Jennie's Threads

It's been 4 months since I last shared an update on my Mandolin Quilt. But I have been working on it behind the scenes. I now have 16 finished blocks, just four off the finish line. This shot is at 14 blocks when I was prepping the next ones shortly before Joshua was born. And here are the two blocks I pieced while being induced.... 30 hours! I'm not quite as up to date on my joining blocks, but those are pretty quick to piece once I've cut the fabric. But I've decided to move the goalposts... I have plenty of the fabric left (and I might have picked up a bit more in recent destashes), and I'm really enjoying sewing these blocks, so I'm going to go up to 25 blocks and make a quilt for our bed. So watch out for more updates rather than a finished top!

I completed my month-4 blocks for my Mandolin quilt back in early summer, but I never shared them here, so here are blocks 8 and 9. The fabrics are mostly Spirit Animal by Tula Pink, but there are some complimentary blenders thrown in as well, including Painters Canvas, Lecien basics, and some Cotton and Steel basics. Since early summer I haven't made any progress with these blocks. These blocks were made from the pieces I received in mid-April, so I've got some catching up to do! I also fell behind with the filler blocks, which I need to keep up with because they are quite boring compared with sewing together these pretties, so best not to leave them all to the end! Hopefully installment five will be with you shortly. The Mandolin Quit is a block of the month from Tales of Cloth.

I love this project. I love the fabric, I love the colours, I love the feel of the pieces and how easy it is to sew together. I'm also love that I am up to date. And I'm learning to love the fussy cutting - which I embraced this month! So here are my blocks And all seven together. This is definitely going to be a quilt for me! And my next blocks are prepped and ready to go!

This might be my current favourite project! the Mandolin blocks designed by Tales of Cloth are an absolute delight to put together - the paper pieces are easy on the hands, and the method of construction is nice long seams. I never considered how the weight of paper affects English Paper Piecing until recently when I started using pieces from a few different sources. I've always used papers from Paper Pieces in the US before, or from Sew and Quilt in the UK, both of whom use a similar weight card for their pieces. Last summer I started the Round We go sew along using paper pieces from Sue Daley in Australia. These are slightly heavier weight and glossy. I slowly realised that these feel like harder work, even though I never sew through the papers. And then there are the pieces from Tales of Cloth, which are lighter weight than I was use to. When I first recieved them for my Ice Cream Soda quilt last year, I was worried they were too light, but they are perfect - gentle on the hand...

The paper pieces arrived for month 1 of the Mandolin quilt and I confess, they were prepped ready for sewing within the day! I love everything about this quilt - the fabrics are so much fun, and feel beautiful to work with - the needle just slides through them and the design of the block means you can do long seams without have to stop and start your thread! The ultimate relaxing English Paper Piecing. So here they are - Block 2: And block 3: I think you are going to need sunglasses when this quilt is finished! I also started on the filler blocks: I picked the new Alison Glass print Diatom in seasalt, which is a lovely white with a delicate pale grey accent, along with Kona silver - the coordinating grey. There's so much colour in the blocks, that I really didn't need to add anything more to the fillers! I'm all ready for that next little package from Australia to land on my door mat!

Last year, you may remember that I sewed along with the Ice Cream Soda quilt along. It was created by Jodi at Tales of Cloth, an Australian quilt shop. Each month I received a tiny little package full of paper pieces, and the plan was to stitch up 8 blossoms (or part blossoms each month). Inevitably I fell behind, but I thoroughly enjoy these blocks. They are quick and easy to stitch, I'm using a totally random fabric selection, and they look so pretty. There's no complex placement so these are the perfect sewing for travelling! All of Jodi's papers are cut from recycled paper, and they are just a little bit lighter-weight than the papers from Paper Pieces or available here in the UK. At first I was dubious, but they are so easy on the hands. I'm also working on the Round You Go quilt, using papers from another Australian source - Sue Daley Designs. These are the total opposite, glossy and slightly heavier weight than most. And you really can tell the difference. I...