My ‘Background’ Plan

So back to my story…I think I had made 5 or 6 blocks with my 1 background I had bought before I read on The List that the 5 yards listed was really not enough.  Panic!  We go to Oklahoma quite often as that is where my in-laws live.  Probably the first weekend  in February, we probably went to the McAlester, Oklahoma area and I shopped.  There were lots of little shops around the area 10 years ago.  Most are closed now.

Anyway, I bought 1  3/4 to 2 yards of 3 more background pieces.  One piece I bought all they had which was the 1 3/4 yard piece.  So now with a total of 4 background fabrics, 6 yards I started with and adding 5 3/4 more, I now had 11  3/4 yards to work with for my quilt.  I just needed to come up with that plan.  (That weekend I also spent plenty of money on red and green fat quarters.  If they looked old, I bought them.  I am sure they were not all reproductions.)

So I sat down one morning and I came up with my plan.  The logical thing to me was, since I was making a 2 color  quilt, was to assign 2 backgrounds to red blocks, which I numbered 1 and 2 and 2 backgrounds to green blocks, which I assigned letters A and B.  I did that and glued them on an index card and also wrote the designation on a swatch and put them on my design wall/bulletin board as I knew my swatch card would soon get lost.

Since I had 2 fabrics that actually went red to me, I put one for each block color to divide them up.  The original 6 yard piece I bought to me went green so I put with the red blocks also.  The remaining piece was actually like grass on a white ground so I assigned it to the green blocks.

My plan was simply this – I copied the Diagram of Blocks out of the DJ book on page 12 and I started in the center with one set of fabrics, say the green, and alternated rows of my background-A, B, A, B, A, B, A, B etc., going like Jane did in her Trip Around the World setting or a Log Cabin Barn Raising design.  Then I did the same thing with the red backgrounds and alternated them also, except I started with A-1 and went in a Straight Furrows pattern, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2, etc.  These could be turned around around as my plan is covered up by my fabric swatches and my quilt is not here to check out which I used.  Note I only did this for the blocks, the fabric I had 6 yards of was used for all my background for my pieced triangles.  And all pieced triangles are red with plain triangles green.  My sashing is a different fabric too, so it is not included this total.

I was very lucky with the blocks I had already made.  Only 1 block was made with the wrong background after my new plan was made.  That was J-2, Picture Perfect.  The only background used in the block was the window sashing and I was not going to redo that block for those few 1/4” wide pieces.  It just was not worth it.  No one knows it but me and now you all.  Most people just think I used one background, including one appraiser, actually writing it on the appraisal form, cream Roclon muslin.

J-2 was my 3rd block.  After hand piecing my first two blocks, I wanted to see if I could tackle those narrow 1/4” bands, since I had noticed this quilt seems to have a lot of narrow bands.  You all know how you presser foot can ride on a seam and get your seam allowance off.  My J-2 is not perfect, but I think I mastered those narrow bands or sashing, however you want to think of them.  And I did that by pressing toward the band and trimming.

Next time I will write about how I chose the blocks I did and why.  And get a little deeper into my process -if I have one.  I really wonder about that one.

Sew Having Fun,

Sarah

Getting My Feet Wet

Where to begin with Jane?  First I need to give you a little background.  We had moved to Greenville in October of 1998.  In November I went to a 3 night retreat over my birthday.  It had rained during the retreat.  The soil here is clay and is slick when wet.  To make a long story short-I broke my ankle chasing my dog Bear who decided to go walk-about.  He went into a not-so friendly neighbor’s yard (even to this day) and I slipped in a wet spot.  This was the day after my birthday.  I heard it break.  Luckily Stan was out with us and he went and brought the truck and I hopped in on one foot and went to ER on a Sunday afternoon.  It was dislocated and I broke the 3 wings off the bone.  I had surgery and had 5 screws put in my ankle.  I also spent the night in the hospital.  Normally it would be outpatient surgery, but I had to do it on a Sunday.

When we left Nacogdoches, my friend Paula said we needed to get a computer so we could keep in touch easier.  So we did.  She said I needed to join the Dear Jane mailing list as she said it was the friendliest place on the Internet.  What else could I do?  I was sitting here with a broken ankle, nothing really unpacked for my sewing room before I did this nasty deed to myself.  So I joined the DJ list.

I agree with her, the list is a very friendly place.  You can learn a lot-if you ask, even if you lurk.  I have been lurking for over 12 years.  Even back then they had a BOW-Block of the Week.  Paula was going to start her quilt with the BOW for the start of January 1999 which was G-1, Indianapolis.  She said she was on the 10 year plan.  She is now on the 20 year plan. 

Well, I decided I was not going to do the BOW; I couldn’t figure out how to do it.  Even reading the hints on the list.  So I kept looking through the book trying to figure out a strategy, and really, I came up with nothing but to jump right in with what I knew I could do and that was hand piecing.  I knew I could hand piece all these blocks but I also knew there was no way that way going to happen either.  I prefer to machine piece.  But I also think that every quilter or those who just piece should know how to hand piece as I think it helps you when it comes to machine piecing; a lot of things are the same in machine piecing as they are in hand piecing.  And I have found those that have not hand pieced cannot do the like procedures in machine piecing.  My first 2 quilts were hand pieced except for the sashing.

I took the 6 yards background I had purchased, picked out a red fabric and proceeded to hand piece J-5.  Then I proceeded to hand piece and hand appliqué D-11, Snow Crystal, also red. I actually completed 2 blocks on January 24, 1999.  My ankle boot I am pretty sure was off and I was walking without it, but I know it hurt me for a long time after that.  I remember sitting here on the couch sitting with my legs propped up, piecing my blocks.

It was soon after that I read on ‘The List’ that the amount of background fabric needed listed in the book was was wrong.  So I knew it was time I came up with a plan-a background plan.

So in 12 weeks time, things changed…we moved, a broken ankle, foreign world of computers, an Internet mailing list, and I finally took the plunge that I said I wouldn’t-I started the sampler quilt with no instructions.

Next time-the plan…

Sew Having Fun!

Sarah

‘In Changing Times’

I realized something yesterday- an anniversary had passed about ten days ago.  Most people would not even think it much of an event to remember.  But to me the event was, in a way, life-changing.  On January 24, 1999, I made the first block of my prize-winning Dear Jane® quilt ‘In Changing Times.’  I had no idea when I left Nacogdoches and my Secret Pal gave me the book as my last gift, that it would change my life-literally.

This is how my story starts…my husband decides to transfer within his job in summer 1998.  We find a house and make arrangements to move to Greenville.  My friends in Nacogdoches give me a going away party and my Secret Pal at guild gives me the book, Dear Jane: The 225 Patterns from the 1863 Jane A. Stickle Quilt by Brenda Manges Papadakis.  I think it’s a pretty quilt and I love reproduction quilts, but I am really not into samplers, nor did I think I would make the quilt as there were no instructions in the book.  I did enjoy reading the letters that Brenda wrote to Jane.  I love history.  I even loved looking at the blocks and wondering what in the world was Jane thinking and then, how in the world did she come up with them and how did she execute all these difficult blocks?  Little did I know I would soon be up to my neck in this quilt.You might ask why my quilt is red and green?  Well, my paternal grandmother’s maiden name was Stickle.  That was the way I had always seen it spelled as a kid.  I found out about 4-5 years ago that my ancestor’s name is spelled STICKEL from a descendant of his ‘other’ family so I guess we are not related to Jane, but I like to think there was a possibility that we could have been when I started my quilt.  My grandmother was born in December and she died in December at the age of 93 and so I made it as a tribute  to her.  Little did I know when I made my first block, J-5, John Jacob’s Windmill, that I was in for one of the best trips of my life-with a few bumps along the way.  Tune in again soon for the next installment of my Journey with Jane.

Sew Having Fun,

Sarah

Catching Up

Well, I must say, I don’t know if a blog was a good thing for me or not.  Things just keep happening that keep me from blogging.  Since I posted last I went to Iowa and visited with my folks for 2 weeks.  My dad is in a nursing home and is 85 years old.  I went up there twice in 2010 after not getting up there in 2 years.  At the same time I was up there over Thanksgiving, my mother-in-law was in the hospital, in a nursing home and then back in the hospital and then passed away.  The funeral has passed and now my husband is dealing with the estate.  Really not a whole lot of fun since we live out of state. 

But the not so fun and fun part is we and by we, I mean my sister-in-law (my partner in quilting crime) is, we get to go through her things.  We have gone through most of the household things and even most of her quilting things.  We are a family of quilters.  I think I can honestly say I got them into quilting.  I brought back 2 doll quilts I had made, one for my mother-in-law, the other for her mother.  They were made 20 years ago, as one is dated Mother’s Day, 1990.  Both are the same pattern and the pattern appeared in Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine, probably in the  late 1980’s.  I know I still have it as I recently went through my magazines and ran across it.  I made a third and I sold it through an antique store.  Here is a picture of them.Going through her things is finality in a way.  But it brings back some memories too.  She took lots of pictures and I have gone through most of them.  Now I am glad she did take all those pictures.  But I must tell you to make sure you make note of who is in the picture for future generations.  She did not and now there is no one left to tell me who those older generations are, especially of her side of the family.

Marva, my sister-in-law, also issued me 2 challenges while we were up there last week.  Not one, but TWO!  We used to, LOTS of years ago when we both had more time,  issue a challenge back and forth occasionally.  And then it stopped.  Well, she jumped back on it full force in 2011!  At least she didn’t say I had to take them nor did she give me a time limit.  No rules really.  Those kind of challenges I will take.  Here is a picture of 11 machine embroidery redwork blocks she gave me to do something with-someday.  Is there a set for 11 blocks?  I will have to think about this one.She also ordered 10” squares of Windham's  19th Century Reds and the only rule she gave me was it had to be a miniature.  There are 25-10” squares, so it could be a big mini or I use the leftovers for the back; although I do have some yardage of a couple of them I can use.  They kind of remind me of madders; which I happen to like.So that is all this time.  Maybe next time I will finally get around to showing you my Dear Jane or some other quilts I have made.  Or a couple of old tops I have, one is full of holes and I reproduced it.  I have lots of things to write about if I just do it.

Sew Having Fun,

Sarah

Primer for H-12, Hannah Lou’s Hearts

Well, it’s been a few weeks and I have decided to give you a lesson on how to do a Dear Jane© block.  The pattern in the book for Hannah Lou’s Hearts is 4 hearts appliquéd down but if you examine the pictured block closely you can see it looks like 8 teardrop shapes, maybe appliquéd on her background.

The pattern I am using here, I drafted before the DJ CD came out  but there are two similar patterns on the CD which could be used exactly as I am using my redraft.  In my quilt, I used the block drawing in the book.  I wasn’t good enough yet to figure this block out, but after I had taught DJ a couple years, I came up with this technique for doing it and it looks just like it and is very easy.  I hope you will enjoy recreating a block that looks very similar to Jane’s.  Please note that I made the hearts below from 2 focal fabrics instead of one, but will write cutting directions for 1 focal fabric as Jane’s is one red fabric.

Step 1: Cut 4- 3 1/2” focal squares, cut each in half once on the diagonal to yield 8 half square triangles.  Sew back together to yield 4 focal squares and sew together again to yield  one big square.  PRESS ALL SEAMS OPEN!  And I do mean all seams;  it will help you when we do our first reverse appliqué.

It will look like this on the front and your center is not too big a deal but make sure it is not off more than a couple threads or you will have trouble lining up everything for all your reverse appliqué.

 

 

 

 

The back should look like this-all seams pressed open.  This is for a reason that I will tell you when we start the first step of reverse appliqué, as that is all that is left to finish this block now.

 

Step 2:  Trace (or print) the entire pattern onto freezer paper.  You should be able to trace it once and use it twice.   Notice my pattern is traced onto a 5” square  of freezer paper.  I need that extra 1/4” for basting since the curves are only about a 1/8” from the edge.  Once it is traced, put your scissors into the center 4-pointed star and cut it out and discard.  We want a window template, a star cut out in the middle of your paper.  Now cut a   4 1/2” square of background.  Layer and center it right side up beneath your pieced focal block of half square triangles, which should also be right side up.  Iron the freezer paper template to the right side of the pieced focal block, matching the seam lines with the lines on the block, the inner points of the star in the diagonal corners and towards the center they should match with the lines on the block the horizontal and vertical seam lines.  Baste together the 3 layers-freezer paper, focal pieced layer and background layer about 1/4” outside the 4-pointed star.  Now reverse appliqué the 4-pointed star in the center, leaving about a 3/16” or smaller turn under.  With the seams pressed open underneath, you turn under 2 layers in the inner corners and it very easy.  Just take out your machine stitching as far as you need to-to the freezer paper, and re-secure in each corner.  You will not have to worry about your fabric raveling or any stray threads.  It stays nice and clean.  

Step 3:  Once the center is reverse appliquéd, remove the basting and freezer paper and press well.  Trim out the background fabric from outside the star.  Take the freezer paper template and trim out (still from the center) the outer lobed shape or the 8- petaled flower.  We still want a window template.  Cut a 5 1/2” square of background and iron your freezer template to it.  Using a light box or pins, line up the narrow skinny parts on the seams lines until you are happy with placement.  All pattern lines should line up on seam lines.

You can’t see it too well here but it has been basted and it ready for me to do my reverse appliqué.  Start your appliqué;  the little narrow points on the 4 compass points are pretty difficult so don’t obsess over them.  Try to do one of the ‘off’ compass points first to boost your confidence.  Don’t forget to clip those inside curves.   Also remember the advantage of freezer paper is if it starts to let loose, you can hit it with the iron again.  When I do my reverse appliqué I do that a lot, I want that point exact.  I always tell my students your appliqué will be just as accurate as you cut out your line.

Above it is in progress and below it is finished but untrimmed.

 Step 4:  Once the the appliqué is complete, remove the freezer paper, press and trim to 5”.  You should also trim the focal fabric from underneath your background; trim out side the 4 hearts or 8 petals to your desired width.  My width is about 1/8”-3/16”.

I will also post a picture of a block made with 30’s where every petal is a different fabric.  It is one of 2 blocks I made.  I kept this one and sent the other to a friend after I came up this way of doing Hannah Lou’s Hearts.  I think it is just adorable done with each petal a different fabric;  plus before I did the center star appliqué, I just laid the freezer paper template on one of the half square triangle blocks I had made, since I was making 2, I had one freezer paper template of the 4-pointed stars and 1 of the flower and it made the cutest Dresden Plate block.  Can you imagine it from seeing my block?

Hopefully you have gotten my technique of making H-12 so it looks similar to Jane’s block.  Maybe next time I will talk about my Dear Jane©, “In Changing Times”.  But I think I said that for this post.  Only time will tell.

Sew Having Fun,

Sarah

What Else I Have Been Into

Since my last post was sew long, I cut it short, but I did want to show you what else I have been doing on my blog hiatus.  I have been washing and ironing fabric collected almost over a year.  I had not been able to wash it because it was so wet here last fall and winter and my washer drains outside here.  I only washed what we needed.  So here is a picture of all my fabric washed an ironed over the last 9-10 months.  Actually there has

been some already put away, probably close to a fourth of what you see here.  Now this has also found a home, but my new room is fast running out of space.  It already has on books.

And I have a new passion.  I stopped at a new to me quilt/needlework shop close to me.  And she had several temari balls in there.  Just so happens the town has a League of the Arts and they were giving a class in it for $5!  I have long been interested in this craft, (had 5 or 6 books on it for years), I guess because they are so pretty and they are geometric.  Anyway, I took the class and finished my ball which was Cranes and Bamboo.

It’s not perfect and the cranes look a little anemic, but it is my first try and I don’t think it looks too bad.  I also ran out of thread for the bamboo.  (They had kits made up.)  I have my threads for my next two- I think I am hooked!

Next time quilts, I promise, but first I have a DJ retreat this next week.  So it will be after that.  I will probably start with Dear Jane®, the quilt that literally changed my life.

Sew Having Fun,

Sarah

I’m Still Around…

I know, it’s been more than two months since I have updated my blog.  I have been a bad girl.  But as soon as the doctor released me for my finger on July 14, I was headed for Iowa the following Sunday to see my folks.  It had been almost two years since I had seen them and a lot had happened, both to them and me.  That’s why I hightailed it fast.  I stayed right at two weeks and enjoyed every minute.  I did not do a lick of stitchin’.   But I did not mean too.  I did not even read the two books I took with me.  I helped my Mom clean out some stuff of my Dad’s, who she put in a nursing home in January.  I think my parents are both pack rats and I think I have inherited the gene-at least so I have been told by my  husband.  And I did some genealogy research and I did a little fabric shopping.  More on that a little later.

First of all, I will show you my progress on my border robin.  I showed you my center block in my last post around July 4th, because it is red, white and blue.  Well, we are drawing for what each round has to contain in at retreats three times a year.  We will draw for the fifth round in about two weeks.  You will notice I only have two rounds on mine.  I am that far behind.  But between last retreat and this coming retreat, I finished the block and got two of my four rounds on it, with two surgeries in there somewhere.  I am proud of myself, needless to say.  Here it is:My next round is appliqué and it will be on the on-point border to tone it down.  And you notice I framed the triangles with my half square border, not my center.  I think that is a little unusual.  But I liked the way it looked better.   I will be using a red that has some yellow and blue in it and am debating on whether to make my circles yellow.  But that is something that can be decided after the main appliqué is done.  After that I have dimensional.  I think I am going to do dimensional flying geese units.  I want this piece to look very traditional and that’s all I can come up with that would be in vogue for the time period.

Also while I was home, I did a little quilt shop hopping.  I made it to two shops. One is called Adel Quilting & Dry Goods Co.  It is in a Craftsman style home.  They don’t have a lot, but what they have, I like.  I always manage to come away with something when I go there.  And for you Dear Jane® people I also managed to come away with a little pottery bowl from there with the dreaded block L-6, Maze of Madness.  That’s the only reason I bought it because I am a DJ fanatic.

I also managed to make it to Elk Horn and stopped at Prairie Star Quilts.  But not before I stopped in Atlantic at a dime store and picked up a few flat folds.  I picked up the backing for my border robin there and a few other pieces.  This was the first place I had ever noticed Paintbrush Studio Fabrics.  (Remember this, this is crucial to what is coming.)  I bought four pieces of it at the dime store.  Prairie Star Quilts is a Top 10 Shop by Quilt Sampler from a few years back and they have one room of reproductions, homespuns and flannels and then the other room is more contemporary and batiks.  Just as I thought I was finished, in the armoire by the cutting table, were several bolts of fabrics and then fat quarter packs of a line of fabric that the owner, Julie Larsen, had designed for Paintbrush Studio Fabrics.  The line is called Prairie Homefront and I ended up buying the fat quarter pack, I liked it so well.  She is working on her second line, I was told.  I thought you might like to see it too.

And then when I got home and started working on my border robin I noticed that the light fabric I used in the sawtooth border and to put on point is a Paintbrush Studio fabric.  Never notice it before I go home and then I go and run across it twice and come home and find I already own some.  I really pay a lot of attention, don’t I?  I really thought I did when it comes to fabric.

I will save the rest for later, this has gotten sew long.  My next post I will show you the stack of fabric I washed and my new passion.

Sew Having Fun,

Sarah