Jennie's Threads

A little close to the wire, but Mia now has a finished advent calendar and with a day to spare! Chocolates will go in one per day so that naughty puppies cannot be tempted... Last year when I made advent calendars for my niece and nephew I knew Mia had to have a special one for this year, and despite looking online for inspiration for a few months, nothing had jumped out. It was only when I saw the new design from Lilipopo Stitches back in October that I knew what I wanted to do. The embroidery pattern is an instant download and her instructions are brilliant, especially for the less common stitches (she writes blog posts with lots of photos to guide you through these unusual stitches). I decided to use some speciality threads which I bought years ago, obviously with a project in mind because they all go together beautifully. These are DMC satin threads - the "new" marketing of rayon threads. Also included are a few metallic threads. My past experience of metallic t...

A couple of weeks ago I shared the embroidery I was doing for Mia's advent calendar. The embroidery is now finished.... I've added borders, but still have a way to go and advent is just around the corner. Really bad indoor photos... Will I make it? And as I've finished the hand stitching on this project, I started a new one! This is the Collection Quilt from Carolyn Friedlander, and I'm getting it as a block of the month. So far so good, but I haven't done much! Linking up with WIP Wednesday .

For the first time in a few years, I'm really quite excited about Christmas: I think as a child, Christmas is really exciting, but as you get older, some of the magic goes. Now with Mia at an age where she can enjoy Christmas and get involved, the magic is back. Last year I made advent calendars for my niece and nephew and this year I wanted to make one for Mia. But of course it has to be better! I spent a long time on Pinterest (as I'm prone to do) and couldn't see much that I really liked, or that were special enough. I want this to be an heirloom that gets brought out every year and loved. Then I saw some sneak peaks of a new design from Lilipopo and knew I'd found what I was looking for. Just days after the pattern was released I was ready to start sewing. I decided to risk rayon threads: I'd bought a handful a few years ago - obviously with a long-forgotten purpose in mind - and hadn't ever used them. I don't have a great relationship with speci...

I don't mean to sound big-headed, but pretty well! The quarter started with 35 (yes, I know) projects on The List . I have one final finish to share with you and link up this list. It's perhaps the easiest finish of the quarter yet I left it to the last minute - my embroidery - Lists It took me a full 30 minutes to get this in the hoop and the hoop finished off. The pattern is from Lilipopo Embroidery and was a free pattern for an Embroider-Along. Butterfly Baby Quilt : I got this finished just after Christmas and when I posted it on Instagram the recipient liked it!!! She doesn't know it's for her, so I'm looking forward to getting this one in the post! Boat Baby Quilt : Another post-Christmas finish! The quilt with the royal blue background has fallen by the way side. I still need to make a baby quilt, but I'm on the look out for another pattern; the Preppy the Whale quilt is half pieced - I have a lot of left facing whales, but no right fac...

After the success of "Sleep Deprived Stupidity" I've got to follow it with an even more ridiculous list! I've taken off some of the really unrealistic goals and these will reappear next year. In theory, every single one of the projects in the list below is achievable....ha ha! Loads of people we know are expecting, or have just had babies, so there are a few baby quilts on my list: first up one with butterflies... ...And one with boats... ...these fabrics will become a quilt I've designed myself... I hope I've worked out the cutting instructions correctly! The royal blue is my background fabric - yummy! ...and these fabrics will become a Preppy the Whale quilt - I love this rainbow of colours. And then there's these fabrics - I'm hoping to make the prints the star of the show and I'm planning on risking some fussy cutting! There are a couple of full size quilts I want to finish: The Aspen Glow quilt is part of a quilt along a...