Flibbertigibbet Bunny's "Dear Jane" Journal

YO HO!

2011-09-14T06:52:00.000-07:00

TRS 7

Dear Jane Tote

2011-03-02T09:58:00.000-08:00

I had this wall hanging of Dear Jane block that needed binding. I sat down to do that, but decide to make it into a bag instead. I love it.
I has the red fabric of the first bag I made on one side and two inner pockets.

M-5

2010-08-14T11:50:00.001-07:00

Organized

2010-08-11T16:32:00.001-07:00

As a toy organizer, the below system was quickly outgrown.
But as a fabric organizer it is pretty great.

Last week when I was cleaning up I put all of my DJ, pre-washed scraps in the bins.
The fabric is sorted by color. Insane, right?

The red lidded box has fat eights( or equivalent). It is full. the Blue box has half of the same size pieces and half 5" charm squares. All from Fabrics already used in my quilt.

The two green lidded boxes are (upper box) fabrics I have not trimmed down yet to place in the other boxes.
Or (lower box) fabrics I may want to use again.

The 2.5 inch squares, in the the cardboard box, represent one piece of each fabric already used. I try to keep up with cutting the 2.5 inch squares each time a make a block now.
I want to place these on the back of the quilt in some manner.
The cheese box has extra 2.5 inch pieces. The white box that is on the other side of the cheese box, has groups of 2.5 inch squares for making 9 patch blocks. ( All the fabric cutting was done last year just before my unexpected "break" .)

A close up....

Oink

2010-08-11T05:32:00.001-07:00

I-1

G-6

2010-08-09T16:27:00.000-07:00

This one may be a do over. It looks good, but all the troubles I had with it are making me dislike it.

It is somewhat redrafted to look more like the original block. The Star, tilting to one side, not straight up and down.

Chickens?

2010-08-08T16:06:00.001-07:00

D-12

All Aboard!

2010-08-07T19:13:00.001-07:00

D-2
One of the boys had a baby blanket with these trains on it.

E-2

2010-08-07T08:20:00.001-07:00

Crossed Swords ( and pirate doubloons)

A triangle

2010-08-05T18:46:00.000-07:00

BR-7
The entire time I was working on it The All-American Rejects "Gives You Hell" was playing in my head.

Myra adds a block to her quilt.

2010-08-05T16:13:00.000-07:00

I don't think this is a Dear Jane block, but she wanted it for her quilt.

H-5

2010-08-05T15:51:00.001-07:00

Here, kitty, kitty, kitty.

H-4

2010-08-05T13:25:00.001-07:00

Machine pieced at last!

2010-07-28T10:11:00.001-07:00

E-11
I had an inspired redraft last night.
I am not sure if it is a keeper but it is sooo... much better than all the other E-11 I made.

One of those blocks!

2010-07-27T19:41:00.000-07:00

I am working on E-11. I have tried machine piecing this several times. I am not liking how it turns out. the melons seem too thin every time. I am working on an all hand pieced one now. but not ready to give up on the challenge of some form of this block being machine pieced.

F-12 Starburst

2010-07-25T17:46:00.000-07:00

J-13 & G-13

2010-07-24T19:28:00.000-07:00

J-13 may be a little busy but I like it.

G-13 LOVE!

K2

2010-07-24T16:07:00.001-07:00

More lovely Orange! But I ran out of bobbin just at the last of the next block, so I think I will switch to Purple.

Thanks for all the encouragement. It is really nice to see several people were waiting for me to work on my quilt blocks again.

D-1 and E-7 have a fabric in common. My husband did not believe me. The next block (J-13) will show it. Just a little applique and I will share it.

J1

2010-07-23T13:57:00.001-07:00

I-7

2010-07-23T12:58:00.001-07:00

F8

2010-07-22T15:26:00.000-07:00

E7

2010-07-22T13:21:00.001-07:00

D1

2010-07-22T12:05:00.001-07:00

My first block in over a Year!

Elephant

2009-05-22T12:56:00.000-07:00

I-5

Hooray for Elephants!
It is a little off center, but all machine pieced.

Teddy Bear

2009-05-22T08:23:00.001-07:00

J-3

Layout

2009-05-20T10:22:00.000-07:00

Quilt layout with completed blocks.

I was able to Export a .bmp file of my quilt layout that I had colored in Quilt Pro.
I then pasted all the blocks into place.
I could have used the quilt program to paste all the pictures into place. But the selection window closed and reset itself after pasting each picture and it was driving me nutty waiting for it to refresh the pictures each time I opened it. Plus by using
Paint Shop I was able to use layers to make the background softer.

17 blue flowers

2009-05-18T13:39:00.000-07:00

G-9

Leaf

2009-05-18T07:23:00.001-07:00

TR-12

Guess What?????

2009-05-15T15:40:00.001-07:00

LST-6

I am caught up with the Quilt along Group!!!!!!
Huzzah!!
From 4-15-2009 to 5-15-2009 I made 59 Blocks for my Dear Jane.

BR-6 Frank's Rickrack

2009-05-15T14:05:00.000-07:00

BR-6

Thunderhead

2009-05-15T12:30:00.000-07:00

BR-8

This triangle's name says it all. The block and I have a Love hate relationship.
I would sew a little and then rip it all out. Sew, rip, sew, rip,..
My seem ripper saw as much action as the sewing machine.
This block is flawed! and it is staying the way it is!

Some Blue

2009-05-15T08:52:00.000-07:00

BR-13

RS-1

Fish

2009-05-14T06:51:00.001-07:00

G-7

This Block was really fun to work on.

Halfway!

2009-05-13T15:41:00.001-07:00

I-4

K-10

K-4

These three locks place me at having half of the piece blocks finished.

Yellow Triangle

2009-05-12T16:27:00.000-07:00

RST-12
This block uses more of the Egyptian fabric I used once before.

Pretty Purples

2009-05-12T09:38:00.000-07:00

K-1

L-8

K-13

No Orange!

2009-05-11T18:20:00.001-07:00

C-13 (maybe a little orange)

I-3

RS-11

TS-3

M-2

H-10

Scooby Doo

2009-05-10T07:05:00.001-07:00

Scooby-Dooby Doo, Where are you?

C-7

One more orange block...

2009-05-09T10:50:00.001-07:00

Until another one comes up in the QAL. K-12.

Moo!

2009-05-08T20:15:00.000-07:00

M-13

G-1

H-6
I think they are having a Square Dance of some kind at the pie sale in H-6. LOL

More Orange!

2009-05-08T11:16:00.000-07:00

L-3

H-8
(with machine applique for a change.)

RS-9

J-7

Love Forever

2009-05-07T16:23:00.000-07:00

RS-8

Reverse applique and applique.

Triangles, Triangles

2009-05-07T06:38:00.000-07:00

TS-9

TS-5

LS-9

Today's blocks are brought to you by the color orange.

F-6

2009-05-06T08:27:00.000-07:00

I had trouble with the reverse applique in the center. It is a little messy but I can not redo it. I don't have any more of the Orange floral.

Bloopers!

2009-04-30T14:42:00.001-07:00

I thought I would share a few mistakes!

Three of the blocks I did yesterday were the second attempt at each block. Two were too small and one was too big. I wasted a lot of time trying to fix them, only to redo them.

This one was too small and I added an extra border. Decided I did not like it and did it over.

This one is 1/4 too big and the colors are off!

And One block that is correct, made today.

F-10

Now I am going to go crochet!

Seven

2009-04-29T20:59:00.000-07:00

E-9

E-3

D-10

D-7

D-11

C-4

C-10

Slowly getting caught up with the quilt along.

Fabric Sorting

2009-04-29T06:17:00.000-07:00

I went through my box of pre-washed fabrics and pulled out everything I had already made a Dear Jane block with. I then spent two days cutting it up to set aside for other projects or swaps. I cut the largest pieces into fat 8ths and then cut what was left in to 5inch and 2.5inch squares. I set aside one 2.5 inch square from each fabric to have a "history" of what is used in my Dear Jane. There are at least 3 fabrics that I did not even have a 2.5 inch piece left. But after all that work I have added a Fabric count to my block count to see how many different fabric end up in my quilt. I know that some of the fabrics I have already used in more than one block.
I still need to Cut a 2.5 in square from each of the blacks I am using in the outer triangles.

Unusual blocks

2009-04-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

J-4

F-4

D-6

F-7

I think Jane probably used what fabric she had on hand or she swapped with friends. So... My blocks are going to start reflecting what is in my scrap bag. This will make the quilt reflect the interest of All the members of the family not just myself. My husband thinks the "Character" prints are a little much. But I am hoping it makes the Quilt more personal and unique, especially since there are several people reproducing this popular quilt.

Jurrasic Jane!

2009-04-24T04:51:00.000-07:00

C-5

A-10

Grimace just flew in...

2009-04-22T15:53:00.000-07:00

...and boy are his arms tired. LOL.
D-4

A-4

Four A's and a D

2009-04-22T04:33:00.000-07:00

A-8

A-13

D-8

A-12

A-11

I only need two more block to have a finished row A. A-11 and A-12 were so fiddly and all those pieces! A-13 was pieced in two parts, then appliqued together. Overall yesterday was a fairly successful sewing day. The Giraffe fabric in A-13 is a scrap left from One of the Maternity shirts I made myself, and wore with all three pregnancies.

At Play with Jane

2009-04-21T07:20:00.000-07:00

This is a sampler of blocks that are just not perfect for one reason or another and would not have been used in my full size Dear Jane. I am still deciding how I want to border it.

C-6_Ashleys Aura

2009-04-20T07:18:00.000-07:00

I did a little extra work piecing the background of this block. I wanted the background to radiate out from the center.

G-3 Four Leaf Clover

2009-04-16T22:20:00.001-07:00

This was a difficult block for me. All the curves and points were a challenge.

Motivation

2009-04-16T05:37:00.000-07:00

I started this blog today, to share just the progress on my "Dear Jane" quilt. previously I blogged about my quilt in my other blog.
I hope this gets me motivated and back on track with the quilt along group.

Now for some new Blocks.

H-7

A-9

C-11

Wash and Dry...

2009-03-24T08:03:00.000-07:00

...and now to iron.
Mostly fat quarters with a few odd size scraps and a couple of larger pieces.

H-12

2009-03-20T10:19:00.000-07:00

G-5

2009-03-19T17:42:00.000-07:00

Machine pieced and hand appliqued.

TR-8

2009-03-14T08:20:00.000-07:00

This block took two tries. It is machine pieced and hand appliqued.

L-7

2009-02-16T14:35:00.000-08:00

L-7 in Blue.

B-3 redone in Orange.

Random Things

2009-02-15T09:09:00.000-08:00

Does anybody other than me shed thread? The above photo is my front steps.
Maybe some birds will use it for a nest.

J-7 in progress. Fussy cutting 25 ( 1 inch ) squares.
When I look at the finished block I wonder which little bee is the one dancing, and telling the others where the good flowers are.

Crazy Good...

2009-02-14T13:10:00.000-08:00

J-7

Bees!

F-3

2009-02-13T11:09:00.000-08:00

Kitty!

I-2

2009-02-06T09:23:00.000-08:00

This is a simple and pretty block.

J-2 Apples and RS-4

2009-02-02T14:12:00.000-08:00

C-8

2009-01-26T12:02:00.000-08:00

A-5

2009-01-26T09:36:00.000-08:00

G-8

2009-01-23T07:54:00.000-08:00

Another red block. It is from my list of blocks I need to finish to get caught up.
I almost appliqued the star to the background. I even had it all ready to stitch down with the seams turned under. Then I got up this morning and decided to do all those set in triangles and squares. So I cut out all new pieces and started over. (the one flower with the stem facing out is stating it's individuality. I am not fixing it!)
One more red one and I can change the thread on the machine. I want to catch up on orange ones next but need some orange thread.

It seemed like a good idea to catch up according to color. This way I can get out the color group of fabrics I need and thread the machine just once instead of bouncing from color to color. I am really happy with the number of blocks I finished up this week.

L-4

2009-01-22T17:53:00.000-08:00

One more block finished. ( I will get caught up!)

M-9

2009-01-22T13:18:00.000-08:00

This one was fun. I used strip piecing and 1 1/8 inch strips. No paper was used. I got the dark and lights switched up, but I like it.

A-2

2009-01-22T12:09:00.000-08:00

One of many blocks I need to finish to get caught up with the quilt along. I did a count of how far behind I am. It is almost discouraging.

L-1

2009-01-21T19:36:00.000-08:00

Paper pieced in greens! Pretty!

M-8

2009-01-21T12:17:00.000-08:00

My latest Dear Jane block M-8.

TR-2 Australian Pines

2009-01-14T11:15:00.000-08:00

I changed this block a little from the pattern in the book. I re-drafted the block to look more like the photo of the original.

Resolution

2009-01-09T12:23:00.000-08:00

I will work on my Dear Jane.
It is one of the biggest quilt projects I have started.
I can not believe I have not made a block since last August.
The plan is not to stress myself out by trying to catch up, but to just join back in starting with the current block, F-13. I will do the ones I have missed here and there without rushing. Someday maybe I will be caught up with the quilt along group.

Dear Jane: E-10, A-3 & B-11

2008-08-21T15:21:00.000-07:00

B-11

E-10

A-3

Still trying to catch up with the group.
B-11 is a Redo. (still 9 block behind the group)

Dear Jane, Hello again

2008-08-20T07:39:00.000-07:00

A-1

M-10

C-2

D-13

I am trying to get caught up on my Dear Jane. Above are this weeks effort so far.
Three of these are redone due to color changes I made. The redone ones are; D-13, A-1 (twice), and M-10. The New one is C-2. This is a bad photo. I need to recharge my camera batteries.
I have three more block ready to put together.

A-1 was difficult. I tried to make it look more like the photo in the book. I used my seem ripper quite a bit on that one. I did finally get all the points to where I think they will not be cut off when I join the block together.

OOps! Time to catch up!

2008-07-18T07:42:00.000-07:00

Dear Jane,

I am a little behind on my blocks. I know how it happened, but had not realized how far I was behind until yesterday when I sat down to make a list. I have seven blocks to sew, in order to catch up with the quilt - a - long. And four more Block that need redone due to a color change I made in the layout. I think I can get caught up before the end of the month. Today I finished E-1.

M-11

2008-06-16T19:15:00.000-07:00

Today's Dear Jane Block M-11.

H-11

2008-06-13T12:33:00.000-07:00

H-11

Had to make this one three times. Even though the center is off in this one, this is the best one.

Also finished since last post:

K-8

TR-4

G-12 Gloriae

2008-06-04T08:01:00.000-07:00

I am working ahead a little at a time. Last week I found this Earth and moon fabric at Hancock Fabrics and knew I had to make a block with it.

I Am thinking of switching this block with G-7, to be the center of my quilt.
(pun intended)

This was a somewhat difficult block. I drafted the pattern out to be pieced instead of applique. On the first attempt I cut out each piece using templates and machined pieced it together. It was a half an inch to large. My scant quarter inch seem was too scanty. So I took the seem ripper and took it back apart. I adjusted the seems on the inset sides and cut a new center ( seem ripper accident). Then using a light box and a paper foundation I carefully added the insets. I cut generous new pieces for the outer ring and sewed them to the paper foundation.
I am Happy with all the extra effort. The initial machine pieced block look perfect, only too big.
The paper foundation definitely help get the size perfect for this one.

C-1

2008-06-02T15:34:00.000-07:00

Here is today's Dear Jane block.

Summer vacation is here, and the kids are home for school. A little more busy then normal. I will try to keep up.

K-11 Columbine

2008-05-29T11:30:00.000-07:00

I took the above picture at my parent's house last summer.
I got this photo out as inspiration for today's quilt block, since the block was to be in red tones.

Machine pieced, 25 pieces, 5-29-2008

F-5 Parcheesi

2008-05-27T09:32:00.000-07:00

Machine pieced 5-27-2008
Center five pieces were sewn together in one group and the Eight pieces that frame the center were sewn together as another group. The two groups were sewn together and corner triangles added.

I-8 Pete's Paintbox

2008-05-22T11:18:00.000-07:00

A bright and sunshiny block. I tried to resist the fussy cuts...

Stacy is having a giveaway. The prizes look lovely.

H-1 Peek-a-boo

2008-05-19T16:17:00.000-07:00

Fussy cut from all one fabric, taking advantage of the lights and darks. Machine pieced in combination with some paper piecing.

I love this Fabric.

BR-1

2008-05-15T15:06:00.000-07:00

The first of the triangles finished! Huzzah!

Nice and Easy! Unless you trim a piece before you press it, causing the piece to be angled wrong and too short! I seem to be getting well acquainted with the seam ripper.

B-9 (redone)

2008-05-09T07:57:00.000-07:00

I was not happy with the amount of contrast before. I think this is much better.

I think I will need to look for more dark browns. All of my browns are too similar and do not provide much contrast. Using two fabrics of the same color is a little more challenging than I had first imagined. And getting the proper amount of contrast while trying not to pair up the same two fabrics twice is difficult. I will use each fabric more than once in the quilt, but I want to avoid always pairing up the same fabrics together.

I have decided the "solid triangles in the outer border will all be some kind of Black print. I do want these to be all different. I will Need to find about 25 more blacks to get all 56 triangles different.

I have also begun to try and redraw all the border triangles With the Quilt Pro program I have been using. I think that the Electric Quilt Cd would have been well worth the price. The amount of time and effort that goes into drafting the blocks is huge. I was trying to save my quilting budget for fabric. And since I am already over half way to having the blocks drafted I will continue.

B-10

2008-05-08T08:33:00.000-07:00

Paper pieced in sections. And sections joined by paper piecing to a new foundation.

More Dear Jane

2008-05-06T08:36:00.000-07:00

Above is Myra's J-4

B-8

B-9

B-7 World Series

2008-04-28T21:06:00.000-07:00

The diamonds where a little bit tricky on this one. I ripped out seems several times trying to finish this one. I have not been able to use the one technique I know of for sewing complete circles on the machine. I think these block are just too tiny. I did the circle by hand.

B-5

2008-04-24T09:07:00.000-07:00

Machine Pieced 4-24-08. This block was Fun. One of My favorites, so far.

Two Blocks Finnished

2008-04-23T06:23:00.000-07:00

Above is B-12 redone. Just when the red one had grown on me enough to keep it, I realized it was supposed to be purple. I appliquéd the pieces instead of machine piecing. I also reduced the size of the melons to give a little more room around the edges.

For B-6, I changed what was given in the book, by removing the outer set of strips. When studying the picture of the original quilt the outer strips looked like part of the sashing. I used my Quilt-pro software to resize the block to the proper size.

B-12 Starflower

2008-04-18T12:44:00.000-07:00

Machine pieced with final center seam finished by hand. I will probably redo as an applique block.

In progress photos. (or proof I am crazy!)

From Dear Jane Blocks

More Fabric!

2008-04-15T22:42:00.000-07:00

The Black at the top is the sashing for my Dear Jane.
The red butterflies I just had to have.
The blue butterflies was too pretty to pass up.
The Nearest JoAnn's is an hour away, but worth the drive.

Monday's Dear Jane Block

2008-04-14T12:47:00.000-07:00

B-2, this is the 2nd try

Myra's Block for last week, ( I am a little late.) L-8.

Busy Day

2008-04-10T14:58:00.000-07:00

C-3 Rayelle's Fence

I cut strips for this block and ended up with two.
The size of strips cut were; 4 - 1.25" x 9" and 1 - 2" x 9" of each color.

K-7 Rose of Sharing

2008-04-07T17:54:00.000-07:00

Today's quilt square! I did a little extra piecing, to get the repeat I wanted in the center.

Pincushions

2008-04-04T13:57:00.000-07:00

Pincushions
Originally uploaded by flibbertigibbetbunny

Made from rejected Dear Jane blocks. Other views in my flickr. The red is B-4, and Purple is E-11.

Edit:
Thanks for compliments on the Pincushions. Here is a good tutorial for making a biscornu from Cross Stitch. I made these the same way with the quilt squares.
own-two-hands.livejournal.com/4186.html

M-10 from Dear Jane

2008-04-03T09:37:00.000-07:00

My M-10 using black fabrics.

And Myra's Using her Pink and Green.