Jennie's Threads

You all thought I was stupid, didn't you? With my list of 17 projects at the start of the quarter and a baby girl. Go on, admit it, you did! Well.... not so much "sleep-deprived stupidity" as "sleep-deprived genius"! Of the 17 projects that I started with I have finished 12! I've already started thinking about Q4 (it's going to be epic) but before I share that, let me show you how I did this quarter! First up is my Post Card Quilt - this is the finish I'm linking up with this post as it was only finished at the end of September. But it deserved a post in its own right, so y ou can read more about it in this post. In short, it was a great quilt along hosted by Debbie at a Quilters Table , which I used to showcase my lovely text prints. And because I don't have the right type of fabric for the front of postcards, I used solids and added interest with free motion quilting - my first time attempting this motif - not my last! Here are m...

I don't think August was my most productive month ever, but I really enjoyed the mix of sewing and non-sewing. The month started with a week in Sidmouth . It was so different this year with Mia, but my parents did exactly the same 29 years ago. And I didn't enjoy it any less for having her there. She seemed to enjoy herself and really grew during the week there - we started weaning while there and she seems to love her food! I got some hand sewing done during the week - the Wildflower pattern from the last issue of Love Patchwork and Quilting. It was another of those colour combos which when I showed my Mum the pieces, she turned her nose up, but as she saw it coming together she really started to like it. Whilst at Sidmouth I picked up an old pillow case in a charity shop. I cannibalised it for the back of the quilt, enlarging it with some improv piecng of the scraps left from the EPP. Only problem is that I love this too, and I haven't decided yet whether t...

Over a year ago a group of UK quilters started a bee to make quilts for the Siblings Together Charity. When we started I wasn't pregnant and I picked February to be my month. Quite fortuitous really given Mia's arrival! So whilst I was in labour the postman was busy delivering completed bee blocks. I'd picked the Love in the Mist block made scrappy and bright. Inevitably it took me a while to get round to putting the blocks together. Initially I had intended not to use sashing. But it hurt my eyes. And it looks so much better with that little bit of white. Not so much that it shows every mark and has to be washed by foster mums every five minutes, but enough to brighten and lighten the quilt. I wanted easy and quick quilting for this quilt. Unfortunately the week I had planned to quilt it was the week my machine died. And my Husqvarna just isn't up to fmq at the moment. So I plumped for a cross hatch, spaced at 4" using the Husqvarna walking foot (which I...

I have broken my sewing machine. I hit a pin, the needle bent and now I get a nasty metallic scraping noise when the bobbin case is in. She is going to the sewing machine doctor tomorrow :( For the time being I am back to sewing on my Husqvarna. One of the reasons I got the Brother was because of the issues I was having when free motion quilting - the machine was skipping stitches, regardless of the speed I was working. And now of course, since the Brother broke, all I want to do is free motion quilting. And that has meant that WIP for this week is minimal, as I'm too busy sulking. I've picked up some hand quilting on a very very old WIP - I'm planning to post about it in more detail soon: for now, it's just phone pictures - sorry! I've also made a few more mix tape blocks. I think I know what I'm doing with these blocks now - at least I have a couple of ideas. I've also cut another few blocks to get me up to 15 blocks in total - so much for only do ...

I've picked my Siblings Together quilt as my goal for August for ALYoF. This was created by the Siblings Together Bee 2 - all lovely ladies in the UK, and once finishes will be donated to the charity of the same name. I got the quilt top put together and basted in July, but didn't get to quilt it before my holiday. Since Mia was born I've been trying to slear my sewing desk of commitments, so I can sit and enjot the time I get to sew with projects I want to work on - things for me, things for Mia, things for friends. This is the last thing left to finish, and it's so close now. Linking up and crossing my fingers it will get finished!  

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. ...