Spring Break with Dear Jane

 Dear Jane Reality Check

My original plan for Dear Jane was keeping each color in their own bag which resulted in much hemming and hawing over which block to work on depending on whether I would sew by machine or hand.  For a long time Jane only came out when we had no electricity during hurricanes, road trips for swim meets, or longer break from work and I had more time on my hands.  Progress was extremely slow.

early January 2022

Over the Christmas break my strategy for Dear Jane changed drastically.   I hung a flannel backed tablecloth on the biggest wall in the guest room/office.  Then I emptied all the bags and placed the completed blocks in their correct position.  It fits rows A-J, which is good enough for now.   Wow!  I had a lot more finished that I had thought - and that inspired me!

Melons - my nemesis

The next change was to stop agonizing over which block to make.  How often had I paged through the book and thought and thought and not made a thing?  I had already made copies of each block so that I could use them as a base for paper piecing or cut up the individual pieces without destroying my book.  I removed all the copies of blocks that were complete and put the remaining copies in order. 

The biggest decision has been the most effective.  Whatever block is next in the stack of copies is made next regardless of level of difficulty.  This has been liberating!  

After making so much progress over the Christmas break I added Dear Jane to my monthly goals.  Well, once school started back up that just didn't work.  They turned out to be too complicated to do when I get home from work.  I feel that I need to give it more attention than I have on a work day.  So nothing got done until Spring Break.  But it was good to figure out that that is how it is going to be.

Not symmetrical, but good enough for now! 

So instead of working on an easier project during Spring Break, I focused on Jane.  I am over halfway and the end is in sight.  I even completed the dreaded G6 - the star in a star!

mid-March 2022 

We have a 4 day weekend for Easter and I am hoping to make some progress on Jane during that time.

Sapphire Jubilee Part 2 Complete!

Still no fabric in!  My sister gave me some thrift store rejects, but I rejected them also and will move them along.  It wasn't even cotton, so there was no temptation at all.

Sapphire Jubilee - mix of blocks from Part 1 and Part 2

Fabric Out: I finished Part 2 of the Quiltmaker Ruby Jubilee Mystery.  Since my stash is heavy on blues, my mystery is a Sapphire Jubilee.  I don't remember which blocks are Part 1 and which are Part 2, so this is a peek of what I have going so far.  There are some blocks that I question, but at this point I will wait and see when it all comes together.  I really need to get my flannel-backed tablecloth design wall hung back up.  Part 2 is a total of 1.22 yards.

Sapphire Jubilee Parts 1 and 2

Fabric In This Week: 0 yards

Fabric In YTD: 14.5 yards

Fabric Out This Week: 1.22 yards

Fabric Out YTD: 9.42 yards

Stash Movement: 5.08 yards in

Slowly headed in the right direction.

As far as time spent sewing ....... 

Last weekend was very busy with hosting the family for my sister's birthday.  Then Teacher E came for an overnight since it was her Spring Break.  I didn't get a stash report written, but I only missed one day of sewing.  

Prepping pieces to just pick up and sew is definitely a game changer.  I was tempted this weekend to sit and sew what I prepped Friday evening, but then I reminded myself that I would have nothing to sew when I was tired during the week if I did that.   I made a sample block for Part 3 of the Jubilee Mystery and then kitted up the pieces for the remaining blocks I need of that particular design.  At this rate I finish a set of blocks each week.

Days of at least 15 minutes of sewing this week: 7/7

Days of at least 15 minutes of sewing in March 30/31  and   April 8/9 

Days of at least 15 minutes of sewing in 2022: 75/85    88/99

Percentage: 89%

Linking up to Kate's Life in Pieces to share progress and stay accountable.

7 Years of Carnival Quilts

Another post that sat unpublished.  This is from early spring 2020.  These quilts will always be remembered since that Spring Carnival was the very last thing we did just days before we went on lock down and the entire world changed.  The quilts did eventually get to their winners.

Imagine my surprise when my new job paired me with Ms. D for whom I have been making Carnival Auction Quilts for the last 6 years!  We are "switch" teachers - I teach Reading and Social Studies, she teaches Math and Science and our homerooms switch mid-day.  So I had a built-in opportunity to have the kids in both homerooms make their signature blocks. 

I also took advantage of the slight lull in academics before Christmas and took in my sewing machine so the kids could actually sew part of the quilt.  They likened the experience to driving a car - some were cautious and some were reckless.  Overall, a very good experience. 

I had hoped to get the quilts made during the Christmas break, but that didn't happen.  Ms. D is for sure getting a new student after the break and there is a strong possibility that I will as well.  So I am holding off a bit.  I did get all the ironing and squaring up done. 

Tentative layout, but I'll make it be longer than wide.

The new student in the switch class throws off my original layout, but since all the hourglass blocks were made by the kids I don't want to change to sashing.  There are also 2 kids who never finished their blocks so holding out for them also.  I can add a block to represent the school if needed.  It will all work out.

My class added blue borders to their blocks as a built in sashing.  They had to think about it.  Odd numbers had short strips on the sides; even numbers had short strips on the top & bottom.  That way only the corners have to match and not each strip.  I kept them in their class order even though some of the same fabrics ended up next to each other.  I thought that the familiar order was more important for the kids than visually pleasing to me.  I'm not going to buy it - they are.  I did go ahead and sew them together leaving a space just in case.  If we don't get a new student I will put the block to represent the school on the front.  Since I have an associate (we are the "overflow" class) our blocks will go on the back to make the array work on the front.  There's no way I would get 4 new kids this month - is there??

The kids were very curious about why one class made hour glasses and the other class made sashing. I was able to talk about arrays and how the quilt has to make an array somehow in order to work.  Different numbers make different arrays.  They understood that and saw their math in action.  Win win!

D Quilt Finished

Sapphire Jubilee Part 1 is Complete!

No fabric it at all!!

Fabric Out: I finished Part 1 of the Quiltmaker Ruby Jubilee Mystery.  Since my stash is heavy on blues, my mystery is a Sapphire Jubilee.  I stressed a bit about the "right" colors when I first started, but now I am just going with what I've got.  It is a mystery after all.  Part 1 is a total of 1.2 yards.

Sapphire Jubilee - mix of blocks from Part 1 and Part 2

Fabric In This Week: 0 yards

Fabric In YTD: 14.5 yards

Fabric Out This Week: 1.2 yards

Fabric Out YTD: 8.2 yards

Stash Movement: 6.3 yards in

Slight improvement in the right direction.  I'll take it.

As far as time spent sewing ....... 

My work space was relatively clean and I had gotten the next blocks for my Sapphire Jubilee prepped and ready to sew.  That made all the difference.  Even when I was tired I could just sew one step and that was progress.  

Days of at least 15 minutes of sewing this week: 7/7

Days of at least 15 minutes of sewing in March 25/26

Days of at least 15 minutes of sewing in 2022: 75/85

Percentage: 88%

Linking up to Kate's Life in Pieces to share progress and stay accountable.

And the Winner Was ......

I followed the progress of the auction quilt online.  The class is different each year and it is hard to know how the families will respond.  This year was definitely a tougher sell.

After a slow start with no bids at all, I suggested they lower the starting bid from $100 to $60 to at least get some action going.  That did the trick.  It ended up going for $120.  Of course it is worth more than that, but since most of the supplies were purchased from thrift stores, it was mostly my time that went into it.  

No matter - it is a contribution to the school and the kids had a great experience sewing.  Administration sees my commitment and I can check that off my list for the year.  The winner definitely is deserving and will treasure it.  That's the most important part.

One year I offered a sewing lesson instead of a quilt and we made a pillowcase, but that 2 hours ended up being more stressful to me than making a cuddle size quilt.  We'll see how I feel next year when the carnival comes around again.  I always say no more, but then I do it anyways!

Spring Break Stash Report

Fabric In: More unloved fabric was rescued from getting thrown away at the thrift store for not getting sold during their time.  It was mostly bits & bobs with a few slightly larger pieces, but all useful.  When I was cleaning up my work space I worked on getting my stack of recent scraps trimmed up and worked into my Scrap Users System and got that stack mostly take care of as well.  Too random to measure so my guess is 1.5 yards.

Scraps headed into the Scrap Users System!

Fabric Out: Since we have stopped making masks (over 7,000 made and donated in 2 years!) I am starting to deal with the mask stash.  My sister has a co-volunteer at the thrift store who knows a group who needs 1 yard or larger pieces for a project.  I went through and pulled several good sized pieces I was unlikely to use myself.  I am curious what their project is.  I am envisioning the 3-yard quilts.  As I clean and organize and get more into the "no more mask making" mindset I'll keep pulling for them.  I am glad to find a local project to support.  Since the mask stash is separate, that does not count in the report, but it felt good to do.

Best $1.25 I have spent this year!

Much sturdier than the original plastic bag.

Actually out of my stash is a drawstring carry bag for our classroom "Game of Graces."  I got this at the thrift store about the time we were studying Florida pioneers at school.  It is more of a Colonial game which is not really early Florida, but the kids got the idea of playing without electronics.  They love it and play it at recess and even in the hallway while waiting to be called for dismissal.  (We are at the end of the hall and have high ceilings, so that's not as bad as it sounds!)  I dug through my heavier weight fabric and came up with this.  Now I won't worry about accidents from carrying around pointed sticks!   0.7 yards out (+ a drawstring & toggle from the mask supplies)

Fabric In This Week: 1.5 yards

Fabric In YTD: 14.5 yards

Fabric Out This Week: 0.7 yards

Fabric Out YTD: 7 yards

Stash Movement: 7.5 yards in

Not the direction I'd like, but still recoverable with a finish or two or three!

As far as time spent sewing ....... 

Since it was Spring Break I got to sew every day.  Even the day Little S and I went to Savannah to visit Teacher E I was able to sit with my feet up and do the hand stitching on a Dear Jane block when we got back.  I had hoped to get work prepped to make it easier during the coming week to sew, but that didn't happen.  Actually, everything that I did prep got used as leaders and enders between the Dear Jane blocks I worked on.  Maybe today I'll prep some more.  I finally got my work space cleaned up, so that should make it easier to get things done as well.

Days of at least 15 minutes of sewing this week: 7/7

Days of at least 15 minutes of sewing in March 18/19

Days of at least 15 minutes of sewing in 2022: 68/78

Percentage: 87%

Linking up to Kate's Life in Pieces to share progress and stay accountable.

Dear Jane Hunkers Down

As I was updating my Dear Jane progress I found this post from November 2017 that had never been published.   It was interesting to read my thought process back then.   

We had quite a long advance notice that Hurricane Irma was on her way.  After I got food and essentials prepped and ready I got some Dear Jane blocks prepped.

B 11 Melissa's Cross

The remaining blocks that need hand stitching also need some machine sewing as part of their prep. I got as many prepped as I could without agonizing over fabrics etc.  Slow and steady.  

B 11

Last year during Hurricane Matthew I just grabbed the book and some fabrics and that was not the most effective way to do it, but we did not have much notice then before we evacuated.  After that experience I got my Dear Jane blocks organized by color so I know if I have a repeat or not and I made photo copies of each block pattern so I don't have to flip back and forth in the book choosing what I want.   Every color has its own ziploc bag with finished blocks, pattern copies, and potential future fabrics.  This system is working much better for me.

I did a few blocks in the summer when I was working on organizing and in a slump as far as time for sewing.  But this was a real test of how it would work in a pinch.

Sure enough, I picked a few that needed minimal machine sewing prep before the hand stitching.  Picked a fabric and got it ready.  Easy peasy.

I was so tired after a restless few nights of anticipating the hurricane and then listening to howling wind and rain that I didn't get all of them done, but that's okay.  I will do the remaining machine sewing at some point to finish these few up and that's progress.  And I have a few prepped if I need a hand sewing project in the future.

So for the second time in less than a year Dear Jane goes through a hurricane!