Well this is what happens when you ask the question "is anyone going to start another Dear Jane thread so those of us who haven't taken the DJ plunge yet can do so??"

This will mark the first topic I've started, so any assistance will be greatly appreciated. I actually started to post this yesterday. I 'searched' Jane Stickle quilt to find out where it was that the original is located and promptly lost my entire post :cry:
Ah well.

For those of you new to Dear Jane 'DJ' - the original quilt is located in the Bennington Museum in Vermont. It was made by Jane Stickle during the Civil War and has intrigued everyone who has ever laid eyes on it, in particular, a quilt artist and author by the name of Brenda Papadakis. She was given permission by the museum to copy the quilt and make patterns for each of the 225 blocks. To learn more about the quilt, Brenda, get pointers on every block and triangle, and see many DJs, you are encouraged to visit the official Dear Jane site:

http://www.dearjane.com/

Also, many questions you might have can be answered by browsing through the first dear jane thread [I warn you it contains over 400 pages]

http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-28063-1.htm

I have purchased much of the fabric I intend to use directly from Brenda, although I have been collecting other civil war reproductions over the past several years. Am I a 'purist' - not at all! maybe someday??

I will be starting the next DJ cyber block party in mid January, so do keep checking. I want to wait until after the holidays and have a couple of weeks to get myself together.

I may not post on this site every day between now and then, but promise to check in several times per week. If you have a specific question, you can always PM me - I will be checking my personal email daily and will answer you as soon as possible.

You may use whatever fabric you like - scraps are fine!! perfect in fact because Jane's quilt was made totally out of scraps as she did not have the luxury of the many LQS in fact most likely used swatches left over from her family clothing and drapery. I really don't know - Brenda would be the expert here.

What is required is either the Dear Jane book or software. These materials are copywritten and I want to make sure we abide by copyright rules on this thread. I have both - if you have neither, I recommend the software.

If I can find mine - I am told that the special DJ rulers make life much simpler. They are available at Brenda's site above, and also through softexpressions and amazon.

I do have a couple of questions... just to get an idea of the interest in this new project. No, I will not ask how many UFOs you already have. But I would like to know what speed you would like to proceed? I checked the other site and the first group did 4-5 blocks and triangles weekly and then had a catch-up week every 7th week. Besides that there were about two months set aside at the end of the 18months for joining the blocks, sashing, borders, etc. Personally, I have too many other things going on, other WIPs, DD with health problems, life in general, DGSs - 3 wonderful ones. I think for me it would make more sense to schedule 3 per week on a regular basis. Three/week will take 23 weeks without breaks - slightly more than 17months, or we can schedule a few breaks.

Another comment I have received from people on the first site is that the weekly block order was spread out all over the quilt so that it took some 'Janiacs' [DJ quilter] far too long to recognize their progress and the temptation to drop was great. I will try to figure out a schedule that we can either put together rows - or perhaps divide the quilt into 4 - 6 'sections' so that we can sew them together and have an actual work in progress to look at.

Looking forward to hearing from you - let me know if 3/week sounds good and give me an idea of whether you are thinking of joining us!

Added by QuiltnNan... the schedule posted/created by Cre8tvlwyr, can be found here http://www.quiltingboard.com/blocks-...ml#post4842992 , which is on this thread, post #698

i will be joining you. i think 3 per week sounds pretty doable. i am looking forward to picking up my DJ's and finishing them.

I'm so glad, Luv! We will be doing AOTH and DJ together [and you will be ahead of me in both :roll: ] Was block #20 the last one you did?? I've only done 8-11, 14, and 16 and now working on #17. I think I owe a few pics as well - I went back to my #8 block and added more embroidery around all the hearts.

This is a lovely idea, Cre - but I am a bit mystified about your 3 per week taking 23 weeks which would be 17 months??? Perhaps I misunderstood you.

It would be lovely if those who dropped out of the first one picked up with you and finally got theirs done. I do urge them to try, because it is the MOST incredible sense of achievement when you sew that last bit of binding down.

I would LOVE to participate. I will NEVER get 3 done a week with everything I have on my plate but I would still like to participate and will try my best to keep up. I like the idea of dividing the quilt into sections and working on the sections together. It will be fun see the color choices and progress along the way. Count me in and thanks for taking the lead!

I have been working on one at my own pace and may be joining in..may motivate me to keep up...

[quote=Lacelady]OOOOPs - yep that is what happens when you're not thinking...

One year plus 23 weeks.... :oops: I divided 225 by 3=75 -52wks = 23 :roll: ok...says I the normally math-wiz ahem...

correction janiacs - it will take nearly 18months at 3/week :)

Thinking about it, while I wait for book and software.

Would love to participate. I'll watch for your posts.

I would like to also join as I have a DJ IP (started but need the motivation to keep it at the top of my list).