Dear Jane Quilt - Block I3 Family Album

Dear Jane Quilt - Block I3 Family Album

Here is Dear Jane Block I3 Family Album.

These last few blocks have been very similar, but that is part of the plan.  BTW THE PLAN started this time last year.  I was still finishing off the Nearly Insane border and removing the papers, but in the background I was devising the design and gathering the fabrics for the current Dear Jane quilt journey.  I am now starting to think about what the next hand piecing project will be.  Any suggestions?

Techniques: English Paper Piecing
Pieces: 21 pieces

International Quilting Weekend 2016

Fabadashery Long Arm Quilting

Happy International Quilting Weekend!

Are you quilting today?  I am busy stitching some customer quilts on my long arm machine whilst watching the episodes of The Quilt Show which are FREE as part of the celebrations.  I have watched nearly six episodes so far and have plenty more to revisit.

Later tonight we are moving onto the next Star Wars film, so plenty of hand stitching to look forward to and the completion of another Dear Jane block.

Have a great day. 

Dear Jane Quilt - Block J2 Picture Perfect

Dear Jane Quilt - Block J2 Picture Perfect

Hello friends. Another day, another Dear Jane block, J2 Picture Perfect.

I have spent some looking back at my Nearly Insane quilt journey and how much I enjoyed it. It was all piecing, no applique, with one 6" block having over 240 pieces.  The Dear Jane blocks have fewer pieces, but offers more of a challenge with new techniques.

Techniques: English Paper Piecing
Pieces: 15 pieces

Dear Jane Quilt - Block L4 St George's Cross

Dear Jane Quilt - Block L4 St George's Cross

This is L4 St George's Cross of the Dear Jane quilt and I have made use of the red stripe in my Kim Diehl stash to fussy cut some of the pieces.  There was a time when I would avoid striped fabrics, but I have seen the light and this particular fabric has already delivered in many ways. 

We are on a red round of blocks at the moment and they are pretty RED heavy.

St George is the patron saint of England and this is officially celebrated on 23rd April each year, which also happens to be the birthday of Shakespeare.  Sadly we don't get a day off to stitch Dear Jane blocks.


Techniques: English Paper Piecing
Pieces: 21 pieces


Dear Jane Quilt - Draw 23 - D1, I3, J2, L4

Dear Jane Quilt - Draw 22 - L2, A1, L10, K10

Another set of Dear Jane blocks completed and we are moving onto Draw 23.  Like my Nearly Insane quilt, the Draw system which I use breaks the Dear Jane journey down into achievable steps.  It works for me on one level but means that I don't have all the pieces to start stitching the whole quilt together until the end.  And that I will have all the papers to take out at the end ...  Will I ever learn?

Draw 23
D1 - Alison's Guiding Light
I3 - Family Album
J2 - Picture Perfect
L4 - St Georges Cross

This Draw is in Red

 

Dear Jane Quilt - Block A1 Pinwheel Gone Awry

Dear Jane Quilt - Block A1 Pinwheel Gone Awry

I would guess that Dear Jane block A1, Pinwheel Gone Awry is the first block that most people make when starting there Dear Jane journey, which means that there are probably more of them in the world compared to M3 Lynette's Diamond, which is the last one.

I made this whilst watching Star Wars Episode 1 The Phantom Menace.  Since seeing the latest Star Wars film, we decided that we needed to watch the whole lot again.  It seems incredible how a single film has had such a global impact.  I often refer to the Dear Jane exhibition I saw in Nantes, France in 2013, as being one of the best exhibitions I ever saw.  Up there with it was the Star Wars exhibition from the archives of George Lucas, which I saw at the Barbican, London at about the time Episode 1 was released in 1999.  It had the original artwork and models (pre-CGI) used in the first films and a full size Chewbacca costume - who doesn't love a wookie?

I often use this Personality Test in my work and my personal profile is described as being similar to George Lucas with one of the strengths being 'ability to work on something for a long time'.  They obviously know I am working on my Dear Jane quilt!

Have a go and let me know what profile you are ...

Techniques: English Paper Piecing
Pieces: 28 pieces

Dear Jane Quilt - Block K10 Quandry

Dear Jane Quilt - Block K10 Quandry

This block has a case of the wobbles.  I'm not going to get myself into a Quandry about it.

Techniques: English Paper Piecing
Pieces: 35 pieces

Dear Jane Quilt - Block L10 Nan's Naiad

Dear Jane Quilt - Block L10 Nan's Naiad


As requested, here is Nan's Naiad.  I would say that Block L10 Nan's Naiad is one of the more complex blocks. The shapes are straightforward, but you need to construct the block in a certain order to avoid silly y-seams and stuff.

There are 41 pieces in this block, which for Dear Jane is quite a lot.  I often merge blocks if they are the same colour and they are going to save a seam, which I did a few times with this block, so others may have more.  Don't forget that you need to keep track of the number as the 'original' quilt by Jane Stickle has the total number embroidered on one of the corner blocks.


Suzi the Cat on the Tumbler Quilt Cat Mat

I am trying to think of a reason why this block is pretty.  I don't think it is, so to fulfil a need for 'pretty' on this blog post, here is a picture of Suzi the cat on her new tumbler block cat mat.

Techniques: English Paper Piecing
Pieces: 41 pieces

Dear Jane Quilt - Block L2 Stephanie's Snowflake

Dear Jane Quilt - Block L2 Stephanie's Snowflake

Do you see those little tiny triangles on Block L2, Stephaine's Snowflake?  This is about as small as I like to go.  I didn't put any paper in those triangles, I just manoeuvred the fabric where it needed to be.

I would like to report that we had a few flakes of snow here in Chepstow this week.  No need to get the snow chains out though.

Techniques: English Paper Piecing
Pieces: 37 pieces


Dear Jane Quilt - Draw 22 - L2, A1, L10, K10

Dear Jane Quilt - Draw 21 - H3, L7, I10, J7

My Dear Jane stitching has been a bit slow recently, partly due to the bad planning on my part, and also because it appears 2016 has been put on fast forward.  I don't think I have known time pass so quickly.

Here is the latest set of Dear Jane blocks, quite quick and simple to do and I managed to avoid any applique.  Moving onto the next Draw ...

Draw 22
A1 - Pinwheel Gone Awry
K10 - Quandry
L2 - Stephanie's Snowflakes
L10 - Nan's Naiad

This Draw is Yellow.

Dear Jane Quilt - Block L7 Town Square

Dear Jane Quilt - Block L7 Town Square

I don't think the Town Planning department were very imaginative  when designing Dear Jane block L7, Town Square. However, it makes for a quick win on the Dear Jane journey.


Liberty Fabric - Pincushion

I was in London last week and happily made a detour to Liberty's of London.  Yes, this is the home of all those beautiful Tana Lawn cottons.  There is a whole floor of their prints and the choice is immense and you just want to take a part of it home with you.  This little Tana Lawn pincushion came home with me.  I don't think I will ever use it as a pincushion, but it makes me smile and it was a lot cheaper than the Liberty pyjamas I had my eye on.

Techniques: English Paper Piecing
Pieces: 17 pieces

Dear Jane Quilt - Block J7 Chicken Tracks

Dear Jane Quilt - Block J7 Chicken Tracks

Here is block J7, Chicken Tracks.  I really enjoy doing a simple little square using English paper piecing, there are no surprises and I just love the potential of using tiny scrappy bits of fabrics.

Patchwork fabric scraps

I love scrap quilts.  I was visiting my sister last week and whilst 'hanging out' in her sewing room noticed that there was some fabric in her dustbin.  By the end of my scavenging I left (she let me leave) with over 800g of fabric scraps.  I can't express my delight - was very pleased as I have a few scrap projects that are moving to the forefront of my mind

BTW - my sister has started to hand quilt her Dear Jane quilt.  She used metallics and now the dimension of the quilting is starting to show, it looks really good.

Techniques: English Paper Piecing
Pieces: 41 pieces

Dear Jane Quilt - Block H3 Berry's Baskets

Dear Jane Quilt - Block H3 Berry's Baskets

Here is Dear Jane block H3, Berry Baskets.  There appear to be discrepancies between the original Jane Stickle quilt, the diagrams in the Dear Jane book and the Electric Quilt Dear Jane software for several of the Dear Jane blocks and triangle borders.  Add to that my 'interpretation' of the block and Chinese whispers have taken grip of the project.  In general I work from the EQ software.  I am not really bothered, but I just wanted to highlight that 'interpretation' is a key description of my Dear Jane journey.  Moving onto other fabric news ...

Kim Diehl Fabrics - Sunday Best

As you can see from this pretty selection, I relented on the new Kim Diehl fabric range 'Sunday Best'.  When fabrics are released in the USA it usually takes several months and sometimes even longer for a range to get to the UK.  I don't know any shops which carry Kim Diehl fabrics regularly, but I have seen a few oddments at Doughtys.  I think I have plenty now for this Dear Jane project and several other King size quilts!

Techniques: English Paper Piecing
Pieces: 22 pieces

Dear Jane Quilt - Block I10 Iris' Medallion

Dear Jane Quilt - Block I10 Iris' Medallion

Here is a pleasing little Dear Jane block, Iris' Medallion.  I guess the squares could have been appliqued, but I decided not to make my life difficult.

Techniques: English Paper Piecing
Pieces: 26 pieces

Dear Jane Quilt - Draw 21 - H3, L7, I10, J7

Dear Jane Quilt - Draw 20 TR1, TR13, BR1, BR13 Triangles

Another set of border triangles down. 

I was away on a sewing retreat last week and I only managed to do one Dear Jane block because I didn't have time cut any beforehand.  I was gutted.  This has been put right now and I have plenty of supplies for the next few weeks.  So onto the next Draw.

Draw 21
H3 - Berry's Baskets
L7 - Town Square
I10 - Iris' Medallion
J7 - Chicken Treats

This Draw is Orange.  Yes, Orange again, but going back to the 6 Month report you will see that there are many more orange blocks than any other in my design.

Dear Jane Quilt - Border Triangle Block TR13 Eiffel Tower

Dear Jane Quilt - Border Triangle Block TR13 Eiffel Tower

I have done a slight adaptation on this Dear Jane triangle border block, TR13 Eiffel Tower.  I will leave the Dear Jane Quilt Police to work it out.  There appear to be as many pieces as the original, so I don't consider it to be too much of a cheat.

Techniques: Appliqué and English Paper Piecing
Pieces: 17 pieces

Dear Jane Quilt - Border Triangle Block TR1 Spanish Moss

Dear Jane Quilt - Border Triangle Block  TR1 Spanish Moss

This is triangle block TR1, Spanish Moss. Lots of thin bits on this one, which is a bit wayward now, but should be pulled in once part of the border.


Spanish Moss

Spanish Moss is not a plant that is common in the UK, so I did a bit of research and found out that it native to north and south America and is not a 'moss' or a 'lichen' but an 'air plant', living off nutrients in the air and from rainfall.  As you can see, it hangs from trees, so maybe I should have turned mine 180 degrees.

Techniques : English Paper Piecing
No of pieces: 23

Dear Jane Quilt - Border Triangle Block BR1 Rosemary's Rainbow

Dear Jane Quilt - Border Triangle Block  BR1 Rosemary's Rainbow

In my head there is still the myth that the Dear Jane triangles are hard.  This one only had eleven pieces in it.

Techniques: Appliqué and English Paper Piecing
Pieces: 11 pieces

Dear Jane Quilt - Border Triangle Block BR13 Argyle

Dear Jane Quilt - Border Triangle Block BR13 Argyle

Moving onto some of the border triangles of the Dear Jane quilt.  This is aptly called Argyle, like the sweaters, no doubt from the Scottish region.  They need sweaters up there, they seem to get the worst of the weather.

A few diamonds in this one, but I coped.

Techniques: Appliqué and English Paper Piecing
Pieces: 26 pieces

Dear Jane Quilt - 6 month Progress Report

Dear Jane Quilt - 6 month Progress Report, Electric Quilt

As promised here is an update on my Dear Jane journey.  I am six months into it and as you can see from the Electric Quilt interpretation, the holes are steadily being filled up. 

Dear Jane Quilt - Fabadashery 6 month Progress Report

Here are all the actual Dear Jane quilt blocks which are completed, still with all the papers in them.  No purple yet. None are sewn together yet, as I don't have a full row complete, but come back in the next six months and see whether I have managed to get any of it together.

 

	Blocks	Triangle
Red	5/29	0/8
Purple	0/12	0/8
Blue	8/20	4/8
Green	8/28	4/8
Yellow	8/36	0/12
Orange	28/44	8/12
TOTAL	57/169 (33%)	16/56 (28%)

 

Here are the statistics.  The numbers show that I am only about a third of the way through ... so still a way to go.   If you have been a dedicated Follower, it might feel like this has been going on a bit longer, thanks for sticking with it.  An average of about 12 blocks a month, which now puts back the completion to this time next year (February 2017).  I think I could do with a Dear Jane retreat.


Dear Jane Quilt - Fabadashery 6 month Progress Report

It is fun to pull out all the blocks and remember where and when you were stitching them, which is perhaps something special about hand piecing quilts.  I usually prepare the blocks for sewing in batches and it is time I spent some time at the cutting board, especially since I have a few trips coming up in the next few weeks. 


Dear Jane Quilt Exhibition, Nantes, France 2013

And finally, here is a bit of Dear Jane inspiration.  This is another photo from the Dear Jane Quilt Exhibition held in Nantes, France in April 2013.  I can't believe it is nearly three years ago that it was on display.  What a show! It is a reminder that everyone interprets the quilt in their own way - on this note, check out the Dear Jane cutie Susan has made. Over at That Quilt, a new Dear Jane quiltalong is starting - just if you are interested.

Joining up with Design Wall Monday
 

Dear Jane Quilt - Block G11 Decisions, Decisions

Dear Jane Quilt - Block G11 Decisions, Decisions

Whoops! I forgot to show you  Block G11, Decisions, Decisions.

There haven't been many pieces in each block with this Draw, but just four applique pieces can slow me down.

Techniques: Appliqué and English Paper Piecing
Pieces: 13 pieces

Dear Jane Quilt - Draw 20 TR1, TR13, BR1, BR13 Triangles

Dear Jane Quilt - Draw 19, F6, G11, C3, G13
 

This last draw of Dear Jane blocks was  quite a nice selection.  Maybe a bit browner than yellow, but hoping it will all come together in the final piece.

Draw 20 is another set of triangles.  Although they are bigger than the normal Dear Jane blocks they are often not many more pieces, so they have become less of a daunting prospect than on previous draws.  This is the fourth set so heading towards sixteen border triangles being completed.  You might be able to feel a sense of satisfaction that I am enjoying - the fact that the border is being done as I go along.  However, I still haven't managed to get to the point where I remove my papers before construction.  It took me seven whole days to remove them from the Nearly Insane quilt.

TR1 - Spanish Moss
TR13 - Eiffel Tower
BR1 - Rosemary's Rainbow
BR13 - Argyle

This Draw is my old friend Orange.

 

Dear Jane Quilt - Block F6 - Deanie's Daisies

Dear Jane Quilt - Block F6 - Deanie's Daisies

This is Block F6, Deanie's Daisies.  Mainly English Paper Piecing besides the four little melon shapes in the centre which form the daisy.  I didn't struggle too badly with these four.


Suzi the cat

The weather has been quite erratic here in the UK, but today we have some lovely February sunshine which Suzi the cat is enjoying.  I am coming up to my six month anniversary since I started my Dear Jane blocks, so in the next few days I will treat you all with a review of my progress.

Joining up with Feline Friday

Techniques: Appliqué and English Paper Piecing
Pieces: 29 pieces

Dear Jane Quilt - Block C3 Rayelle's Fence

Dear Jane Quilt - Block C3 Rayelle's Fence

Presenting Block C3 Rayelle's Fence of the Dear Jane quilt.  Just squares and rectangles - so simple with the English Paper Piecing method.  As for Rayelle's Fence, I have no idea what it is about.

I think this print from the 'Heritage Hollow' range by Kim Diehl is one of my favourites.  It comes in this colour (which I describe as cow dung), blue and red.  The new 'Sunday Best' range has been out for several weeks in the USA and so far I have resisted sending an order to Kimberley Jolly ....

Techniques: English Paper Piecing
Pieces: 25 pieces

Dear Jane Quilt - Block G13 Molly's Muffins

Dear Jane Quilt - Block G13 Molly's Muffins

I will try anything using EPP and even though working those curved shapes on Block G13 Molly's Muffins, was tricky, I think I have got away with it.

Talking of Molly, there is a delightful kitten called Molly learning the joys of a sewing room over at The Objecst of Design blog if you care to take a look.

Techniques: Appliqué and English Paper Piecing
Pieces: 13 pieces

Dear Jane Quilt - Draw 19, F6, G11, C3, G13

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

Here are the latest Dear Jane blocks I have done in green. I am still not sure about that Potholder block and it might be a re-do down the line.

I usually meet up at a sewing group on Monday evening for stitching, but tonight the weather is wet and VERY windy here in the UK, so I think I will stay in and stitch some Dear Jane blocks at home. 

Onto the next Draw 

C3 - Rayelle's Fence
F6 - Deanie's Daisies
G11 - Decisions, Decisions
G13 - Molly's Muffins

This Draw is Yellow.