Start of my Dear Jane Quilting Journey

Recently while obsessing on the internet over quilts, I discovered a quilt that combined not only variety but challenge as well.  The original Dear Jane quilt was finished in 1863 and consists of a total of 225 blocks, 13 across by 13 down, plus 56 pieced border triangles.  I hemmed and hawed over whether I should join a block of the month club, or take it on by myself, since it would be cheaper most likely.  I also like to be in control of the finished product, I like fabrics and don't want to be tied into paying for fabrics I don't enjoy.  So I finally bought the book, and some fabrics to get me started.

Can you tell that I love Batiks?

 I also marked pages for the easiest blocks.

 My first block will be a green one.

 I also made up a color chart for my rainbow quilt.  I started with green and yellow in the center, like the original quilt.  The pinks also ended up in the same place.

On another note, I am also catching up on a block of the month program at All People Quilt.  I'm happy with the way the first one turned out.  I am going to measure and tape down a scant 1/4" marker for my machine to hopefully get my squares to line up a little better.  I also plan to press the seams open to reduce bulk and improve accuracy.  The block is also too small, even though it is pretty well lined up.

 Here are my cutouts for round 2.

Finished Ohio Quilt, really, I did this time.

I added the label and this lovely quilt will soon be travelling to its new home.

Here are some birthday cake pics for my little Matthew that turned 5, and me, well lets just say I'm somewhere around 21.

Lately...

Matt & Kait sharing a coloring book

Chili in a wheat bread bowl

Red Lobster for Cynthia's 14th

Cutting strips

Applying candles

Cold Stone ice cream cake

Kait & Matt at Pump It Up for a party

Courthouse Steps and quilted purse

I met my goal for Jan of piecing 2 different squares in a month.  Earlier this month I made Framed Squares, and yesterday I made Courthouse Steps.  I made four complete squares, at this rate I will have many quilts to make at the end of the year!

They turned out quite well, I need to square them down to 12 inches, I will be doing that after I get a larger Easy Square.
I also finished my purse, which was another goal.  I still need to make a makeup bag to accompany it.

Grandma Nancy, right

I am starting to work on my project for my First Aid/Cpr class.  It involves writing about a disease/condition of your choice.  After some thought, my first inclination was something pregnancy related, I decided on the topic of brain cancer.  It is so hard for me, I am coming up on the 7th anniversary of my dear grandma Nancy's death from brain cancer on Feb 8th.  She fought so hard and had beaten lung cancer, but it spread to her brain and by the time the diagnosis was made, it was too late to do much about it.  The anniversary is approaching and I recently found out that a friend's mother was recently diagnosed with brain cancer after beating breast cancer.  Before they knew it, she was placed in hospice, and life is forever different for them and their young children.  I so longed to say something, offer words of comfort, anything, but words are cheap, and never enough in situations such as this.  As I sat there in the room with this person, I was on the verge of tears.  I still have dreams, and lately they have been frequent.  Seeing my dear grandmother, telling her how much I adored her, and trying my best to make her well.  I know they are dreams, but it sure is nice to spend those moments with her, and to tell her things that were never said, do things that were not done.  I think right now, this project is about trying to work through these feelings, more than any sort of grade I may receive for it.

Ohio Quilt Finished

I finished my Ohio State & Ohio Stars Quilt today.  I am pretty happy with how it turned out.  There was some puckering with some of the more stretchy material, luckily not too much.  The binding also went well.  I know that I still have more to learn, but I am having fun getting there.

Ohio State square

Ohio Star

Border

Binding

I decided to forgo quilting on the white areas, it just didn't look right, I think it turned out better this way.  The contrasting gray on the red looks quite nice.

I'm Back!

It's taken me a while to post again, I have been very busy with school and life in general.  I am very happy to say that for the last two weeks I have written up menus and grocery lists, and I have not been to the store nearly as much, and I get through it quickly when I am there.  That is saving me a lot of precious time that I desperately need.
I also got a lot of studying done this week, and I plan on getting a little ahead.  It really helped with the short test we had in First Aid class this week, I knew the answers!
I was going to make mac & cheese alone with some bacon for meat, but then I saw these lovely thin ribeye and I could not resist.

Mac & Cheese became the side dish, LOL.  That really stretched the steak as the kids ate a lot of mac & cheese.  I will not make the baked kind next time, it tasted too doughy, I prefer boiling the pasta, then mixing the ingredients and cooking for 30 minutes. Notice the brown bits on the casserole dish, the Pyrex combined with a scraped made cleaning very easy.

Finished  meal, It was as good as it looks

 I also made Oreo Cheesecake Cupcakes.  It was very easy in terms of prep, and they were yummy even before the suggested four hour rest time.

I have been on an poached egg kick lately.  Two of the jumbo eggs in the package had double yolks.  Enjoy!