Jennie's Threads

Well here it is - my first quilt finish of the year! This is the Skill Builder block of the month, which was run by Pile O'Fabric back in 2013 . I started this quilt on 17th January 2013 and the last time I touched this project (according to my blog) was April 2014 . I had to give my study a good tidy over Christmas and came across the blocks I'd made and was surprised how much I'd already done. I packed it away again, finished tidying, moved on. But those blocks kept coming back to mind so I dug them back out. I even managed to find the box of fabrics I'd carefully curated all those years ago - wow there were some treasures in there! I worked out that if I was content with a 16-block layout, instead of the originally planned 20-block layout, and if I was happy to use the "spare" block created by one of the techniques, I only needed to piece two more. So I did. Both were foundation pieced: Then all the blocks needed to be quilted - I hadn't made as much p...

So after the successes of sleep-deprived-stupid and overly-ambitious Finish Along lists in Q3 and Q4 2014 I'm going for realism with the next installment! Honest! Aspen Glow: I really, really should make some progress on this... Star Mug Rug - I really enjoyed having a mug rug on my desk during December, but the Christmas Trees have been packed away, so I need a new one. At the moment it looks like this... Skill Builder: how many times have you seen this quilt appear on my lists? Maybe, just maybe, this will be the last time. Secret Sewing: it has progressed a little from this picture, but not much. I'm having a blanket stitch crisis: I don't like the blanket stitch on my new machine. I love the blanket stitch on my old machine, but it doesn't sew at the moment and needs a service. Or I could do it by hand... Jennie Rayment wall-hanging: this needs quite a lot of applique before I can layer it up and quilt it. That should give me enough time to work ...

Well it's that time again - time to put together a stupidy long and absolutely unachievable list of what I would like to do for the next three months. Except it's already less than three months... let's see shall we... Mini Medallion: I started this in the last quarter but lost steam when it came to quilting. This is the second medallion quilt I've made, and I really enjoy the process of making them (there may be another one in my near future) but I really struggle to know how to quilt them. Especially when the borders of this one are so tiny. Binding is made, it's basted and ready but I'm not. Cross quilt cushion: another start last month. I want a big chunky cushion to support my back, especially when I'm breast feeding. At the moment I have three or four individual cushions which slip and slide about. This needs to be finished. Soon. i.e. before I stop breastfeeding. My daughter weighed in at 16 lb 3oz today (20 weeks) - no wonder my back hurts. ...

It's been a while since I successfully free motion quilted, but with a good clean (it's hard to clean your machine properly if you've never be shown how to before) my sewing machine appears to be behaving - for tonight at least. So whilst Daddy did bath time and tried (unsuccessfully) to convince Mia to take formula milk from a bottle), Mummy managed to quilt these two blocks... Not bad for an evening!

So, once a baby hits six weeks old, everything clicks - routine, sleep, feeding.... right? And I get time to sew, right? Hey - can you see that pig flying pas the window? I know that the reality will be snatched sewing moments here and there, even if it's only just five minutes while Daddy changes the nappy. But that isn't going to stop me putting together a really stupidly long Finish Along list - I just never know what will take my fancy. Arabella Hexagon Quilt: I started this just last week - you can see why in this post here - and needs to be gifted in mid-May, so I need to get this basted, quilted and bound. Arabella Hexagon Quilt II: In boy colours. Apparently black and white are some of the first colours a baby sees so really this could be for a boy or a girl but is definitely more boy-ish Mini Swoon Quilt: I started making 6" Swoon blocks before Christmas - I've made three and want to make 9 in total, but all the fabric is cut. Neon Stained: I hav...