Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Dear Jane - you designed a beautiful quilt


I finished quilting a client's Dear Jane quilt about a week ago and posted some photos of the back over on Facebook. But I waited until I got permission from the client to post photos of the front.

This is a partial Dear Jane as the original has 225 patterns and 5,602 pieces. There were 169 4.5 inch blocks, 52 triangle border (sometimes called Christmas tree border) blocks, and the 4 kite-shaped corner blocks.

Jane made the quilt in 1863 and it was passed down through her family. A relative found it during the depression and because it was signed by "Jane A. Blakely Stickle", the relative sent the Dear Jane to Bennington Museum in Vermont. Magazine articles and books have been written about the quilt but I had never seen on in person until this one came into my studio.

I was a bit nervous to quilt this beauty. I have no advice for other quilters who may get a Dear Jane to quilt except to go slow and ditch the whole thing. It took me 32 hours to finish it. The object was to hide my quilting. I wanted Jane to be the star of the show.



I have posted several photos of the quilt from various angles so you can see how different the blocks are. It was an honor and a chore to quilt it.




My life has changed in the last couple of years - some bumps, I retired from quilting, and then I moved to Texas. I'm anxious to see what new adventures await me in the next phase of my life.

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Ramona, California, United States
I started quilting when a quilt shop opened in our little town in January 2004. I have been hooked ever since.

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Books I"ve read lately

  • The Help (Kindle)
  • The Appeal by John Grisham
  • Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
  • Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
  • To Kill a Mockingbird (again) by Harper Lee
  • Bleachers by John Grisham

This is called Fruit Cocktail

This is called Fruit Cocktail
It is all batiks