You go, girl! I'm starting to look for backing fabric and also thinking about what to use for the plain triangles. I like the way Lacelady's finished DJ looks with using her background fabric for the plain triangles....it really sets off the pieced ones. But I also like Jane's original plan. Hmmmm....plenty of time to figure it all out.

great !!! I'm just starting -- 3 blocks as of last night -- I admire you

I love ther fact that we are "starting" this all over with new people!!! Hooray on you guy's progress. Before you know it, you will be so hooked on these little blocks that you will want to eat, sleep & breathe DJ blocks. Right, Patti?

Yup...you're right Kathy! And the more blocks you do...the more you want to get done! You GO GIRLS!

It is only now that I have stopped working on the blocks that I realise just how addicted I had become to making them. My family must have thought I was mad! Funny isn't it!!

The "Affairs of the Heart" group grew out of our endless energy of needing to keep going & keeping the group together! There was a period of adjustment & almost a sense of loss when we were finished with the tops. The other ladies have machine quilted their Baby Janes, but I an hand quilting as I hand pieced the top according to just the book. I didn't have the software. Found the group when I was about half-way done with the blocks. Didn't want to change lanes in the middle of the highway, so finished it up. Had to stop quilting on it around March or April as it got too hot to quilt. It only got hotter! I hope to get back to it around Thanksgiving - should have cooled down by then - maybe!

Congratulations!

I hand quilted mine Kathy, I did the blocks as I went along, with just block and batting (no backing) then when everything was assembled, I quilted in the ditch (by hand) to attach the backing to the front.

Oh, that's right. I'm sorry, Les! This ol' addlepated brain sometimes completely forgets the facts! AND she did a beautiful pattern on her plain triangles, too. I suppose I will have to decide about what to quilt there around Christmas.

LOL...mine was hand quilted too Kathy- did it the "Lesley way!"...but no matter, you'll have fun getting back to yours when it FINALLY does cool down for you.

I laid in bed for ages puzzling out how to do it that way, but I doubt for one moment that mine was an original thought, I am convinced it will have been done before. This coming Sunday is the day I put it in the 'big' Show, so it will be interesting to see if I get any comments about the quilting from the judges.

I'll report back on Monday.

I bet you will win Lesley. Good luck! I'll be interesting in the comments on the quilting too.

OK, just where was my brain when you guys were finishing up? I guess I got confused with what was machine pieced & hand quilted - big time! Sowwy!

ADDICTED!!! US??? Way to go Karen. Yes, all kinds of choices. I even cut out some plain white tri's and thought about going that way. I let her lay for a couple days and thought about it. then went with the colors. Just like the quilting. it's my own. not like anyone elses. A lot of QITD.
And I Prefer not to 'over' quilt her.

Don't worry Kathy, you were probably in the throes of getting your blocks done.

Yes, I think that was it!

Sew...I didn't want to "over" quilt this one either. I have lots of QITD, but then tried to follow the quilting in the book quite a bit. The software didn't show the quilting as well as the book did, so I bought it at the end!

yes, thank you for the reminder. i will look at the book to see what was done there. canning golumkies today. my own, quick t.v. dinner thing.

Oh dear...dare I ask???? What are golumkies???

polish food--stuffed cabbages. in tomatoe sauce.

Oh....DH says sounds pretty good!

sounds like wonderful food to me!

I used to make them when I lived in Massachusettes, but when the boys came along, they didn't like them. I didn't can them - just made them fresh. They are really yummy. Don't know if the boys have aquired a tase for them or not as they both married German girls, so they probably have that in their food heritage.

OK, now, I'm hungry for some.

Here I am, just before going to bed after a long day, to announce that I won! Mind you, there wasn't anything like the competition that I thought there might be, but all the same, I am tickled pink. I have a beautiful red rosette, and my first prize was a Brother Innovis machine - Not hugely expensive, but good to have as a back up machine.

THAT IS SO AWESOME.

congratulations Lesley

WooooHOoooooo! Not a surprise to me at all Lesley! Congrats on the Very Well Deserved ribbon! What a cute little machine!

Yippee. congrats. and your BJ is beautiful. and a new sewing machine. do you need it, or do you get to pass it on to a D or GD, etc. i quilted a few blocks tonite. mine could never win a ribbon. trust me.

Such a pretty smile, Les!!! Goes so well with a pretty lady! I'm so happy for you. Does your Innovis do any embroidery?

No, Kathy, it's more of an entry level one (Innovis 10) but it would make a good back up - though I will probably end up giving it to DD and my two DGDs. Still I am not sniffing at it, I have never won anything on this scale, so I am still grinning the day after. And I am delighted with my ribbon, I've never had one of those either.

Thank you everyone for you good wishes. I hope my success will spur you all on to get your Janes done and out there in the big wide world. Go forth and win your ribbons too!

Congratulations, Lesley! Well deserved recognition for a most beautiful Dear Jane! Karen

well done Lesley. You have some lovely colours in your quilt. Do you quilt on an ordinary sewing machine or do you have a longarm?
LindaC in Dublin

congratulations!! a beautiful quilt and I like the way you put the blocks to make a TATW design

Lesley, I am so thrilled for you, I bet your heart was beating fast when you went to see. That sewing machine ought to be put on a huge pedestal for everyone to see forever. And a rosette - I have ALWAYS wanted one of those!! Well done! Does it go onto another level or was that the height?

My Jane is hand quilted, but I bought an HQ Sweet Sixteen Sit down last November, so I am now thoroughly spoiled with all that space in the harp, whilst still being able to sit down.

Me too - the rosette was the icing on the cake - I have seen so many here on the board and I never thought I would get one. The show I entered in I understand is the biggest in Ireland (I won with Jane about a fortnight ago at a smaller local one, but I only got a small, postcard sized winners card for that). But these are actually agricultural shows, with craft sections in them - anything from cakes, flower arranging, knitting, crochet, art, photography etc. I suspect those were added over the years to give the farmer's wives something to do whilst their DH's were busy keeping an eye on the cattle and sheep classes.

There are one or two quilting ones I might be able to enter if I can get to them - I might try one of those if I can find out where they are. It's probably too late this year now.

Congratulations Lesley! That was well deserved- your Jane is beautiful, and an inspiration to the rest of us to keep sewing away to get our's done! Your prizes will surely add to the interesting history of your Jane. I'm going to get back to mine now~Happy Sewing!

I highly recommend that you all quilt your jane the way lacelady has suggested. i have picked the hard way. so, don't you all.

Congraulations Lesley!! What a beautiful quilt. Did you quilt each block as you went along or did you wait until the entire quilt was finished.

Here is a pic of my JJ (Jane's Journey) back in October when I was basting it for hand quilting. I'm about half done quilting the center blocks, then the heat rose too high for quilting, so I'm waiting for much cooler weather.

Here is some info re quilting:
rhueluna wrote:
So, if you quilted each block as you went along, how does it look on the back? Just curious. I am doing mine in 3rds. I wonder if Jane Stickle did hers that way too. Then how did you add the scallops on the edges? I don't recall you saying you did them that way, but another person told me you did. Interesting.


You can find out how I quilted each block as I went along here:
http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-28063-214.htm
Then I posted a pic of the back here:
http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-28063-266.htm

Re the scallops, I waited until I had a completed top, all quilted just through the batting, then I added all the strips of scallops that are individual pieces (as per the software), and backed them with batting. Finally I basted on the backing, quilted in the ditch around all the blocks and my pieced triangles, and quilted through all the layers on the scallops, before binding. Not a conventional way, but I had intended originally to quilt in the ditch by machine, as it was going to be all straight lines. In the end, I thought it was worth the extra effort to do all that by hand so that the whole thing was hand quilted. Going round the blocks was the hardest part for me, as it was the most boring. Lesley

Kathy it looks brilliant - I hope it cools down for you soon, so you can get back to it and finish it.