Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Row Tips
A
A2, One-Two Buckle My Shoe
A7, Dad’s Plaids
A10
A-11, Pebble’s Protest
B
B2 Sweet Tater Pie
B3 Mirror Image
B11, Bachelor’s Buttons
C
C-4,Tic Tac Toe
C5, Eye of the Needle
C8
D
D2, Mouse in the Mirror
D3, Jason’s Jacks
E
E-1, Aunt Exie’s Phlox
E-2, Merry May
E-3, Paddle Wheels
E-4, Buffalo Tree Hopper
E-5, Rising Sun
E5, Rising Sun
E-6, Michelle’s Medley
E-7, Bread Basket
E-8, Mama’s Maze
E-9, Quilt Jail
E-10, Five & Dime
E-11, Wagon Wheel
E-12, Mary Ruth’s Corset
E-13, Moth in a Web
F
F1,
F2, Kaleidoscope
G
G4, Shutterbug
G6, Papa’s Star
A.Center star
H
H2, Jacob Anthony
H3, Berry Basket
H13, Hannah’s Hearts
I10, Iris’ Medallion
I12, Fred’s Square Fair
I 13, Sweet Harmony
J
J2, Picture Perfect
J-3, Rick’s Volleyball Net
K
K-7, Rose of Sharing
L
L10,Nan’s Naiad
L11, Caitlin’s Rose
M
M1
M4,
M5, Mother’s Point
M13, Lynette’s Diamond
Tris
LS2,
RS3, Epicentre
Marilyn’s Triangle Agony
Sashing
Scallops
Lists of blocks –To Appliqué, That are Easy, etc.
Where Do I Begin?
Linda’s DJ Journey
Freezer Paper
Quilt Restoration
Basting Tips
Civil War Info
Johnny Clem the Drummer Boy of Chickamauga
The Siege of Vicksburg
Fabrics
Civil War fabrics
DJ Background Fabric Comments
Yardage for DJ Fabrics
DJ Journals & Record Keeping
Organizing all this Crazy DJ Mail!
DJ Hand Piecing tips
Hand piecing curves – Linda Franz
Special Pressing:
hand piecing questions
Appliqué tips, collected from the DJ list
Appliqué Instructions for block M-7 and I-5:
Needleturn
Appliquing Batiks tips:
An appliqué tip to offer for the “melons.”
One of my favorite tips is for the handle of Rebecca’s Basket.
Appliquéd sharp points.
Reverse Appliqué instructions:
Helen for Hobart’s Method
DJ Machine piecing tips
Foundation Piecing
Brenda Brayfield’s Paper Piecing Method-testimonial from Linda
Good References
Hand Quilting
Advantages of Stab-Stick Hand Quilting
Supplies for Hand Quilting
Machine Quilting
Links to Others’ Sites and pictures
Linda Franz
Running a home based quilting business.
Opinions on Various Quilting Products
Needles
Batting
Mountain Mist Gold
Quilt frames
Ulmer Quilt Frame
Sewing Machines
Elna
Bernina
Treadle Sewing Machines
FWs- Their care and maintenance
Small Machine Quilter
Thread
Silk Thread
Notions
Spray Basting
Software
BOM’s
Q & A
Does anyone Know
Quilting Wish List
Redwork
Tricks for Quilting
Scanning Pattern-Making sure they’re not backwards
Freezer Paper in the Printer
Sandboard – how to make one
Signing Tips
DJ Clothing
Monkey’s Diamond Tote Bag for Dear Jane Friends/Friends
Pincushion Quilt
Sewing Rooms
Fiction
The Jane Society card
The Dear Jane Tote Bag
DJ Get Together
Letters from Brenda
Good Mornning Sticklers!
Instructions for The Traditional Dear Jane Siggie Swap
Making Pillowcases
Pillowcase
Removing Silly Putty
Row Tips
A
A2, One-Two Buckle My Shoe
I have A2 all cut out ready to sew, all 40 pieces of it!, & I understand your pain. I ironed all my freezer paper pieces onto the appropriate 1 ¼” strips of fabric, leaving a ½”, exact! gap between each piece. To get that gap I cut a strip of manila folder ½” wide & placed that along side the first pieced I put on the fabric. I tap that with the nose of the hot iron, just to hold it in place, & then when I have the second piece in place, butted up to the strip of manila folder,I then tap it with the iron to hold it. I continue in this manner till I have them all in place & then press well. Then all I have to do is to cut with a ¼” seam allowance on one edge & that gives the ¼” allowance on the edge of the other piece. When I have completed all that I then reassemble the block on a felt mat I made, 8”x10”. Just glued the felt to heavy card, & that slips into a clear plastic sleeve for easy transporting around without fear of loosing any of those precious babies! Lyn from Down Under. 1,0,0,28 Wow!!!
A7, Dad’s Plaids
It needs to be shrunk a bit. The melons are drawn to big for this to work. (I learned this the hard way, and I sent my reject block home with Brenda) Pg 54, same problem here. Shrink the melons down, they are too big. (from Brenda’s workshop)
A10
It’s one of the few I haven’t finished. Have you all pieced the inside strip and appliquéd the arrows and inside melon or are you paper piecing the outside part? I’m ready to scratch what I’ve started and begin again. Help! Jane in Arizona
This is a GREAT one for reverse appliqué! I actually rev. app'ed the center part and then appliquéd the four corner triangles on top! Worked well and went fast!! Abracos, Marilyn!
A-11, Pebble’s Protest
Take the little tiny horizontal line out of the bottom right corner of the block. Just a little thing, but it doesn’t belong there.(from Brenda’s workshop)
A-11 can be done as a 9-patch. The center 3 squares will be narrower than the outside rows both North & South and East & West. Redraft the block having the center row as wide as the center square going North & south and East & West. If you look at Jane’s block you can see that each corner block can be made in 4 pieces. The large focal and smaller focal square + 2 background strips. When the squares are all joined do the narrow log cabin stripping all the way around. Hope this makes sense.Tracy in Ohio
It IS possible to paperpiece this doll, in 8 sections ! Make a “down the middle line” from top to bottom and from right to left, and another set of lines, diagonally, from corner to corner. You now “need” to erase a few seam-lines in the original so as not to have too many unnecessary seams. Then, go for it :-)
I made one this way, and have put it up on my Photopoint-site < in the album “Machine-Jane”. Made it in two focus-fabrics to be able to show (myself and others) where the seams were put and eliminated, so you might be able to pick up some visual aid by looking there :-) But it is - possibly - one of the worst blocks in the entire quilt (IMAO :-) and it looks so innocent ! Hugs Tilde
B
B2 Sweet Tater Pie
B3 Mirror Image
Pg 25 (not correction, just a hint on how to do it) B2 and B3 are similar. For B3, Make two 4 patch blocks exactly the same. Put them one on top of the other, rotate the top one by a quarter turn. Then you can appliqué the top to the bottom in a circle formation. Does that make sense? So, for B2, you can do the same thing except you are making half-square triangle four patch blocks. Make them opposite in color placement. Then draw the circle and appliqué the top block onto the bottom one. I probably hopelessly confused you there, but it made sense when she was explaining it. (from Brenda’s workshop)
B11, Bachelor’s Buttons
I am currently working on B-1 Bachelor Buttons as my first appliqué and it is going very slowly. I have sewn two of the buttons down so far. I sewed lightweight interfacing to my background fabric, turned it right side out and ironed it and then with fabric glue put in on the color fabric and am now sewing it down. Next time I might try freezer paper Amy-Jane
C
C-4,Tic Tac Toe
1. I F Pieced three tiny rectangular blocks within the center square, the “underneath” lattices - three foreground separated by two little background fabrics.
2. Then traced the center square. I didn’t have to draw the details, since they were already made, so I drew the two strips of background fabric running vertically down the 1/3’s of the center square, and the outside edges of the square. I placed the center tiny rectangular block I already had made, pieced two long strips on either side. Then, lining up the background strips with the center one already on, laid on the side rectangles I had already made. Then added the strip border around the “outside” of the block.
3. Then, traced a paper piece with the center square lined out, and the next regular triangles and the “squashed” triangles.
4. When that was all done and pressed, I traced the outside background set-in pieces, and sewed them on by machine “freehand”.
C5, Eye of the Needle
C8
On C-8, for example, I F Pieced the center square with the four triangles around it. Then I drew the pattern for the four triangles outside that and F Pieced four units of the two triangles with the diamond. Then, with all the papers still on, I could line up the points of the center square with the diamond points. I sewed two opposite sides on, the started to remove the paper before any seam allowance was sewn down by another seam. The other two triangles were sewn on after the paper was removed. Press that, and determine the Large triangles around the outside, sew on opposing sides first with the center unit on top to match points. Eh, Voila!
D
D2, Mouse in the Mirror
Eek! I am going crazy doing the Mouse in the Mirror. When I look at everyone’s blocks online it looks perfectly simple, but when I try to do it all those paralellograms become willful and wayward. I’m thinking of coloring the little triangles with a marker. My center
came out huge did everyone cut their squares 2” or smaller. Constance-Jane 51/0/0/714/Repro
As I recall I English pp’ed those four hectagons (is that what they are??) in the middle, then appliquéd that whole four-piece piece onto a 5” plain square, then appliquéd those nasty little triangles on, both teeny ones and corner ones! This probably explains why I have about ½ the number of total pieces that Jane had!! Abracos, Marilyn!
I printed it out on freezer paper, then cut all the pieces apart and fused onto the wrong side of my fabrics. Then cut out the parts adding a ¼” seam allowance. You can sew by hand or machine, but just sew from corner to corner, like for hand piecing, right along the edge of the paper, and not extending into the seam allowances at the end. I’ve found that this method works really well for many blocks (and that one corner) that have a lot of Y-shaped seams. It’s very accurate. Caroljoy Spensley
English paper piece the hexagons, shaving off the slightest bit of your template edges. Then appliqué the hexagons to a square of background fabric. You can then foundation paper piece the four corner sections, leaving a generous outside edge just in case you shaved a little too much off the hexagon templates. Susanne, in IL
I made four little paperpieced snowball blocks for the center (yes, those little corners were tiny) and then put those together and added the four corners. One trick I discovered that really helped me get them lined up was to slide the pieces under the presser foot and then drop the needle into the pieces before I lowered the presser foot down. It really seemed to help with shifting.
Another paperpiecing trick that I like is to baste the pieces together using a longer stitch length, then checking them for line-up before stitching them together with those tiny, tiny stitches. That way I can rip the seam back out without cursing the whole time. This works much better for me than trying to pin those fiddly paper pieces together. If it’s a long seam I just baste where the seams cross and then check it to see if it lines up and then restitch the entire seam with smaller stitches. These hints may have shown up on the list before but they sure helped me out with D-2! Robin
D3, Jason’s Jacks
Jason's Jacks -Jeanna's Way (from Brenda)
I've taken this "class" from students for about six months. In Gettysburg, Jeanna said she walked into a shop and someone wa teaching it in the classroom and shared it with her. Aren't we such giving people?
Anyway, from what I understand this technique works well for blocks like Jason's Jacks - some in class were doing Jane's Tears (C-9) this way, though I much prefer to do her with reverse appliqué (the favorite method Goddess Connie and me<G>)
Anyway, I'm certain Claire will give us some other blocks to try and hopefully good tips too. Now what I'm writing is not a law, ok? I'm merely giving you the concept as I understand it; refine it to suit your needs. As my mom always said, "There's more than one way to skin a cat."
I know we have no diagrams, but you can do this! Read through for general idea and just follow each step.
I. Pattern to Wrong Side of Background
Cut a 6 inch square of each of two fabrics, print and background. Place your background fabric rightside down on the Jason's Jacks pattern in your book. If your background is too dark to see through, trace the Jack on freezer paper, iron it to the wrong side and trace around it with a pencil or pigma pen. (I like to use brown pigma on light fabrics) Remove the freezer paper. If you can see through your fabric just trace the pattern straight to the wrong side of it.
II . Baste
Place your print fabric (which is you Jack fabric) right side up on top of the right side of your background (wrong side of Jack is on top of the right side of background. Pin from the back around the Jack drawing. Now sew the two pieces together on the pattern line using a small basting stitch. It helps if you use a little larger needle, like a 9 or 10; you're actually perforating your fabrics. Some like to stitch this using the machine with a larger needle, just don't use 4 stitches to the inch.
III Stitch
Turn your block to the front (print) side. Now you're ready to needleturn your heart out- no pins, no strain. Jason's Jacks is so small, I'd probably trim about half of it - leaving a "fat 1/8th" seam allowance. (Most needleturn is done while trimming only about an inch or two, whatever make you happy.)
Here's the fun part: I prefer starting either on the center of the inside curve or the center of one of the straight lines near the corners. This gives you a "warmup" before you hit points and corners. Remove about an inch of the basting. Hey! There they are- tiny little holes from your basting that are now your turn line. What a concept! Your work is basted and all you have to do is clip basting, turn under along perforations and stitch your little heart away.
Tip One- thank you Sadie Rose!
In which direction do you stitch? This is onlaid appliqué. Righthanders stitch counterclockwise; lefthanders stitch clockwise.
Trust me. If you stitch in the opposite direction and are happy, continue to do so. If you have always been uncomfortable appliquing, perhaps direction is the reason. I always ask students to give me at least 15 minutes, even if they don't appliqué- you never know what might happen! (When you do reverse or inlaid appliqué, change directions: righthanders stitch clockwise, lefthanders stitch counterclockwise)
Tip Two- Turn
Turn your block, not your hands. Keep your hands pretty much in front of you and turn your work as you stitch. A travel pillow is an excellent rest for your hands while you stitch; it gives the back a rest, too (Available at your favorite Walmart store for about 3 bucks)
Tip Three - Needles and Thread
Needles for appliqué or hand piecing are sharps and straws or milliners needles. I prefer size 11 straw and size 12 sharp. I use the straw/ milliners for appliquing something like Jason's Jacks, but for Baltimore appliqué or handpiecing I use 12 sharp. that's my preference. To my knowledge there are three companies in England that make all our needles. (All right, here we go, if you can't find these two needles and want to try before you buy, send me a stamped self-addressed envelop and don't tell anybody I'm doing this <G>) Thread: this month I'm using cotton on cotton. If you use silk, know that it stretches and you need to pull your stitches a bit snug- don't worry, when you press, the silk stretches and block is flat.
Tip Four -Tools
Your tools for needleturn are your needle and the thumb of the other hand. The needle is always working the seam allowance and the thumb is othe other hand is always keeping the work in place. If your curve or line develops a point where is shouldn't, chances are great that there's a fold in the seam allowance. Just take that needle in there and work the seam allowance until it comes out. You can do this even after the work is finished- you can always go back and add stitches and "fix stuff".
Tip Five - Corner
You've started and the curve, made a few stitches and bang, that corner is staring at you. Keep stitching and turning under the seam allowance all the way to the corner, taking a couple of extra, close stitches near the actual corner itself. Now is the time to trim the other side of the sorner- it probably has a little dog ear and some other stuff out there, just trim it all to about an 1/8th of an inch.You need these stitches to hold the seam allowance from the other side of the corner. Also as you near the corner, go ahead and turn under the fabric on the other side of the corner in as general way. When you get to the corner itself, bring that needle up in the point, pull your thread a bit snug, hold it there and turn under the other side of the corner evenly along the perforations and begin stitching down the other side. If your corner doesn't want to be too "pointy", just give that thread a little tug and work with the seam allowances on both sides.