Dear Jane is Going on a Trip

I have been neglecting this blog, and intend to catch up with lots of my quilting activities lately. Still working on the Splendid Sampler, Westering Women, projects from a cruise to Alaska, and more!

First, though, I got a very unanticipated email today! As the 4 or 5 of you who have ever read this blog know, I made a Dear Jane quilt and recently finished it.

The day I finished, someone sent me a link to a call by Brenda Papadakis, who wrote the book that started the Dear Jane craze, for pictures of Dear Jane quilts that have not been displayed before. On a whim I sent her a picture of mine (back in April - 4/30 to be exact).

I heard today that she has selected my "Black & White and Bright All Over Jane" to be included in Dear Jane 20 Year Celebration Exhibit at the Houston Quilt Market and Festival this year, October 20-Nov 6, 2016! She has selected 20 quilts to be displayed. Never in a million years did I expect this!

And oh my, do I fix that corner? Should I get it appraised - where and by whom? I really should finish that embroidery with the dates. And egads, I guess I'll spend the first part of my upcoming local retreat sewing on a hanging sleeve.

I might be a bit excited. A smidge.

UPDATE: I fixed the corner, sent it in, went to Houston to see it! I was also able to get it appraised while it was hanging in Houston. Now they're taking the exhibit to the Chicago Festival in April.

Here's a picture:

This was taken at Kelly Ann's Quilting the weekend I finished. I took a class there that started the madness that is my Dear Jane journey.
 

Splendid!

I am playing along with Pat Sloan and Jane Davidson, making the blocks for their Splendid Sampler. I'm all caught up....so far I have made 18 blocks and four "bonus" blocks. Another block came out today, but I have not made it yet, but it's on the books for this afternoon!

Here are the ones I have completed:

Blocks 1-9

Blocks 9-18

"Bonus" Blocks

So far we've made blocks by Pat, Jane, and 13 other designers. I'm having a ball with my text backgrounds and (of course) fussy-cutting them when I find something that goes well with the block theme.

If you're on Facebook, check out the facebook page and if you're on Instagram, check out the tags for #thesplendidsampler and #splendidsampler. The variety is fun to see.

There's still time to join in the fun, we're only on block 19 of 100!

Westering Women - A Brackman BOM

In my continued love for sampler quilts and block of the month projects, I have again joined an online Block of the Month by Barbara Brackman. In this one she is providing stories from women who headed West and settled the United States.

I am making two versions. One with Kaffe Fasser Collective fabrics paired with Moda Grunge fabrics. These will evoke color blocking and bold colors. The second set will be pastel/pale with a bit of yellow in each block.

The first two months of each set are done:

Block 1 - Independence Square

Block 2 - Indian

Month 1 - Independence Square

Month 2 - Indian in an Indian (cannibilism?)

The challenge for Month 2 - Indian is the 6" square in the middle of the block.

For the bright version, the difficulty was only in selecting which flower to include.

For the pale version, I decided to piece something for that middle area after seeing one done with a pieced center on the flicker site for Westering Women. After fiddling around with some options, I decided to replicate the larger block in the middle -- so I made a 6" version of the block.  I decided to do this in order to keep from having very large portions of the yellow I am including. I wonder how many more of these I might end up doing that way? Uh oh!

The Splendid Sampler

Pat Sloan and Jane Davidson are hosting a mac-Daddy of all quilt-alongs. They are providing two blocks per week (release Sunday and Thursday) and have enlisted over 80 designers to provide the patterns for the blocks.

The Splendid Sampler - Happiness in stitches

Well, I resisted, I really did.

And here are my versions of the first seven blocks, which will finish at 6":

Pat Sloan - Hearts Aflutter

Jane Davidson - Wings

Melissa Corry - Lots of Love

Jen Kingwell - Happy Happy

Celine Perkins - Simple Simon

Natalia Bonner - Focal Point

Amy Sinibaldi - Snug as a bug

As you can see, so far we've done applique, piecing and embroidery. While they are perfectly happy to see what everyone does to make the blocks personalized, I am going to stay pretty close to the designers' versions. For the applique, I am fusing and machine quilting, when I can. Above with the Happy, Happy block, I didn't feel like maneuvering around such small circles, so I fused them and put french knots in some and straight stitches around the edge in others.

I have a feeling this is going to be another year of expanding and honing my skills. So far, so good!

The Big Leap / Kwik Ring Around the Hexie

Time is just flying by and I've been busy with work and projects. I may not have posted, but I've gotten a LOT done this first two months of 2016. I think I'll make a few posts this week and get caught up.

I'll start with a little project that Aunt 'Reen has posted on her blog during February celebrating that this is leap year. She's calling it "The Big Leap" and has provided instructions to make two sizes of a triple Irish chain quilt. Since this has been on my list to attempt, what better time to try than when Doreen is providing instructions? She provides details and pictures that make it so very easy. (Those of you who have been watching my Dear Jane progress may remember she was the instructor for those classes as well.)

I'm also on a quest to use my stash, specifically a whole lotta Kaffe Fasset Collective I've been buying. Here's my top of "The Big Leap" using vibrant red/pink/orange/fuschia for the chain and a delightful gray with flowers (that makes me smile every time I look at it) as the background.

The Big Leap

This top measures 56" square. Now to decide whether to quilt it myself or to quilt by check.

I recently took a class sponsored by Kelly Ann's Quilting given by Two Kwik Quilters where we learned to make a mini-quilt called "Kwik Ring Around the Hexie". I decided to use KFC fabric for this one as well. I quite like the effect, and her patterns are so useful because they provide many sizes and options in each pattern. It was a good day!

Kwik Ring Around the Hexie

This one measures 20" x 19" and I will put it in the queue to quilt myself. More on that queue later!

Smile, it makes the world a bit brighter!

2015 Ends, 2016 Begins

For 2015 I joined the "choose a word" for the year. Mine was FINISH. I had a lot of areas that needed attention that I had been unmotivated to tackle.

In my living spaces,  I got the major pieces I need to make living in my lovely condo more delightful, including a piece to display quilts, a comfortable sofa and a media console (still need a flat screen TV). I incorporated quite a few organizational pieces into my sewing room. In both spaces I made great headway in culling out things that were just taking up space and donating them to others who will use them.

In the quilting area, I got quite a lot accomplished, even though I was out of commission with illness and surgery for at least 1/4 of the year.  I tallied up what I did in 2015. As far as I can remember:

• 4 quilt tops delivered to be quilted (by someone else), binding put on by me
• 5 tops completed and awaiting quilting
• Completed one center portion of Dear Jane, including quilting every block and assembling it using the QAYG method
• 5 tops donated (they've been in the way for a year or so and I wanted them to be useful for someone)
• 3 pillowcases made and donated for the AQS million pillowcase challenge
• 5 embroidery projects completed and 2 made into pillows, 1 was donated as part of Flood the Streets with Art on Black Friday
• Row by Row done start to finish and a winner for first quilt at KAQ
• One art quilt piece done start to finish to hang at ArtSpace in Herndon this month
• 2 quilts done by longarmer waiting for binding by me
• Hanging sleeves put on 6 quilts/miniquilts
• 4 mini quilts completed start to finish, 2 mini quilt tops done
• Pieced/Finished piecing 6 tops
• Participated in an Embroidery Club at KAQ for 5 months (missed the last one due to eye surgery)
• Took one class sponsored by my quilt guild
• Attended one sewing retreat

I got so much done and I like the idea of choosing a word as a sort of compass for the year. I have a personal phrase that I am keeping to myself for now,  For my home and quilting, I am still contemplating my word.

Time to  plan for 2016!