Lesley, your quilt is awesome.

Holy moley! 16 yards? How big is this thing? That is an aweful lot of fabric.

That is a beautiful quilt, but it frighten me to death. Can't wait to see what others say. I am nowhere that good to challenge this.

oh Dear Jane....

why....oh why...is there no movie about you?

why....oh why...do they keep you a secret?

All over the world!

There are Dear Jane Quilts with memories of today and yesterday.

Too true. I ran the yardage estimator in the EQ Dear Jane software and am finding it hard to believe that the top alone takes 16 yards of sashing/background fabric. Surely that is impossible!?!

And yet, in the Newbie Info on Brenda Papadakis' Dear Jane site, she says:

How much background do I need?

In the book , I suggest 5 yards for the entire quilt. This is an error on my part. If you are hand-piecing, you will need about 8 yards. If you are machine piecing, I recommend about 15 yards. However, if you are foundation piecing, you will need about twenty. This information had been graciously provided by those who have made the top.

Things that make you go hmmm,
Janet

This is a brilliant site to learn a lot from. Anina has worked very hard to put all the tutorials on.
I am doing my DJ in Christmas material (Click on my link below to open it up if you would like to see my progress) I have just finished my 100th block !! I have no particular scheme, just random and using different backgrounds with a seasonal theme.
I have no idea about amounts to buy - I just buy a yard of material for backgrounds when I see fabric that will work and I have lots of FQ of Christmas fabric.
Good luck with your journey.

Re background fabric quantity: these estimates are good. With this quilt the pieces are small with some having more fabric on the underside in seam allowance than what shows on the top. The method used also effects the quantity. With hand piecing, since one sews seams "on the line" seam allowances can be scant. Keeping a 1/4" is not as critical as sewing on the seam line. To the other extreme foundation piecing uses larger chunks and then cuts to size producing waste. Over a quilt with so many individual pieces the differences add up.

DottyD, your piecing is exquisite. had you already lots of paper piecing experience when you started DJ? I have never paper-pieced and this is what is keeping me from starting my own DJ (that and I haven't figured out what color/fabric approach to take).

-- jillaine

my friend made a stunning dear jane using all kaffe fabrics... she recommends ordering all the solid fabric at once because the lots can be a little different.... she used kona snow also

I wonder if we should choose one representative block suitable for paper piecing (and learning paper piecing) and I will do a little photo-blog of tackling the construction as a noob paper piecer?

From the DJ site:
Suggested pieced blocks to start with: M-10, A-6, A-8, B-13, D-13 Applique blocks to start with: D-3, C-9, B-1, E-10 (the background is pieced, but this is a good place to start practicing your "melons").

What block would you experienced DJaner's recommend?


Regards,
Janet