Dear Jane block A-1 is now complete. I struggled a bit with the corner bits but I feel very good inside. According to the software, and a mighty powerful program it is, A-1 is considered an intermediate block. I tackled it head on and this is the result:

It was a real brain teaser so what I think I'll be doing is taking a break from Dear Jane by piecing a block from my Lori Smith Small Quilt sixty block project.

The block I finished yesterday is here:

I Finally Figured it Out

I am watching the Smithsonian channel as they follow Doris through her day as she participates in an auction selling antique apparel. One beaded razzmatazz that she paid a couple thousand for failed to make its way into her baggage. She returned and found it. She described her rush of adrenaline. Then she said, "That is how people get addicted to shopping." 

Now that I am a quilter I experience the tiny rush with every portion of what goes into every block. 

My name is Jeanne Lucas and I am addicted to quilting. And nothing could be more wholesome.

Dear Jane I'm Just About Ready

I have been putting together my arsenal to take on Dear Jane, the 1860's quilt pieced by Jane Stickle.

Book. Check.
Book rebound to lie flat. Check.
CD-ROM. Check.
Rulers. Check.
Steady Betty Pressing Board. Check.
Join Kathy Tracy's DearJaneSQT Yahoo group. Check.

Kelly at Pressing Matters in Holland has ordered my fifteen yards of Kona Snow background fabric. It should be in two weeks from now.

After returning from my first ever Quilt Shop Hop I tried out my Steady Betty pressing board. I love it. It grips the little pieces like nothing else. The size, 12 x 12, is perfect for my portable ironing board.

I have been putting together a couple bookmarks that contain tutorials to get me started. I don't have my background fabric yet but I intend on piecing two or three blocks just to get this under way. 

Freezer Paper Foundation Piecing? I need to study that for sure so I found this tutorial by the twiddletails store. I don't even know how to say that! But here is a link to it:

                 http://www.twiddletails.com/store/index.php?main_page=page&id=21



And here is a link to what goes on behind Block H-1 Peek-a-Boo:

         http://karensquilting.com/blog/2009/08/the-construction-of-a-handpieced-dear-jane-block-a-tutorial/


                 Here goes nothin'!

My quilting journey is taking giant steps forward. In order to take those steps with super sparkly style I have decided to dedicate myself to wearing my sparkle shoes only when quilting. My mother gave these to me before she passed. They are Rocket Dogs. They are comfortable. They are warm enough on my cold basement floor.

And I give you      SPARKLY QUILTING SHOES

Dear Jane, it's all about the quilt

Here I find myself giving into the persuasions over at SmallQuiltTalk yahoo group and purchasing the Dear Jane combo. That means the book, the cd and the rulers. Eighty-two bucks at the DearJane web site.

Listening to the women share their tips and tricks, successes and attempts is so inspiring.

Here is the original Dear Jane quilt.

Here is the Dear Jane website.

http://www.dearjane.com/

I am sure I will get countless hours of quilting satisfaction out of the journey.

Adventures at the SNOWY Lakeshore

What on earth? I wake to two inches of snow?!

A friend of mine took a lovely picture in her yard of snow and autumn leaves. Nice job Jill!

Women On Wheels® Lansing Meeting

Smokey Bones in Lansing, Michigan. 
I've heard it is good. Today I find out.

Chapter Directors, the out-going State Ambassador and myself are "meeting there for a meeting there". :-)

The day has come and gone. Smokey Bones was delish. I ordered a black and bleu sirloin, ceasar salad and broccoli. Just before leaving for Lansing I printed out a $5.00 coupon. I found it at

PRINTABLECOUPONFEED.COM 

 Try it out. There are hundreds of coupons there! It takes some time sorting through all those that are expired but I found one and they accepted it.

The gals was great. Several things were covered regarding stuff I need to know about administering my ambassadorship. Many questions were answered.


But on the negative side...my battery is wearing down. Found it best to shut off car lights, fan and radio before turning the ignition.

LUNCH!

Red Lobster it is. Evelyn's choice and it was a good one.

It has been twenty years since I have been in a Red Lobster. So impressive; the staff, the food, the prices, the classy new Bar Harbor interior. Beautiful.

I brought a pizza box of my Lori Smith Small Quilt blocks. We chatted for well over an hour.

We agree we need to do this again.

It Happened One Day at the Fabric Store

It happened one day at the fabric store. Just being in the store feels good but this day was extra special. I met a delightful woman, Evelyn, and her husband. 

She quilts. They have horses. So much in common!

Evelyn told me about the online QuiltersClubofAmerica. I'm in! I am the proud owner of a membership and all that comes with it.

1. Four issues per year of Easy Quilts magazine...and digital copies back to 2008.

2. Unbelievable deals and discounts. 

3. FREE patterns.

4. Membership to QNNtv.com (videos, tutorials, etc.)

5. A show & tell gallery.

6. Message/conversation boards.

7. Links to top bloggers.

8. Contests.

The list of benefits goes on and on.

Well, today we are going to meet in the same fabric store and then have lunch! Grand Traverse Pie Company sounds good.

And so it begins...

Blame it all on SmallQuiltTalk.com. Those ladies over there are AMAZING.

I have always been interested in journaling. Blogging seems so natural. A place to show and tell, a place to think out loud, a place to scream and vent...a place to invent.

Today is my first entry ever. October 16, 2013.

I look things over and see I can begin with colored type and different fonts. Here we go:

Those ladies over there at SmallQuiltTalk are AMAZING.

Well lookie there. I did it. Now to add a picture. 

This whole thing began when my good old Sunbeam iron died in mid press.  Off to the internet I go, researching a replacement iron. I found a reasonably priced Black and Decker steam iron and when I got it home, plugged it in and started ironing the thing would not stop heating. Scary. Meanwhile I picked up a cheap little Rival (a company owned by Sunbeam! Yippy!) for $6.47. That little sucker could hold its own against the Black and Decker, no problem.

I returned the Black and Decker; kept the little Rival.