Fabric gift

One of the staff members I showed my blog to at Staff Day has very kindly given me some blue repro fabric to use for my quilt. What a lovely gift. I have no idea how much or how little I will use - when you are doing a project like this, the block and the fabric choose one another. So I will use what the quilt dictates and give back what remains.

Block number two

I have attached Block number two to the blog so you can check it out. It is another Puss in boots block with different dimensions to Block number one. I am using fabrics which are 10 inch squares and which come from quilters and fabric designers such as Barbara Brackman and Julie Rothermel. I will need to use small scale designs for these little blocks but am hoping to use some of my larger scale scale repro blues for the triangle border.

Post from staff day

Hi there I am at staff day and am showing my new blog to staff members

My first Dear Jane block

I have published a photo of my first block - a very easy Puss in boots block. I found the 4.5 inch block difficult to get right. It took me two goes before I was happy. But I am now beginning to understand the Dear Jane obsession - having completed one block, I just want to make the next one! So I have leafed through the Dear Jane book and have chosen another simple one, well three actually. Happy quilting...

In War Time 1863 by Jane A. Stickle

I have been collecting fabric for this quilt since May 2008 when I purchased my first Civil War reproduction fabrics at Keepsake Quilting in beautiful New Hampshire, USA. I drove to Bennington, Vermont hoping to see Jane's quilt but found it shown for just two weeks a year in September. At the Craft Fair in Melbourne last week I purchased a Dear Jane bag which shows her quilt in all its glory. And I have been planning to begin the quilt all year, after all it is its 150th anniversary this year. I even attended a Dear Jane Quilt Exhibition at Boxhill Town Hall earlier this year where I was amazed and inspired by the very different versions on display. I have spent the intervening months debating what I would do. While part of me wants to honour Jane by doing as she did - making the 169 blocks and 52 triangle blocks in different fabrics and by hand sewing and appliqué, the rest of me knows I would never finish the quilt if I did this. I have chosen to do a blue and sandstone quilt in Civil War reproduction fabrics and will most likely pick and choose which of the blocks are possible by machine sewing. I have some gorgeous blue Civil War border fabrics which would be a great shame not to use. I will go with the 4.5 inch blocks, a truly scary prospect and will see how many blocks I can manage by New Year's Eve. I already have the name for my Dear Jane quilt - In War Time 2013 a Quilt honouring Jane A. Stickle's In War Time 1863 - for 150 years after Jane's quilt was sewn, we too remain at war in Afghanistan. So follow me on my quilting journey...

Welcome to Jinny's Quilting Room

I have named my blog for my new Quilting Room in my new house in honour of US quilter and fabric designer Jinny Beyer. I named my quilting machine Jinny when I purchased it in September 2011. I intend displaying my quilts here and will also document the journey of a quilt that I have been planning for over 5 years - my Dear Jane Quilt.
Enjoy!