Jennie's Threads

A six-day-old baby in the house means no sewing time - I have basted a few hexies.... in the quiet moments. This was a photo from yesterday with a very besotted Granny - I love this photo. But I have had a lot of thinking time whilst feeding. Yesterday Stacey at the Tilted Quilt posted about her Quilty Bucket List and that got me thinking... so what would I love to make/finish (obviously long term given recent developments). Double Wedding Ring Quilt: When I was little I remember my Gran making a double wedding ring quilt (by hand) and ever since this quilt has been in the back of my mind. Last year my local quilt shop offered a cutting service for this pattern, and I leapt at the chance. I'm using Poetica from Art Gallery and haven't made much recent progress but one day this quilt will go on my bed. Dear Jane: I love sampler quilts and this is the Mummy of all sampler quilts. This is another project I have already started and will be a very long term labour of lo...

Well - I'd better put some plans down before the end of the week. What would I like to achieve between now and the end of September? The answer to that question is very different to the answer of the question "what could I actually achieve between now and the end of September?" In the spirit of quarter 2, which was quite successful, I'm simply going to list everything, along with a couple of goals which won't eligible for prizes, but accountability is a good thing. I would love to finally finish my hexie table runner. This was my go to project on holiday in Sidmouth last year and it is nearly Sidmouth-time again - 20 days (not that I'm counting). I need to baste, quilt and bind. Easy. My Rhubarb and Custard Quilt didn't quite make it in quarter 2. Maybe this time round..... Neon Stained: I now plan to quilt each square individually with a different free motion design (within reason) - that does mean this will not be a quick finish, but it wi...

I just can't help myself - I love the community feel of stitching along with everyone else. And the best part of Quilt-alongs is that everyone wins because everyone comes out of it with a (partly) finished quilt. For me it all started with Vignette in Stitches. I joined the blog . I stitched the first block. I have blocks 2 and 3 half finished. The final piece of the pattern will be published immently and I haven't got any further.... I still love the design and I love the fabrics and I will love the quilt. But it always gets pushed to bottom of the pile. Then I saw the Farmer's Wife. And that was when I joined Flickr - July 2011. Here are some new photos taken this morning that show it slightly better (though it is too big to hold up easily) Since then I've done a number of other Quilts online: Swoon, Oh My Stars, Stained..... And September seems to be a busy month for quilt-alongs to start: I've already mentioned that Leanne is running a Mod Pop Quil...

Aaaah - blogger's changed - help It's ok - I'm getting there - I've found the buttons! Last night was Friday Night Sew In . I don't have a great deal to show for it! I finished off the binding on my HST Mug Rug (you can see the post about that here ), and then I stood at my ironing board for over an hour, wishing I had pressed these HST units as I went along. They are the leftovers from my full size swoon - the bits you trim off when making flying geese units. I stitched the seam as I went, but didn't press or trim. They are pressed now. But I need to work up a bit more energy to trim there all - there are far more than I remember and probably enough for two cushion covers, not just the one I had been planning! Bobbi and Heidi had asked that we use this Friday Night Sew In to make a pillow case for an American charity. I wouldn't be able to get mine there on time, so instead I used the time to make another incubator quilt, which will be donated to th...

Back at the beginning fo February I had an idea for a bit of a linky party called Relegation Rescue. You can find the original post here . All you have to do to join in is rescue a project from falling off of your WIP list and onto your UFO list by showing it a but of TLC, then write a blog post about the project - why you started it, why you stopped. You never know - you may fall back in love with it. And you absolutely do not have to have finished something to join in - just a few stitches counts as "rescued"! Once you've posted, or if you're just visiting, please go and visit some others (here's hoping there's more than just me playing) and give them some encouragement with their old project. My "rescued" project this month is my Vignette quilt. I love this quilt and I adore the fabrics I picked (Lily and Will). It's a mystery block of the month quilt by Leanne Beasley (and Leanne has now shared 10 blocks - that's how far behind...

I've been really excited to show you this finish! Two thirds of it were finished at the weekend but I wanted to finish the final third before I photographed it. I've even set up a photo shoot - partly so when I give it as a Christmas present the recipient knows what to do with it! I'm not sure my husbands Great Aunts are au fait with mug rugs! The set is made up of two mug rugs and, in very British fashion, a "teapot rug" - if it were a mug rug, I would need one hell of a large treat to go with my mug! The teapot rug 14 x 9.5" and is made up of a central panel with a stitchery design from Issue 4 of Vignette from Leanne Beasley, which I've adapted slightly so it can be used in a landscape orientation, rather than the original portrait. It's surrounded by a contrasting border with a third fabric in the corners. The teapot rug is then hand quilted with Anchor perle cotton number 12 in white - unfortunately you can't see it well in the photos, but ...

Mum, Dad, me, Michael, Linda, Roy and Jan We are back from our holiday! We had a fantastic time! We spent the first day with my parents in Bedforshire and as well as going to see the new Harry Potter film (which was excellent), we went to Threads and Patches in Milton Keynes. I bought some batik fabrics for my (much neglected) Farmer's Wife Quilt. And Mum found some fabrics in turquoise and lemon that she liked for a double bed quilt in what use to be my bedroom. Linda also got some very nice fabrics. We drove to Sidmouth on the Friday for Sidmouth Folk Week . It was a fantastic week of concerts, workshops, morris men, shopping and eating. And...oh dear.... we found another patchwork shop.... Maisie Daisy . I have never seen a smaller patchwork shop - no bolts, just fat quarters, fat eights and fat sixteenths, but Pauline was so friendly that we spent quite a while with her at various times during the week. It was fantastic because I could buy lots of different fabrics ...

Not literally, obviously - anyone who knows Michael would struggle to picture that. But I have finally started my Farmer's Wife quilt. The background to the quilt is really interesting: in the 1920s, farmers' wives in America were asked if they would like their own daughters to marry a farmer. The book contains some of the responses to that question and 111 6inch patchwork blocks. Yesterday I completed block 9, "Box", and today I have completed block 26, "Cut Glass Dish". I am foundation piecing (on paper) using a black background and abtoks from my stash. As my stash is not very mature I am using this as an excuse to buy any pretty batiks I see and it will end up a scrappy batiky quilt. I went through my stash yesterda, knowing I had some batiks there, only to find that they are all blues and turquoises. This will keep me going for a few blocks, but I think I'll have to add to this colour palette fairly soon. So here is block 9, Box. T...

Bearreraig Bay The second post yesterday was only half finished, so here it is.... Today we got back from a week long holiday in the Isle of Skye in north-west Scotland. It was fantastic and by some incredible flook we had lovely weather for most of the week. Normally I just talk about embroidery and patchwork here, but I shall indulge myself and share some photos from my holiday. Archie and Charlie THE JOURNEY So, it turns out that even starting our trip from as far north as Newcastle, the Isle of Skye is still quite a long way away and we maybe underestimated our journey time slightly... it took 8 and a half hours but the journey route was lovely. We crossed through the Northumberland countryside to Hexham, then across to Carlisle. North on the M73/4 then the M8 (not the prettiest section of the journey), then across the Erskine Bridge, up the west coast of Loch Lomond towards Crianlarich then over Rannoch Moor, through Glencoe to Fort William. Past Ben Nevis, up ...