Good Grief. It’s nearly the end of August and I still haven’t shared my Jane Blocks.
I enjoyed putting these blocks together … not too much applique this month. Just the handle of the basket, which I did by machine. Not sure if that was a good idea or not, but it looks okay. I used steam a seam and ironed the handle in place and then machine sewed along the edges.
Here are my latest Jane blocks. Three of the five blocks are purple this month as indicated in my plan for the quilt .. a rainbow scheme starting with green in the middle, followed by yellow, etc. I still love working with the Kaffe Fassett and Philip Jacobs fabrics. You can use the large scale fabrics and pick sections to work with. The blocks seemed fussy to me this month, but maybe it was me! The reverse applique is the most trying. Hard to get the corners sewn without the raw edges poking out. I think I need most improvement in that area and will not doubt get the opportunity to do so in the next few years of my Jane Journey!
I have finished my Jane blocks for Tuesday night’s meeting. I am enjoying this quite a bit …. so far! I love the fabric I am working with and the fact that each block is so different. This month I had two rotary cut and pieced blocks, two paper pieced blocks and one applique block. The paper pieced blocks are the fussiest, but the triangle block went together pretty quickly. Take a look at the May blocks. 10 done 215 to go!
Here are the blocks:
Okay … Here is a list of my current projects:
Main Streets and Back Roads – A twelve month Block of the Month designed by Antoinette which, if the previous months’ block is finished, is free each month. This is the first month, so I am all set for my free block 2.
Aunt Lucy – A 16 month block of the month quilt in reproduction fabrics with 5 months completed!
Peggy Anne’s Quilting and Sewing Company projects:
In the Meadow was the 2012 block of the month. I started the background a a few of the blocks, but never finished because I was too focused on the Bird Quilt, but I am really going to try to find some time for this now!
Chicken and Stars is a 9 month BOM. I already have two months and I need to get started on this one before it ends up like the In the Meadow quilt!
Seven Sisters – This is the same pattern as the Star Quilt, but I am going to do this as a Seven Sisters quilt, with the 7 stars in the middle in blue and the others in purple.
Christmas Quilt – Peggy Anne has asked me to get a Christmas Quilt ready by June for her store. I have a pattern ready for this and will be getting the top done this month!!!
And … there is a an entire basket of quilt kits …. someday!!!!
Despite all of the projects I am working on, I could not resist signing up for the Jane Stickle quilt group at Quilter’s Common. I started a Jane quilt a few years ago using reproduction fabrics but I only got four blocks done before I gave up on the idea.
This time around I am feeling more confidant with a few more years of piecing experience and a sewing machine (Bernina 830) that makes it a lot easier to be precise … which is absolutely necessary with these small 4 1/2″ blocks . I have decided to go with modern fabrics this time and I am using a pale gray fabric for the background.
I have a collection of Kaffe Fassett fabrics and also just purchased three sets of 6 1/2″ squares of Kaffe and Philip Jacobs fabrics. I think the 6 1/2″ squares will be perfect for the Dear Jane blocks … 5″ squares would be too small for the blocks that require 2 or more 2 3/4″ square pieces from the same fabric.
I am already ahead of my first attempt attempt at Dear Jane. I have finished four squares and a triangle. I make no promises about keeping up with the pace and I don’t plan to make this a Dear Jane Blog … but, I will post updates as I go along!
Quilting with Patrice 