The Christmas cactus has outdone itself.  It is full of blossoms.  Maybe it is a Thanksgiving cactus.  qui

 

 

Making Dear Jane blocks is addictive.  Some are very easy to piece.  Some are very hard.  I’ve found that the hard ones are best if pieced by hand or paper pieced.  The easy blocks can be paper pieced also.  Sometimes it’s easier to paper piece than to figure out the measurements.

The blocks are 4 1/2″ square.  It would seem as if they wouldn’t take as much time as a larger block, but sometimes they  take just as long to make.  The applique pieces even though they are very small, take time to position and sew down.   The hand quilting time is much shorter and the binding doesn’t take too long to sew down.

I’ve been making the blocks in the potholder method.  Every block is hand quilted and bound.  Then they are sewed together.  The binding makes a nice sashing.

The Dear Jane blocks are the perfect size to take to a sit and sew.  I try to keep a few ready to take when I go out.  I have several blocks in different stages of construction in a basket.  Some are pieced and ready to quilt.  Some are quilted and have the binding sewn on and are ready for it to be tacked down.   Some have the applique ready to sew.  I like to applique at home and do not take these until they are ready to quilt and bind.  Every block is in it’s own baggie with a picture of the block and it’s position on the quilt.

I’ve been making them this way and found that I have more finished than I thought.  Row A is finished.

The instructions for row B are in baggies with the fabric that I will use for those blocks.  I’ve started piecing the Row B blocks. When they are finished, I’ll do the same with Row C.  Row D is completed and is sewn onto the body of the quilt. Row D is the top row.  There are four more blocks sewn on that are outside the picture.

I originally planned to start in the center of the quilt and work  the rows around the center.  The center block is the green circle that is four down and seven over from the left.  Somehow, that plan fell away and I was making a lot of blocks out of order.  Eventually, they will all be sewn into the quilt.

Jane will take a rest for a while.  I have several other projects that need finishing. I’ll bring her out again when I run out of blocks to take to a sit and sew.

 

 

Have a great day and happy quilting.

 

 

 

Miss Molly had a visitor the other day.  Her friend, Rufus came to visit.  Even though Miss Molly is a Wire Fox Terrier and Rufus is a Bagle ( Beagle/Basset Hound), they are both working dogs.  Their job is Quality Control Inspector.  They work very hard to inspect quilts.

 

 

After a hard day at work, they are taking a much needed rest.  I can imagine that they are discussing their work and how much they enjoy it.  Miss Molly was generous enough to let Rufus sleep on her quilt.

 

Last Friday, I taught another Mile A Minute block class.  It is so much fun to teach.  The class seemed to enjoy it. The block is so easy to make.  There are no rules, no seams to match and they always come out perfectly square.  I was able to give away some of the strips and scraps that are used for the block.  I still have a lot left.  I’ll put them away as I don’t need to make any more for a while.

I had made several small examples this summer.

The Mile A Minute block can be placed into any other block that has a six inch space.

 

 

 

Did you know that if you insert one inch strips into a block, the block will be the same size when it is finished.  I cut the Mile A Minute block in quarters and inserted strips.  When placed in the Attic Window setting, it looks like windows.

 

I was looking for some fabric when I found some cute kitten fabric.  I was inspired to fussy cut the kittens and place them in the middle of the block.  In three hours, I had enough blocks to make this cute baby quilt. The sashing and borders didn’t take long.  It just needs quilting and some baby will have a pretty quilt.

 

I’ve finally started to put away the things that I brought back from Maine last month. The leftover fabric is put away into the proper drawers.  As is most of the fabric that I found all around the sewing room.  I have over 200 Mile A Minute blocks that need to go into quilts.  Also the Splendid Sampler blocks that will go into a quilt some day.  The UFO bin is getting larger, not smaller.  I’ve been thinking about working on the Cynthia England wall hanging again.  It is about two thirds finished.  It will be beautiful when it is finished, but it takes a lot of concentration to put the pieces in the right places.  It’s a good thing that I like to paper piece.

Have a great day and happy quilting.

I have been squeezing quilting in between appointments, grocery shopping,  and meetings.  There doesn’t seem to be much time to sew or quilt.  I have discovered one thing about having limited time to sew.  If I try to finish a UFO that has been around for a long time, I feel bogged down.  There must be a reason why it is a UFO in the first place.  For the past week, I’ve been trying to machine quilt a wall hanging. I know that it’s an older quilt because the main color is brown.  There was a period of time when I made a lot of brown quilts.  I think that this is the last one.

It is not fun working on this quilt.  It’s not a bad quilt.  As a matter of fact, it’s very pretty.  I’m machine quilting it with a walking foot which was a bad decision.  It would have been better to free motion quilt it.  I do have to finish it the way I started it.  The quilt is going to go in the give away bin anyway.  I think that I will put it aside in a bin that is labeled ” UFO’s to finish when I am desperate for something to do. ”  I may put other UFO’s  in the bin with it and hide everything in the attic.

After I came to this decision, I decided to do something that I really enjoy.  I haven’t worked on the Flower wall hanging that I intend to put above the sofa in the living room. Applique is very relaxing and fun.  The center applique is finished.  I cut the fabric for the outside border. It is not sewed onto the center yet.  I marked the top border and started to applique the flowers from the center to the edge. Some of the flower centers were already appliqued.  I like to applique the whole flower in it’s place.  I am almost to the outside edge where the flowers turn and go down the edge.  On my next free day, I’ll sew the border fabric on the  center so that I can turn the corner when I get there.  It will take a long time to finish this wall hanging, but it is fun to do hand sewing.

I’ve finished sewing three more Dear Jane blocks.   I quilt them when I go to a sit and sew.  It’s nice to have a little project to work on.  I haven’t started Row B yet.  When I sorted the finished blocks, I discovered that I have finished 1 to 9 in Row J.  I’m sewing them together when I have a few minutes to sew.  It’s another hand sew project.

Have a great day and happy quilting.