Needing some tips about Dear Jane

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

--
Trish Brown {|:-}

Newcastle, NSW, Australia