Dear Jane Flimsy

I started this top in 2013.  Most of the blocks were done by the end of that year, but those border triangles got the better of me.   The corners are still a bit wonky, but here is the finished flimsy for Dear Jane.  It has a rainbow layout of course in an around the world layout.   

Slowly on a Sunday

 

I had a little burst of Dear Jane sewing yesterday and finished off the left side!   It looks like I just need 8 more for the right side and this quilt will be DONE.   I'll have to go back at some point and figure out when I started this girl.   I used to have the kids pose with the blocks, and they were all pretty tiny at the time.   This is the ultimate in rainbow scrap quilts, so be sure to visit Oh Scrap! if you are working on something scrappy today.  

I just need to finish up the applique sewing on these last three blocks.  The closer I get to being done, the more liberty I take with the design.   The ones that are left are tricky in general, so I am simplifying and going for the feel of the pattern rather than trying to get every detail perfect.   There wasn't supposed to be a diamond in the middle of that teal block, but I just felt that it needed more color.    Lots of people have slow stitching to share at Kathy's Quilts, so be sure to pop by if you have hand work saved up for the day of rest.     

This yellow guy was an odd mix of applique and paper piecing.  You could see curved seams in the original block, but my mind just said "nope" and I moved on with life.  

It was nice to enjoy the weekend after a busy week at school.   We are on a block schedule this year, and the new semester started on Tuesday.  So that meant a batch of new kids.  New names to remember, procedures to establish, a second first day of the school year.  Most teachers are redoing a class that they had first semester, but I am switching preps which means a lot more time to get ready every day.  I've taught Honors Biology for a lot of years, but never in a time of COVID.  Social distancing means modified labs and the I still have kids e-learning which means that everything is digital.   Just when I thought that my job was settling into a routine, BAM it is all new again.  They are starting to vaccinate teachers in Florida, but only those who are over 65.  It doesn't seem to be going well so far, so my turn could be a long way off.  The governor declared teachers as critical infrastructure workers, but we are not critical enough to get vaccine priority.  

There was a rocket launch this morning.  A Space X Falcon 9 going into sun synchronous orbit which meant that it went directly overhead.  Usually they head out to sea.   We were late on our beach walk this morning because of rain and were just getting back home as it went up.  I have the usual weekend chores t finish up, but I hope to get that left side attached before the end of the weekend.  
   

Scrappy Perserverance

I finished the center blocks for my Rainbow Scrap Challenge Dear Jane Quilt in July of 2014.  It got put away then while I decided whether or not I wanted to do the triangle border blocks.  I was in the midst of the Scraphappy Sampler of 2014 and got a bit carried away,  leading straight into the Sawtooth Sampler of 2015.  Those are both done now, quilted and bound.

And so I come back to Dear Jane.  16 border blocks are already done.  It would be a shame to stop now, with almost a quarter of the work done, right?  Last night I pulled out the Dear Jane binder again and started sorting through all the bits.  I even saved Ziploc bags of color coordinated scraps!

I resurrected the mini quilt map made from 2.5 inch squares of each fabric.
It really is time to finish this one up.  Wish me luck!

I'm linking up with Oh Scrap! this morning at Quilting is more fun than Housework, head over to see what other quilters are doing with their scraps this morning.

Turtle Speed

Are you getting tired of seeing the Dear Jane blocks yet?  8 of the 9 sections are sewn together.  The middle one is still in progress though.  I'm thinking of redoing the one in the lower right hand corner.  It is blue and the other three corners are teal.  Kurt says he didn't see that there was any pattern at all and there was no need to change anything.  Men!  I thought the blocks would be together by the end of today, but a trip to the orthodontist and a piano lesson kept me out and about a bit more than I had planned.  Anna is out of braces now and it is time for Ryan to have his turn.  Hope to get him finished off before Sydney is due.  

Dear Jane Center Blocks are DONE

I just finished the LAST center block for the Dear Jane quilt.

This one is called Nan's Naiad.  It is L-10 and was just a little worse than a nightmare.  I added in in a few extra seams to eliminate set ins and changed up the color just a little bit from the picture in the book.

This one is K-11 and it is called Brandon's Star.  It was nice and simple to put together.  I love the dots.

Here is the finished map.  Although now that I look at the photo, I can see that the outer bottom corners are missing.  I'll have to plug those in before I get back to work on sewing the blocks together.  The plan is to put it away for a bit after the center section is done while I ponder the triangles.  I fear it will forever seem undone if I don't add them in, but I'm just not feeling it right this minute.  The intermittent rain bands continue, so sewing some more seems just right.  

Plodding Along

 Here are the next two chunks of the Dear Jane Quilt.  This is 2A, the middle part of the left hand side.  I really like the diagonal movement of the aqua eyeball block near the bottom of the right side.

This is section 3A which is the bottom left hand corner.  It took the longest because I had to make two of the blocks in order to finish it off.  The bottom left corner is M1 and it took FOREVER.  I had printed out paper piecing templates long ago.  After making all the subsections I realized that there was no way to get them together.  Unsewing the little short paper piecing seams it just no fun at all.  I had to draw the other two corners by hand and they seem to be smaller than the original two.  Not so much smaller that I felt like doing them again though.  The other new block is the red one on the right side.  It was easy enough.  Regular paper piecing with 5 sections.  It was mostly a nice peaceful home day.  Anna had a quick orthodontist appointment and we all lifted this morning, but other than that we all just hung out at home and chilled.  

Progress

 I spent today slowly and carefully sewing together the Dear Jane blocks.  After much stalling, I decided to sew 9 large sections.  Here is the first one, upper left hand corner.

 This is the top center section.

 And here is the upper right hand corner.  All the kids are off playing with friends for a bit, so I might get another section done this evening.

 Friday was the play which marks the end of musical theater camp.  They did Music Man Junior this year.  Anna was Marian the librarian, Sydney was Zaneeta, the mayors daughter and Ryan wasn't in the camp, but volunteered to help with technical.  He ran the spotlight.

On the way over the causeway I couldn't help but notice the sunset.  Though the picture doesn't do it justice, it was a beautiful night.
So this week there is absolutely nothing planned.  Friday is a holiday, and I'm planning to run a 5K, but until then I can't think of a single thing I have to do.  No camps to drive back and forth to, no workshops or training.  Nothing at all, I am SO looking forward to it.  

Dear Jane Yellow Blocks are Done

 This one is called Firewood Flower.  It was a bit tricky, but the tips from That Quilt were helpful in figuring out how to get started.  I didn't do it exactly the same, but it worked out pretty well.  Still need to finish up the hand sewing on the reverse applique for this one.

 This one is called Brandon's Star.  It was nice and simple.  Thanks goodness!  Some of these blocks get to be a bit ridiculous.

 This one wasn't too bad.  It is called Sally's Pride.  The pattern has little applique triangles in the corners, but I'm wavering about those.  I think the middle section is sewed upside down, but I like it fine just like this.

 This is the one that took all morning!  I didn't think it would ever be done.  It is called Stephanie's Snowflake and I'm not at all sure it was worth the trouble.

We reheated pizza for lunch in our new oven!  The old one was having trouble with the buttons and kept turning itself off.   We are slowly converting over to stainless as things break, but for now it is a mixed up free for all.  I love that the window is huge so that you can really get a good look at what is cooking without opening it up.
It was great to have a day today to just sew without a bunch of running around.  The girls are home from camp and it has just started to pour down rain.  Maybe I can get one more block in before dinner.  Sydney is cooking appetizers for us all!  So festive.  

Design Wall Monday

I was making a list of finished quilts for the year.  Try as I might, I still only came up with five full finished quilts for the year.  Just 5?  Could that be right.  What have I been doing with my time?  Then I remembered.  These little guys have taken up a bit of my sewing time in the last year.  Yup, worth every minute.

It has been almost a year since I officially began working on Dear Jane.  Just 11 more center blocks left to go!  I'm still playing with the triangles.  They might take a bit more time.  There is a pink block on the top row that is bugging me, I might remake that one.  In general though, I'm pretty happy with the way things are coming together so far.  

It was so odd waking up on a Monday and not going to work.  I could get used to this.  

Making More Lists

Just 13 more center blocks for Dear Jane.  Not bad almost one year in.  If I had a proper machine I could finish them off likety split.  

F-11

This one is called On Target.  It was sewn this summer but needed to have the little wedges appliquéd.  Next?

LS-3

This is left side number 3 and is called Connie's Brownies.  It was sewn already, I just made the appliqué bits.

Speaking of appliqué bits, I am a bit behind on the hand sewing.  Maybe I should pack up the machine and grab a thimble?  

J-12

Rebecca's Basket went together likety split.  The handle will need a bit if stitching of course, but that will happen soon I am sure.  I missed my opportunity to head out, it is dark now.  My own kids are out trick or treating.  Getting them up in the morning will be such a chore.  Poor Kurt is hanging in tough as a single dad, it isn't easy doing it all.

J-5

This one is called John Jacob's Windmill.  I still need to appliqué down the little corner bits, but I will move on for now and come back to it.  I was thinking about going out to explore and maybe get some food, but I am still full from lunch and feeling pretty cozy in my room here at the hotel.  Maybe later.

H-8

The sections were done for this one quite a while ago, but the center needed to be appliquéd together.  I did that last night while watching Cloud Atlas on my I-pad.  What a strange movie.  We made good progress today on our questions and should be done tomorrow before lunch.  They want to make sure we are all gone before people start rolling into town for the big Georgia Florida game on Saturday.  

M-5

This one is called Mother's Point.  I will admit that I dug through the bin looking for one that was easy peasy.  The picture showed a four patch sashed by white on four sides but the diagram showed only two sides.  Now that I look back at the book, for patches are roatated differently, but I think I like mine the way they are.  I think I'll settled in for a little handwork now.  There isn't anything on TV, but HBO to go is working great on the hotel wifi.

I-9

This one is called Chase a Myth.  It was paper pieced in three sections.  Easy enough, but it seemed to take a long time.  It was a slow and steady day of reading test questions.  

RS8

Right side 8 is all appliqué.  I think it is the last one for tonight.  I am going to settle in for some handwork.  Yeah!

I-1

Ralph and Nelda's Wedding.  This one was super simple traditional piecing.  Wish they were all this quick. 

I-7

Mac and Muff was paper pieced with more itty bitty appliqué.  I thought a 5 inch square of yellow would be enough.  Way too close for comfort.  Next?