Instead of binding off the red and white quilt, I've spent quite a bit of time making Dear Jane blocks in '30s fabrics lately. I marvel at how inventive Jane Stickel was. Instead of making a quilt with conventionally largish (9-12") blocks, she chose to make them all 4.5", not a standard size. Instead of using easy, repetitive blocks such as the nine patch or log cabin, she chose to make a sampler. And what a sampler! Most of the blocks were original, and some of them take quite a bit of time to make. Of the 169 blocks, I have made some more than once. I have a list of blocks I have not yet made which I am slowly working my way through. There are probably 30-40 left to tackle (I was going to say "conquer," but in some cases that would be impossible).
Over the weekend I made "Rick's Volleyball Net" and "Battlefield." I had some cute red floral fabric that looked great as "Picture Perfect," a block I have made before in Christmas and Asian fabrics. Now I'm working on "Snow Crystal" which involves both piecing and applique. The author of Dear Jane, Brenda Papadakis, named all of the blocks with help from some quilting friends. I sometimes wish she had chosen Vermont-based names since Jane lived in Shaftsbury near Bennington in the Civil War era. But I am awfully grateful to Brenda for bringing this amazing quilt to life for thousands of quilters around the world. It sure keeps me busy - and learning with each block!
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