Dear Jane Motivation & My Sampler Quilt

I have been reading about Dear Jane Quilts in my Real Women Quilt yahoo group this week. I had been mildly interested in them before but after reading about them and seeing all kinds of finished baby Janes, I am hooked on making one for myself. I think it will be a long work in progress but what an accomplishment it will be to finish one. Check out the raffle quilt at the Empire Quilters website. It is one fantastic quilt that is two quilts in one. Unbelievable!

If you have read my other blog posts here, you know that I am working on the Patchwork Times Block of the Month by Judy Laquidara. This has really motivated me to sew, sew, sew. I was kind of in a slump but it has jump started me again and now my project list is growing. I am trying to finish some WIP/UFO's as well. One of my nearly finished quilts is this sampler quilt

that I made with purple Batiks, Kaffe Fasset's paperweights, and Laurel Burch cats.

It is a whirlwind of purple and red and lots of other colors in between. I wanted to do something different with this sampler by taking a regular block and using it four times in one block to make a bigger block. At one time, I was going to teach a sampler class and I thought this would be a way to show how you can turn a simple block into something different. I never taught the class but I have almost finished the quilting. I quilted in the ditch first and then kept adding more quilting here and there. One of these days I will get it done.

Happy sewing everyone, I am off to the sewing machine. Debbie

Back on track with Block 3 and 4

I finally got back on track with Patchwork Times Block of theMonth today.

I finished blocks 3 and 4 this afternoon. Unlike the second block, these two blocks went together very well. I like the colors and the designs and continue to be excited about the next block. I really like the center of Block 4 with its four patch and triangle design. It reminds me of a harlequin pattern. Block 3 has another favorite pattern - the pinwheel.

I took a close up picture of the fabrics to better show the contrast. I still don't think that the camera shows how pretty these colors are together.

I put all the blocks together for a picture and noticed that only one of the blocks has a different green on the star points. I am wondering if I used the wrong fabric for number one? I will have to go and check now. I really hope it is right because I may have to do that one over. That would not be good!

Since I finished number four so early, I will have to wait awhile before the next one comes online. That will give me a chance to sew on some other projects. For some reason, I have been buying more fabric than usual in the past month. I have all these new projects and ideas swirling around in my head. I hope I can get them all finished!

My cats like to hang out with me when I sew. My cat Beau sat in my lap while I sewed today and my youngest kitty, Tag, helped me take pictures. Of course, if you leave a quilt or even just blocks lying about, some kitty will come and test out their softness. Tonight was no exception.

He definitely approved of the softness. In fact, it was just right for a nap!

That's it for me today too. Tomorrow I'll write about the other quilt in these pictures! Happy quilting! Debbie