Jennie's Threads

This is the quilt I was going to finish when I finished my Tula Nova. Luckily I had a day off a week later and this was top of the pile! Two years after I started it, my Fancy Forest quilt is now a finish! I started this quilt as part of the Elizabeth Hartman All The Animals Sew Along hosted by @gnomeangel in 2018, but I only got as far as the foxes and the rabbits. In Autumn last year, I picked it up again and pushed it over the finish line - a finished quilt top. I love the rainbow effect - which I wasn't sure was working at the half way point. I love the owls - I've made loads of these blocks now, yet I still managed to sew one together wrong. I was away at the Sewing Shindig Retreat that weekend, so I couldn't just recut the pieces I messed up. We had such a laugh about my little mistake, which I didn't realise until I'd finished piecing my owl, that I decided to leave him and not redo. So I have 7 mean owls and one slightly sheepish one! I think he's...

I recently did a bit of pattern testing for Laurel at Porcupine Stew Threads . Laurel designs EPP patches, which are just a bit more challenging than your average EPP pattern! I'd been looking at her patterns for a while, but postage from the States made it very expensive, so when she announced she was looking for pattern testers for her new PDF patterns I volunteered straight away! And this is the result: Isn't he lovely? I used some Ruby Star Society, Lizzy House and Giucy Giuce for the tans in his mane, then a Moda spot and a random cream for the lighter sections. He's appliqued to a Libs Elliot background. The design is fantastic and I love the result, but this isn't a pattern for the beginner. I adored making it because it was more challenging than a regular EPP design, and I would definitely make more of Laurel's pattern for exactly that reason. The biggest struggle I had was making those fine EPP points crisp and accurate - there may have been a small ...

I can't believe it's been nearly two years since an epic day out in Huddersfield with the amazing Tula Pink. That day at Simply Solids was pretty close to the best day ever: a morning lecture by Tula where we got to see some of her quilts - and the amazing quilting by Angela Walters - and then an afternoon workshop with her starting work on the Tula Nova pattern. The centre that I made that day became a cushion, but I redid my centre and kept going with a rainbow or stars around it to create my final Tula Nova. All of the print fabrics are Tula All Stars with Pompoms and Stripes. The solids are all Kona. This was my first real time working with Tula Pink fabrics. I'd long been a fan of her patterns, but not her fabric. After this day I was a convert. We won't discuss how much Tula fabric I now have, nor how many of my current WIPs are Tula WIPs! But this was the start. The medallion is all hand pieced using English Paper Piecing. I learned about fussy cutting to...

It's another year of the Finish Along. And whilst the format has changed slightly to make it more Instagram focused, I've decided to still post a list on my blog as a way of keeping myself accountable and recording my finishes! So firstly I have a few carryover items: Joshua's advent calendar: I got this started but not finished and it wasn't missed this year but I think it will be next year when his Lordship is nearly 2. So I'm posting it here in Q1 in an effort to finish it early and not at the last minute I'm not going to promise that it won't appear on Q2, Q3 and Q4 as well though! And the same thoughts about Joshua's Santa Sack - though I did pick up a great fabric in the post-Christmas sales for this, so his will be different (and a little less pink) than the girls. Again, expect to see this on Q2, Q3 and Q4 - I'll probably not start it until December 2020.... but you never know! Item three is the Sisterhood Quilt block I made on re...

Well I'm pretty pleased with how productive Q4 was - while I in no way finished everything on my list, I did finish quite a lot, and I've started the year really motivated to finish more. So far I've got to 8th January with no new starts! That's an absolute miracle! So my final finish to report here is the reindeer Christmas tree decoration I made for Joshua. It's made from felt and was self-drafted based on a lot of Pinterest images. This was my 11th finish of the quarter. Here is a round-up of the others: Preppy the Whale A Woppet Bucket I finally finished off the Kittens Around blocks into 2 cushions The Kinship batik quilt was finished - this surprised even me to be honest Shark cushion - some epic foundation paper piecing A Christmas decoration for Mia And another for Jessica The special pouch using the special fabric I cryptically mentioned on my original post: a marmalade pouch And a pouch with the travel jo...

Another year is over and it has been a hell of a year. I gave birth to Josh on 18th January and it's been a crazy ride since then - we've had loads of great family times, exploring the local National Trust and English Heritage properties and venturing further afield too. I can't believe that Josh will be a year old in just a few weeks time. Jess started nursery and Mia continues to love school and really excel at everything. I went back to work in June, and whilst it's been hard work juggling everything, with more travel that I was expecting, I still love my job and I'm looking forward to the challenges of 2020. I've also fitted in some sewing - people keep asking how I do it but the reality is that if I didn't do I would be incredibly unhappy - it's what keeps me balanced day to day and whilst on maternity leave it gave a me a focus that wasn't just feed, change nappies, sleep, change nappies, feed.... whilst I love being a mother and I love my ...