Dear Jane Quilt - Block J9 Maury High School

Dear Jane Quilt - Block J9 Maury High School

J9 Maury High School looks like an innocent little block, but those four tiny, tiny melon shapes were a bit of a trial to say the least.

Maury High School is a REAL school in Norfolk, Virginia, USA.

Techniques: Appliqué and English Paper Piecing
Pieces: 26 pieces

Dear Jane Quilt - Block E2 Merry May

Dear Jane Quilt - Block E2 Merry May

This is Dear Jane block E2 Merry May.  I slightly redrafted this one.  The central shape on my Electric Quilt pattern was not symmetrical.  The original design has two appliqued overlapping melon shapes, but as you can see, I have divided the shape into 5 pieces, stitched them together and then appliqued them onto the centre square.  More chance for fussy cutting and more pleasing to the eye.


Kim Diehl - Green fabrics

I enjoy doing the green blocks as the patterns on this range of Kim Diehl fabrics are really attractive and lend themselves to fussy cutting. 

BTW, here is the progress on the spring bulbs - a weekend away and look what happened!

Techniques: Appliqué and English Paper Piecing
Pieces: 14 pieces

Dear Jane Quilt - Block F7 Star Struck

Dear Jane Quilt - Block F7 Star Struck

The last time my Dear Jane blocks got out and about was when I went over to Maastricht to the Quilt exhibition, so it is good to see them getting some fresh air on the Cornish coast.  This is Block F7 Star Struck.


Dear Jane Quilt - Block F7 Star Struck

So far there have not been many 'star' blocks in Dear Jane, certainly not in comparison to the Nearly Insane blocks, where every other block seemed to be a star variation.  Anyway, nice and simple, a few flying geese blocks, a border - DONE.

Techniques: English Paper Piecing
Pieces: 20 pieces
 

Dear Jane Quilt - Draw 18, F10, E2, F7, J9

Dear Jane Quilt - Draw 17, LR5, LR9, RR5, RR9 Triangles


I have done 65 blocks of my Dear Jane quilt so far, which is about 28% of the quilt (average 13 a month).  My sister was right when she said I still had a way to go.  However, with a few of these Dear Jane triangle border blocks under my belt I am really pleased to see them getting done alongside the main body of the quilt.  Borders usually suffer from being last in the queue when a quilt is being made and never get the same enthusiasm as the those first few blocks at the start of a project.


Dear Jane Quilt - Border Triangles

I have cut out the majority of the alternating blocks for the border which will be in my neutral tan fabric.  By keeping them plain I hope it will offer an opportunity to add some interest with the quilting. 

Moving onto the next set, Draw 18

Draw 18
F10 - Potholder
E2 - Merry May
F7 - Star Struck
J9 - Maury High School

This Draw will also be in Green.

Dear Jane Quilt - Border Triangle Block RR9 Danish Delight

Cowslip Workshop, Launceston

I have been out and about this weekend visiting family in Cornwall and helping the local quilt shops maintain economic sustainability.  On the way back I managed to persuade my husband that Cowslip Workshop near Launceston would be a good place to stop for lunch - which it was.  You will see the daffodils are out.  In some places they are past their best and it is only the start of February!

Cowslip Workshop, Launceston

As always a lovely selection of fabrics.  BTW Cowslip Workshop are having a sale this week starting today, Tuesday 2nd February 2016 until Thursday with 10% all fabric and  40% off Christmas fabric.  I picked up a few plain fabrics from the French General collections - I never seem to have a problem using these.


Dear Jane Quilt - Border Triangle Block  RR9 Danish Delight

Onto the latest Dear Jane block, RR9 Danish Delight. I am getting quite used to these triangle blocks and this is the last one of the latest Draw.  Some of the triangle shapes in this one look exactly the same, BUT they are not, so do take care to get the right one in the right place if you are attempting this one.

Also a bit of a public service announcement.  I had noticed recently that I was losing Followers at a fairly alarming rate and I was feeling a bit of a social pariah.  Thankfully it is not me but Google who have changed their policies about what ID you use to Follow.  See the details here  http://buzz.blogger.com/2015/12/an-update-on-google-friend-connect.html

Techniques: English Paper Piecing
Pieces: 23 pieces

Dear Jane Quilt - Border Triangle Block RR5 Geisha Girl

Dear Jane Quilt - Border Triangle Block  RR5 Geisha Girl

There were a few nervous moments with this block.  I lost the very top tiny triangle, but knew there were only two places it could be and it eventually turned up stuck to another piece of the block.  I constructed the Dear Jane border triangle RR5 Geisha Girl using my usual English Paper Piecing technique, except for the melon in the centre which I appliqued. 

Last Monday I shared my current 'Springwatch' activity, seeing the development of my hyacinth.  It is certainly starting to shoot up and I expect the flowers to be peeping out within the next few days.  Can you guess what colour it will be?

Techniques: Appliqué and English Paper Piecing
Pieces: 26 pieces

Colourwave Quilt

Colourwave Quilt

Back in October last year I shared with you my progress on a workshop with Jan Hassard held at Busy Bees Patchwork, to make this Colourwave quilt. As you can see it is complete and it has been for some time, I just haven't had time to share it with you.  Jan specialises in colour and geometric designs and her workshops come highly recommended.  If you step back from you screen you will see the illusional effect of this quilt pattern even more.

Colourwave Quilt - fabric selection

On my return from the workshop I had a bit of a re-jig of my colours and worked out a colour scheme which I was much happier with.  To get this colour effect you need at least 36 different fabrics which is quite a tall order if you don't collect batiks in your stash, but the more you have the better the effect.

Suzi the Cat helps with the Colourwave Quilt

Suzi the cat was keen to join in this project. She is very pleased I don't have a design wall and that I have to use the floor ...

Superior Threads Rainbow 821 Carnival variegated thread


Not only is the quilt top done, but it is quilted.  I used a variegated Superior Threads Rainbow (821 Carnival) thread which blended well with all the different colours of the quilt and really popped when it reached the black fabric.  I use 80/20 cotton/polyester for the wadding.

Kiss by Melonie J Caldwell and Patricia Ritter


In fact I loved the effect of the variegated thread on black so much that I used a black fabric for the backing.  Using my long arm quilting machine I stitched out a digital pantograph, Kiss by Melonie J Caldwell and Patricia Ritter.  There were so many different patterns I could have chosen for this quilt, each giving a different look.


Colourwave Quilt

It was lovely to work with such bright and colourful fabrics for a change and also to work on a smaller sized quilt than normal.  Thanks Jan!  Joining up with Whoop Whoop Friday! and Crazy Mom Quilts!

Colourwave Quilt - Borders

Dear Jane Quilt - Border Triangle Block LR9 Kiwi

Dear Jane Quilt - Border Triangle Block LR9 Kiwi

The Dear Jane triangle border block, LR9 Kiwi, is just seven pieces, most of which I have appliquéd.  All quite straight forward.  I am not sure if the name of this block refers to the Kiwi fruit or the New Zealand Kiwi bird.

Kiwi fruit

Growing up I don't think I ever saw a Kiwi fruit and was thinking about when the first time I would have ever seen or tasted one in the UK.  It was probably at a wedding or posh buffet in a fruit salad. Today, I am juicing them up into a fruit smoothie.

Techniques: Appliqué
Pieces: 7 pieces

Dear Jane Quilt - Border Triangle Block LR5 Olympic Torch

Dear Jane Quilt - Border Triangle Block  LR5 Olympic Torch

It is less than 200 hundred days until the 2016 Olympic Games at Rio de Janeiro start on 5th August.  This is the Dear Jane version of the Olympic Torch (LR5) and you can see the official 2016 torch design on the Olympic website.  I imagine there were a lot of people involved in the design of the symbolic item and craftspeople using innovative techniques, so I thought I would share some of the processes I used for making my Olympic Torch.


Dear Jane Quilt - Border Triangle Block  LR5 Olympic Torch

Here you can see a bit of the process I use to construct my blocks using the English Paper Piecing technique.  I usually cut out the blocks in batches, so when I finally pull out my bag of bits, I need to match up the paper shapes to the fabric shapes. 

Dear Jane Quilt - Border Triangle Block  LR5 Olympic Torch

 I usually tack the fabric on all the bits first and then lay them out in their correct positions to start constructing the block as you see it at the top of the page.  LR5 Olympic Torch had some thin, pointy bits to manage, but it always seems to work out alright at the end.

Techniques: English Paper Piecing
Pieces: 24 pieces 

Dear Jane Quilt - Draw 17, LR5, LR9, RR5, RR9 Triangles

Dear Jane Quilt - Draw 16, RR4, LR4, LR10, RR10 Triangles

Here is a group photo of the Dear Jane triangle border blocks I have just completed and guess what?  Draw 17 brings on another set

LR5 - Olympic Torch
LR9 - Kiwi
RR5 - Geisha Girl
RR9 - Danish Delight

This draw will be in my Green Kim Diehl fabrics.


Hyacinth bulbs, January 2016

We really are at the mucky end of January here in the UK.  No snow to delight us so far, just wet, mild weather.  The bulbs outside don't know whether to come out or not it is so warm. I will try and keep track of this pot of hyacinth bulbs in the lead up to the Spring.