Needing some tips about Dear Jane
 

Tutu Haynes-Smart wrote:

snip

I scraped by with a fat 1/8th (or a tad less at times) for a block AND a
plain triangle and a pieced triangle. In my first DJ, I repeated quite a few
fabrics, but the second only about six duplicates. (Make a spreadsheet or
something to track your fabrics. I had little squares stuck on a paper
replica). Certainly, if you are careful, a charm square could do you.

I did use (very cheap) muslin for the background. Good was that it was cheap
so that it didn't really matter how much I used. Bad was that it was a bear
for the small applique, so be warned on that. Also be aware that if you are
doing a lot of paper piecing, you tend (however miserly you are, to use a
bit more fabric). I used 6m of 150cm wide - and that gave me quite a bit of
wriggle room. That did NOT include the sashings.

I got The Book and then redrafted each one in EQ4 (that dates me, doesn't
it). Now things are a lot easier with EQ's DJ software (you'll see my quilts
in there and some of my tips too). I would seriously recommend purchasing
the software unless you are going to hand piece everything using freezer
paper or some other precise method.

And finally, good luck and enjoy the journey. Shout if you have specific
problems - there's a number of people here who can help.


Thanks for that, Tutu! I'm thinking of using coloured backgrounds to
tone with my prints. Dunno yet... Gee, I wish my friend could come over
for a day or two so we could do all our planning together! We make a
good team, each seeing things the other usually misses.

I usually draft my blocks in CorelDraw, only it's not working on my
machine at the moment (Hnnnnh!!!) I'd love to see the DJ software at
work, but for now it's beyond the budget. Trisha (my friend) and I have
used light sew-in interfacing in the past (for paper piecing, that is).
You can leave it in the quilt and it adds a bit of 'oomph' if that's
what you're after. We'll no doubt do quite a bit of experimenting before
we start, though. Trisha is a dedicated machine piecer while I rather
enjoy hand-work and appliqué.

The help I've had from rctqers already is what allowed me to make the
final decision and go ahead with my JASQ. Thanks to you and everyone who
has emailed! ;-D

--
Trish Brown {|:-}

Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Needing some tips about Dear Jane
 

Pauline wrote:
There are quite a number of "Janiac's" in my quilting guild. The
"leader" of the group is making her 2nd DJ now. She was going to make #2
all in Kaffe Fassett's fabrics. As trite as the saying is, it's your
quilt & you can make it out of anything you want to. I personally love
the 30's fabrics, because they are so cheery looking! There is a
spin-off group that is making their DJ out of Xmas fabrics. I do not
have a DJ in my future. It's bad enough that I got sucked into making
Sylvia's Bridal Sampler, which is a lot less blocks & somewhat larger
blocks.

Oooo! How I envy the idea of a quilting guild! I'm not aware of one near
where I live, only the groups attached to local shops. They cost $$$,
so they're not really an option. The best hope I've had for a new local
quilting buddy is my two great-nieces (aged 6 and 9). They're begging me
to teach them to sew and quilt! Yay!

The facilitator of the DJ groups & Sylvia's Bridal Sampler groups from
my guild send an email on Friday's with the next block to make. SBS
sends a 2nd easy, peasy block, if anyone wants to tackle 2 in one week.

I understand this is not an easy quilt to make & without the software,
extremely difficult, so you may want to look into that. Enjoy the
journey & the experience!

Thank you! I've already started drafting a few blox and even that
process has been fun. Can't wait for my fabrix to start arriving!

I think when I was a little girl, we spent the night in Newcastle on our
way from Sydney to Rockhampton in QLD. It was a small town at the time
(50 + years ago:(

Pauline
Northern California

LOL! I was here then! Why didn't you call in for tea and cake?

N'cle's a lot nicer these days - our heavy industries have all but dried
up and so tourism is our major employer. This means the town is a lot
cleaner and prettier than ever. You should come back some time (and
bring your UFOs with you)!

--
Trish Brown {|:-}

Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Needing some tips about Dear Jane
 

Bronnie wrote:


G'day Trish
I'm just 'up the road' on the Gold Coast. If you are ever holidaying
up this way, holler thru this group, love to meet up with you. My
quilting buddy a street away has recently finished a DJ so can always
rope her in. She does beautiful applique and is presently doing one
with 1000+ little leaves. And she'll finish it too. Myself, I'm not
into traditional applique - I know, it's holding my abilities back - I
do machine applique on art quilts.

Enjoy the journey and follow the paths that are unexpected.
Cheers
Bronnie

Thanks, Bronnie! And of course, if you ever make it down to chilly
N'cle, please give me a hoy! Maybe I can infect you with the hand
appliqué bug? ;-

I just love it that you and your quilt buddy are Trish and Trisha!
How good is that? Is she in Perth??

LOL! Trish and I have been great friends since we were twelve and now
our daughters are besties as well. Every St Patrick's day, we ring each
other and say 'Hello Trisha? This is Trisha!' When we were in high
school, there were five Trishas in our class - it was confusing.

--
Trish Brown {|:-}

Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Needing some tips about Dear Jane
 

My advice re fabric buying is to get all you can afford of anything
you love. (then you'll need to get a bit of other stuff for contrast,
but you knew that already.) Having a friend to share the experience is
a great way to push yourself into more adventurous combinations -you
have to use what she sends you!
But if all you can afford is charm size, this is not impossible. It
might force you to mix up your fabrics. If you don't have enough of
one thing, you can make the block a little bit different by adding
another fabric to the mix.

If you were to send me your snail addy off list, I might be able to
find some suitable bits for you.
Roberta in D

On Wed, 20 Jul 2011 09:41:00 -0500, "Polly Esther"
wrote:

All right, then. That answers that. If the 30's fabrics make you happy, go
for it. I'll never ever again attempt a quilt with fabrics/colors that
aren't a joy for me to spend time with.
Now. As to the charm squares being enough? I'm thinking you might be
working yourself into a corner. That might work and it might make the whole
process just too tedious to bear. Methinks you'd better begin with 8ths.
Polly

"Trish Brown" wrote in message
web.com...
Polly Esther wrote:
I don't know what I'm talking about but has that ever stopped me?
NOoooo.
Trish mentioned thinking of using 30's repros for her fabric. 30's
repros to my mind are mostly happy silly grandma's apron, bubblegum pink
and kittens with mittens. The Dear Jane quilts I've seen (not many) have
been created with much more somber (how's that for a word?) tones.
Will somebody who knows please climb in here? Polly


Oo! MeMe! I'll climb in! See, I've been checking out as many blogs and
quilt-alongs as I can find, and people have done them in rainbow batiks,
marbles, 30s repros and even single colours on white or black. It was the
30s prints that got me going: they're so darned pretty! The lovely
gelato-flavoured ones are my favourites and there's something about the
simple florals that's just so relaxing.

Do you think a charm square per block (plus background yardage) will do
it, Polly, or am I kidding meself?

--
Trish Brown {|:-}

Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Needing some tips about Dear Jane
 

Roberta wrote:
My advice re fabric buying is to get all you can afford of anything
you love. (then you'll need to get a bit of other stuff for contrast,
but you knew that already.) Having a friend to share the experience is
a great way to push yourself into more adventurous combinations -you
have to use what she sends you!
But if all you can afford is charm size, this is not impossible. It
might force you to mix up your fabrics. If you don't have enough of
one thing, you can make the block a little bit different by adding
another fabric to the mix.

If you were to send me your snail addy off list, I might be able to
find some suitable bits for you.
Roberta in D

Hee! Thank you for the permission, Roberta. I'll just let my DH know
that I'm officially *allowed* to purchase all those scrumptious 30s
prints by the yard! LOLOLOLOLOLOL!

Thank you for your kind offer, but I'm sure Trish and I will manage.
It's all part of the drama (ie sourcing the fabrix). :-)

--
Trish Brown {|:-}

Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Needing some tips about Dear Jane
 

Please email me off group (slpdesigns at speakeasy dot net) I am also
working on a DJ and would like to share information.

Susan Price

On Wed, 20 Jul 2011 20:01:29 +1000, Trish Brown
wrote:

Well! It's only a couple of weeks since I found out about a thing called
'Dear Jane' here at rctq. I wonder why I so badly need to make one???

Oddly, my quilting buddy (who now lives at the exact opposite end of the
country) has been infected independently of me and mentioned it
yesterday in a phone call. We had an 'AHA!!!' moment and began planning
how we could do a quilt-along, even though we're thousands of miles
apart. This is good! We figu

i) we can work slowly along and support each other by email
ii) we can share/swap fabrics to keep costs down
iii) we agree we'd both like to use 1930s prints and solids
iv) there are lots of online blogs with tips and instructions
v) a Dear Jane would be a Very Good Idea - think of all the experience
we'd gain!

Our main problems a

i) we're really only beginning quilters without all that many difficult
blocks behind us
ii) neither of us has anyone nearby to offer help/advice in person
iv) it's *really* hard to find a big enough selection of fabrics in the
30s prints we like
v) even though we've ordered 'The Book', we can't figure out how to buy
the fabrics.

So, with all the above as background, and keeping in mind that our plan
is to make each block from a different print and use toning 1930s solids
as background, here are my main questions:

Roughly how much fabric do you need for each block in a Dear Jane?

Is it a good idea to collect charm packs? Is a 5" charm square big
enough to make one block? Should/can we buy fat eighths? (Easy here in
Oz, not so easy in the US) Should we buy fat quarters and share them?
Would it be cheaper/more sensible to just use white fabric for the
background and buy 15 yards each of it?

Finally, does anyone have any recommendations for good online US shops?
We really need to count our pennies on this and it's *lots* cheaper to
buy online than from local sources.

If anyone's done/doing a Dear Jane, would you please share your wisdom
so Trisha and I can get started? Thanks heaps! ;-D

Needing some tips about Dear Jane
 

Should the background of every DJ block always have to be the very same?
( I realize that someone can make a DJ out of tie-dyed t-shirts if they take
a notion.) Why I pose the question is - I am making a 'simple star' quilt
and the blocks' backgrounds are sort of similar but they are not the same.
The result, methinks, is very nice. Just wondered if you couldn't do a DJ
with various backgrounds without an initial outlay for 15 yards - a
staggering thought. Polly


"Susan Laity Price" wrote in message
...
Please email me off group (slpdesigns at speakeasy dot net) I am also
working on a DJ and would like to share information.

Susan Price

On Wed, 20 Jul 2011 20:01:29 +1000, Trish Brown
wrote:

Well! It's only a couple of weeks since I found out about a thing called
'Dear Jane' here at rctq. I wonder why I so badly need to make one???

Oddly, my quilting buddy (who now lives at the exact opposite end of the
country) has been infected independently of me and mentioned it
yesterday in a phone call. We had an 'AHA!!!' moment and began planning
how we could do a quilt-along, even though we're thousands of miles
apart. This is good! We figu

i) we can work slowly along and support each other by email
ii) we can share/swap fabrics to keep costs down
iii) we agree we'd both like to use 1930s prints and solids
iv) there are lots of online blogs with tips and instructions
v) a Dear Jane would be a Very Good Idea - think of all the experience
we'd gain!

Our main problems a

i) we're really only beginning quilters without all that many difficult
blocks behind us
ii) neither of us has anyone nearby to offer help/advice in person
iv) it's *really* hard to find a big enough selection of fabrics in the
30s prints we like
v) even though we've ordered 'The Book', we can't figure out how to buy
the fabrics.

So, with all the above as background, and keeping in mind that our plan
is to make each block from a different print and use toning 1930s solids
as background, here are my main questions:

Roughly how much fabric do you need for each block in a Dear Jane?

Is it a good idea to collect charm packs? Is a 5" charm square big
enough to make one block? Should/can we buy fat eighths? (Easy here in
Oz, not so easy in the US) Should we buy fat quarters and share them?
Would it be cheaper/more sensible to just use white fabric for the
background and buy 15 yards each of it?

Finally, does anyone have any recommendations for good online US shops?
We really need to count our pennies on this and it's *lots* cheaper to
buy online than from local sources.

If anyone's done/doing a Dear Jane, would you please share your wisdom
so Trisha and I can get started? Thanks heaps! ;-D

Needing some tips about Dear Jane
 

Polly Esther wrote:
Should the background of every DJ block always have to be the very same?
( I realize that someone can make a DJ out of tie-dyed t-shirts if they
take a notion.) Why I pose the question is - I am making a 'simple star'
quilt and the blocks' backgrounds are sort of similar but they are not
the same. The result, methinks, is very nice. Just wondered if you
couldn't do a DJ with various backgrounds without an initial outlay for
15 yards - a staggering thought. Polly


Polly, this is the one that got me hooked:

http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/...KiPeNl?start=0

I think it's just gorgeous, the way she has used the coloured
backgrounds to accent her prints! I hope mine will be as pretty!

--
Trish Brown {|:-}

Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Needing some tips about Dear Jane
 

Looked your 'Simple Star' pattern up. I knew it as Ohio Star....maybe cause
I learned the name in MI? I didn't think 'flying geese' were that easy to
make back then....still ahve to concentrate when I make them now.

I enjoy _Dear Janes_ but can't see attempting one and admire those that
have.

Butterfly (hoping she's back for awhile this time)

Needing some tips about Dear Jane
 

Still LOVE your blue one.


Butterfly