First Day of Jane

Today my mom and I started our very first Dear Jane quilt.  This has been a project we've been thinking about for several years and had been waiting for mom to retire before we started.  Tomorrow will be her 1 year anniversary of retirement...time to get busy!

We purchased the book, "Dear Jane" by Brenda Papadakis, as well as the EQ software.  The software has come in very handy as it allowed us to lay out our colors within the blocks before we started cutting and sewing.  With 225 blocks, triangles and corners, this project will take us more than a year and a half to finish, so organization is a must!  We will never do this one again!


I've made up a schedule to keep us on track.  We are meeting weekly on Wednesdays to go over our assignments for the week and discuss any new techniques.  There will be three blocks, triangles or corner kites to do each week.  This week our blocks are M-8 Enchanted Square, K-9 Scout’s Honor, and I-9 Chase A Myth. 

Today was a little slow as Mom was still fussing with her layout and I didn't have background fabric yet.  So we did some online research, ate THREE cookies, dropped in on a couple of quilt shops, and had lunch.  All in all a not so productive day, quilt-wise!  But now we are ready to move ahead!

We've decided a bolt of 20 yards will be needed for the background and that is hard to find!  I found some lovely cottons through one of my distributors, and have placed an order for 2 bolts of Parchment for my background and the backing for both quilts, 1 bolt of Black for Mom's background.    

My quilt will be in neutrals, as I have always wanted to work on one with the colorway.  Mom's is black and white with red highlights.  Both are unique and show our individual style!  They are the same, yet different and completely suited to us!

I've been researching blogs and websites and hope to link the most useful ones here along with our progress and pictures. 

I hope you'll enjoy our journey with Jane, and all our other adventures at Alpaca Flats!