Dear Jane Revisited

4/18/2020

Electric Quilt just released the Dear Jane Add-on for EQ. As I have been playing with the new software this week, I have also been reflecting on my Dear Jane journey. In this post I will share a part of that journey (and a few of my Dear Jane quilts). I will also share a really cool new feature from the add-on software in my EQ8 video tutorial.

My Dear Jane Journey

My love of Dear Jane began in June 2000 (almost 20 years ago) when a new guild was being started by JoAnn Atikins (now the owner of Four Seasons Quilt Shop)..

My original plan was to do a few blocks and make a small quilt based on the blocks in Brenda Popadakis' book Dear Jane: The Two Hundred Twenty-Five Patterns from the 1863 Jane A. Stickle Quilt.

I ended up creating my own layout, including thirteen original triangles and five additional blocks. There are a total of 174 blocks, 68 triangles and 4 corners – not including the unused duplicate triangles as a result of a tracking glitch. (I needed the new add-on software back in 2000.) There are 421 separate fabrics. Based on a purchase of a fat quarter for each fabric, I estimate the quilt cost $950 in supplies alone. All blocks were redrafted using Electric Quilt 4 to aide in my construction. The quilt took five years to complete.

Kari with her Dear Jane Journey quilt in 2005

Those in the Dear Jane Minnesota Quilt Guild became some of my closest quilting friends. One year we did a road trip to Shipshewana for a Jane Stickle retreat.

Pam, Kari, Elizabeth, Morgan, Sherry, JoAnn and Deb in Shipshewana

We also began doing our own retreats, in the winter at Four Seasons Quilt shop and in summer at St. Bens College. We also had numerous exchanges and challenges that had a Dear Jane aspect to them.

As I was writing this post, I attempted to track down some of my quilts inspired by Dear Jane. Here were the ones I could locate in my stacks of quilts.

Signature Exchange

In this exchange, each participant did the same block All blocks needed to be signed and dated. Each participant was required to produce a block that was representative of their larger “Jane quilt”. Since there were many different fabric themes, the biggest part of the challenge was figuring out how to put them all together.

Taupe Exchange

For this exchange each participant picked a Dear Jane block (we eliminated many of the “easy blocks” from the options) and made 16 blocks (6” finished). These blocks were exchanged in May 2009 and by August 11 of the 14 participants had their quilts completed (in time for our first Dear Jane show).

Blue and Yellow Exchange

In 2001/2002 there were a series of exchanges with approximately 10-15 participants in each exchange. Each person chose a different block from Dear Jane and made one for each of the other participants.

This particular quilt was featured in the original Dear Jane software released by Electric Quilt in 2003.

Dear Jane Circle of Friends by Kari Schell

Being a huge Dear Jane fan, I was super excited to hear that Electric Quilt was updating their Dear Jane software. The new version is compatible with EQ8 and can be purchased for either a MAC or a PC.

Dear Jane Project Tracking

My latest Dear Jane adventure is attempting the blocks at 2.25" finished size. I've been stalled on this for a long time (more than care to think about). I am not very happy about the quality of some of my completed blocks and trying to decide if I should redo some of them or possibly even abandon the project. But I pulled out my finished blocks and decided to use them to test the new Dear Jane project tracker feature included in the Dear Jane Add-on Software just released by EQ.

I laid each of my pieced blocks on a piece of foam core board and then just snapped individual pictures on my phone.

Kari's Dear Jane blocks in 2.25" finished sizes

Everything else was done in Electric Quilt as shown in this video tutorial.

Kari's Dear Jane Progress Report using the Dear Jane Add-on Software for EQ8

Dear Jane Add-on for EQ8

Electric Quilt has informed me that they have a special introductory price for the new add-on software through April 30, 2020 and gave me permission to share their offer with you. The regular price is $49.95. The introductory price is $32.47. You can purchase directly from EQ here.

Happy quilting.

Kari

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Linda Woytisek

4/18/2020 08:07:36 am

I made the Dear Jane quilt in approx 2012. I showed this in a few AQS shows and my local guild. It took first place as well as viewers choice in the guild. Iam very proud of this as it was a learning quilt for me.
Thank you for sharing
Linda W

Kari Schell

4/18/2020 10:27:05 am

Congratulations Linda on your first place showing with your DJ quilt. I agree that working on the quilt is a wonderful learning experience.

Maureen Pinwill

4/18/2020 09:16:02 am

I have the Dear Jane book and the cd/dvd that goes with it. I haven't actually used the cd/dvd yet but I think I may be able to work with that to make my own blocks within EQ8 I hope.

I know that a number of our quilt club members have done some of the blocks and I liked them too. I will revisit this book and learn more about it. I think the book I have covers the history of this quilt as well. Lovely newsletter. Thank you :)

4/18/2020 10:34:19 am

The original book did not have a cd/dvd with it. I own two copies-which is why I know. :) But wondering if you purchased the original software that EQ had developed for Dear Jane. It could work as stand-alone software (i.e. it didn't require you to own EQ). It was a little clunky to use -- but if that is what you have, you will find that the block libraries from the original program can be used in EQ. EQ did modify how they did the border blocks in the new add-on program so those particular blocks in the original program are best used without modification. In the new add-on you can easily make any changes you desire to the blocks using EQ8.

Sherry

4/18/2020 09:24:22 am

Kari, our retreats were so much fun! Miss them so much. I have always admired the layout of your full size quilt and I am excited to see you pull out your 2.25" blocks. Looking forward to seeing your progress in person!

4/18/2020 10:36:44 am

Thanks Sherry. I have so enjoyed our friendship -- that never would have happened without Dear Jane. And I am looking forward to seeing you in person. Hopefully that will be soon.

Karen Copstead

4/18/2020 10:02:16 am

I sure enjoy reading about your amazing DJ quilt! Plus your original DJ group of quilting friends is really cool! And seeing the super creative challenges you all came up with is fantastic. Thanks for sharing this fun post today!

4/18/2020 10:38:06 am

Thanks Karen. It was fun taking a trip down memory lane as I put together this post. Ironically I had lots of pictures of quilts from those in the group -- not so many pictures of the people in the group.

Michelle

4/18/2020 12:35:33 pm

I admire your ability/talent to finish so many different versions! One of the "bonuses" of this quarantining has given me extended time to work on my DJ as well as other projects. Some day, I may have it done. Of course, I blame you for my even having started a DJ! :-) Looking forward to seeing everyone again--hopefully, soon!

4/19/2020 01:09:06 pm

Excited to see the progress you are making on your DJ. If we have our summer retreat, will I be able to see the blocks in person?

Lucille Makrin link

4/18/2020 01:08:13 pm

Kari, I started my DJ in 2005-06. Got all my little blocks done. Husband knew I was on a Mission. However I have not done the triangles yet. Have started to sew my blocks in rows with sashing and corner stones, It's looking Good.
My question is: How do I obtain a Dear Jane Pin? I would love one and have 2 friends that have started their DJ Quest after seeing my blocks in baggies. So would like to purchase 3 pins. Looking forward to hearing from you. 518-854-7573

4/19/2020 01:16:47 pm

I have no idea if Brenda is still stocking and selling Dear Jane pins and materials. I would contact her and see if she has things for sale. If not, you may be out of luck. Here is the contact form from her website. http://dearjane.com/contact-us/

Lee Sparks

4/19/2020 11:22:22 am

Beautiful quilts Karri! I've been admiring DJ forever and was delighted when EQ launched the latest version. My question - as these projects obviously take considerable amount of time, how does one amass fabric? All at once? Like a 1/4yd of tons of everything? Dig from your stash? When I checked out the yardage estimates there are 128 different colors! Yikes!
PS kudos to you for doing this at 2.25"!!

4/19/2020 01:14:19 pm

My fabric suggestion -- by lots of background (assuming you are using one fabric for the background) and don't start chopping off pieces of it for other projects or you just may run out of fabric when you have two triangles left to complete. (Don't ask me now I came by this conclusion.) For the blocks, I pulled from my stash and purchased as I found fabrics I liked. Since the quilt took me five years, that was a lot of time to find the fabric I needed. I did my quilt before fat 8ths were commonly available -- but I remember swapping the equivalent of fat 8ths with those in my Dear Jane group.

Maryanne Curwood

4/21/2020 02:12:05 am

Oh Kari once I saw your beautiful quilt, and you were going to 2 ¼ “ blocks I thought I should at least try so I now have the add on installed in EQ8. I will try at 2 ¼ “ but if too difficult then move back to 4 ½”. I hope you keep posting your progress. It will take me some time to gather fabrics etc. and there seem to be limited fabric collections in reproductions.

Sharon Osborne

4/21/2020 11:29:19 am

Hi Kari, I love your quilts and I'm very inspired by looking at them. I have 5 blocks made and one border triangle. This makes me want to keep going. I did buy the software update. It's pretty cool!

Stay Safe!
Sharon

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