April 2013 Progress - Nearly Insane Quilt, Block 96

Another block of my Nearly Insane Quilt finished.  This is another side block, which I have used to showcase the Mama Said Sew Collection by Sweetwater.  In general, the side blocks don't seem to be too complicated, and I admit I choose them when I want to have a 'quick win'.


Block 96, Nearly Insane Quilt

I like the 'Mama Said Sew' fabric range because it features text relating to patchwork and quilting.  The red fabric below features names of patchwork blocks, with little pictures of some of them, like Pinwheels and Bear's Paw.  The cream one, has dictionary quotations of sewing terms, such as fabric, buttons and seam - what could be more appropriate for a quilt? ( ... and it is red and white).

Mama Said Sew by Sweetwater for Moda

Also, as it is the May Day Holiday this week I thought I would treat you all to the latest of my overall progress with this hand pieced project. 


Nearly Insane Quilt, April 2013

When I visit other blogs, they seem to have completed a whole quilt in the time it takes for me to make just a little block, but sometimes I am pleased just to be making progress!  It doesn't seem like much has moved on since last time I showed you my Nearly Insane blocks, but you will see that I have kept up with all those little cornerstones and sashings as I go along, which this month I mainly did on my journey to Nantes to see the Dear Jane Quilt Exhibition.  Now it is getting bigger, I am keen to sew some of it together, but that will have to wait until I have a few more blocks done.  The stats at the moment stand at

15 Blocks

6 Side blocks

14 Cornerstones

45 Sashes

Also, one other celebration that I forgot to share in April - Suzi the cat has been with us for one year.  When she first arrived, it didn't take her long to seek out my 'glory hole' in my sewing cupboard.  Little did we know at the time that we had such a shared interest in sewing!


Suzi the Cat checks out my 'Stash' on her arrival

NUMBER OF PIECES: 14
DIFFICULTY: 2/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Triangle, 11/16" (18mm) x 1/2" (12mm) x 1/2" (12mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Rectangle 1 1/2" (32mm) x 3 1/2" (54mm) x 2 1/8" (89mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS: 
Apple Red on Cream Sewing Guide Mama Said Sew by Sweetwater for Moda  #5490 11
The Block in Apple Red Mama Said Sew by Sweetwater for Moda  #5491-11
Cream Bias Check Mama Said Sew by Sweetwater for Moda  #5495-11
Old Glory Stars (Red) Old Glory Gatherings by Primitive Gatherings for Moda #1074-21

Joining in with my little finishes at Finish It Up Friday and our friends at Feline Friday.

Dear Jane 150th Quilt Celebrations, Nantes - Continued ...

As part of my visit to the Dear Jane celebrations in Nantes, France, I had booked myself onto a 'Dear Jane' Block workshop, to find out the different techniques that can be used to make the quilt.  There were several events arranged, including a talk about the 'Dear Jane' quilt, but with only one day at the show, I decided on the workshop. The block we made was appropriately named 'Tour de France' which is Block F-13, and we used a lovely navy spotted fabric for our sample, which is part of a range designed by Brenda Papadakis for Windham Fabrics.


Tour de France (F-13) Dear Jane Quilt

Originally, Brenda Papadakis, who published the 'Dear Jane' book was to give the talk and run the workshop, but nearer the time she was unable to travel, due to a broken arm.  However, her 'Dear Jane' Ambassadors from all around the world attended and did an excellent job, with Caroline Van Maele (Belgium), Julie Clark (Australia) and Brenda Roumie (UAE), all keeping us on track.  It was also nice to meet some true 'Janiacs' from all around the world, including Paula, who even had her 'Dear Jane' quilt in the exhibition!  I think I was the only one who had NOT done a Dear Jane block, let alone a quilt!


Dear Jane Workshop, Nantes, France, April 2013

Even in her absence, Brenda was very thoughtful, providing us all with a Dear Jane 150th Anniversary badge, a Dear Jane ruler, and a Dear Jane Bumper Sticker.  She even phoned France from the USA during the workshop to check everything was going well!  Along with all these lovely gifts, and the new techniques I have learnt, I thought I had better get the whole kit, and purchased THE BOOK, the Dear Jane rulers, and an Anniversary bag that was available at the "Pour l'Amour du Fil" (For the Love of Thread) show, in France. 

Dear Jane Booty

There is nothing to stop me now.  All  I need to do now is choose my colour scheme - and FINISH the Nearly Insane Quilt!

 

Pictures of the Dear Jane Exhibition

 

Oh La La! It's Minick and Simpson

Whilst I have been away in France, my hands have not been idle.  I have managed to complete some more of my little 2 inch cornerstone blocks for my Nearly Insane Quilt.  I have about 85 full size ones to do in total. I have done about 14 so far.

Cornerstones, red spotty fabric
 'Christmas Past' by Minick and Simpson

This has been made quite tolerable because I am using my favourite red spotty fabric 'Christmas Past' by Polly Minick and Laurie Simpson.  Have I mentioned it before?

BTW - It also just so happened that Polly and Laurie were actually at the "Pour l'Amour du Fil" (For the Love of Thread) show, in France, organised by the magazine Quiltmania.

Laurie Simpson and Polly Minick (with The Christmas Quilt)
Pour l'Amour du Fil, Nantes, France 2013

Naturally I had to visit their stand, and they were kind enough to humour me as I showed them my little 'Minick and Simpson' cornerstones squares. They were also kind enough to let me take this photo of them to record the moment - in front of 'The Christmas Quilt' by Laurie Simpson (handstitched, I believe), which features the red spotty fabric itself!
Quiltmania have published their book 'Quilts and Rugs' available from the Quiltmania website, which also features this quilt.

With all the quiet hand stitching I do, it's nice to have a little quilting thrill like this once in while.

"Dear Jane" 150th Quilt Exhibition, Nantes, France

A few weeks ago I was hopping from blog to blog, when somebody mentioned their excitement about entering their 'Dear Jane' quilt into a special exhibition of 'Dear Jane' quilts in Nantes, France.  A little further investigation, and I discovered that the "Pour l'Amour du Fil" (For the Love of Thread) show was being organised by the magazine Quiltmania.
Regular readers will know that I am currently working on my 'Nearly Insane' Quilt, which is of a similar genre to 'Dear Jane', so I was intrigued, especially at the thought of seeing over 100 'Dear Jane' quilts together.


'Dear Jane' 150th Quilt Exhibition, Nantes, France 2013 

I regularly go to the quilt shows in the UK, but this was my first 'European' show, which involved a ferry crossing from England to France and a little trip in our camper van. The exhibit of the 'Dear Jane' quilts was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.  As you walked into the room, you could not help but gasp in amazement!  Over 100 quilts, all the same, all different.

There was a Hand- Dyed 'Dear Jane' Quilt

Dear Jane Quilt (Hand-Dyed Fabrics)
Paula Klein, Luxembourg



There was an Indonesian fabric 'Dear Jane' Quilt

Dear Jane Quilt (Indonesian Fabrics)
Annie Tromp-Doornink, Netherlands

There was a Low Volume 'Dear Jane' Quilt

Dear Jane Quilt (Low Volume)
Ineke Marijissen Van der Molen, Netherlands

There was a Liberty Fabric 'Dear Jane' Quilt

Dear Jane Quilt (Liberty Fabric)

There was a Red and White Dear Jane Quilt

Dear Jane Quilt (Red and White)
Nathalie Pierre, France



There were the traditional Civil War Fabric 'Dear Jane' Quilts

Dear Jane Quilt (Civil War Reproduction Fabrics)

Michel Galan France

There were modern, bright with black background 'Dear Jane' Quilts

Dear Jane Quilt (Modern Brights)
Chantal Guyon, France



There were modern, bright Batik 'Dear Jane' Quilts

Dear Jane Quilt (Batik)
Diane Rhode and Judy Doenias, USA



And some really lovely, unique colour combinations



Dear Jane Quilt (Greys, Reds)
Rineke Imenshot, Netherlands

Originally, Brenda Papadakis was due to attend to give a talk and run some 'Dear Jane' workshops, but due to a broken arm, was not able to travel to France from the USA.  However, there were many of her ambassadors at the show, and it was fabulous.  The impact of the display was so brilliant, thanks to the organisers and contributors for putting on such a brilliant exhibit. Never to be forgotten.

They were all lovely. Do you have a favourite?

Sharing the inspiration of this lovely event with Freemotion By the River and Quilt Story

See more of my Quilting Adventure here

The BIG QA

Where have I been?
On a BIG Quilting Adventure ...
I will report back soon as I have more time!
Frances

Hand Quilting - Wipe Off Fabric Marker

I have been enjoying doing my Nearly Insane Quilt blocks far too much lately, and felt that I needed to spend some time on hand quilting my red and white pinwheel quilt.  I have got a self-imposed deadline for completing it, which is approaching fast.
Having completed the outlining, I am now quilting the motif in the centre of each square.  I designed the motif myself and made a template out of some heavy plastic to draw around, several months ago. For the first one I had used a watercolour pencil, but having watched a video tutorial by Judi Madsen at Green Fairy Quilts, I thought I would try a Sew Easy Wipe Off Fine Line Fabric Marker to mark the quilting pattern.


Sew Easy Wipe Off Fabric Marker Pen

The idea of drawing in pen on my nice, white quilt, filled me with apprehension, so I have documented it, mainly to remind myself how it went for my own future reference.  Drawing the pattern on was easy enough, as the tip of the pen is really fine - good accuracy. I can never guarantee how long a hand quilting project will take, it maybe years, so I am only doing one motif at a time, as I am not sure how long the pen will last.

Motif marked onto quilt with Fabric Marker Pen

Once I had hand quilted the motif, I dampened a microfibre cloth, and wiped the marks away.  As you can see below, yes, it really did wipe the blue pen marks away! Just like magic!


Wiping off Fabric Marker Pen, with a microfibre cloth

However, when I looked again the following day, I noticed that there were some blue stains lingering, mainly at the points where I stopped the pen when drawing around the quilt template. 

Remaining blue stains, after 12 hours

I have given it another rub, and it seems to have got rid of the lingering blue stains, and I will check it again before I give it its final wash.  I don't want to rub the quilt too much though.  I guess until I finish the quilt, and  give it a good wash, I am not going to know for sure whether it has worked or not.

Here are the instructions for reference.

Instructions:
All Fabric Markers should be pre-tested on a scrap of your fabric first, for both application and removal.
All temporary markings must be removed before ironing or washing in detergent. Avoid direct sunlight or heat.
To remove marks, simply wipe off with a damp cloth, or rinse out in cold water.

Nearly Insane Quilt - Draw 6

It is time for Draw 6 of my Nearly Insane Quilt journey ... and the next blocks are

13 - 43 - 80 - 96

I have already been choosing my colour combinations for Block 43, which at first glance seems to be one of the more 'insane' blocks, and looks like a traditional 'Lone Star' variation.  I don't think I have ever done a Lone Star before. Here are six of the colour combinations which I have come up with (so far) - which Option is your favourite?

Block 43 Nearly Insane - Lone Star Variation

 

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 57

I must have tried about 50 different fabric combinations for Block 57 for my Nearly Insane Quilt, using my Electric Quilt software - probably the time it would have taken to make the block in the first place.  There is another Ohio Star in there somewhere if you look closely.
In the end I have used the same pretty Apple fabric that I used for the Basket Block, Block 41, along with some French General fabric and a red daisy print, 'Kimono Ditzy' which I haven't had the chance to use yet.
It was easy to put together as most of the pieces were similar sizes and shapes, I just had to take care that everything was put in the right place.
Another block finished, ready for Draw 6.
Linking with Finish Up Friday!

NUMBER OF PIECES: 45
DIFFICULTY: 2/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Triangle, 1" (25mm) x 1" (25mm) x 1 3/8" (36mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Square 1 3/8" (36mm) x 1 3/18" (36mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS: 
Kimono Ditzy (843) by Henley Studio, Makower UK
French General Favourites - Pearl  for Moda #13526 14
Apple Fabric - unidentified

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 62

Block 62 - Nearly Insane Quilt, with Cornerstones and Sashing

Here is Block 62 of the Nearly Insane Quilt, which I finished stitching last night.  For this picture I have set it against the cornerstones and sashing, just to give you an idea of how it will look when it is complete in the whole quilt.  I have used this block to showcase my Mama Said Sew Moda fabric, and a very fine red and cream zig zag fabric which looks more pink from a distance.

It was not the easiest of blocks to do.  There is a lot of BIAS going on in this block - thank heavens for the paper templates.  I am hoping that once I get the sashing on, it will hold it all in place.  Some of the triangular 'looking' pieces are actually quadrilaterals, and not asymmetrical.  This meant I had to be extra careful to make sure everything was the right way around, so I carefully laid them out in separate piles.  But Sparky came to help, and suddenly all my five little piles of English Paper Pieces disappeared! 

Where was the rest of the block?

 

 

It's great to have help, but Sparky seems to be magnetically attracted to my patchwork block pieces, and saw them as a nice change from his usual resting place - the television remote control!

Anyway, today is 17th of the month, so it is Help for Hexi-Aholics over at Sarah Did It!  Strictly I don't have any Hexi projects on the go, but with all my English Paper Piecing, I think I can make a valid contribution - especially if I showcase my 'Hexi Table'!  (OK, strictly an octagon, but I KNOW they won't be fussy).  If you have any long standing Hexi Projects, pop over there and share it.

 

'Hexi' Octagonal Wooden Table

NUMBER OF PIECES: 52
DIFFICULTY: 6/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Triangle, 3/4" (19mm) x 3/4" (19mm) x 1 1/16" (27mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Square 1 3/16" (36mm) x 1 3/16" (36mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS: 
Reunion Cherry Sally's Skirt by Sweetwater for Moda #5473
Kona Cotton (Solid Red) by Robert Kaufman
Tangled Threads in Apple Red, Mama Said Sew, by Sweetwater for Moda
Tangled Threads in Apple Red on Cream, Mama Said Sew, by Sweetwater for Moda

Linking up with Freshly Pieced too!

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 87

Back when I was doing Block 92, I announced my change of plan to swap a few of the blocks around, replacing Block 92 with Block 87 as the corner block for the quilt.  Well, Block 87 has come up in the draw this time round, so I get to do a corner block for the quilt.  I have shown it with one of the 6" sash pieces, to illustrate its size.
Only eight pieces in this little triangular block, and not so much time committed to choosing the colours as I know I have four more to make, which I will do in different colourways.

NUMBER OF PIECES: 8 (Corner Block)
DIFFICULTY: 1/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Square, 15/16" (22.5mm) x 15/16" (22.5mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Triangle 1 1/2" (38mm) x 1 1/2" (38mm) x 2 1/8" (54mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS: 
Little Spots Red, Pierres Famous Travelling Circus, Michael Miller
Scattered Red Stars on White (Unidentified)
Red and White Stripe (unidentified)