Almost finished DJ !!!!

I had last Thursday and Friday off and also had Monday and Tuesday. That was like SIX days OFF, in a row!!! :-)

Anyhow, I've been sewing those little blocks, like crazy!

I now have 1 block that only needs a little "pie piece" appliqué'd to it, and then I attack "Papa's Star", for the 7th or 8th or 9th time... And hopefully, it will be the LAST time! LOL

Mind you, I haven't bothered sashing the blocks, yet, and I know I'll live to regret it, but oh well... *shrugs shoulders*

Plus, there are at least 3 blocks that should be re-done. I think I'll start sashing and piecing together and as I get to those little "darlings", I'll re-do them, then. *s*

Haven't taken the time to take pics. I think that will be a full evening job.

Wish me luck! Will save Papa's Star for Friday evening or this weekend.

Ro

Receiving my DJ book and 1st few thoughts.

I had posted this one as a reply to another Janiac, on the DJ forum, on the 14th of July 2007:

******************************************************

My first thoughts, when I received the DJ book,

"Wow!!! It arrived!" At that point, I would have jumped up and down, but
was home recuperating from an operation. *s*

*ripped off the package*

Opened the package, and as I'm quickly flipping through the book, SEVERAL
times, my 2nd thoughts were,

"OH MY GOD!" said VERY slowly....

3rd thoughts:

"There's no instructions in this book. Where's the 1/4 inch and
measurements?!?" *groan*

I had "heard" the word "paper piecing" and kinda had the basic idea on
appliqués.

4th set of thoughts:

"How will I EVER do this, with no instructions or measurements?!??"

At the time, I had forgotten about Brenda's instructions. Today, I know
they're there, but am really BAD when it comes to reading instructions - I
need pictures. Anyhow....

I quickly found some "look-a-like" fabric for my first "block". What did I
pick? Rosemary's Rainbow - a triangle! LOL

Ohhhh... Newbie me! LOL

What calmed my beating heart, when I first started making blocks and
triangles (as I'm usual VERY frugal), was....

"Heck, Rosa, if it don't work - I'm not wasting THAT much fabric!" LOL

Sooooooo, 130 blocks, 48 triangles, 4 kites and 3728 pieces later...

And as the cigarette commercial says, "You've come a long way, Baby!" LOL

In the back of my head, at the time, I was thinking, "Well, these might just
end up being practice blocks." *grin*

I've since re-done Rosemary's Rainbow, only because there was a REAL bad
twist to it and you could see the pencil marks (see my DJ Bloopers).

http://les3a.no-ip.com/rosa/craft/quilts/dearjane/imp/imp.htm

And there's another block... Can't remember the name, but at the time, since
I had a very small fabric stash, I used some funky tapestry fabric, for it.
I'll be re-doing that one, too. Other than than, I'm quite sure the other
blocks will remain... As it not only is/was a fun journey but a "learning"
one, as well. *s*

Good luck - take a deep breath and JUMP IN! These blocks have often been
compared to potato chips - you've just can't stop at one!

Therefore, if you don't OPEN up the bag of chips, and dig right in, you'll
never see the bottom of the bag! *grin*

***********************************************

NOTE: As of today, I now have 157 blocks, 52 triangles (all done), 4 kites (all done), with a total of 4494 pieces - so far. *grin*

Why I chose to make a Dear Jane - From the DJ forum - dated 1st June 2007

I wrote this thread, in the DJ forum, on the 1st of June 2007. Located it and decided to post it on my blog. Hope you enjoy reading it. *grin*

******************************************************

Okay, waaaay back in the winter of 2004/2005 (unsure when), I was bored and
surfing the net for quilt patterns. You know what it's like... Click here,
click there?... Can't remember where you first starting clicking, but all of
a sudden, I stumbled across the main Dear Jane Web Site.

225 DIFFERENT - 4.5" X 4.5" - blocks?!??.... A total of 5602 PIECES?!?!? I
remember, at the time, thinking, "These gals are REALLY nuts!!!". Read a bit
more, still chuckling to myself, and then "clicked" myself off to another
page. I think I even went to bed, that night, still giggling to myself,
thinking of those blocks!! LOL

May 2005, once more, I was "clicking" here and there and stumbled across
some quilts, made by some Janiacs. I remembered thinking, "Oh yah. That's
the quilt that a few nutbars made, out there." LOL

Anyhow, THIS time my interest was tweaked. "Hmmmm.... What DOES this book
and it's patterns look like, ANYHOW?!?"

Well, I spent about 1 solid month (evenings), surfing the web and trying to
find SOMEWHERE... Where SOMEONE would have posted pics of the INSIDE of that
book. Would you believe, Brenda P... You have a VERY loyal group of
people?!? *grin*

Couldn't locate ANYTHING... Mind you, now I understand - but at the time, I
was getting rather frustrated.

Anyhow, by then, I was at my witts' end. I had downloaded Brenda's
instruction and tried A-1 (see my DJ Blooper Page).

http://les3a.no-ip.com/rosa/craft/quilts/dearjane/imp/imp.htm


DH was getting frustrated with MY mutterings on, every evening. "Is it the
book that you want?!?!", he asked. "I'll get you the darn book!!!!"

At that point, I remember staring in his eyes - you know the
"deer-in-the-headlight" look?

"Aaaah.. Okay. Gee, that's nice of you." And I never told him, but I did
"gulp", thinking "Gosh. That means I really have to DO this quilt, now.
He'd never let me live if down, if I never finish it."

Who knows? At the time, I might have made a quick rush to the bathroom - I
do that, when I get worked up, too much. LOL

Last year, I did almost every BOW and TOW, faithfully. I'm now at:

120 blocks, 48 triangles and 3 kites - totaling 3425 pieces.

Friends and family now think that "I'M" the nutbar! LOL

DH now recognizes other DJ quilts. Or, he'll even recognize DJ blocks in
other quilts (ex.: Field of Dreams).

I've made LOTS of good friends - you know who your are! *smile*

And my skills have increased tremendously! I was first doing my appliqués
with a blanket stitch, using QUILTING thread! LOL

Thread was thread - my opinion at the time, and I thought that quilting
thread would CERTAINLY hold those suckers down! LOL

And no, I don't plan on replacing them, either. That only shows how far I've
come, in my DJ journey!

Only 1 block will get re-done - it sticks in my head too much. I made it
with some kind of weird tapestry fabric. At the time, fabric was fabric and
anything would do. *grin*

Soooo, that's my long story. Thanks for reading. Have a great weekend!

How do I organise my (baby) Dear Jane blocks

Okay, I've seen this question asked quite a few times, in the DJ forum and quite frankly, everyone has their own method. Me, I thought I was doing pretty good, till Jo Spindle became my Secret Pal last year and turned my organizing, with DJ, upside down! LOL

What I "was" doing was cutting up tiny little blocks of my fabric and scotch taping it to the appropriate grid, in the DJ book. To be honest, it was starting to look like crap! LOL

Anyhow, Jo suggested that I make up a separate cardboardish grid. So, I then drew the grid on a sturdy cardboard and glue-sticked the pieces of fabric (see picture), in each appropriate grid. This helps me, with a quick glance, to see if I've already used a specific fabric. NOTE: Even with all this, a few months ago, I noticed that I had used the same pink, twice. *groan*



Then, she suggested that I start journaling these blocks, for which I will be forever grateful for Jo, to suggest this. At least now, I know, without a doubt, that I would never, EVER want to get into scrap booking! LOL

Anyhow, printed out one of the DJ journal pages and got a whole bunch of those copied. Started journaling, as per Jo's suggestion. I'm doing it faithfully, as per Jo's suggestion, and I know that someday I'll sit and re-read these notes and comments and enjoy them, but for now... let's just say that it's a pain you-know-where. *grin*

I've added 2 pictures to show you what it looks like - in case you haven't done that, yet.



I also scotch tape a piece of fabric, in my DJ book, once I've completed the block.

At the very beginning, I knew that I wouldn't be able to keep these beauties organized. So, I went out and bought two 3-ringed binders... added those transparent page protectors. Blocks are safe and dust-free.

Blocks or triangles are put away only AFTER I've taken their picture and uploaded them to my DJ web page.

http://les3a.no-ip.com/rosa/craft/quilts/dearjane/operationjane.htm

I have 2 big containers with future DJ fabric. Once I've used this fabric, I then put them away in my other plastic containers that are labeled "pink", "blue", "brown", etc, etc. At this point, my container with brown fabric is overflowing and the cover is loose, on the top of that pile. *grin*

So, I think that's about it. As of this evening, I now have (only) 11-1/2 more blocks to do. I have an almost finished block, downstairs in my sewing room.... waiting for me to complete it. *grin*

Hope this helps! Of course, if you have any questions, give me a hollar! *s*

robich@rogers.com

Rosa

Light Box

Okay, a while back, I had posted in the DJ forum about the light box that Gilbert had made for me. Someone asked that I send them a picture.

Once again, I can't remember who it was. Seems to happen a lot, lately.

Anyhow, here's a few pictures of the lightbox. I would suggest that you make the surface, bigger.... At least to fit an 8-1/2 X 11 page, on the top.

1st blog - testing

Well, I finally have my own "Blog"! Imagine that! LOL

Will be posting "stuff", whenever I get a chance.