An Hour With Dear Jane

The completion of my Chatelaine Sampler quilt, left a huge void in my quilting life. I missed sewing those little cuties and creating a masterpiece in a 6" block, so I went on a hunt for a new project. Years ago, I started a Dear Jane quilt in strong, dark country colours but that fabric palette no longer appeals to me, As much as I wanted to make a Dear Jane, I needed some fresh inspiration and a valid reason (haha), to completely restart this gorgeous quilt.
I found beautiful two colour Dear Jane's, which I loved, I found a lot of vintage inspired ones which were pretty and then I found a blog called That Quilt, which had a layout for a rainbow Dear Jane and inspiration struck:
Once I saw the layout of colours, my first instinct was to rush out and buy some new bright fabrics or a bundle of rainbow solids and get started. I had to stop myself because how will I ever use the fabrics I have in my stash, if I overlook them for each new project? I have some very pretty fabrics tucked away in the cupboard and I thought I could make them work in this quilt.
I think that's why I love samplers so much; they are meant to be scrappy and they tell their own story with the fabrics we use from the stash that we have accrued through our years of quilting.
I have chosen a scrappy palette of small print fabrics, for my rainbow inspired Dear Jane quilt:
I've allocated the first hour of each of my sewing days, to work on my Dear Jane quilt. You'd be surprised how much you can achieve in as little as an hour a day. Some days I piece, other days my hour is spent cutting fabric or drafting blocks. I'm redrafting each of the blocks as I go and I've decided to paper piece as much as I can, to ensure these little 5" (unfinished) blocks go together as precisely as they should.
I'm also preparing the applique blocks and popping them into individual plastic bags, so I can take them with me and work on them while I'm waiting for Cohen to finish school or while dinner is cooking.
I'm determined to finish one row of blocks at a time and then piece the rows together, as I complete them.  For my first attempt at this quilt, I worked on all the blocks that appealed to me first (aka the easy ones) and then I was left with all the harder ones. If a block takes two or three of my one hour sewing sessions to complete, that's perfectly fine, I'm in no rush and each one motivates me for the sewing day ahead.
My completed pile of Row A is small but I have all the applique ones prepped and I have the remaining three blocks cut and ready to sew over the coming days. I don't expect to complete this quilt quickly but I am going to enjoy each and every step of its journey.
Here's the look I'm hoping to achieve:
(Google image from Twiddletales)
It's a modern take on a beautiful, classic quilt and I love it. Hopefully mine will look just as pretty and colourful as the diagram, one hour at a time :)
Happy sewing :)

3 comments

  1. I have been admiring Dear Jane for a long time, I love your colour palette! I like the idea of an hour a day on a project like this...must put out some of my ufos and finish. Thank you for the inspiration :)

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  2. I took a long time working on the Dear Jane, although I'm slow. I'm glad we have another project together. Hugs

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  3. What a great project, I'll enjoy seeing your progress. I love the rainbow colors idea. Thanks for sharing, Guida.

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