TATRWJ - Row 6, Block 6

My seventh "Trip Around the Rainbow With Jane" block.
TATRWJ - Row 6, Block 6
Completed on Sept. 16, 2010 (25pcs)
TATRWJ - 7 Blocks, 0 Triangles, 0 Corners, 123 Pieces

Jane's Block
In War Time - Row 6, Block 6
Photo of Jane's Block - With Blue Lines Added to Outline the Block

This block was put together like a nine patch, and then the pieced together circles were appliqued onto the background.

I cut the circles out of my freezer paper pattern. Then I pressed the background freezer paper section to the background, and the freezer paper circles inside the fabric circles. I find this makes it easier to place the circles where they belong because you can feel the edges of the paper through the fabric.

I like to sew a basting stitch around the circle in the seam allowance, and then pull it tight to bring the seam allowance inside. Then I press it, and then I baste it down from the top, going through the right side of the circle, and the freezer paper and the seam allowance. It's more work, but it helps me to get rounder circles.

TATRWJ - Row 6, Block 5

My sixth "Trip Around the Rainbow With Jane" block.
TATRWJ - Row 6, Block 5
Completed on Feb. 12, 2010 (9pcs)
TATRWJ - 6 Blocks, 0 Triangles, 0 Corners, 98 Pieces

Jane's Block
In War Time - Row 6, Block 5
Photo of Jane's Block - With Blue Lines Added to Outline the Block

For this block I printed a freezer paper pattern, and cut out the appliques. Then I pieced the center applique.

After that, I pressed the freezer paper for the center applique onto the back of the joined piece, then folded the seam allowances under and basted them to the paper, and pressed again. I did the same with the 4 melons. This way I had nice sharply outlined pieces to applique.

Then I pressed the remaining piece of freezer paper (the background with the appliques cut out) onto the center of a 6 inch square (I wanted extra that would be trimmed off at the end).

When I held the background square up to the light, it was easy to see where the appliques should go, and I pinned them over the holes in the paper that I could see. After that, I could just sit and sew until all 5 appliques were done.

Then I slit the back of the center (careful to cut ONLY the background fabric!) and cut the background down to about 1/4" seam allowance, and removed the basting and freezer paper. For the melons I only cut a slit since they were so small, and removed the basting and paper.

One final press and trim, and DONE! The freezer paper inside the applique gives a nice edge to sew against. I liked this method, and will use it again.

TATRWJ - Row 5, Block 9

My fifth "Trip Around the Rainbow With Jane" block.
TATRWJ - Row 5, Block 9
Completed on Feb. 9, 2010 (21pcs)
TATRWJ - 5 Blocks, 0 Triangles, 0 Corners, 89 Pieces

Jane's Block
In War Time - Row 5, Block 9
Photo of Jane's Block - With Blue Lines Added to Outline the Block

This block went together similarly to Row 5, Block 7, except the circle was MUCH easier to applique than the odd shape in Block 7. I paper-pieced the rays, then joined them into a circle.

After basting down the edges of the applique circle and pressing it, I sewed the circle onto the rays. Then I added the four remaining background strips. I like the way it came out.

Small Again!
This is another block that I used one of my patterns that I had printed before adding the extra seam allowance to the patterns. It came out a tad small again.

I'm convinced that the extra around the outside edge is needed, at least for me when paper-piecing. So I'm going to re-print my patterns onto freezer paper WITH the extra seam allowance on the edges. I had already printed all 25 patterns for the center, but re-print I must!

TATRWJ - Row 5, Block 7

My fourth "Trip Around the Rainbow With Jane" block.
TATRWJ - Row 5, Block 7
Completed on Feb. 8, 2010 (12pcs)
TATRWJ - 4 Blocks, 0 Triangles, 0 Corners, 68 Pieces

Jane's Block
In War Time - Row 5, Block 7
Photo of Jane's Block - With Blue Lines Added to Outline the Block

I paper-pieced the fabric pieces that are around the center applique, and then joined it. I printed out a freezer paper pattern, and cut out the center applique. I centered and pressed the outside section to the back of the main piece, and the pressed the freezer paper center to the back of my applique fabric.

After basting down the edges of the center applique and pressing, I added the applique on top of the pieced section. I can feel the edges of the applique's freezer paper, and the pieced section's freezer paper as I sew, so it makes it easier to keep the applique from shifting out of position.

Then I added the four background strips, and pressed the block. Then I removed the freezer paper, and gave it a final press with a dry iron.

My applique skills are beginner at best and I had a hard time in the inner points. Hopefully the next one will be better!

TATRWJ - Row 5, Block 7, Old & New

My two blocks side by side.
                Re-Drafted 5" block         and         4 1/2" sashed block

In my new block the center applique motif is much less round, and the strips are wider than my 4 1/2" block. When I made the new block I forgot to use the mostly ORANGE sections of the fabric when I cut out the fabric for this block, so this one is more red than I had planned, even though it's the SAME fabric.

I like the look WITHOUT the pieced section under the applique better, I left it in on the 4 1/2" block and don't care for it as much. From now on, I think I'll cut away any pieced sections under an applique.

TATRWJ - Row 5, Block 8, Old & New

I wanted to see the difference between these two blocks, one done in my new pattern drafted from Jane's quilt, and a 4 1/2" block made from the software. I added a "simulated" sash strip to the 4 1/2" block to show 1/2 of a sash strip around all sides. (With the sash strips, the 13 blocks in each row plus the sash equals 65" across, which averages out to 5 inches per block.)

This brings both blocks to 5" square, since Jane's quilt is made entirely with 5" blocks, and DOES NOT have sash strips. Jane did add borders to many of her smaller blocks to bring them up to a 5" size, but many others are a full 5" in size.

Jane's Block
In War Time - Row 5, Block 8
Photo of Jane's Block - With Blue Lines Added to Outline the Block

My two blocks side by side.
                Re-Drafted 5" block         and         4 1/2" sashed block

Jane's block has a higher ratio of the focus fabric (red) around the outside of the design, and more background fabric around the block.

Lots of Jane's blocks look smaller, and when you put them next to the ones that use the full 5" for the block, the differences are more noticeable. It really gives a more random, and less structured look to the quilt. I think this is what really attracts me to Jane's quilt. The various sizes of the designs in the blocks is part of its beauty to me.

Updates to Sewn Patterns

After sewing the first 3 blocks, I've found some minor changes that I'd like to make to a couple of the patterns if I sew the blocks again.

TATRWJ - Row 5, Block 5, Pattern Changes

My Block
TATRWJ - Row 5, Block 5

Jane's Block
In War Time - Row 5, Block 5
Photo of Jane's Block - With Blue Lines Added to Outline the Block

Pattern Changes
TATRWJ - Row 5, Block 5 - Changes Marked in Green Circles

If I make this block again, I'm going to try not to have the background melons connected to each other as much, and turn the edges under right up to the joining points. It ended up this way because I was unfamiliar with using the arc tools in EQ, and couldn't figure out how to make the arcs touch each other less where they joined when I made the pattern.

I've since figured it out and fixed the pattern, but not in time for the sewn block. I want to eliminate the purple seams, and the melons will be smaller and more like Jane's.

TATRWJ - Row 5, Block 6, Pattern Changes

My Block
TATRWJ - Row 5, Block 6

Jane's Block
In War Time - Row 5, Block 6
Photo of Jane's Block - With Blue Lines Added to Outline the Block

Pattern Changes
TATRWJ - Row 5, Block 6 - Changes Marked in Green Ovals

On closer inspection, I noticed that the side triangles on Jane's block are only touching in ONE out of FOUR places. When I originally made the pattern I thought maybe they should touch, and it was easier to it design that way, just dividing the space into two equal sections. After staring at it some more, now I think that maybe the original pattern had the triangles NOT touching. So I've adjusted the pattern to reflect this, but again my block was sewn from my first version of the pattern. If I make another block, I'll use my newer pattern with the side triangles NOT touching.

Future Changes to Patterns

It looks like lots of the patterns I made will be changed before I'm done.

When you actually sew the block and then compare it to the original, small differences become more noticeable.

I drew all the center blocks into EQ5 (so that I could use them in the DJ software), but I wasn't all the familiar with the program at the time. Obviously, by the time I got to the 169th pattern, I was getting better at it.

The first patterns I drafted will definitely need to be looked at more closely for things I can fix to make them better (more like the original designs).

Starting Over With 5 inch Blocks

I started by scanning in the Poster I purchased at the Bennington Museum. In Paint Shop Pro I increased the contrast and other settings to try to make the sewing lines between the blocks show up as much as possible. Then I drew blue lines where the blocks were joined to make it easier to see each block individually.

This is a section of the poster with the added lines.
Center 25 blocks on poster with drawn lines

Then I used photos I took at the Museum (lots of which are taken at an angle, since the quilt is displayed on a slant board) and added lines again.

This is a section of a photo showing the added lines.
Sample cropped photo with blue lines added

Between the photos and the poster, I tried to get as close as I could to what might have been the original patterns that Jane used.

Jane's quilt is absolutely marvelous to behold in person. The stitch work is also quite well done, with lovely quilting. But the thing that amazed me on close inspection was that it wasn't "perfect". The strips that are added around lots of blocks are not always the same size on all sides. Pieces on one side of a block are not always the same as the pieces on the other side, seams don't always match perfectly. And yet, it's just wonderful and fascinating to behold. In other words, the quilt blocks don't have to be precision perfect in order to make a stunningly, beautiful quilt. So I've decided that even if my blocks don't turn out exactly as planned, I'll add them to the quilt as a record of my progress in quilt-making. Hopefully, later blocks will look better than my beginning blocks.

It's pretty difficult to guess what the original patterns Jane used might have looked like since the blocks aren't all exactly square any more. The quilt seems to have stretched over time, and the piecing isn't always exact. Pieces of a design may "touch" in one area, but not in others. These re-drafted blocks are my attempt to re-create Jane's quilt as closely as I'm able to given the circumstances.

I'll still be using a Trip Around the World layout like Jane's, and I'm still planning to do it with the 7 colors of the Rainbow (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet). I think I might name the new quilt "Trip Around the Rainbow With Jane" ("TATRWJ" for short).

I had already started making blocks for a quilt when I saw Jane's quilt at the Bennington Museum. I have about a half dozen blocks I sewed at 4 1/2 inches in size, that I can't use in this quilt since I'm now going to be making 5" blocks. Maybe I'll put them in a wallhanging or something.

Wow! Saw Jane's Quilt in Person

After seeing Jane's quilt "In War Time" at the Bennington Museum on October 4th, the thing that surprised me the most was that the quilt has NO sashing, but many blocks have border strips around them, and when the quilt is viewed from a distance, it APPEARS to have sashing.

Photo taken at Bennington Museum (VT) in October 2009
Jane A. Stickle's quilt, "In War Time"

To see more photos that I took at the Bennington Museum in Vermont of Jane's quilt, go to my Flickr albums.
My 2009 Photos on Flickr
My 2010 Photos on Flickr

The quilt was displayed rotated 90 degrees to the right. When viewed this way Rebecca's Basket (J-12) is upright, Papa's Star (G-6) doesn't look upside down to me any more, and the hearts in the triangle blocks (RS-7 Fedelia's Hearts & RS-8 Love Forever) are also upright. Going by the differences I just noted, I prefer the way it looks displayed like this, it just looks "right" to me.

Since the various sized strips around some of the blocks makes some blocks appear larger and some smaller, it seems to tie in with the "variety" theme of the quilt. Since they're all different patterns, done in different fabrics, why not different sizes.

I've loved the random look of Jane's quilt so much that I've decided to re-draft the patterns in EQ5 to more closely resemble the original, while keeping the rainbow color scheme. So far I have 2 rows re-drafted. The re-draft is being done in colors that are similar to the ones in the original quilt. I'll have to import my blocks into the DJ software and re-color them for my rainbow design.

The changes are very suble, and only a slightly insane person such as myself might bother with it, but I really like the slightly more "hodge-podge" appearance without the evenness of the sashing.

So here's to starting over!