Quick Update

Happy New Year!  Is it too late to say that?

I need to catch up here with you and then maybe I can get back on track with blogging…just maybe!  Right now it just seems overwhelming since I haven’t posted in a while!

I posted one time in November, once in December and once in January.  Hopefully I’ll do better in February!

Looking back at pictures, let’s see what’s been going on around here!

I got back into my flickr swap group: “Bitty Block Committee” in January with the “Red and White on point” swap.  I couldn’t resist red and white bitty blocks!  The blocks we swap are 3.5 inches.  I decided to do a cake stand on point:

And here are all 12:

I’m just waiting for 2 more blocks and I’ll show you the collection.  They are mighty cute!

I’m taking my first quilting class!  You heard me right!  Yes, it’s about time, after 17 years of quilting. 

We were working on English Paper Piecing our first class.  We are doing a sampler, but when she pulled out this Dear Jane I had to snap a picture!

Someday my Dear Jane will be done *sigh*…maybe if I’d work on it, it would get done a little bit faster .

I’m excited for my sampler class.  Should be a lot of fun throughout this whole year!  I’m going to be picking out my fabric this week for it.  I’m excited to show you what I pick out!

At our January Quilt Groupbee’s Meeting we made these thread catchers.  This year our curriculum is going to follow along with the class I’m taking. So since we covered English Paper Piecing in class, I’ll be showing the ladies how to English Piece at our February Meeting.

Here’s a pretty good tutorial for English Paper Piecing hexagons:

http://beeinmybonnetco.blogspot.com/2010/04/hexie-paper-piecing-tutorial.html

The way we learned in class was a little bit different, but mostly the same.  It’s fun to have a hand sewing project to work on!

That’s a pretty full post.  I’ll leave it at that and catch up with you more in a little bit!

Dear Jane

I finished up the 2nd Dear Jane blocks that I started last week – M-8 Enchanted Square.  Pretty straightforward paper-pieced block.  I’m not looking forward to pulling all the paper off the back though!  Someday when all these blocks are complete there’s going to be a paper removing party at my house!

I’m still watching my mailbox for my DQS9 quilt to arrive, and now a pincushion should be making it’s way to my house too.  Lots of good mail should be coming my way!

Dear Jane

Having a couple Dear Jane days with my sister.  Here are the blocks I accomplished today!  M-6 Simplicity – one for her and one for me.

And somehow this card didn’t get in the picture from my previous post!  So here’s a very cute baby card I received in the exchange!

Dear Jane-ing

(One of my doll quilts was featured in a top five favorite list over on the doll quilt swap blog.  How fun is that!)

Believe it or not, I’m working on my Dear Jane blocks. (I know, shocker!)  It’s slow, but eventually we’ll get this thing done :).  Summer has been so busy, running my kids around, that I haven’t had much time for sewing or much of anything else!

Here’s a block I worked on yesterday.

I only had a little bit of the fabric left to make the second block, and I was worried that I was going to run out.  Luckily my sister had a bit more of it she would send to me if I needed it.

Amazingly when I got done piecing the center there were 2 strips left over and they were the perfect length for the outside borders.

Here are the scraps I had left…nothing big enough to do anymore piecing with.  I couldn’t believe it worked out just perfect!

I just love it when things like that happen!

Dear Jane, I'm getting back on track! Love, Me

My sister and I are recommitting to our Dear Jane Quilts.  I spent the day taking inventory.  Here's what we've got so far. 

Unfortunately our unplanned break from our Dear Janes lasted a year and a half!  We're ready to start working on them again...so you will be seeing weekly updates!  (if I say it "out loud" hopefully I will follow through!)  Here's what it looks like right now:

We split up the blocks.  We make 2 of each block...one to give the other.  So we'll end up with duplicate quilts by the time we're done...which if we're lucky the blocks will be done by the end of this year.  Can we do it?  I really hope so!

Checking things off the list!

I'm proud to say I finally finished my socks!

And my "challenge in a bag mini quilt swap" stuff will be on its way to my partner on Monday.

My apron class is done. (I ended up with only one student...)

And it's probably about time I got back working on my Dear Jane blocks!

(I can hear my sister cheering all the way from Washington!)

Doll Quilts

I was visiting Nettie's blog where she wrote a post about doll quilts. She was mentioning that it took her a while to "get" doll quilts. But that she has "finally fallen in love" with them. I started posting a comment, and it started to get really long. So I decided I'd better just write a post here since I discovered I had something to say on the subject.

When I began making quilts 14 years ago I started with small wall hangings, or in other words, doll sized quilts. My first book was Little Quilts All Around The House, by Berg, Von Holt, and Johnson. My copy is very well worn from all the hours I spent looking through it. The copyright is 1993, and it was 1994 when I was first bitten by the quilt bug. As I look through the book I see that I have made several projects from its pages.

I loved the antique look, and the miniature size. And I loved decorating with them. But the truth is, most of the things I made I gave away as gifts. I guess things never change.

As the years passed I started making bigger quilts: baby quilts to twin size. The only queen size quilt is the one for my bed that I haven't finished. The biggest project that I am still working on is the Dear Jane quilt, and there again, the blocks are small, 4.5 inches finished, although there are a lot of them!

So when I started blogging and I discovered "doll quilt swaps" on the Internet, I was immediately drawn in. My first swap quilt is on it's way to it's new owner, and I'm excited to hear when it is received. And I'll probably hear tomorrow about my partner for the next swap I'm doing.

A doll sized quilt is quick and easy to put together (once the design is decided upon!), and you get to experience each step in the process of making the quilt. I'm excited to be back to making doll quilts!

Dear Jane Wednesdays

Today I did J-1 - Josepha's Jonquil. It required reverse applique and applique. I haven't done a lot of reverse applique, and I think I do it my own way. Not sure if it's the way others do it, but it works for me.

Here are my two squares of fabric and my pattern printed out on freezer paper.

I cut out the diamonds and pressed the freezer paper to the wrong side of the background fabric. (most instructions I read have you press it to the front.)

I layered the fabrics both right side up with the paper sandwiched in between.

Here's what it looked like before I cut away the diamonds.

Here are the diamonds cut out a scant 1/4 inch from the cut line.

I basted the block with thread instead of pinning so the pins wouldn't get in the way while I was sewing.

Here I am reverse appliqueing the diamond. I made a straight cut into the seam allowance at the corners, taking extra care at the corners when I stitched it down.

Three down, one more diamond to go.

I trimmed away the excess fabric from the back once the diamonds were sewn in and removed the paper.

The final steps were appliqueing the diamond in the center and then trimming the block to 5 inches.

Here it is all done. Now onto the 2nd one...

Letter Perfect

Since I missed out on Dear Jane Wednesday this week I'm making up for it with this cute and simple idea. My daughter and I made this quick gift for a birthday party this week.

You'll need a frame, some fabric, fusible web, a pencil, an iron, and scissors. Optional: computer and printer.

Audition some different fonts to decide which style of letter best suits your needs. (or draw your own letter) We chose Showcard Gothic for this friend's gift. R is her first initial.

Measure the size of the opening on your frame to make sure the letter will fit, and print it backward. I used MS Publisher and flipped the letter before I printed it. Some printer drivers also let you flip what you are printing.

Place a piece of fusible web over your printed letter and trace it onto the paper side of the fusible web. Cut the letter out allowing some space around the letter. (do not cut on the line) Iron the fusible web to the WRONG side of your fabric. Then cut out your letter on the line that you traced.

After it cools peel the paper-back off of your applique letter.

Place the letter onto your background square of fabric and press, following the fusible web instructions. The size of this square of fabric is based on the size of your frame. (I think some stitching here would be nice, a blanket stitch around the letter, etc. But we were going for really quick and really simple this time.)

Open up your frame and place your work under the glass.

And put it all back together.

Here's the end result! A quick little gift that anyone would love.

Dear Jane Wednesdays

Today I made M-4 - Stepping Stones. I have been avoiding the last row on this quilt. Every time I have gone to look at doing the blocks on row M I have decided to do something else because I didn't want to tackle them...too hard. But today when I looked again I realized it's not that they are hard, just a lot of steps. So I decided today was the day! Here's the line drawing from the book:

Luckily I have the software, so I am able to print out patterns. It gives you different options, you can print a foundation pattern, templates, or rotary cutting instructions depending on how you want to approach the block. This one is definitely a foundation piecing block. It's the only way to go for this type of block, and the result is precise since you are sewing on the lines of the paper. Here is the foundation piecing (or paper piecing) pattern I printed out and cut apart to get started:

You sew on the side with the lines with the fabric lined up on the other side. It's basically sew and flip, sew and flip.

After you get all the pieces sewn to the paper you trim it up on the lines and make it look nice and neat!

Here the four corners are done:

Now onto the center side pieces. Here's how I line up the fabric, I hold it up to the light to make sure it is lined up properly and there is enough seam allowance all around the shape.

All the center paper pieced sections are done and ready to be sewn together:

Now for the edge strips and corners. It's nice when you can just go big and trim it down to size. It makes the finished product so nice and neat.

And here's the finished product: M-4 - Stepping Stones!

(The paper is still there on the back. I'll leave it on until it's time to put the quilt together. Then I'll tear it off, sometimes I have to use tweezers to get it out of the small places. I stitch with a small stitch and fold on the stitched lines when paper piecing so that the paper will tear off more easily later.)