Quilting Like It’s 1863

I’ve succumbed to the Dear Jane love and am working on Jane A. Stickle’s 1863 Civil War quilt.

The original quilt is housed at the Bennington Library in Vermont.

Project Organization

I’m using large, cloth-covered, 3-ring binders (on clearance at Target a couple of years ago) as inspired by the Dear Baby Jane: A Quilt Journal blog—an amazing resource of exactly how to make each and every piece of this quilt.

Each block section in the Dear Jane book is copied as I go along. I insert it in an archival-quality page protector along with my finished piece. Since each block is lettered and numbered, alphabetical dividers keep it all tidy.

Fabrics

Reproduction fabrics help me match Jane Stickle’s originals as much as possible. The backing and certain block pieces are natural-colored Kona cotton. My fabrics are purchased at Bella Quiltworks in Tucson.

Tools

The following are some of the tools I’m using for this monster project.

Brenda Manges Papadakis’ book started all the Dear Jane love.

Dear Jane Software from here

Triangle and square tools, purchased here

Freezer paper

Translucent vellum—I learned about using freezer paper and vellum at my foundation piecing class at Bella Quiltworks.

The thread I’ve chosen to use.

You can see how I’m organizing each finished block in my binder.

Naturally I started with simple blocks.

Not all the colors in this quilt are going to be what you see. The blocks I’ve been working on just happen to be pretty close in tonal value.

I’m working on A-5: Cathie’s Campfire today. It’s not right, so I must try again.

Badge of Courage

I can wear this pin when shopping at quilt stores or visiting a quilt show. Everyone will treat me kindly because they know the humongous amount of work involved in making this quilt.