Friday, September 21, 2012

Dear Jane fever--I've got it.

Once again, leaving many UFOs behind, I'm off on something new: Dear Jane!
Here are the 4 blocks I've completed since I started a Dear Jane class at the City Quilter on Monday (I posed them on my back porch with my Dear Jane book!)

And for any Janiacs working on this quilt, the blocks I've made so far are (starting with the blue star on the top left and going clockwise) A13, L2, B3 and A1.

We started A13 during the first class, and sewed it by hand, using freezer paper templates. My friend Robyn and I were the only two newbies in class---everyone else had been working on their Dear Jane quilts for awhile, and were just coming to class to stay inspired and have some fun.

I made the second block, L2, through a combination of paper piecing and regular piecing, on the machine. This block was the "challenge" block given by the teachers. Anyone who makes one gets their name entered in a drawing for a prize at the next class. I think they are also offering a weekly prize for the students who makes the most blocks that week to inspire us.

I also sewed the other 2 blocks----B3 and A1---on the machine. I'd never pieced circles before, so it took me a couple of tries to make something acceptable for B3. The A1 block was easy---just a bunch of half-square triangles---and I've done so many of those I could do them in my sleep.

I'm going to make the entire quilt out of batiks that are based around this theme fabric pictured below---an idea I got from the people at the quilt shop.

I don't think my photo does it justice, but this fabric has got all the colors I love: purples, blues, greens, and even a few browns and oranges thrown in.  And I love batiks! I have a lot of them in my stash, so I hope this quilt will help me cut down on fabric I already own---always my dream.

Will I ever finish this? I wouldn't place any bets, but you never know. Meanwhile, I'm having a lot of fun working on it.

1 comment:

  1. More power to you. Just looking at the picture makes me tired.

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