T16.BR-1, Rosemary's Rainbow

T14.RS-11, Hills of Jerusalem

I modified this a bit by omitting the outer border edges and just making the whole block a little longer. I started by fussy cutting that top diamond which was cute and easy enough but you know, once you fussy cut one thing you start doing all of them and then it takes forrreeevvveeerrrrrrr. : )

Prepifestivus!

Piles and Piles of Pattern Piece Pages

So... I was at my Dear Jane bee yesterday and what do I find sitting on the table tucked behind the lemonade, leaning against the wall all unobtrusivelike? A humble paper bag stuffed with a big old pile of paper, the word "Free" scrawled across it in black magic sharpie. I hesitantly peek inside and lo and behold?? Can we all join hands, rock back and forth and say... JACKPOT?? piles and packets and parcels of pre-printed Dear Jane pattern piece pages... ppppppppppppppp As if that wasn't great enough, many of them were printed on what appears to be Carol Doak foundation paper. : ) yeee haw! I double checked with the hostess and sure enough, she said they were cast-offs from a previous incarnation of a Dear Janer group and we were free to take and use. Once I culled through it, it turned out there were about 100 patterns - just about half of the 225 needed for this project... about $10 worth of specialty paper, about $10 in ink (I swear, that friggin ink!) and of course HOURS of labor. Boy, was I happy. It was like Christmas for a quilter! : )

the loot!

the pile included three complete sides of triangles for a total of 39 block patterns...
here I am referencing my triangle directory (sorted by side)

I highlighted the triangles I got printed patterns for in this windfall...
Since I had already printed some of the top row, it looks like
I just have about 5 or 6 to print and I'm done with triangles.

This is my view inserting each pattern into a page protector
(see the new, giant box of 200 back there?) After a year of working
on this quilt I am almost done with prep. Oh, ok - I still have to cut out
all of these friggin patterns... : )

...and the final prep stage - the cut pattern pieces ready to go...

Storage and Binderization:

It started with one binder. I was all cocky with my fancy one-touch binder and my page protectors and my tabbed divider pages and binder geek accessories. (binder geek right here). I heard people in.the.know saying you need 2 or 3 binders for this gig. Sure enough, now I'm up to three and contemplating a fourth. I have a generic, general one. And then I have two enclosed/zipper binders - one for triangles/corners and one for the regular blocks. Since the one for regular blocks is basically maxed out with just the pattern pieces, and only about 25 blocks, I am going to have to make another move. The other thing I wanted to do was have a work/portable case. One of the binders would be great for that since they zip up. The work case would have a couple blocks' worth of patterns & fabric, a small cutting board, sandpaper board, and misc. supplies. So yeah, I guess I probably need to buy TWO more binders for a total of 5. This is an undertaking, man, I tell you. But I'm loving every minute of it. The other thing I need to get on top of is keeping track of fabrics used. I have been setting them aside and cutting some swatches, but I have already goofed this up a few times and I need a system.

T06.Christmas in June - aka TR-5, Michigan Dunes

Christmas in Juuu-uuune... doodoo do dooo dooooo. Here's what you get for making Christmas ornaments in June. You get bitten by the Christmas bug. what?! Well, one block and it's out of my system 'til October. Probably be useful to keep it around through the summer and get all the Christmas gifts made now instead of sweating it out late and not making it like usual. Now that's a chilling thought.

I indulged myself with this - with a fun block and two of my all-time favorite fabrics... and for this fabric junkie, that's saying something. Flash robs her of her beauty, but this is really a beautiful print - both of them really. And together, they're very happily matched.

The irony of it all is after making ma-aaaany of these, assembly-line style, and perfecting the method, I screwed up the big one and had a hell of a time getting the points to match. But I beat it into submission eventually. Only issue is it's a little shy on the Dear Jane ruler and a bit wonky to boot. Sometimes I think when the time comes to assemble these triangle rows, by the time I get to the end they will be laying on their side. Talk about cold sweats... But moving on... Onward and upward!

One of my favorite fabrics of all time. L o v e it.

This guy too.

T03.Checkerboard

 

Block name: Checkerboard
Jane's Addicted block name: Muddy Bubbles
Original position: TR3
Jane's Addiction position: tbd
Fabric/foreground: Judie Rothermel
Fabric/background: Jo Morton
Color Group: brown
Wave: triangles

Date started: 10/27/11
Date finished: 10/28/11
Time: 5?
Pieces: 31
Method: paper piecing
Notes: did 1/4" s/a on the main seams, 1/8" on little, interior seams. Redrew the section where the checkerboard doesn't line up. Ripped out at least 10 seams...

4.5" blocks: 7
Triangles: 3
Kites: 0
Total blocks: 10
Total number of pieces: 235

wow, this thing has a lot of rows

just keeps going...

oopsies

and going...

beautiful couple of days

T02.Bennington Cross

...still needs to be trimmed down.

Block name: Bennington Cross
Jane's Addicted block name: Stands with a Fist!
Original position:
Jane's Addiction position: tbd
Fabric/foreground: Jo Morton
Fabric/background: Jo Morton
Color Group: brown
Wave: triangles

Date finished: 10/22/11
Time: 3-4?
Pieces: 36
Method: paper piecing
Notes: did 1/4" s/a on the main seams, 1/8" on little, interior seams. Had to redo the top 1/2 of the cross a few times to get it lined up vertically with the lower half.

4.5" blocks: 7
Triangles: 2
Kites: 0
Total blocks: 9
Total number of pieces: 204

Watching "Cyrus" and now Dances with Wolves...

it's the cute booty shot.

perfect movie to watch
while making this great teepee shaped block.