May Update

This past month I finished a few projects that had been in the works for a long time!

This is a Baby Jane (small Dear Jane) quilt that I started in 2012. I made blocks here and there, and finally decided that there was enough to make a wall hanging (I never had the intention to make the full size quilt). The blocks are about 4" and the quilt is 33"x39".

It fits perfect with the wall quilts in the sewing room.

These are small art quilts that I made in 2013 (I challenged myself to make a small art quilt every month for a year - each one reflects something that happened that month). They sat on a shelf for years. I always intended to make something with them, and I finally figured out what to do them. 

I used wire and beads to join them together into a wall hanging (there is lots of wall space in my new sewing room/craft room/weaving studio/happy place...).

Next are a couple of more recent starts-

I wove a piece of fabric out of mainly handspun yarn. - silk, linen and merino, along with some silk ribbon that I had dyed.

I sewed the fabric into a poncho. More details on my Ravelry page. 

Finished another pair of socks - with handspun yarn too.

All the best!♥︎

Quilt Blocks

I hope every one had a lovely Mother's Day!

This weekend I finished this month's Hop to It block, I made a brown rabbit because the visitors in my garden are brown.

I made some more Dear Jane blocks, some easier ones this week.

30 all together now.

I pinned the Rob Peter to Pay Paul quilt that my mother and I pieced this winter, my goal it to get it quilted this week (as well as some more yard work).

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!❤

Month End Review

This month I decided to challenge myself to blog every day. I managed to keep on track (I have two blogs, but my other one is a 365 day picture blog and just takes minutes every day). This blog took a bit more work, but it was still lots of fun.
Blogging every day forced me to have "some thing to blog about", so I was productive.

April's Mini Quilts

I finished 8 mini quilts this month, they are shown here (one - not pictured - is a surprise starting later in the week).

Also made 24 Dear Jane blocks,

did some piecing on a winding ways quilt,

 machine quilted this month's Free Motion Quilting Challenge block,

and made this month's Hop to It block,

plus all the hourglass blocks for the sashing, so I would be ready when all the blocks are completed.

Knitting, tatting
and different types of embroidery.

I kept my hands busy with other hand work too.

April was a nice month to work outside in the garden (the picture was taken today and things are really growing).

I kept up with my other hobby too - cleaning my house (I admit it - I love to clean!). I did find time for cooking - not my favourite, but my family seems to think it is a necessity.

This month I also decided to exercise every weekday - I kept that up too, and am pleased with the results. I set the treadmill for 25 minutes, and at the beginning of the month I was walking about 1 mile,  now I am mainly running for 2 miles. I have also been lifting weights or doing Pilates (my favourite one is on You Tube - shown here).

I'll happily go back to blogging a few times a week! Since I try to limit my computer time every day, blogging every day left little time for other computer stuff (like commenting on other blogs or replying to comments - sorry), although I did try to keep up with my favourite blogs (the dashboard is helpful for that - thanks Blogger).
I will keep up with the exercising though - I see a "six-pack" in my future ;-)  -good to have goals!

Thank-you to every one who took the time to leave kind words, and encouragement during this past month.
I will be back tomorrow to announce the winner of my Hardanger patterns - still time left if you would like a chance.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!❤

More DJ Blocks

I made 6 more Dear Jane blocks today.

Now there are 24 - don't know how many to go (definitely won't be making the whole quilt).

That Quilt blog was very helpful for this block - B-2.

She suggested making 2 pinwheel blocks and turning one into a circle appliqué - it worked very well. I am so pleased there is a resource on the web for these blocks.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!❤

Dear Jane Weekend

It seems to be coming a pattern for me to make Dear Jane blocks while Skypeing with friends on the weekend - very enjoyable.

These are the six Dear Jane blocks I made today. I am trying to make a hard one, an easy one and a few appliqué ones every week (that's the plan this week!).

There is a wonderful blog - That Quilt - that has instruction for how she made the blocks. I read on the blog - "When in doubt - appliqué", and that is exactly what I am doing, if the blocks seem too complicated, I have been appliquéing them (invisible machine appliqué with the seam allowance turned under) -just because I love appliqué.

18 (4+1/2") blocks so far, and I have a few ready for sewing tomorrow.

The blocks sure can be a challenge, but I love the look of them, and I am really pleased with how they are coming.

Someone likes to fly their remote control helicopter in to mess up the blocks!

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!❤

More Dear Jane

Today I made 5 more Dear Jane blocks, now there are 12.
There is a very helpful website - That Quilt - that has instructions for all the blocks (since the book has none).

This one was tricky and took me a few hours (for a 5" block!! Now I think my quilt is getting smaller by the day - maybe it will just be a table runner!), but at least I made it.

I paper pieced it - the above piece of paper is 3", it is the centre of the block.

The method I use, you don't sew on the paper, but fold all the lines before stitching,

and then stitch beside the fold. There is a good tutorial here.
I don't use freezer paper since I am just making little blocks. I use a bit of glue stick glue to set the first piece and work from there. Also since I am using cheap paper, just drawing the lines is enough to score the line for folding.

I said that the above block was tricky, but maybe I was having an off day -

this one stumped me too! The centre was supposed to be cream (it is now). I paper pieced it too.

There are so many beautiful variations of the quilt (google images), that I think I will start picking and choosing which blocks I will make, because I know I won't have enough cream to make them all.

I have made my Dear Jane blocks for this week (I am trying to make a few a week) and have cleaned my sewing room, ready for a different project (maybe another small quilt of the month).

I have been using scrappy tumblers as "leader and enders", and made quite a few rows this weekend - I think I almost have enough to sew into a quilt top (this will be a charity quilt).

I turned the little piece of punch needle embroidery I made the other day into a top for an old tin.

This is the tin after I spray painted it with some paint I had.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!❤


Update - Here is another lovely Dear Jane blog - "Janiac's Unite" - thanks Heather.

Making DJ Blocks

I have been making Dear Jane blocks - these are the first 7 in the book. They are 5" (they will be 4 1/2" finished), and are very addictive to make. The book doesn't really have the pattern, just a picture of the block and a scale drawing of the block - so I have to figure out the measurements and how to make the block - kind of like a puzzle, so lots of fun. Plus I only have to make one.

Some are hard and some are very easy.

Some have 40 pieces in 5"!

Some I am machine appliquéing.

And some have paper piecing (this is the method where you don't sew on the paper, but fold it back).

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!❤

Bali Baby Jane

I finished the little Bali Baby Jane quilt. It is 16" square.
I made four 4.5" Dear Jane blocks, just to try out some of the patterns and fell in love with them. I now have plans (and more importantly fabric from my stash) to make some more. I will be using reproduction fabrics for a more traditional look.
I am planning on making a few blocks a week (it seems like lots of quilters have some Dear Jane blocks lying around, so I will see what comes of my plans!).

I used wool batting and added the binding before quilting the border (but I didn't stitch the binding to the back until it was all quilted), so that I would be able to fill the area with feathers.
I used Bottom Line thread (a 60Wt polyester thread) in the top and bottom for the machine quilting, plus a #70 Titanium Top Stitching needle by Organ for the first time. They both worked very well and I have been using the titanium needle ever since for piecing - they are supposed to last a lot longer than regular needles.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!❤

I Might Be Addicted

I bought these two books yesterday at the quilt show - "Dear Jane" and "The Civil War Sewing Circle", both lovely books.

I thought I would try some Dear Jane blocks with Batik fabric, just for fun. They certainly are fun to make, and I am now thinking I am going to buy some background fabric to get started on a large Dear Jane!! Addicted??!!...
The blocks are 4.5" square (finished size), and I used foundation paper piecing, machine appliqué and regular piecing to make them.

When I made the freezer paper templates for the machine appliqué, I only traced one design and then stapled the other layers of freezer paper together, to make cutting out the templates faster.

I added some 3" borders, and I will machine quilt it tomorrow

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!❤