Besides it being quite a while since I blogged, I thought I would start again as I have a quest this time. To document my journey with the Dear Jane quilt. If no one reads this, or it is read 20 years from now, I’m hoping someone will acknowledge and appreciate the experience I have gone through with this quilt.
If you Google “Dear Jane Quilt” you will find many links on its history and other quilters journey to complete this project.
When I saw this quilt back in 2010, I fell in love with it. The different blocks, the history and the challenge interested me. I was able to find a block of the month for this quilt and started to receive the instructions and fabric on a monthly basis. BUT this was also the time I just began quilting. Being a beginner, I found this very daunting, only completed 1 block and put it on the backburner. One of many quilting UFOs – UnFinished Objects.
So, you say, you’ve been quilting for quite some time now, have done many quilts and your skills have increased 10-fold – so what has stopped you? Well to say the least you just don’t jump in with this quilt. I have spent 2 weeks now researching this quilt. How to begin, do I do paper piecing versus regular piecing, quilt the blocks as I go or join them as a completed top? There have been many questions and sites I visited to figure out how I’m going to tackle this project. Also, there has been many eye-opening facts and information. Like:
Total number of blocks: 169
Size of blocks: 4 ½”
Total number of triangles: 52
Size of triangles: 4 ½” x 8 ½”
Size of corner blocks: 8 ½” x 8 ½”
Total overall pieces used in this quilt: 5,602
Overall finished size: 85” x 85”
I’ve also read that this project has taken most people between 2-4 years to complete. Why do you ask? Well in the quilting world, this quilt is often called “the most often started, and least often finished”. Due to the size of the blocks, total number of pieces and integrate blocks, this is a very daunting quilt.
Now I should mention that I am not working on this quilt on its own. I typically have several quilts on the go at one time, that way I am hoping I won’t get bored and put it (or any others) back on the shelf. For 2020, I do intend on getting a lot of my UFOs completed. Plus, I’m sure I will get side tracked and start other projects which typically happens. By spreading the “joy”, I’m working on getting things completed and hopefully my “stash” of fabric cleaned up.
So wish me luck, keep checking back for updates and here’s to getting my Dear Jane finished.
I am slowly getting organized with this quilt, still deciding if I do paper piecing (which I haven’t done before!) or regular piecing.
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