Jennie's Threads

It's been a while since I wrote a blog post with that in the title, hasn't it! I started my Dear Jane adventure back in 2013, made 39 blocks. And then I moved on to other things. I think part of the reason, was that I had decided to hand-quilt it using a quilt-as-you-go method, and I hadn't got on with the quilting. It has all sat in a project box in the cupboard ever since. I actually found it the other day! At the end of last year I saw that Paper Pieces 2017 block of the month was going to be a paper-pieced Dear Jane. I got very excited. And even more excited when Simply Solids chose to offer it. I got my first delivery of paper pieces in January and decided that I didn't like it with a light background any more. I wanted a black background. So that's 39 orphan blocks, 9 of which have some fairly dreadful quilting on them! Let me say at this point, that some of the pieces are TINY. And the first task is to take the bag marked A1-A6 and work ou...

I wasn't really planning on hand quilting this week. But then we also weren't planning on sleep training our daughter this week. Yet that is what we are doing... an once I've picked her up and put her down a fair few times, I want to sit in a comfy seat with some hand work. Look, Mummy! I slept the whole night in my own room! (I put her down on her back!) Except I only realised this once she was asleep, and the hand sewing I wanted was in a cupboard. Upstairs. So I pulled out a project which hasn't seen the light of day in over a year. When I started my Dear Jane Quilt 18 months ago, I knew I wanted to hand quilt it, but also that to hand quilt the whole thing would be way too much. I decided to use a quilt as you go technique and very quickly created the first section and quilted the first block. And equally quickly put it in a box and forgot about it. But this is my current WIP whilst I'm stalled on a few other projects and I'm really enjoying it! ...

June just seemed to disappear! But in review I did a lot whilst it disappeared! I finished five quilts of very varying sizes - two lap quilts for my Great Aunts - a purple one ... ...and a blue one And three buggy blankets - a hexy one for Mia... ...and two applique one s for my sister-in-law to gift (I'm not done with this pattern yet!). I finished a cushion cover I have two mini quilts ready to quilt: the Mini Medallion (no change since May) and a Crosses quilt I got some Dear Jane blocks made (I need to update my Dear Jane page)... ... and a Lucky Stars block pieced . I spent last week with my parents without the sewing machine and all I could think of was a load of projects I wanted to start. As I have successfully finished a lot of quilts this quarter (watch out for myFinish ALong Q2 wrap up post in the near future) I feel that I am entitled to start lots of pretty things. There is currently fabric all over my desk as I start on that mission...

It's been ages since I actually missed posting for WIP Wednesday... the post was half written but never got finished. Mia and I are spending a week with my parents and because my daughter does NOT travel light, my sewing machine did not make the trip. So last week I prepared some of the blocks from Dear Jane which need hand sewing. And whilst I was preparing I also stitched one together on the machine which had been hanging around for a while. So far I've been doing applique. And of course because I don't have my machine here with me, I keep finding projects I want to make. Now. I've been sketching out some plans and I'm going to spend next week playing with fabrics - I predict at least four new starts! But in my defence I have finished a lot recently. Mia was four months old on Tuesday! I can't believe how much she has changed. She also learned to roll this week - she's mobile! And I've signed up for a swap - I know I said I wouldn't...

This week Linda, my mother-in-law finished a quilt. It's for a friend's 70th birthday. Linda pieced it, and I quilted and bound it. In other news I've used the luxury of space to lay out another quilt. This is one made from blocks made by my Bee Mates in Stash Bee back in 2012. I have been meaning to finish this up for a while, but couldn't face trimming all the blocks. Finally I completed that step last night. I need to keep up the momentum and piece it together now. This will be for my Great Aunt, who I will be seeing in late June, so that's my aim. I also used the same space to lay out and take a look at my Dear Jane blocks (minus the 9 already in the process of being quilted) And my sampler blocks from Architextures and Botanics - these blocks are from a variety of sources, but so far mostly from the Farmer's Wife Sampler. I also trimmed up my Thread Along quilt ready for my attempt at a matched binding. In the end I did very simple quilt...

A six-day-old baby in the house means no sewing time - I have basted a few hexies.... in the quiet moments. This was a photo from yesterday with a very besotted Granny - I love this photo. But I have had a lot of thinking time whilst feeding. Yesterday Stacey at the Tilted Quilt posted about her Quilty Bucket List and that got me thinking... so what would I love to make/finish (obviously long term given recent developments). Double Wedding Ring Quilt: When I was little I remember my Gran making a double wedding ring quilt (by hand) and ever since this quilt has been in the back of my mind. Last year my local quilt shop offered a cutting service for this pattern, and I leapt at the chance. I'm using Poetica from Art Gallery and haven't made much recent progress but one day this quilt will go on my bed. Dear Jane: I love sampler quilts and this is the Mummy of all sampler quilts. This is another project I have already started and will be a very long term labour of lo...

It's really been a Dear Jane Week. I have another two blocks to share today. Block G2 - Rotary cut using a Robert Kaufmann fabric I picked up recently. I wasn't sure about this block to start with - I just couldn't see the pattern or the symmetry, but once I'd made it I like it a lot more. Block M4 - rotary cut (all 49 pieces). The fabric is Cambridge by Ro Gregg for Paintbrush Studios - I've never heard of this make of fabric before but I really like it (and the blue and pink versions which I've also picked up). Some of the lines are a bit wonky, but with that many pieces that small, I'm pretty pleased. I've also prepared a couple of blocks for hand piecing. I think this brings me to a total of 38 completed blocks of a total 225! You can see them all on my Dear Jane page. I'm starting to worry I might forget which fabrics I've already used - I don't want any repeats, so I'm thinking up ways of keeping a record that will doubl...

I'm still here. Baby is quite comfy, thank you very much. So I've been using the time to sew: mostly I've been working on two projects the last couple of days. Baby's quilt may still get finished before she arrives. I decided to bind it yesterday, even though I hadn't finished the quilting. I attached the binding with machine to the front of the quilt and then by hand to the back - normally I attach binding entirely by machine, but with all the piecing and quilting already done by hand it didn't feel quite right. I still have some stars and the borders to quilt so this isn't finished yet... And my Dear Jane quilt - something you will note that wasn't on my list of things to do before Baby. Instead it is on the list of things I'm enjoying. I pieced four blocks over the weekend... ...and then spent over 3 hours yesterday working out how to piece, and piecing, this little monster. My mother-in-law did tell me to get a life when she came ...

When I'm worried about something, or something is nagging at me, I find that tackling it head on is the best solution - be it big or small! At the moment, motherhood is nagging at me.  I guess I'm like every other expectant mum - when will labour start (that's the big question at the moment), will I be able to stop Baby crying, will I be able to dress the Baby (previous practices on my niece and nephew have not ended well), will Baby look like her father....? And very unhelpfully, I can't tackle this head on because Baby is refusing to arrive. This is despite my Husband's determination that today is the day... here's the email I got from him earlier.... In order to make my prophecy come true I think you should have pineapple and raspberry leaf vindaloo, washed down with champagne. If we don’t have any champagne there’s some white wine on one of the racks and some lemonade in the garage. Isn't he such a romantic?! So I've chosen to tackle something ...

One of the few good things about being on maternity leave and still no arrival is that my weekend lasts all week! Might as well enjoy it whilst I can! And that means that the weekend of sampler blocks started with a cut-a-thon on Friday and ended today with back ache (one of the not quite such good things about my current condition). Of the blocks I cut, there are four that I still haven't pieced, but I thought it was time to show you progress so far. If you follow me on Instagram (@Jenniesthreads) you will have seen me post these as I finished them - I'm gradually getting the hang of IG. So first up my blocks made from Architextures and Botanics fabrics: 12 blocks in total: Clay's choice is from Sylvia's Bridal Sampler Bowtie is from the Farmer's Wife Sampler Friendship is from the Farmer's Wife Sampler (I really like how this one turned out) Cups and Saucers is from the Farmer's Wife Sampler - the colours in the photo don't really do ...