Jennie's Threads

A while back, I explained why I had trouble falling in love with my Patchwork City, and mentioned that I would love to try a mini version of it. Well once I'd put it out there I couldn't get the idea out of my head, so instead of working on one of my many on-going projects, I cut up some yellows and greys and went for it: a fair few of the pieces end up at just 1/2" wide (and a couple at 1/4"). My plan for this year is to have a different mug rug on my desk at work each month, then after that month add them to the wall of minis that I will have in our new house. My three Patchwork City blocks, with a bit of sashing and a border cam in at 9.5" x 9.5" - perhaps a little large for a mug rug but I don't care. I finished the mug rug off with some hand-quilting in yellow perle thread around each of the blocks. I then machine stitched the narrow binding to the back, and brought it round to the front where I hand stitched it in place with the same yell...

Three more blocks complete and I am now totally loving this project after somewhat uncertain beginnings. This block may be my favourite so far. I really love using the charcoal scribble print from Art Gallery. I only had a fat quarter but picked up another half-meter on sale at Fluffy Sheep Quilting yesterday, so this will definitely continue to appear in my blocks! I'm being much more conscious of my colour choices and how they will look against the black sashing I'm going to use, so the white text print on the right of this block should stand out nicely in the final quilt. And the final block. I wish I had more fussy cut-able black/white/grey neutrals like the butterflies - it would definitely have improved this block... The yellow fabrics are Kona Buttercup, Pearl Bracelets, Gleeful by Sew Caroline and Dreamin' Vintage by Jeni Baker (both Art Gallery). I added a bit more Mama Said Sew, a print from Red Rooster's Melrose, Sketch in black and a coupl...

We went away last weekend to celebrate my mother-in-law's 60th Birthday. Fourteen of us descended on an unsuspecting country house hotel near the Scottish border and had a great weekend. We ate well, some of us drank well (there was no WKD Blue left after my sister-in-law had finished drinking cheeky Vimtos...). We spent Saturday at Bamburgh Castle and were so lucky with the weather - I could cope with this view from my living room! Who said the North Sea is grey? Mia seemed to enjoy herself too - look at that grin! And we topped off the weekend with Cards Against Humanity - not an appropriate game for Aunty Barbara, but a big hit with Uncle Gordon! Two days away from my sewing machine, and I was getting severe withdrawal, so Sunday afternoon when we got back home, Michael and Mia napped together on the sofa, I sewed up her new bibs, and then I cut the fabrics for the next set of Patchwork City blocks: curry. But it was only tonight that I got to put them together. ...

Last weekend I pieced the set of teal blocks for Patchwork City, using Kona Emerald. This block used templates - argh! Not my favourite thing (in case you weren't aware). But by using freezer paper and rotary cutting I managed to get pretty good accuracy and I really like the finished block. This block was just basic rotary cutting - lovely! Though the contrast between some pieces is perhaps not strong enough. And I really like this one too. For the "hourglass" piecing in the centre I foundation pieced the stripes and the side triangles, rather than piecing the stripes traditionally and using templates for the sides. And here are all three together The Teal fabrics I've used are Cotton + Steel; Steel Netorious,  Pearl Bracelets, Art Gallery Oval Elements, Koa Strip (Molakai) and Alison Glass Bike Path. The low volume prints I can identify are Sew Mama Sew by Sweetwater, Indelible from Art Gallery, Pearl Bracelets, a few Stoff prints, Minimalista fro...

I love the start of a new year: there are lots of new projects popping up and I feel no guilt in joining them like I do the rest of the year (normally because I joined so many in January). And because of that there aren't too many finishes to share this month: Two mug rugs: one for the Whimsical Woodland Mug Rug Swap - have you noticed my addiction for Urban Threads recently? Another for me using a Lucky Stars pattern and some morning sky inspiration for my colour palette. I finished off a mini quilt to send to my partner in the Schnitzel and Boo Mini Quilt Swap. I made two 2-in-1 zippy pouches to go with the swap parcels. And my final finish was the Essential Sampler Quilt - my oldest WIP. You can read al about how important this quilt is to me in this post. At the time of writing this, the Schnitzel and Book mini quilt has been received by @nwquiltedcat, but the mug rug is still in transit. I, however, have been very lucky with both of my packages. A fabulous parcel f...

I am addicted to sampler quilts. So when I first saw Elizabeth Hartman's Patchwork City I knew a copy of this book would be coming to live at my house. And it arrived just before Christmas. And since then I've been trying to decide on blocks, layouts and colours. I've decided on a rainbow scheme, just slightly different to the original Metro Area quilt from the book. I'd also like to make a couple of the other quilt layouts...but one at a time. This is my first attempt at my first block I started with green because it's a colour I find quite easy to work with and I have rather the extensive stash to help me out. But I didn't like it. So out came the seam ripper and I made some changes. So here's the second attempt. I like it better, but I don't love it yet. Maybe it's because it feels quite chunky compared to some of the small piecing I like to do; maybe it's because I feel like I'm copying the original too much; maybe I jus...