Holiday time, French Quilting and Malvern Quilt Show 2016

I have been away on holiday in France for the past few weeks enjoying the simple pleasures of life, which they do so well over there.  We went off in our campervan and managed to travel from Brittany down to the South of France and back again.  Plenty of time for Dear Jane stitching which I will update you on in due course.

French patisserie in Puy en Velay

We take in the sites and enjoy driving on the quiet French roads.  The most challenging part of each day is choosing which cake to have for tea.  You will find the delights of French patisserie in every town and village, which in the UK you would be hard pushed to find in all but the top London restaurants.  So I made the most of it. 
 

Fabric purchases - May 2016

On the other hand quilt shops in France are less prolific. On this trip I found two really good ones.  'Martine Tissus' in Issoire - this little shop in the middle of France has probably been going many years as it had a really good selection of old and new prints.  If you were looking for something special, it would be there somewhere.  The other was Tissus Amethyste in Valance.  This is a huge shop selling all type of fabrics, but at the back there was a very large and pleasing selection of patchwork fabric.  How do I find these shops?  I have downloaded the Satnav app from the Cosman website which will 'take me to the nearest quilt shop!'

Tips for patchwork fabric shopping in France. 
- Check the shop exists, they tend to come and go a bit in France
- Check the opening times before you make a special trip
- Many shops do not accept credit cards, so have plenty of Euros in your purse.


Magic Patch Quilts Japan

I also take time to seek out French quilt magazines.  My favourite is 'Magic Patch Quilts Japan', which I have never seen sold anywhere besides France.  Each time the magazine focusses on one type of quilt, this time it was Drunkard's Path (le chemin de l'ivrogne') and usually the quality of the work and the projects are better than any I see in any other magazine.  Truly inspirational.



'Dear Jenny' by Jenny Williams, Pembrokeshire

So after a pleasant trip across the channel, I got home just in time to visit the Quilts UK Malvern 2016 show where I managed to seek out a few Dear Jane quilt variations. Firstly this red, black and white quilt made by Jenny Williams which is a combination of 'Dear Jane' and personal blocks set in an Irish Chain design.  Jenny had quilted it beautifully on her domestic machine and deservedly won a few rosettes.

'Nearly But Not Quite' by Patricia Storey, Shropshire

The next one is 'Nearly But Not Quite' by Patricia Storey.  Patricia managed 100 blocks to make her Dear Jane wall hanging in blues, purples, reds and greens.  Once you are on the Dear Jane journey it is lovely to see other quilts and spot the blocks you have done.

I also found out that if you are interested in starting the Dear Jane quilt as part of a group in the UK, The Patchwork Basket in Newent has just started their second Dear Jane Club on Saturdays twice a month.

Dear Jane Quilt - Draw 31 - Border Triangles LR6, LR8, RR6, RR8

Dear Jane Quilt - Draw 30 - A10, J1, J5, J11

These blue Dear Jane blocks from Draw 30 seem to go together nicely.  I am starting to long to put these quilt blocks together, but I just don't have enough yet to get that moving.  Considering that the next draw is more triangles, I suspect the borders will be going together sooner rather than later.

Draw 31
LR6 - Suzie Q
LR8 - Northern Lights
RR6 - Tumbling Blocks
RR8 - Love Forever

These border triangles will be in YELLOW.
 

Dear Jane Quilt - Block A10 Which Points West

Dear Jane Quilt - Block A10 Which Points West

Do you recognise this block? This is A10 Which Points West and is remarkable similar to J5 John Jacob's Windmill which I showed you in my last post, but with an extra appliqued melon in the middle.  I guess Jane Stickle liked this one a lot.

Techniques: English Paper Piecing and Applique
Pieces: 14 pieces

Dear Jane Quilt - Block J5 John Jacob's Windmill

Dear Jane Quilt - Block J5 John Jacob's Windmill

Presenting Dear Jane block J5 John Jacob's Windmill.  I am enjoying working with the Kim Diehl blue fabrics.

When I post these blocks on my blog I think nothing of the fact that the photo shows the tacking stitches are still in place holding the papers behind.  It might be months before they are removed.

Techniques: English Paper Piecing
Pieces:  13 pieces

 

French Boutis

Boutis Manon panel 17" x 17"

My Doll swap partner, Heather has a blog where she shares her interest in the French quilting technique, boutis.  It reminded me of a boutis project I did several years ago which I have resurrected to show you here.

Boutis Manon panel  - detail

I bought it as a kit from a French stand at the Festival of Quilts, Birmingham and they had all the boutis bits and pieces including this pre-printed panel.  I haven't seen them at the show lately but you can still get hold of the kits in France at www.boutis.com . I have just been over there and started drooling over the other kits they have - they are SO beautiful.

 

To get the effect of boutis you stitch just two pieces of fine white batiste cotton together with no wadding or stuffing in it.  With the kit I was able to follow the lines on the pre-printed panel and after a lot of hand stitching you end up with a piece of fabric with a lot of stitching on it.  But then the magic happens.  Using a stiletto or cocktail stick and the special soft white boutis cotton, you start stuffing the pockets of stitching and suddenly the work you have done comes alive.  Once stuffed you give it a wash and the pure whiteness of it really looks beautiful


Boutis panel  - detail

In the photo above I am holding the piece up to the window where you can see the pattern, but it really shows that the quilt is stuffed rather than quilted as three layers.  It is a beautiful effect, but for practical use maybe a bit lumpy and a bit heavy.  Saying that it is one of the pieces I have made which I seem to constantly have out around the home.

Dear Jane Quilt - Block J11 Twin Sister

Dear Jane Quilt - Block J11 Twin Sister

This Dear Jane block, J11 Twin Sister, is totally applilque.  I think I am starting to like applique.  Obviously the size and shape of the piece will influence your feelings about it and these were just about right.

Techniques: Applique
Pieces: 6 pieces

Dear Jane Quilt - Block J1 Joseph's Jonquil

Dear Jane Quilt - Block J1 Joseph's Jonquil

This is Dear Jane block Josepha's Jonquil, J1.  Jonquil is a word I am familiar with but not one which I really knew what it meant.  A quick check on Wikipedia says JONQUIL is a shade of yellow, the shade of yellow which you will find on the Jonquil flower, which is very similar to a Daffodil.  So looking at the shape of this block that all makes sense. 

It is just that I did mine in blue.


Dear Jane Quilt - Block J1 Joseph's Jonquil

I did this appliqued Dear Jane quilt block whilst travelling on a car journey.  Here you see me with a teatowel on my lap holding all the bits and pieces.  Yes, I am still able to thread silk thread through a needle whilst we move along and I am enjoying this whilst this is still the case.  Early on in the project the applique was proving so mind-blowing that I needed to be stationary and be giving it 101% concentration.  So from this I am pleased to say that my applique skills and applique confidence are improving thanks to the Dear Jane quilt.

Techniques: Applique
Pieces:  6 pieces

 

Dear Jane Quilt - the Halfway Edition!

Dear Jane Quilt - the Halfway Edition!

As promised here is the latest update on my Dear Jane quilt progress.  I haven't pulled out the blocks since the last update in February and it is like meeting up with old friends.

Dear Jane Quilt - the Halfway Edition!

I don't lay them out in their correct order because it is so incomplete, but the Electric Quilt image below gives an idea of how it is going to go together.  The eagle eyed will notice that their placement is not the same as the original Jane Stickle quilt either.  That is the plan.

Dear Jane Quilt - the Halfway Edition! Electric Quilt Software

The white blanks are slowly filling up and some of the lines are nearly complete - it's just like playing BINGO! If you pop back to the post in October 2015 you can really see the progress I have made in the last six months. On the sidebar you can see this image updated regularly, but I like to capture a snapshot in these progress posts for a sense of progression.


Dear Jane Quilt - the Halfway Edition!

From the pretty piles of blocks above and the statistics in the table below you can see that I have yet to do a PURPLE block, which will hopefully pull the final colour scheme together.  You can also see that I have added those little extras to the data below - the sashing, the cornerstones and the alternate triangles.  It all has to be done and then I have to think about putting it together and removing those tiny bits of paper.

	Blocks	Triangle
Red	13/29	4/8
Purple	0/12	0/8
Blue	12/20	4/8
Green	8/28	4/8
Yellow	16/36	4/12
Orange	40/44	8/12
TOTAL	89/169 (52%)	16/56 (42%)
Sashing	17/312	(5%)
Cornerstones	28/144	(20%)
Triangles	5/56	(8%)

I have spotted other bloggers out there working steadily at their Dear Jane quilt. UKCityCrafter is building up a lovely collection of Dear Jane blocks in blue and white, the contrast is going to be stunning when it is put together. 

Dear Jane Quilt - Draw 30 - A10, J1, J5, J11

Dear Jane Quilt - Draw 29 - Border Triangles TR6, TR8, BR6, BR8

Here are some more Dear Jane border triangles. Sometimes I feel that these Dear Jane block posts can be a bit repetitive and only hope that they fall into your regular routine, in a reassuring way, as they do mine.

 

Personally, I like to document the projects I am doing and with a blog I find it easier to refer back to them easily. However, I have definitely noticed that it is quieter in blogland over the past year.  It appears that lots of bloggers have migrated to Instagram and Pinterest.  Over the past four years of writing my blog I have accumulated 266 Followers and I know from my stats that there are certain posts which people all over the world refer to on a daily basis.  Saying that, without really doing very much I have now reached 293 Followers on Pinterest.  I am not sure what all this means, but I hope you enjoy you visits and thank you for all your encouraging comments - that includes you Jocelyn.

 

Back to business ...

Draw 30
A10 - Which Points West
J1 - Joseph's Jonquil
J5 - John Jacob's Windmill
J11 - Twin Sister

This Draw will be in BLUE.

Dear Jane Quilt - Border Triangle Block BR6 Frank's Ric Rac

Dear Jane Quilt - Border Triangle Block  BR6 Frank's Ric Rac

This is the final Dear Jane border triangle for this Draw, BR6 Frank's Ric Rac. 

BTW The 'code' for the edge triangles is different in the book versus the software.  I don't know if there is a wrong or a right, and frankly neither are of any use to me,  I just keep looking until I find the one I want.

Not the most straightforward block. The tiny pointy triangle at the top of the ric rac needed a bit of a fiddle to make it fall into place properly, but sometimes when you are working so closely to something I think the problems get blown out of proportion.

Onwards and upwards.

Techniques: English Paper Piecing
Pieces: 26 pieces