Fabric requirements for Dear Jane
 

Hi all :-)

I'm currently in the planning stages of a baby Jane quilt. I am really struggling with deciding how much fabric to buy! Because it's likely to take me a looooooong time, I want to make sure I buy all the fabric from one bolt, to avoid any dye lot issues, or take the chance that the fabric isn't available if I run out. I can just imagine myself being about 4 blocks from finishing and running out!

The book states that you need 5 yards of background fabric. Then the dear Jane website says that's wrong and you need 8 yards if handpiecing, 15 if machine piecing and 20 if foundation piecing!

I'm planning on handpiecing the lot (am I crazy? I might be!), so that means I need 8 yards of background fabric.

I'm going for a black background with purple as the main colour and some bright pink for a little pop. I originally planned to just use one purple fabric throughout, but I haven't been able to find any info anywhere on how much to get! One site said that you can make a block from 2-3 charm squares of fabric. I did a calculation based on this and came up with 10 yards for the purple, but that seems like it might be overkill?

I guess the other option is to use various purples and then I can just buy it a fat quarter at a time, but I quite like the idea of one black and one purple throughout, with a bit of variation in the pinks.

Is anyone who's made a baby Jane able to help me decide how much to buy?

Sorry that was a bit long!

I used mixed neutrals for my background and went through approximately 15 yards.
I used a group of 6 (I think) fabrics for the blocks.
All from stash.
If you have the DJ EQ program my double sided Jane is on it, along with my journal and 'toid tins.

It took me 3 months to piece the top and I used all techniques except fusible.

Oh my goodness, it's such a lot of fabric! I had wondered if the requirements had been over exaggerated, but I think with this one I'm going to have to err on the side of caution and buy lots!

At least I've started planning now, so I have plenty of time to save up for the fabric!

I've asked for the software for my birthday, which is next month. Looking forward to having a play around with colours and fabrics before I start!

:-)

Background fabric
 

Green Fairy Quilts has very good prices on 15 yard bolts of Moda Bella solids with free shipping.

Thanks, Mdegenhart, but I'm in the UK, so I don't get free delivery and I'd get hit with a load of tax at this end. I've managed to find a decently priced bolt of black in the UK though :-)

The yardage listed in the book is grotesquely under stated. I hand piece, bought 10 yards of fabric for the background, and still came up short. Ended up having to buy another yard of a different fabric for the sashing. 12 to 15 yards would be a safe bet. I have no idea how much of the prints I bought, that I had yards of left over.

The best advice I can give you for gauging how far a charm square, or fat quarter will go is to make a couple sample blocks. I mean it wouldn't hurt to get a handle on how you're going to make it in the first place. Just pick a couple of the easier blocks and test it. I admit I went through a couple different fabric ideas that way. The pieces are very small and it helped me see how prints in particular read in such small sizes.

That sounds like some excellent advice CynDiane! Thank you!

The deal I have found for the background fabric is for 15 metres, so 16ish yards, so hopefully I'll be safe on that front! I'm so glad I read the bit on the website that said the book gave the requirements incorrectly, otherwise I'd have bought 5 yards and run out pretty early on!

i can't wait to see this with a black background! you have chosen some smashing colors to go along with it! did you know there is a thread on the board about the DJ progress members have made? also, if you search Dear Jane in the little white box at the top right of the home page, you will see other threads as well -- great pictures!

http://www.quiltingboard.com/blocks-...e-t242591.html

some of those blocks with many small pieces used a lot more fabric than I thought they would!

If you have any fabric left over, you could make a matching pillow.

It takes so much fabric because the pieces are tiny and each piece has 1/4 seams. That is an inch of fabric hidden in the back just on a 1 inch square :)
Thinking about this thread brought me to a post this week on April 23 on my quirkeries blog. About finally letting go of my Jane Kit :)

Please enjoy the journey and the company!