Quilter’s Name: Sharron Evans
Name of Pattern: The Jane Stickle Quilt (To learn more about this quilt, the pattern, and the history, click here!)
Featured Date: 06-26-24
Hi, I’m Sharron and I spent six years making six Dear Jane quilts (1 was ruined by a long-arm quilter – labeled the lost jane)
But here are the five jewels…
I always wanted the challenge of making a Dear Jane quilt —- but not by hand. I joined a local quilt shop class and asked if I could do my blocks by machine – and they said go ahead! I made one block that I thought would be the most difficult by machine and – wa-la – it worked.
I will admit though, there was a block or two that I thought maybe by hand would have been easier – but alas I kept to my all machine mantra. I also knew I would not want the boring civil war colors. Also – I have 5 kids so I would work on five different Janes. It really isn’t that much harder — copying pattern or paper piece foundation was just a “x5” on a copy machine. One of my joys was that I could work on these blocks, that took about 1-2 hours of my time, a little at a time – usually a block a night. Once your figured out the idiosyncrasy of the block – you just repeat 4 more times.
Also I wanted to challenge myself by not ever repeating a fabric either within a quilt or any of the quilts. Even with my extensive stash….Alas – I had to go fabric shopping. And I usually buy fabric ¾ yd plus at a time. Now I found myself asking for the smallest cut – always stating that they would be worthwhile as I would still be spending a hundred dollars plus. And I didn’t even need the fabric cut straight! LOL! I was looking at jelly rolls, precuts and scrap bins everywhere I went. And, other than the background fabric for consistency – I managed to compose my quilts without duplicating any fabrics.
Now, I will interject – I thought my purple Jane would be one quilt that would use the same fabric throughout. But after 21 blocks I got bored. Now I had to commit to the boredom of using the same purple for the remining 200+ blocks or remake 20 of the blocks. I decided to remake 20 blocks —- except for block C-4. That was a miserable block for me.
Also moving forward I learned to look at fabric differently – I like to fussy cut but needed teeny tiny motifs. And did you know you can do turn-edged applique on mud cloth? I enjoyed switching from applique to pieced to paper pieced blocks. That kept my interest as I progressed
Other things I learned…
Since I didn’t prewash fabric I occasionally had a bleeder. Kept a bottle of Synthrapol on hand at my sink. The magic elixir!
When making blocks with teeny tiny pieces – consider using Invisifil thread (by Wonderfil) or Mettler Metrosene. These two threads are 100-120wt and add very little bulk to the seams. When you might have a dozen or so seams going across a block that’s only 4.5” finished – thread thickness matters!
Other than the one “lost” to a the local long arm quilter, The remaining 4 quilts were all quilted by Karen McTavish. Each one fabulously and uniquely quilted.
TIP to all – have your quilt appraised before turning such a quilt to a long arm person. I have heard of too many delivery trucks catching fire, losing the quilt, etc.
Also – in the case of the local quilter where I hand delivered – it was proof of what I lost and did eventually get compensated – but my tears remained.
Have a blessed life…
Sharron Evans
To learn more about Jane Stickle and her famous Civil War quilt, and to find pattern information, click here!
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Sharron- your quilts are totally amazing!! I can’t imagine how long each one took to piece. I’m so sorry that one was ‘lost” at a long armer- that one was one of my favorites…
Wow! They are incredible – I am sure they will become family heirlooms. You did a great job – I like your method of doing a little bit each day.