I made this block using freezer paper needle turn appliqué for the white circle and freezer paper appliqué on top for the cross pattern.
You can watch this 3 minute video to see how I made Dear Jane C-6 block:
Where to get the Jane A. Stickle Quilt patterns
Susan Gatewood’s paper foundation . All patterns are free though Susan says “I only ask that you consider making a donation to the Bennington Museum, in Bennington, Vermont. And if you do, it would make me tremendously happy if you would tell them that you have received help from me.” I totally recommend Susan’s patterns as they are very easy to use.
How to do foundation paper piecing
You can learn the principles of foundation piecing on this 2 minute video. These principles can be applied to any foundation piecing blocks no matter how complex they are.
The method to make block B02 is the base to this block.
The block is a bit fiddly but it’s not hard to make though appliqué is still a bit of a challenge for me and the curves aren’t very smooth.
The original block and the instruction ns on the pattern indicate that the outside clover shape should be made out of a 4 patch block but that’s not what I did.
Instructions
I cut 2 x 5 1/2 inch squares in white and 2 x 5 1/2 inch squares in green and made 2 pinwheels as shown on the video:
I printed the Susan Gatewood’s pattern and stuck the outside clover together with sticky tape to make a pattern. I appliquéd this on top of the double pinwheel at the end.
I cut off the paper inside the clover.
To work out the size of the circle, I used the pattern and a compass.
The circle’s diameter is 3 inches. I drew a circle on to freezer paper and cut out.
I cut the circle out and made sure it was wide enough to fit into the clover.
I pressed the circle to the back of one of the pinwheels and drew another circle around adding 1/4 inch seam allowance.
I cut out the shape and placed it on top of the other pinwheel as per picture. I used a headpin to help aligning the centre on both pinwheels.
I pinned the circle well before appliquéing.
I cut out the excess fabric at the back.
Then I removed the freezer paper and pressed well.
Then I traced the clover on to freezer paper.
And cut the freezer paper adding 1/4 inch all around the shape.
Then I cut along the blue line and made a few incisions around the curves.
I then appliquéd the white shape to the background.
I trimmed off excess fabric.
And this is the finished block.
Where to get the Jane A. Stickle Quilt patterns
Susan Gatewood’s paper foundation . All patterns are free though Susan says “I only ask that you consider making a donation to the Bennington Museum, in Bennington, Vermont. And if you do, it would make me tremendously happy if you would tell them that you have received help from me.” I totally recommend Susan’s patterns as they are very easy to use.
How to put all the Dear Jane blocks together with QAYG
In spite of what I thought when I saw the pattern below, this block was a lot easier and even less time consuming than I anticipated.
I downloaded the block on Susan Gatewood’s website. I’ve done the quilt using her blocks and up until now they’ve all been perfect. I think her patterns are closer to the original than the book’s diagrams.
This pattern has quite a few very tiny pieces. I’m again very happy I’m doing this quilt using paper piecing. I don’t know how else I would have managed the tic tac toe central piece. The smallest pieces are 1/4 inch squares!
At this stage I’m thinking how I am going to remove the paper.
I’m quite satisfied with this block. And happy it is over.
Where to get the Jane A. Stickle Quilt patterns
Susan Gatewood’s paper foundation . All patterns are free though Susan says “I only ask that you consider making a donation to the Bennington Museum, in Bennington, Vermont. And if you do, it would make me tremendously happy if you would tell them that you have received help from me.” I totally recommend Susan’s patterns as they are very easy to use.
How to do foundation paper piecing
You can learn the principles of foundation piecing on this 2 minute video. These principles can be applied to any foundation piecing blocks no matter how complex they are.
There are many ways to do quilt-as-you-go or QAYG. I use this technique to quilt each block individually and then attach them using sashing. This technique uses exclusively machine sewing.
How to Quilt as you go (QAYG)
The finished sashing width for this project is 2 inches but it can be adjusted to a wider or narrower sashing. Learn the technique in 3 minutes:
Materials
For the block sandwich
A piece of backing fabric the same size as the block (I used half square triangles for some blocks to make a star)
A piece of batting 1 inch larger than the block
One finished block
For the sashing
1 strip of sashing fabric 4 1/2 inch x the length of the block side
One strip of batting 1 1/2 inch x the length of the block side (you can add a bit more for good measure)
One strip of sashing fabric 2 1/2 inch x the length of the block side
Bear in mind that, on the video, I work with solid fabrics -I did that to simplify the process.
If you use print fabrics, the first piece needs to be placed right side up on the back of the pattern.
So let’s start: cut the pieces and fold in on each line.
Stitch each strip individually following the order on the paper pattern.
Now stitch all strips together.
Make sure all your seams coincide. Do not remove the paper until the end so that it is easier to match seams. The paper stops the fabric from stretching.
Done!
Where to get the Jane A. Stickle Quilt patterns
Susan Gatewood’s paper foundation . All patterns are free though Susan says “I only ask that you consider making a donation to the Bennington Museum, in Bennington, Vermont. And if you do, it would make me tremendously happy if you would tell them that you have received help from me.” I totally recommend Susan’s patterns as they are very easy to use.
How to do foundation paper piecing
You can learn the principles of foundation piecing on this 2 minute video. These principles can be applied to any foundation piecing blocks no matter how complex they are.