Dear Jane Fridays

Each Friday in my Facebook group, some members work on starting or finishing their Dear Jane quilts. It's not a teaching group, just a checking-on-your-progress group to help keep you accountable and move forward. Sometimes inspiration happens when like-minded quilters get together. Seeing the progress that others are making on their blocks/quilt can be very motivating.

Jane Stickle used many different fabrics in her quilt, and for a long time it seemed that each printed fabric appeared in only one block on the quilt. Now it has been determined that there are 3 blocks that repeat fabrics. See if you can find them! (I tried but couldn't.)

(Photos of the quilt courtesy of the Bennington Museum)

One of the things I was thinking about this week was that making this quilt was all about the journey and the learning. I wonder if it is the same for you? The Dear Jane journey starts with one block. Try an easy one if you’re intimidated. Then try another and another. I learned so much making this quilt. I pushed myself to do curved piecing, reverse applique and paper piecing. With each block completed it got a little more thrilling to see them pile up. All the while I was becoming a better quilter.

if you 're intent on making this quilt, the key to success might be to keep it uppermost in your mind. While I was working on mine, I bought a special box to keep my blocks in and kept it near my desk.

Eventually I bought one of those Ikea rolling carts and stored all of the things I needed to make the quilt - my block box, the book, my notebook, tools, foundation paper and supplies and special fabrics I knew I wanted to use for the remainder of the blocks. Everything in one place where I could see it. The cart stayed in a corner of my sewing room but I could easily roll it out near my sewing table when I became motivated to work on some blocks. I printed out a list of all the numbered blocks and checked them off to keep track of my progress.

There were times I had to take long breaks from working on it. When I picked it up again, I would challenge myself to make 10 or 20 blocks within a certain time frame. It helped to set small deadlines for myself. Soon I was able to finish 35, then 50 blocks. Checking them off the list one by one. I remember hitting 100 blocks. That was a milestone - almost halfway there. i kept at it. And now I'm done.

If you're intent on finishing your quilt, then push yourself just a little bit every now and then and I know you’ll be pleased at the progress you’ll make. Join us in the group on Fridays if you need a nudge.

Blog Trouble

Just wanted to let all of you who have subscribed to email updates know that when I write a new blog post you probably will not be getting any email notifications. The Mail Chimp service which is supposed to send out the emails to you is not working out. Time after time they do not send out the emails to let you know there is a new blog post from me. This has been happening for awhile and is disappointing to say the least. I have a few thousand followers and I use the blog more for quilting information than advertising. Most of these services are set up for marketing or advertising products. I refuse to pay $200 or more per month for them or another service to do this for me. Not exactly cost effective for me.

Clearly, I cannot send out thousands of emails myself every time I write a post. So, sorry to say - you are on your own. All of you will have to find or bookmark my blog and check every now and then if you want to read all of the IMPORTANT and INCREDIBLE things I have to say, haha. Then, eventually, it will probably fade away because everyone will forget. I enjoy blogging when I have time and something to say or just want to let you know about any quilting info. It's definitely an end to an era. Nobody really blogs anymore anyway. Glad I have been able to connect with some of you for so long. Thanks for the support! 

I'll still be quilting, possibly blogging about it. You can always find me on Instagram or my FB group if you get desperate. 

Dear Jane Color Scheme

We've been working on making blocks for the Dear Jane quilt in my Facebook group. I've been trying to post a little bit about the background of the quilt each Friday. Last week we focused on color schemes and I mentioned that Jane Stickle did not use colors at random when she made her quilt. When you see the quilt in person you're immediately struck by the  fact that it is so well preserved and the fabrics are so vibrant. It's actually pretty colorful considering it's over 160 years old!

 

If you look at the photo of the original quilt, you might notice that the blocks are laid out in colored rows in what is called a Trip Around the World (TATW) motif. It’s a way of arranging your blocks made from specific colors so that they radiate outward from the center almost in a diamond pattern. Can you see it? I'm not a quilt historian so I don't know how popular this was when Jane was making her quilt. I do know they were especially popular later in the nineteenth century. But it seems Jane was always ahead of her time.

 At the center of Jane's quilt is a green block, surrounded by a row of 4 yellow blocks, then purple, red, pink blocks. The next row looks purple, although it’s likely that some of the fabrics may have faded to brown over the years. Last is a row of red with a few oranges. The rest of the blocks surrounding them are mostly browns, mixed with a few blue blocks. The four corner blocks are green. The top right block is more of a bluish green. The four corner triangles (kites) are pink (one is rather faded).

My rough coloring so you can see the TATW/Trip Around the World motif. There's a chart to download in the group files so you can cross off the blocks you've finished to keep track of your progress.

I used a blue block for my center instead of green because I love blue more than green and wasn’t even thinking about using the same colors as Jane did. When I did learn about the rows of colors it sounded cool but I had already made more than a few blocks. I wish I had followed her colors a little more closely. I got as far as the yellow blocks and quit after arranging the pink blocks for my TATW. I did do the green corners and the pink corner kites (triangles). One of my corner blocks (A-13, far right, top) was made in pink before I decided to attempt the four green corners so I switched it up with the block next to it in Row A which I had already made in green. I decided to live with the mistake instead of remaking both blocks. I knew someone with an eagle eye would notice someday that the top row was out of order so I am 'fessing up now!  Improvise, improvise. 

 

My quilt top last year before I added the triangle borders. I need to find some space to hang it before I take a better picture.  The pink and yellow blocks stand out a bit and you can see a little of the TATW scheme that Jane used. 

If you're sewing along in my group, remember that this is your quilt and you can make it any way you like. I’m only giving this information for those who might want to reproduce Jane's quilt closely. It's fun to think about how organized she was, playing around with her fabrics. 

The Bennington Museum website has some nice photos of the Jane Stickle quilt.

Whatever colors or style of fabric you choose, here’s a tip: Make sure you LOVE the fabrics you pick. For me, this was a good opportunity to dig deep into my stash and find prints or favorite scraps of prints I loved and was saving for "something special." THIS quilt is the Something Special so go ahead and cut into some of those fabrics you’re hoarding. You won’t be sorry.

Dear Jane

Well, I finally finished putting my Dear Jane top together.  Not perfect by any means, but it is DONE. 

It still needs a good pressing, some thread picking and a few other little things fixed before I add the border for the scallops and then attempt to baste it for hand quilting.

This will take me awhile. I learned so much throughout the process of making this quilt. For instance, reverse applique. curved piecing and paper piecing, along with better basic sewing skills for making small blocks. Not to mention PATIENCE. So now I have to learn how to make a scalloped border - Ugh. Not looking forward to that. Hopefully, it won't take me another 14 years . . . . 

In looking at photos of finished DJ quilts, I noticed that someone in my group used a pretty light print fabric for her  scallop border instead of a solid and so now I'm rethinking the muslin/ecology cloth I was going to use for mine. Decisions, decisions . . . 

One of the many perks of having the Electric Quilt Dear Jane software is that it allows you to print out these assorted pages with pretty borders for keeping a Dear Jane journal or to just use for notes on your sewing journey. I’ve kept my own notes in a binder since I started in 2010 but I’m patiently waiting until I finish the entire quilt to copy them down onto my pretty pages.

After I finished I took a little break and just played around with some extra blocks from the recent basket sew along and made this little mug mat. They always look so cute displayed around the house. Easy stitching . . .  

There's some Dear Jane motivation in my Facebook group on Fridays as some of us move forward and make progress. If you're interested in starting or just really want to get back to working on your blocks, join the conversation as we motivate each other to work together on this wonderful quilt. Trust me, if I can finish it, you can too. Kathleen Tracy Quilts FB group. I'll keep you up to date.

                           

Crafty Progress - Catching Up

This is a repeat of the post I wrote last week  For some reason Mail Chimp, the email service I've been using for a couple of years, is not sending out updates to those of you who subscribed by email. I tell them when I update my blog and they send out emails to everyone who has subscribed. I can't do that myself. I signed up myself so I could monitor when the emails go out and I never get updates so I assume it is not working. So I apologize - many of you probably are not getting notices through email when I update it. 

Not sure what to do about this so I am repeating this post and trying to send it out again. Sorry to have to inconvenience you now with multiple duplicate emails. If you actually get this, it would help me to know. Leave a comment if you would be so kind. I have no idea who reads blogs anymore or if I should just stop blogging altogether. Sometimes it's more work than I want to handle. 

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March 20, 2024

I've been pretty lazy about blogging lately . . . . If I post anything anywhere it's usually on Instagram. Quick and easy. Post a picture, write a comment. Done!  Blogging takes me so much longer to write and upload photos and then edit them. I'm not sure if anyone even reads blogs anymore so it almost seems like a waste of time. But I do know some of my blog fans don't do Facebook or Instagram so I've compiled some of my Instagram posts to catch you up -  

In February I made a small basket quilt for the basket sew along but haven't quite finished quilting it yet. Don't you love these prints??  That border is a very old Judie Rothermel fabric. The pink is French General. 

I quilted it a tiny bit then moved on to something else that caught my eye as I was cleaning up some of my fabrics and patterns. 

I thought I would try a little cross stitching for a change of pace . . . I'd forgotten how relaxing it is to stitch like this. I have a few of these mini Blackbird Designs from awhile ago that I started but never finished. (Hmm . . . do you see a sort of pattern here??) This one is my favorite. Can't imagine why I started it and then just let it go, LOL. I'm pretty sure most of these designs are out of print now. I really want to make them all! (X stitch piece underneath is Prairie Schooler Village Sampler, waiting to be framed.) 

Slow progress for sure but this one is just so sweet maybe I'll actually finish this time. Good thing it's a small one . . . Blackbird Designs, Down in the Valley pattern.

I'm patting myself on the back right now. I needed to take a little break from quilting and this was the perfect solution. Hoping to maybe start another little Blackbird Designs project. Question: Does anyone today still work on Aida cloth?? I've been away from cross stitching for so long and it seems like it's all done on linen now. I feel a little out of the loop. I love the look of linen but I'm afraid to try it because I have retina issues in one eye and my eyes strain easily. Seems daunting to me. Any suggestions? What works for you?

Finished! It only took me a week. But I'm not sure of the exact finish - I temporarily placed it into a frame. I may decide to make it into a small pillow/bowl filler. And a part of me thinks I should try to make a few more and display them on a wall. We'll just have to see how it goes. Wonder which one will be next?? (My Schoolgirl Sampler quilt is in background.)  

As I was thinking about my next little cross stitch project I got a little sidetracked. 

I keep this poster in my sewing room to remind me to work on my Dear Jane quilt.  It's been sitting in my sewing room just waiting for me to find the time to work on it again. I forgot exactly why I stopped at a certain point but I set it aside about a year ago and then got busy with family stuff and didn't have time to think about it. So, yes, I'm back working on it again.

The center is completed. The triangles are sewn into rows. They just need to be assembled. I love this quilt so much - much more than cross stitch I realized. It took me a little while but I remembered why I suddenly stopped. It wasn't because I was blocked or anything. I ran out of fabric for the narrow border that is used to connect the four borders to the top. I wanted to use the same fabric I used in the blocks (Ecology cloth, a tighter weave of muslin with those tiny flecks). I remember checking last year and it didn't seem to be available at any of the shops that used to carry it so I probably stopped looking. But I searched Google and found a place right in my own backyard that carries it. Vogue Fabrics, just north of Chicago, had exactly what I needed. So I drove over there and bought a few yards and now I think I'm set. I'm pumped to sew this little strip between the parts so I can then go on to prepare it for quilting. Not saying it's going to be finished anytime soon of course but it's a huge step to get that much closer to it being an actual "top." So now cross stitch has to be set aside, all other UFOs have to be set aside while I tackle Jane again. Honestly, I think the hard part is over once I get this top sewn. Now I'm seriously pumped about the challenge ahead.

Dear Jane progress: Left side triangles attached to center. With a crazy narrow 1/4" border in between. I'd be lying if I said this was easy, getting those triangles to match up with the sashing. The 1/2" sashing looks quite large in comparison. I do love making this quilt, but . . . it's such a humbling experience, LOL. Finished is better than perfect.

These are photos of the original Jane Stickle quilt from 1863 - 

I love this quilt so much and every time I look at photos of it I feel a rush of emotion and a strong desire to try to finish mine. Some quilters in my Facebook group Kathleen Tracy Quilts are feeling the same. Not everyone is completely self-motivated so I designated Fridays as Dear Jane Motivation day in the group since we all seem to need a push now and then to keep going. If you're stuck on your blocks or triangles or want to start a Dear Jane quilt or just need encouragement to pick yours up again, join us! I used to host a Yahoo Dear Jane group a few years back and sewing along with others who also loved the quilt really helped me make some good progress. But Yahoo shut down and we all had to manage on our own after that. It's a whole lot easier if you have quilters sewing with you, giving you a little nudge every now and then. If you're interested in continuing or starting a Dear Jane quilt this may be just what you need. I'm not going to be teaching you how to make the quilt or anything - we'll just be giving you encouragement and support to keep going and possibly a few resources for help if you need it. This is such a wonderful quilt and, I have to say, an incredible journey. We can do this!

Catching Up

I've been kinda lazy about blogging lately . . . . If I post anything anywhere it's usually on Instagram. Quick and easy. Post a picture, write a comment. Done!  Blogging takes me so much longer to write and upload photos and then edit them. I'm not sure if anyone even reads blogs anymore so it almost seems like a waste of time. But I do know some of my blog fans don't do Facebook or Instagram so I've compiled some of my Instagram posts to catch you up -  

In February I made a small basket quilt for the basket sew along but haven't quite finished quilting it yet. Don't you love these prints??  That border is a very old Judie Rothermel fabric. The pink is French General. 

I quilted it a tiny bit then moved on to something else that caught my eye as I was cleaning up some of my fabrics and patterns. 

I thought I would try a little cross stitching for a change of pace . . . I'd forgotten how relaxing it is to stitch like this. I have a few of these mini Blackbird Designs from awhile ago that I started but never finished. (Hmm . . . do you see a sort of pattern here??) This one is my favorite. Can't imagine why I started it and then just let it go, LOL. I'm pretty sure most of these designs are out of print now. I really want to make them all! (X stitch piece underneath is Prairie Schooler Village Sampler, waiting to be framed.) 

Slow progress for sure but this one is just so sweet maybe I'll actually finish this time. Good thing it's a small one . . . Blackbird Designs, Down in the Valley pattern.

I'm patting myself on the back right now. I needed to take a little break from quilting and this was the perfect solution. Hoping to maybe start another little Blackbird Designs project. Question: Does anyone today still work on Aida cloth?? I've been away from cross stitching for so long and it seems like it's all done on linen now. I feel a little out of the loop. I love the look of linen but I'm afraid to try it because I have retina issues in one eye and my eyes strain easily. Seems daunting to me. Any suggestions? What works for you?

Finished! It only took me a week. But I'm not sure of the exact finish - I temporarily placed it into a frame. I may decide to make it into a small pillow/bowl filler. And a part of me thinks I should try to make a few more and display them on a wall. We'll just have to see how it goes. Wonder which one will be next?? (My Schoolgirl Sampler quilt is in background.)  

As I was thinking about my next little cross stitch project I got a little sidetracked. 

I keep this poster in my sewing room to remind me to work on my Dear Jane quilt.  It's been sitting in my sewing room just waiting for me to find the time to work on it again. I forgot exactly why I stopped at a certain point but I set it aside about a year ago and then got busy with family stuff and didn't have time to think about it. So, yes, I'm back working on it again.

The center is completed. The triangles are sewn into rows. They just need to be assembled. I love this quilt so much - much more than cross stitch I realized. It took me a little while but I remembered why I suddenly stopped. It wasn't because I was blocked or anything. I ran out of fabric for the narrow border that is used to connect the four borders to the top. I wanted to use the same fabric I used in the blocks (Ecology cloth, a tighter weave of muslin with those tiny flecks). I remember checking last year and it didn't seem to be available at any of the shops that used to carry it so I probably stopped looking. But I searched Google and found a place right in my own backyard that carries it. Vogue Fabrics, just north of Chicago, had exactly what I needed. So I drove over there and bought a few yards and now I think I'm set. I'm pumped to sew this little strip between the parts so I can then go on to prepare it for quilting. Not saying it's going to be finished anytime soon of course but it's a huge step to get that much closer to it being an actual "top." So now cross stitch has to be set aside, all other UFOs have to be set aside while I tackle Jane again. Honestly, I think the hard part is over once I get this top sewn. Now I'm seriously pumped about the challenge ahead.

Dear Jane progress: Left side triangles attached to center. With a crazy narrow 1/4" border in between. I'd be lying if I said this was easy, getting those triangles to match up with the sashing. The 1/2" sashing looks quite large in comparison. I do love making this quilt, but . . . it's such a humbling experience, LOL. Finished is better than perfect.

These are photos of the original Jane Stickle quilt from 1863 - 

I love this quilt so much and every time I look at photos of it I feel a rush of emotion and a strong desire to try to finish mine. Some quilters in my Facebook group Kathleen Tracy Quilts are feeling the same. Not everyone is completely self-motivated so I designated Fridays as Dear Jane Motivation day in the group since we all seem to need a push now and then to keep going. If you're stuck on your blocks or triangles or want to start a Dear Jane quilt or just need encouragement to pick yours up again, join us! I used to host a Yahoo Dear Jane group a few years back and sewing along with others who also loved the quilt really helped me make some good progress. But Yahoo shut down and we all had to manage on our own after that. It's a whole lot easier if you have quilters sewing with you, giving you a little nudge every now and then. If you're interested in continuing or starting a Dear Jane quilt this may be just what you need. I'm not going to be teaching you how to make the quilt or anything - we'll just be giving you encouragement and support to keep going and possibly a few resources for help if you need it. This is such a wonderful quilt and, I have to say, an incredible journey. We can do this!

Making Curved Basket Handles

Here is a repeat of a blog post from a few years ago on making basket handles - 

Everyone loves basket quilts, and every quilter probably has a basket quilt or two in her collection, don't you agree? I have an easy technique to tell you about today that I hope will get you started making one soon.

Baskets have always evoked the simple life and remind me of the past. For some of us, baskets are a great way to decorate our homes in a simple Country style. Long ago, there were so many uses for baskets, and they were especially such a part of nineteenth century life, that it’s really no surprise that they found their way into quilting patterns as well.

In earlier times, every home had numerous baskets and every basket had a role – there were egg baskets and berry baskets, laundry baskets and sewing baskets. Quilters in the nineteenth century had sewing baskets that had to be large enough to hold needles, thread, scissors, buttons and perhaps a small project or scraps of fabric.

I've made several small basket quilts and I especially had fun using some of my reproduction fabric scraps making this one that's in Remembering Adelia, my third book.

It's called Civil War Baskets and if you are inclined to use '30s fabrics or brights or batiks instead of reproduction prints like I did, guess what? It will turn out great. The nice thing about traditional patterns from long ago, like basket blocks, is that they are time-tested. They've been around for a very long time and are still being used today in contemporary quilts. So don't ever feel you have to be limited by MY fabric choices. Make it your own way.

If you're hesitant about making those handles for your baskets, or you're just beginning, never fear - here's a great method that takes away a lot of the stress.

It's pretty simple to make curved basket handles once you get the hang of it and you can use the same technique for vines and stems on other applique projects.

The first step is to cut your strip on the bias--which means that it's cut on the diagonal of the grain. I also like to use pressing bars, which are 12" long, heat-resistant plastic bars for making applique vines and stems. They come in a package with several bars of varying widths.

Cut a strip the correct width--for the Civil War Baskets in Remembering Adelia it's 1 1/4".

Fold the strip WRONG sides together and sew a 1/4" seam along the raw edge to make a tube. Cut the ends of the strip to the the correct length--for the Civil War Baskets it's 1 1/4" x 6". Trim the seam allowance a little to about 1/8".

Slide the rounded end of the pressing bar into the tube and press as you roll the seam to the middle of the tube. Press the seam in one direction. When you turn it over, the seam will be hidden. Remove the bar--CAREFUL, it gets very hot--and finish pressing the tube flat.

Now you're ready to shape the handle into the curved shape and pin it to the background fabric. Since the fabric was cut on the bias it will stretch easily. Find the center and pin. Then, using a blind stitch, sew in place, starting with the inside curve, then the outer so it doesn't pucker. I like to use 50 wt  Aurifil thread that matches the handle fabric and a John James Gold 'n Glide Applique Needle for the applique. Then just trim and follow the directions for your pattern to attach the handle section to the basket part. 

These handles were made with a 1/4" Clover Bias Tape Maker. They're a tiny bit narrower. See my previous post for info on that method.