Baby Jane update - April

Here's my first 24 blocks for my Dear Jane project. That's 14% of 169 blocks, yeah! The picture above starts with the first and ends with my latest. It's really fun to see them all together like this and I love the purples combined. You can see them individually on my flickr set.

Reflections:

• Using solids vs. prints shows every misplaced stitch and error to a greater degree, but I think the minor mishaps will be less noticeable in the quilt. I remind myself that Jane's was not perfect either.

• Four of the blocks are foundation paper-pieced. The simple ones were easy and I loved learning a new technique. But the hardest one, B-6 Wild Goose Chase (pictured 3rd, bottom row) caused as much grief as a wild goose chase. (I know my subject well, since we call the several dozen geese who take up residence near us each Spring the"Jerry Springer Geese" due to all the fighting, loud-mouthing and chasing each other.) B-6 progressed fine until the last few borders, at which point I noticed it was off-center. I may remake it at a later date, but with 39 pieces in a 4.5" block, I am glad to have one finished.

• Several participants are sashing one side of each block as they are sewn in order to save effort in the final construction. It's a great idea, but what color will my sashing will be? White, a shade of solid or printed purple, maybe even black or grey? I will probably wait until the end nears to decide.

• Finally, I am so glad to have a group of quilters of all skill levels (now 100+) to share in this project, especially such a talented and dedicated leader as Anina. It's great motivation, and many of their blocks are stunning. The variety of fabric choices is amazing. You can see blocks from the entire group at the Dear Baby Jane flickr group.