project. A few years ago I came across the Basic Grey fabric line 'Sweet Serenade'. I liked it, but it's not very me. But that didn't stop me buying a few fat quarters. It then struck me how perfect it would be for a good friend, who in making her subtle hints about a quilt had mentioned "beach colours". I'm pretty sure that the blue is sea-y and the peach from this...

It's March! Already! February just flew by! I feel like I did a lot of sewing, but don't have masses to show for it as I was mostly working on the individual blocks which I've already shared in these blog posts here and here . The final total for the month is 64 blocks! I'm nearly up to date on the Farmer's Wife - as of last night four blocks to make. I made 10 blocks in February bringing my total to 40. I'm nearly up to date on the #365quiltchallenge - I made 27 in February and have two 3" blocks and the centre medallion to catch up on. I made three Splendid Sampler blocks, there's one I don't like enough to make and another waiting for me. I've started Mia's big girl quilt (finally) with two blocks. And just yesterday I finally made a little more progress on the Baby's quilt with 4 blocks, which is just as well because her due date is getting closer - Five and a half weeks to go! I've also made 3 hand pi...