Jennie's Threads

Back in the summer I finished a quilt for some friends following the Jane Austen Sampler Quilt tutorials and using Sweet Serenade by Basic Grey. That whole process went very smoothly, and our friends loved the quilt. I say smoothly. I had one little hiccup... one block. It should have measured 12" finished, instead it measured 10.5" finished. I remade it for the quilt, and the block got put with the other orphan blocks I own. The other week, I took it out, added some mitred borders (the #365quiltchallenge means I'm definitely not scared of mitres anymore!) and quilted it up. I had enough of the border print fabric from the quilt left over to back it, and I followed my favourite zipped back tutorial to finish it off . It's quite a petit cushion at 14", at least by my standards, but it will look good with the quilt. This is a Finish Along finish - you can find my original, slightly daft, list here .

I have a final finish to share for the Q3 link up before it closes: my scrappy Pineapple Quilt. Made entirely from my scrap bags from pieces so small that most people I know would throw them away - that makes this a free quilt, right? It's hand quilted and will go on the wall above the changing table as a distraction from nappies! My original FAL list #ridiculouslylongfallist is here and included 28 items. The final tally is 6 finishes, 6 projects with good progress and 14 items where I have absolutely nothing to say. Here are the other 5 finishes. Quasar Quilt 2 Jane Austen Sampler Quilt Moccasin Block of the Month Quilt Induction Mini Quilt Inky Zippy. I feel like I've made good progress on ABC embroidery, one of the Baby quilts, the Bee-utiful mini quilt, the Summer Sampler, the Joy cushion and the fruit embroidery mini. There were a few finishes scuppered at the last minute - hopefully these will be an early boost next quarter. The rest ...

Lots has happened this month! Notably I think I have blogged more. And that's down to planning: at the start of the month, I sat down and planned some blog posts, and in the most part I have stuck to that plan! I'll try it again for August and see if I can keep it up. So what was I actually sewing? Well, for starters, my monthly block count is 70! A total mix of projects! Zippy pouches. Lots of zippy pouches. I shared two here : a boxy zippy for my perle threads, and an open wide pouch for taking stuff when I go out and sew. Followed by a C&S black and white pouch for my black and white EPP project, and a blue and pink number for a travel play set for Mia. A bit of a thing for black, white, grey and bright pink going on. I finished two quilts: a baby quilt - Quasar II And a whopper - Jane Austen Family Album I had a ball at a workshop with Sarah Fielke I did a bit of charity stitching And I made good progress on both the Splendid Sampler and...

I'm so pleased to call this a finish! I've been planning this quilt for a while, ever since I found the perfect fabric for friends who had dropped subtle hints for a quilt (thoroughly unsubtely...). We see these friends normally once a year only, and by the time I realise that week is coming up, it's always too late to start the quilt. This year, I remembered earlier, but still thought it was a long shot to make an 86" x 100" quilt between March and July, especially when I was due to have a baby in the middle of that time! But if I didn't start it, there was no chance at all. The subtle hint went along the lines of "big enough for our [large] bed" and "coastal colours". So I had free reign over pattern, so long as it was big. I came across a weekly block programme by Barbara Brackman called the Jane Austen Family Album quilt . I quite enjoy a Jane Austen read, though mostly, TV adaptation, and the background that came with each block ...

Last quarter was unsuccessful because I hadn't planned. When I wrote my list my mind was elsewhere and the list didn't include much that was achievable, and certainly didn't include much that inspired me over the last few months. As such, I didn't have many finishes to share. But I know how important the Finish Along is, not just for getting me to finish things, but also for getting me to be creative and find time to sew, which in turn keeps me sane in between the dirty nappies and bottles! So with that in mind I've planned this next quarter a lot more carefully! However, that doesn't mean that the list will be any shorter! So, in no particular order, here are the plans: ABC Embroidery: This project is pushing my embroidery comfort zone with some new stitches and I'm thoroughly enjoying leaving the backstitch zone behind. It's rubbing off on other embroidery projects too which I'm finding quite exciting! I've done A-G and I need to start thinki...

So the headline for June was 88 blocks completed! That brings me to 371 for the year and my new years resolution of a block a day has been smashed by the half-way point! The 88 came from so many different projects - where to start? There were of course many #365 blocks - 29 of them. I'm catching up on this project - about a month behind now, but none of the blocks are easy: for 6"x6" they certainly pack in the complexity. I'm enjoying the workout, but I'd love to be up to date. We've just moved back on to the 3" blocks which tend to be simpler, so this is my chance. I'm hoping to be up to date by my holiday at the end of the month!  Twenty-six blocks were for the Jane Austen Sampler quilt . Although I don't have a photograph, all of the blocks are now completed and the sashing done, and border (with mitred corners!) added. This quilt is a monster at 86"x 100". I'm waiting on a cotton sheet to arrive for my backing, and then ...