Dear Jane Progress Reveal with Buddy and Molly

Buddy would like to know if you are ready to see all of the Dear Jane blocks spread out on the floor? Not all of the blocks are sewn together yet. And yes, I found I was missing a block. I was wondering if it would take me longer to find it than to make another. It was the block with four hearts. But I found it, and all the blocks and sections were in place for a photo.

Molly had some serious concerns.

Buddy and Molly had a disagreement about the layout. But in this case, Jane Stickle gets the final say.

Here are all the blocks. There are still 48 of the blocks that need sashing and to be sewn into sections. And I think that Buddy and Molly still have many sculptures they would like to make with these blocks. We will see what the morning brings.

One 4 by 4 block section

Here's the lower right hand corner of the Dear Jane quilt (following the book). If the quilt is turned so the basket is right side up, then this will be the lower left hand corner. My design wall is losing its support braces so this section looks a lot more distorted than it really is. I just hope I'm there taking a photo when the whole thing crashes down. I also hope Molly's medical bills aren't too expensive.

And Buddy says Hi!

The last three Dear Jane blocks

Here is Dear Jane block K11 or Columbine.

And this is Dear Jane block K13 or Brandon's Star.

And last, but not least, here is Dear Jane block M11 or Rickshaw.

So yes, these were the last three Dear Jane blocks. And tomorrow, maybe during Molly's naptime, I'll try and get all of the blocks up on the design wall and confirm my Dear Jane block accounting.

Dear Jane and an apology

Here is Dear Jane block J13 or Pam's Bells. And yes, the photo looks as if it was taken by candlelight.

This is Dear Jane block K7 or Rose of Sharon. When Jane Stickle made this block, she pieced the block in four sections that bisect the flower diagonally. hggyt7 (Buddy's commentary...)

Buddy just walked across the keyboard because he was afraid I wasn't going to mention that Molly chewed through the keyboard cord and destroyed it. (Not the keyboard I'm now using...)  I am obviously to blame because if I had been paying attention to her (which is my job, after all), I would have stopped her before she caused any damage. So I am issuing a public apology although I can't say that it (or something like it) won't happen again.

Hurricane v. Dear Jane

Let's start with the small steps forward for today. Here is Dear Jane block I12 or Fred's Square Fair. Those HST (half square triangles) are 1 inch unfinished. To make my life easier, I bordered two sides of each HST with the background fabric to make a 1.5 inch square. I attached these squares as flip triangles as if I were making flying geese.

And this is Dear Jane block L8 or Box Kite.

A few posts ago I mentioned that I had begun to lay out the Dear Jane blocks on table tops to figure out my color choices and sew some sections together. This was my compromise to avoid interference my Molly. Obviously, that didn't last long.

Buddy is inspecting the ones that landed on the floor.

In case you have forgotten, Molly's original name was Hurricane. So after this pose, she took my chart of completed blocks and started to shred it.

Despite all the help I received today, I did sew nine of the blocks together and was able to stick it on the design wall just long enough to take a picture. These are blocks I1 through G3.

Two More Dear Jane blocks

This is Dear Jane block H12 or Hannah Lou's Hearts. Although I had this quite closeup, it isn't until now when I'm looking at the photo that I see these hearts are in need of a bypass, or at least a stent or two. This is another odd block where the book differs from the actual quilt. Jane Stickle appliqued guitar pick shapes to form hearts while the book offers four hearts to applique. I knew Jane was wise to skip the deep cuts into the heart, so I followed her approach instead.

And here is Dear Jane block H10 or Ben's Bowtie. Happily, I did not tie myself up in knots over this block. (That joke was courtesy of Buddy...)

Yet More Dear Jane.

Is Molly guarding the sewing machine or huddling next to it to stay warm? You're right. She's waiting for her brother to come charging back into the room so she can give chase.

 Here is Dear Jane block I8 or Pete's Paintbox. I am now laying out small sections of the quilt and filling in the holes. During the first part of making the quilt top, I just picked fabrics according to my mood. But now I'm being more careful so I don't have areas with a concentration of one color or value.

Here is the next door neighbor Dear Jane block I9 or Chase a Myth. I thought I could build this block up like an improv medallion, but I was sadly mistaken. What looks like flying geese are really some other species. So yes, I resorted to paper piecing for parts of this.

And here is Dear Jane block J8 or Anna's Anchor. From the looks of this one, the ship has met with some rough seas and is on a tilt.

In case you are counting, I have nine more blocks to go.

Dear Jane I7

Here is Dear Jane block I7 or Mac and Muff. I spent more time thinking about making this block than actually making it. Just one of those days. And now I'm going to go and put away all of the stuff Molly has pulled out of the linen closet. She looked a bit surprised to have accomplished so much with so little effort.

Dear Jane I6 and K6

Here is Dear Jane block I6 or Viewer's Choice. For reasons I don't understand, the original was created as a four patch with a seam down the middle. I thought I would take advantage of the Kaffe fabric instead.

And this is Dear Jane block K6 or Ann's Folly. It was also my folly because my first version had the stripes reversed with green in the middle. It may end up in the alternative universe pile. At this point, however, I have thirteen more Dear Jane blocks to go.

While I languish with the same project, Molly has moved on to new hobbies. As you can see behind her, I relented and unpinned the Dear Jane sections and she happily brought them to the floor where they apparently belong. And as you can see in front of her, she is now clearing fabric off of the cutting table.

More Dear Jane Progress

Here is Dear Jane block L12 or Sally's Pride. In many of the Dear Jane blocks I have been sneaking in some applique to avoid difficult piecing. In this case, I used some easy piecing to avoid difficult applique. According to the Dear Jane book, the tiny triangles in the border are appliqued.

I, of course, use flip triangles wherever I can...those are the squares you sew on the diagonal and then iron the flap over. In this case I used 1.5 inch squares. I then trimmed them down to the tiny size (plus the seam allowance).

And this is Dear Jane block K9 or Scout's Honor.

And this is what the first six rows of the Dear Jane quilt look like. I have started to sew the blocks together in sections of nine (and twelve at the end of the row). This way I can have the blocks up on the design wall. When a naughty cat knocks them off the design wall, there are only eight sections to pick up. And just to be mean, I have these sections pinned. Molly was dangling from the wall trying desperately to get them to fall, to no avail.

Here's Molly plotting revenge. Oh, and I have no reason to believe that Molly was behind the internet hacking today. She says she didn't do it and I am taking her at her word.

Dear Jane L13

Here is Dear Jane block L13 or Harvest Moon. This is my favorite type of block to make.  Those of you making a circle a day might be less fond of this block.

First, I made two four patches where each four patch is at least 1/2 inch larger than the circle they will become. I carefully center and mark the circle on the back. Then I cut the circle out, baste around the seam allowance, and gather the seam around a Karen Buckley mylar circle.

Here are the prepared circles. I carefully center the largest circle on the background fabric.

Then I lay the smaller circle on top of the larger circle. Last but not least, I applique the two circles down. (I will trim away the excess fabric underneath later. If I remember.)

Molly thought it might be easier to understand the construction using cats. Molly says she represents the center circle (aka the center of the universe), while Buddy is the merely decorative outer crust that should hold still when the inner core bites him.

More Dear Jane

Here is Dear Jane H7 or Bennington Star. I have been following Fabadashery's Dear Jane Journey and she is down to her last block. This means I have to pick up my pace or I am going to have a lonely last mile.

Here is Dear Jane I4 or Stability. This is all pieced except that I sewed the rounded flaps into the seams and then appliqued the curves down.

This is Dear Jane J5 or John Jacob's Windmill. And yes, again, I used applique to avoid complex piecing including inset seams.

And last but not least, this is Dear Jane block I11 or Coyote Chase. I made this quite a while ago but apparently forgot to post it. I check this blog to try and avoid making duplicate blocks, but in this case my chart was correct and not the blog. At this point the blocks are starting to run together in my mind and everything looks like a center hunk with blades shooting off of it.

Dear Jane E13 and H5

Here is Dear Jane Block E13 or Moth in a Web. Again, I combined piecing and a bit of applique to make life a bit easier.

Here is Dear Jane Block H5 or Michael's Motorcycle. As many of you already know, Jane Stickle was a member of a notorious motorcycle gang and won Michael's motorcycle after a hair raising race.

Dear Jane E11 and E12

Here is Dear Jane block E11 or Wagon Wheel. This was all very simple applique although I now have to carefully cut away the layers. I applied the circle of background fabric on top of the green fabric. And then I applied the rounded star on top of the circle. No fussy melon pieces for me. Then I prepared another circle of background fabric around a mylar circle, cut it in four and applied those to the corner.

And this is Dear Jane block E12 or Mary Ruth's Corset. I assume the corset is the small pieces in the middle. Here I just used old timey strip piecing techniques. I sewed three strips together...turquoise surrounded on each side by the background fabric. I then cut four three patch strips from that strip. These I sewed together so they were offset on the diagonal. This was then trimmed and surrounded by two strips of turquoise fabric to complete the center square. Then I made the flying geese using flip triangles. All easy techniques to make a complex looking block...my favorite.

So now I have 23 more Dear Jane blocks to make...that is, I'm 86 percent finished with the blocks. At that point I'll make a plan for the border.

Dear Jane D11

This is Dear Jane block D11 or Snow Crystal. As I have mentioned before, there is a bit of variation from the Jane Stickle quilt to the book and then to the Electric Quilt module. I don't have the Electric Quilt module. So I scratched my head when I saw that the book and a rectangle in the center but Jane Stickle's quilt seems to have a square. So I did my own variation. I pieced a center square to fit the dimensions of the rest of the block in the Dear Jane block, and then appliqued all the triangles. Plus I'm using the new Kaffe fabric called Rolled Paper.

We recently had a brief change over to cooler weather, so I pulled out the plaid bunny quilt to work on some hand quilting. However, Molly has decided to become a lap cat, so I haven't made as much progress as I would have liked. On anything.

Sunrise Piglets

Today I couldn't generate enough enthusiasm for striped fish, standing bunnies or owls. Instead I thought I would make a couple of piglets. I absolutely loved Cynthia's pig race quilt over at Quilting is more fun than housework (aka Oh Scrap!), and I would like to make one for our quilt guild (local children get a book and a quilt). 

Of course, I took the sunrise theme at the Rainbow Scrappy Challenge a wee bit literally...

And then because I finished that baby bow tie quilt, I thought it might be nice to make a bow tie piglet. And if you would like to root around and see what others are doing with their scraps, race over to the Rainbow Scrappy Challenge.