Baby Jane, A-1 and A-2

This is the inaugural Dear Jane block post at The Bossy Quilter!   Here is the start of my Baby Jane (how imitations of the original Dear Jane quilt are referred to).

I actually made block A-2 first.  It's supposed to be 5" unfinished.  It's a little smaller than that.  So when I made block A-1, I thought I would be more careful and not sew over my little freezer paper pieces.  Block A-1 ended up to be 5 1/2" unfinished.  I trimmed it down a little, but if I trim it down too much, I'll lose the points of my triangles.  I may have to remake it or make some seams a little larger.  For now I'm leaving it alone -- until I figure out how to be more accurate, I don't want to be remaking any blocks.

Fabrics are Kona white for the background and Marmalade by Bonnie and Camille for the prints.

I've been using the freezer paper template method suggested in the book, but I may try to do some paper piecing on the next two -- see if I can be more accurate.  I should probably go read Anina's That Quilt blog and get some pointers from her.  I'll get better.  I do like the way they look, though.  I wonder if Jill has posted her blocks yet.

The Time Has Come

This is it!  This is the week.  Now, we all know that I'm really good at starting things, but not so good at finishing.  Jill, however, is good at finishing things.  Maybe she can keep me in line!

I'm going to start with the center squares and do the wedges last.  I am going to start at A-1 and go in order.  This will definitely be a long-term project, but with Jill in my corner, I have high hopes for its success.

You can see I'm have a FQ pack of Marmalade by Bonnie and Camille.  That is a bolt of Kona White for my background.  I plan to largely use the Marmalade, but I will pull from my other Bonnie and Camille scraps to match.  And I know that when their new line, Scrumptious, comes out, I will be snapping it up too!

See you Thursday with my two finished blocks, A-1 and A-2!

Friday Night Sew-In Results for April

My husband, the scoutmaster, and my son, the Life Scout, usually have a campout on the third Friday of each month. Not so this month, so I didn't have as much time as I wanted to sew this Friday. Here's what I did do.

Blocks for Rachel Griffiths' Pinwheel Sampler quilt-along. I'm all caught up now. Blocks are made with Aster Manor by Three Sisters for Moda and some Quilter's Only (idk what color).

Two weeks' worth of blocks for Anina's Pinwheel Party. Now I am caught up there as well. If I actually stopped joining quilt-alongs, I'm sure I could finish other stuff up on these Friday nights. Ah, well, quilting is quilting. I enjoy it all.

This is one of the 25 string blocks I have to make for ORB round 4, hosted by a different Heidi -- The Wild Circle Surprise. You may recall the wonky nine-patch blocks I made before for this quilt. I swear I'm never going to finish. One-and-a-half down, 23 1/2 to go. (Sigh.) And there's still curved piecing and appliques circles after this. I seriously hope I love this quilt if it ever gets done. Heidi did an amazing job designing this quilt. So involved.

(Edited to add: I have looked for a post with the wonky 9-patches and have been unable to find them. If you don't recall them, it's possible that the reason is that I never posted them here. Go figure!)

Quilt-alongs

Okay. So we already know that I take on too much and don't finish. But in my defense, there are some amazing, beautiful, and totally fun projects out there. Jill suggested that I make a post listing all of my quilt-alongs. I think this will be more for me than anyone else -- just so I can keep track. So here's the list. With links. Don't judge.

• Old Red Barn #4 -- Wild Circle Surprise
• Old Red Barn #5 -- Pinwheel quilt
• Oh, Fransson's Paintbox Quiltalong
• Anina's Pinwheel Party
• Rachel Griffith's Pinwheel Sampler
• Cathy's Charmed Whirligig

There are other quilts I'm working on, of course, but these are the quilt-alongs that I can think of off the top of my head. If there are others, I can't think of them now, and I'll have to post them later. I'm not at home, and I can't go check in the craft room. I'm sensing a pinwheel theme here. Anyone else? Feel free to quilt-along, although some are more done than others. (That's not to say that I personally am done, just that the quilt-alongs are done). Oh, and to be completely honest, I still haven't finished my second nine-patch for AmandaJean's one-a-day quilt-along. So I'm linking that too. I did abstain from this quilt-along, because let's be serious now. I would NEVER finish that one. I just know that. I'm in denial about the rest, though.

Edited to add: I forgot about one other quilt-along that I'm considering -- just to use up scraps, mind you. It's the postage stamp quilt-along that Heidi is sponsoring. I have a ton of strips to use up. I may never get to that string quilt!

Old Red Barn Co Quilt Along

I can't explain why this top is done and others aren't. I guess it's because of all the strip piecing. I'm feeling sort of "meh" about this one since there's just not that much contrast, but my oldest daughter keeps commenting on what a pretty quilt it is, so I guess it can go on her bed (although she shares a bed with my other daugher, and that one's not sure about it).

Now I need to figure out a back and get going on the quilting. I don't know if I want to just stipple or if I want to do diagonal crosshatching or something else entirely. Any suggestions?

Another BOM

This BOM was brought to my attention by my friend Kim. We are in month four. Month three is a monstrous amount of appliqued roses. Fortunately, it's machine applique -- although confessedly I'm better at hand applique, though quite a bit slower as well. Anyway, I haven't started the applique. I'm slightly afraid of it. But I am caught up with the piecing. It's being hosted by Applewood Farms.

Month 1

Month 2

Month 4

So I'm hoping that in June I can get caught up on all my quilt-alongs. I'm a little (a lot) behind on Amanda Jean's nine-patch one-a-day. I'm right on target with Old Red Barn Co. I need to do the roses for Applewood Farms. I'm a lot behind on Anina's Geese in the Forest, and we just started month 5 -- and it is a DOOZY! Seriously. It's gonna be fun, though. I am loving the paper piecing. How about the rest of you? Any plans for June?

One-a-day Quilt Along

So the reason I have so many quilt tops that aren't finished -- well, the reasons are many and varied, but one of the main ones is that I can't tell myself no. I see some project I want to do, and then I just do it. Just so you know, this was included in the 75 WIPs. I had already started this when I counted. Amanda Jean had a great idea to just do one nine-patch a day, and then in a couple of months you would have enough to do a whole quilt top. So I am actually caught up (till tomorrow when I will have to do another).

No, a girl can never have too many patriotic quilts. Seriously. I'll let you know if I ever get there. I just love the colors, and I love the Fourth of July. It's my second favorite holiday (after Thanksgiving) -- or maybe it's tied with Thanksgiving for first. Either way -- can't have too many patriotic quilts.

Plus, I have so many patriotic scraps that I have got to use them up somehow. = )

Saltwater Taffy

These colors just kind of make me think of saltwater taffy, so that's what I'm going to call this quilt. These are the blocks from the Oh, Fransson! quilt-along. I did mine a little differently than she did -- made it a little longer. She put six of the blocks on the back. I only have one left to go on the back, because I made the extra row.

I haven't put the back together yet. These were all from fat quarters and a few scraps, so I don't really have any coordinating yardage. I'm sure I can find something that's close, though. Gotta use up that stash! I actually love how this quilt turned out, and the blocks went together very quickly.

Oh, Fransson Quilt-Along

On the side I have this listed as a BOM, which technically it is not -- really more of a quilt-along. She posted something almost daily about it, I think. She did two quilts and is done with both of them. This is what my quilt looks like right now. I would have done two -- it's very quick -- but I actually couldn't come up with fabric combos that I wanted to do for a second one. Is that crazy or what? Too much to choose from, I guess.

So now I just have to add the white sashing, and we're to quilt top stage. Lovely. I need a designated quilter. = ) If you want to do this quilt, just click on the Mod Sampler Quilt button on the side of her blog!

Star Quilt-Along, blocks 10, 11, 12, and 13

I don't even know what week we're on. I think it's 11 now. Really? We started that long ago? I guess it was January. Anyway, I've finished all the blocks (except that I messed up #11 and am going to have to take it slightly apart to fix it). I need to do the setting blocks now as well. Jill is way ahead of me, but I don't have any kind of deadline for this thing. I do want to finish it, though, because remember -- that's what I'm doing this year -- finishing. I have to keep reminding myself of this, because I'm also starting quite a bit.

Block #10

Block #11

Block #12

Block #13

So I don't even have this on my list of in-progress quilts. I'll have to update that list. A number of the quilts on there are all finished as far as quilt tops go. They're just in queue to be quilted. I guess I need to make a separate list for that. Except that that list would seriously be like 60 quilts long. Seriously. I'm going to do another post today, because I actually have a little time. This may be it for the whole week, though. I hope not, but I seem to be averaging one post a week lately.

Star Quilt-Along, week 9

Only four more to go. I told Jill that I was okay with working ahead on this one, but I'm crazily involved in so many other BOMs that I'm not sure I'll have time to work ahead. I don't know. Feast or famine, though, so maybe I'll just plow through and git 'er done. I can't believe I just quoted Larry the Cable Guy.

Star Quilt-Along, week 8

Block 8. I'm caught up. Are you proud? I even have block 9 finished and ready for posting next week, and block 10 is cut out and ready to be made. I'm such a feast or famine kind of girl. I don't mean to be. I am not a slow-and-steady. I wish I were. Then I might finish more stuff. Maybe next week there will less pink and brown to show you and more of something else. I've been working on some stuff, but it's all still just in the block stage or the cut-out-and-not-remotely-put-together stage. Have a great weekend! Make something beautiful!

Star Quilt-Along, week 7

They're all starting to look the same to me. I hope I still like this when it's finished. I think I had better get started on the sashing blocks.

Star Quilt-Along, week 6

Yes, I am aware that it is now week 8. My husband took my camera to work with him for a week and a half, so that was part of the problem. The other part is that I have been working so much that I haven't had time to quilt or blog. So, I'm going to try to catch up pretty much in one day. We'll see if I get interrupted. So here's block six.

Star Quilt-Along, week 5

So, it's clear that I need to iron this. Again. I did iron it once, but my iron is having issues. If it has water in it, it just steams. The function to turn it off doesn't work, so I can either have a shoddy ironing job or burned fingers. You can see which one I chose.

The pink and white leaves are Max & Nobie for Moda. I think the line is just called Pink and Brown. Very apt name. The darker pink is just some scrap I found in the bag I'm pulling stuff from for my pink and brown Ohio Star quilt. I thought it matched well enough.

I'm sure you're sick of these block of the month blocks. I'll try to put something more interesting on here next. If I can find it.

As an aside, I have five boys and only two girls, so why on earth are most of quilts pink? My poor boys have to choose which girly quilt to snuggle under. They have their own boyish quilts, but those mostly stay upstairs. The ones that are in my quilt basket are pretty much all girly. Poor guys. I'll have to do something about that. Jill sent me all those great boy prints. Hmmm . . . (strokes chin) Have a fun day!

Star Quilt-Along, week 4

Once again, you'll have to check Amanda Jean's blog for the name of this block. Still haven't done my setting blocks. I guess I must not be as committed as Jill, who already has all the setting blocks done -- and probably the sashing too.

Star Quilt-Along, week 3

Ohio Star, love this block. No, I haven't started the setting blocks yet. I bet Jill is done with hers.

Star Quilt-Along, week 2

So maybe next week I'll beat Jill. She's a speed demon. Now, Jann, what's goin' on, girl! You can still catch up. C'mon. You know you want to!

Star Quilt-Along, week 1

When Amanda Jean did her Star Quilt-Along, I had not yet discovered her blog. However, since I want to do it, I asked a few of my friends if they wanted to do it with me. I am just going to show the blocks since Amanda Jean already did a great tutorial on the whole thing -- which is what I'm using. I used Max and Nobie fabrics for the prints and just something I've had a long time for the background -- just a very pale pink.

I have plenty of other stuff I've been working on, but January has not been as slow as one would expect it to be. I don't know why blogging has been so hard this month, but I'm going to try to do better at that. I know I said I was going to finish stuff, and I am. I am focusing on that list on the side of my blog. I'll get some updates on those quilts for you hopefully next week. I have to make two cakes today -- Bob the Builder for my son's 3rd birthday tomorrow and a baby shower cake for my friend for Saturday. Happy quilting!