Another 4 Dear Jane blocks and some hand sewing...

G-13 (machine pieced 9 patch, hand applique circles)

...is what I've been doing in the way of quilting lately. This batch of four Dear Jane blocks took a little longer than the last four but they are now finished and I am pleased with the way they turned out. When I started this project more than 12 years ago I wasn't working full-time and had much more time to practice my craft. Some of the blocks were challenging but I didn't have any doubt I could tackle them all.

The last seven years haven't provided as much time to practice and when I pulled this project back out I didn't know how or where to start. Fortunately, I am finding that quilting is a little like going back to roller skating. You are rusty, fall down a lot but eventually it starts to come back and you start gliding along. This week's blocks were a little more challenging but I didn't have any real disasters and only had to recut part of B-10 (below).

B-10 (hand pieced, used 1/8" seams for tiny middle part)

This group involved a mix of techniques including machine piecing, hand piecing and hand applique. Notice there wasn't any paper piecing? I am currently choosing blocks I can do without even thinking about paper piecing them. Once burned and all that...

G-1 (hand pieced, curves and all!)

On G-1 I attempted hand piecing curves for the first time ever. I am going to avoid those for a bit, as well. After the first one I kind of figured out a system and they did lay flat when finished. But it was dicey.

K-9 (rotary cut and machine pieced)

This was my easy block of the set. I rotary cut all the pieces and sewed them on the machine. Whipped that puppy up in about 30 minutes.

My favorite time of day is turning out to be when I climb into bed at night and get comfortable propped up on pillows with one under my knees and my hand sewing on my lap. I keep little prepared pieces that are parts of my now FOUR hand piecing projects in my little green sandwich box and am ready to stitch anywhere and anytime. In addition to the hand sewing, I have my iPad and earphones and both seasons of Downton Abbey to watch while stitching. Is that a little slice of heaven or what?!

Dear Jane weekend

D-6

I remedied my block blunder from earlier this week and finished another D-6 in a fabric I like.

D-7

And, I managed a little forward momentum so I kept working on Dear Jane blocks this weekend and finished D-7 (also hand pieced).

E-8

I am avoiding paper piecing but not machine piecing. Rotary cutting E-8 and I-3 and machine piecing enabled me to finish four whole DJ blocks this weekend. I now have 25 finished blocks. If I make three DJ blocks a week I'll have the center blocks finished in a year. But, seriously, I predict one more week of DJ progress and then, fickle me, I'll be lured away by other projects.

I-3