Dear Jane Quilt - Block M8 Enchanted Square

Dear Jane Quilt - Block M8 Enchanted Square

Here is another pretty Dear Jane block, M8 Enchanted Square.

Dear Jane Quilt - Block M8 Enchanted Square

 You may see in the corner of the centre square a VERY tiny piece.  I am quite sure I encountered pieces this small with the Nearly Insane quilt, but for this I took a new approach, which I hope you can see from the photo.  The seam was a bit bulky, but only for a very tiny bit of the block.

I am off to spend the day sewing on my machine today with my local quilt group.  I am trying to clear the decks of some projects to make way for Bonnie Hunter's 2015 Mystery Quilt, the Italian inspired Allietare.  I have bee trying to get my fabrics together, and yes, I will be changing them again!  Is anyone else thinking of doing the Mystery quilt this year?

Techniques: English Paper Piecing
Pieces: 35

Dear Jane Quilt - Block A9 Cabin Fever

Dear Jane Quilt - Block A9 Cabin Fever

It felt like this had quite a lot of pieces in it - 41 in total.  Pretty standard for a Nearly Insane block, but these Dear Jane quilt blocks are making me a bit of a lightweight these days.  Saying that, I would rather have 41 pieces to EPP than 6 to applique!

Techniques: English Paper Piecing
Pieces: 41

Dear Jane Quilt - Draw 11 A9, C10, I13, M8

Dear Jane Quilt - Draw 10 F12, G3, G12, I5

Here is my first full set of red blocks.  It was great to have a new colour to work with, but all that applique took its toll on me.  Just a reminder that I have mixed up the placement of my Dear Jane quilt, so these blocks will be placed symmetrically around the quilt.

Now for the next draw ...

A9 - Cabin Fever
C10 - Patriots Lantern
I13 - Sweet Harmony
M8 - Enchanted Square

Before I get too carried away it appears that this Draw brings us back to ORANGE - can there be any more left?

Dear Jane Quilt - Block G12 Gloriae

Dear Jane Quilt - Block G12 Gloriae

Here is G12 Gloriae.   It wasn't a difficult block, but once I had sewn most of it together I decided I wasn't happy with my fabric choice.  I unpicked it all and used the striped fabric for a feature, so it took longer than expected.  I am still not 100% satisfied, it is such a big blob of fabric.


Suzi the Cat on the Butterfly Quilt

You haven't seen much of Suzi lately.  She has been out of sorts and just not interested in quilting or quilts, but since our return from Maastricht she has returned to her usual self and she has spent all day on the Butterfly quilt and is now currently using pester power to get her tea.  Last night she sat on my lap for 2 1/2 hours - a lifetime record.

Techniques: English Paper Piecing
Pieces: 25

Dear Jane Quilt - Block I5 Maria's Majesty



Dear Jane Quilt - Block I5 Maria's Majesty

I will confess that this block has taken me quite a long time. 


Dear Jane Quilt - Block I5 Maria's Majesty

It started about 3 weeks ago.  I was getting some of my blocks prepared before I travelled and knew that this one needed a bit more prep than others.  I have realised that applique is not the sort of sewing you can do whilst you are a passenger driving along, unlike my usual stitching, so it relies on being stationary for (in my case) considerable time.


Dear Jane Quilt - Block I5 Maria's Majesty

So whilst other blocks were coming together this one had to wait for its moment.  The first stage got stitched about two weeks ago and after several attempts the last melon got sewn on last Friday.  I am still learning to breath whilst I sew appliqué ....

NO EPP on this one and I am enjoying doing red blocks.  Again, a lot of effort for just 6 pieces.

Techniques: Applique, Reverse Applique
Pieces: 6

 

Dear Jane Quilt - Block G3 Four Leaf Clover

Dear Jane Quilt - Block G3 Four Leaf Clover

I was going to say that I think this is the first block I have done that is totally applique for this project, but I managed to sneak in some EPP.  Initially, I had a few hiccups which meant I had to rethink the centre shape. My first attempt did not have very good inside points, so I split the shape into four, EPPed the shapes and sewed them together, then appliqued the whole shape onto the block, whist removing the papers in a timely manner.  You may be able to see the seams in the centre, but I think my fabric choice has allowed me to get away with this.

Dear Jane Quilt - Block G3 Four Leaf Clover

The outer ring went on quite easily by sewing the inside edge with the cardboard form still inside, removing it and then stitching the outer edge.  It is hard to believe that such a tricky block has only six pieces in it.

Techniques: English Paper Piecing, Applique
Pieces: 6

Dear Jane Quilt - Block F12 Starburst

Dear Jane Quilt - Block F12 Starburst

This is one of the Dear Jane quilt blocks which travelled to Europe with me to the OEQC quilt show in Maastricht.


Dear Jane Quilt - Block F12 Starburst

It looks like a simple block and it was once I decided to slice up the 'arrow' pieces to ensure a nice inside point, which adds to the overall piece count.

Techniques: English Paper Piecing
Pieces: 20

Dear Jane Quilt - Draw 10 F12, G3, G12, I5

Dear Jane Quilt - Draw 9, C2, H2, H8, M2

With these four Dear Jane quilt block done it makes a total of blocks 29 of the centre113 squares, which is 25% of the main quilt.  As you may have guessed these statistics are a great source of motivation to me!  The blocks which have been drawn are
 
F12 - Starburst
G3 - Four Leaf Clover
G12 - Gloriae
I5 - Maria's Majesty

You may be pleased to know (I know that I am) that this quilt will not be entirely orange fabrics as this draw will be in RED.  Looking at the blocks they look a bit tricky ...

Open European Quilt Championship - Maastricht 2015



Open European Quilt Championship (OEQC) - Maastricht 2015

You may have noticed that I was a bit quiet last week - I was on a quilting adventure. 


Belgian cake shop

We took a trip across the channel to France, Belgium and the Netherlands, indulging in fine food and wine, with a diversion to the 2015 OEQC quilt show at Maastricht.

Quilt display by Blanche Vandebroek, Belgium

Obviously there were plenty fabric shopping opportunities and plenty of quilts to look at.  There was a lovely display of quilts by Blanche Vandebroek (Belgium). Even with a mixture of French, German, Flemish, Dutch and English languages being spoken, we all seemed to share the common language of quilts.

Lynn Blevens - Longarm quilting tutor

I also took part in a longarm quilting workshop with Lynn Blevens from the USA, which was amazing, especially when Maastricht TV unexpectedly came into film us. 

Dear Jane quilt blocks, English Paper Piecing

And what about Dear Jane? Time spent travelling has allowed me to keep up my hand sewing and I gathered quite a little pile of blocks (10 to be exact - Catherine).

Dear Jane Quilt - Block H8 Eaton's Crossroad

Dear Jane Quilt - Block H8 Eaton's Crossroad

Here is the final block of this orange draw, H8 Eaton's Crossroads. I looked up Eaton's Crossroads on the internet and it is a real place in the state of Tennessee.  My block doesn't really represent the street map view I found.  Then it made me curious to look up where Tennessee is located in the USA and I was reminded of its music history .. the Dear Jane quilt is a true learning journey.


Dear Jane Quilt - Block H8 Eaton's Crossroad

You will get an insight from this picture of how I approached this block.  I English paper pieced the centre circle cross and then appliqued it on, removing the paper as I went.  I am starting to build up quite a stash of Dear Jane blocks which makes me eager to get more done.

Techniques: English Paper Piecing, Applique
Pieces: 36