UGH!

What ever made me think I could tackle this quilt with absolutely no problems is beyond me!! I think I've ripped more seams than anyone that has ever quilted before! I've worn out paper, restitching seams (paper pieced). And I've avoided working on the quilt like the plague!

In fairness, I've had another project or two that I've worked on...and I'm trying to make bed quilts for each of my children and stepchildren...hopefully to be done by Christmas. I've done a couple of Downy Quilts for Kids. All in avoidance of this reproduction Jane Stickle quilt!

Today I'm working on it. I WILL get a block posted today! If I'm lucky and the next block is less difficult for me to make, I might even post two!

Ok...I'm heading for Hannah...wish me luck!

The Incredible Jane...

I first heard of "Dear Jane" quilts when I joined a quilting chat website. http://www.quiltingboard.com/ (You simply HAVE to visit there if you're interested at all in quilting! Wonderful people, more help than you know what to do with, did I mention wonderful people?)

Anyway..I digress. I had to find out what a "Dear Jane Quilt" was. So off to Google I went, not wanting to look dumb in front of my new found friends. (They would not have thought me dumb for asking, but well...~shrug~) I find out that Dear Jane is a quilt that was made by what I would consider to be an artist of the first rank. Not that modern quilters aren't also artists of the first rank...I could never do what some of them do. But Jane A. Stickle? That woman had to be something else! How I wish I could sit with her and learn by her side!

Check out the photos on the official Dear Jane website! This quilt is comprised of 225 blocks. The squares are four and a half inches across. The triangles are eight inches. Might seem large to a non-quilter, but consider that some of the pieces in that quilt finish at 3/8 of an inch across! Then imagine trying to handle a piece of fabric that small! "Our" Jane did it without the benefit of brand new fabrics, a sewing machine, or any of our other more modern tools. I'm positive that the quilt that contains so many tiny scraps was most likely pieced together with a needle and thread by hand...and quilted that way too.