Category Archives: Hand Piecing

What’s Going On With Jane

I have been fitting a Jane Block in here and there, so I thought I would post pictures of them.

TR12-janesoak

Jane’s Oak has been done a bit differently.  I machine pieced the bottom instead of appliquéing it, so the white on the sides is missing.

I had a dreadful time with the Parcheesi block after trying to hand piece it and came up with a rebellious melon free solution!

f5-no-melon

F5-parchesi F6-deaniesdaisies

The block is really very similar to its neighbor Deanie’s Daisies when approached this way.  I may still do it the correct way in a year or two!

I was happy with the rest of the blocks and I found the melons in Dad’s Plaids to be very cooperative.  I sprayed the heck out of the fabric with Best Press and then used the needle turn method for both the appliqué and reverse appliqué.  I also used Jenny Haskins Template Magic as a guide for turning the fabric.  That stuff is great because it sticks to the fabric and can be reused a few times.

a7-dadsplaids g5-poof

I did not cut the back out of Poof because the seems for the piecing were not secured so I am afraid they will rip out.  Maybe some fabric glue?  Not sure so I am leaving it as is for now.

H10-bensbowtie e12-maryruthscorset

g11-decisionsdecisions m5-motherspoint

I now have 59 blocks done, but am way behind in the group I am doing this with.  I must be about 8 months behind now.  But, I am still getting them done and am pleased with the results, so I am not giving up on this!

Jane I Have Not Given Up on You!

Okay, here they are!  More Jane blocks.

My Jane Stickle group is concentrating on the G Row to get one entire row done.  I am now about 6 months behind, so I decided to focus on those as well, rather than do them in the order assigned.

I completely hand pieced Block G8 and I am happy with the result.  It was a bit frustrating at first and I concluded that I am happy the sewing machine was invented!  This is not a Kaffe or a Phillip or even a Westminster fabric, but I think it works well with them.  Guess I have decided to branch out and mix some other fabrics in.  If I have a fabric that works I am going to use it! No one in my group seemed to notice my Kaffe Fassett/Phillip Jacobs departure, so I got away with it!

G8_Oct-14

 

I did give hand piecing another try with G1.  I thought it would be too difficult to try curved piecing on the machine because the curve seemed a bit too tight.  I finished this block with the machine.

G1-Oct-14

 

For block G7 I decided to go ahead and try machine piecing the curves and it went quite well.  I pressed the pieces in half to line up the centers and pinned at the center and each side.  I put the convex piece on the bottom when sewing.  I only redid one of the curved seems and I actually ended up redoing that one twice!

G7-Oct-14

G9 is just straight forward paper piecing and I used an Amy Butler fabric this time (at least it is a Westminster fabric!).  I wanted to use this orange!

G9-Oct-14

 

Finally, I was looking at my progress chart and double checking to see if I had everything in the right place.  I found my chart had a couple of blocks in the wrong row and also discovered a block with the wrong fabric! But, aren’t I lucky because the block is D13, which is just about the easiest block you could find yourself redoing.  So, I now have a red and an orange D13.

 

And to wrap things up I will also show you the second B12 that I made some time ago because I was not happy with my first try at reverse applique.  The first is really not so bad, but I think I like the fussy cutting in the redo better.

b-12_starflower-1B12-Oct-14

 

Is this more than you ever wanted to know about my Jane blocks??

Oh!!  …. in case anyone is counting I finally got 50 blocks done! WOOT WOOT!!