Clarification re Dear Jane

After all the encouraging comments from the last post, I decided to read it again and realized how muddled it was. Sigh. The photo is the Dear Jane queen-size quilt that I completed a few years ago. The quilting on it is perfect because I sent it out and it was done by computer/long arm -- and it cost a bundle so it should be perfect!

A triangle border normally goes around a Dear Jane, but I didn't put them on mine. However, I decided to make them, all 52 of them. They are now done, but in different colors than this DJ quilt and in a setting and quilt all of their own. I'm calling it "Dear Jane and Her Edgy Friends." It is about 60+ inches square, sort of. If you go back a few posts, there are some pictures. It is two colors and I did a good job of the triangles. The quilting on it is what I'm not happy with. I did part on my HQ 16 and part on my DM (the detailed work in the triangles). It has taken so long, and I just want it done. It had been in my UFO pile for too long, causing lots of procrastination. So I determined to do nothing else until it is finished. Sigh... only 25 more triangles to quilt and then the binding and label.

Thanks to all for the cheerful and encouraging comments. It is great to be a quilter (even when I wish I could wrinkle my nose and this one would magically be totally completed!)

Slugging away...

Since I've been busy quilting Dear Jane and Her Edgy Friends and not posted for ages, here is a photo of my Dear Jane with the 169 blocks. As you can see, I didn't lay it out or make it in the traditional manner. This works for our spare room queen bed.

I thought maybe I'd do another one sometime, but now that the border triangles are done (didn't put them on the first one) and the resulting top is being quilted, that might be abandoned. This pattern seems to take forever. So does the quilting, partly because I'm putting lots of stitches on it. I'm not happy with my workmanship, but that is what seeing computer quilting does to you... perfection, no skipped stitches, etc. After beating myself up and suffering from green-eyed monster bites, I've decided that the Dear Jane slogan is correct after all: Finished is Better than Perfect! I can live with that.

Quilting in the Rocky Mountains

Today we are in Banff. It is misty and cold, but my husband is golfing and I brought my light Janome Jem Gold. (I wish Bernina made one like this?) I will be working on a Cynthia England piece which I call my "insanity quilt" (sorry, Cynthia, but those pieces are so small I may be asylum-ready by the time it is finished)!

This photo is another "insanity quilt" -- my version of Dear Jane. It took three years to make, plus the support of a wonderful group at Earthly Goods. Without them, I may have quit. The blocks are 4.5" square, sashing is narrow with ittsy-bitsy corner squares. This is just the top. I did have it quilted (long arm, turned out nice) but haven't taken another photo yet. More about the worldwide Dear Jane phenomena here.

Funny thing about this quilt -- I learned or practiced almost every piecing technique known, enjoyed the others in that group, and sometimes think (in my weak moments?) that I'd like to make another one. Oh, my!

Actually, the triangles that go around the outside in the original are in my UFO pile. I've designed a smaller quilt that uses all of them, and hope to finish it one of these days.