the “Jane” saga continues...
the back
Warning – long post, so if
you are really interested you might want to refresh your coffee. Some of you
may remember my 9 month (and numerous posts, here, here, here and well you get
the picture) “Jane” journey. I really didn’t elaborate much on my
disappointment with the borders.
I thought it was going to be
o.k. until I hung it up for the first time. Argh! The borders were flapping in
the breeze. I had entered it in our state show and didn’t have time to do
anything about it before I had to send it off. So there it hung next to my
friend Ann’s beautiful Dear Jane in the show. Ann’s hung perfectly straight and
mine looked as if a herd of elephants had used the borders to play tug of war.
Luckily most people were so
enamored (or they were just being kind) of the potholder method that no one
commented on the wavy borders. But then,
on the last day of the show my friend Cyndi and I walked through the show and
she said “what’s all that red there”? In 8 or 9 of the red blocks there was
significant bleeding into the white (off white really) background. ARGH!
Another disaster. How could this happen (I still don’t know how) and can I
rectify it? I wash all my fabrics before I use them and most of the time I wash
reds twice. I rarely use a solid white or off white so I have never had this
problem before. I was so devastated that I left in the bag after the July show
until two weeks ago. As I stated in a former post, my grandson really loves the
geometry of it so if the red never came out, I’m sure he would never care. I
threw the whole thing (wavy borders and all) into the washer with 7 color
catchers (all I had at the time). The color catchers (I’m sold on them now!)
came out RED and the quilt came out just fine. Not a trace of bleeding. Who’d a
thought it? So now, how do I tackle the border problem?
I started by taking off all 4
borders. I contemplated using them as a valance on my porch, but I put so much
hand quilting into them I wanted to salvedge them as some sort of quilt. So
this is what I came up with. A “strippy” Jane if you will.
front
back
If you recall the original
quilt I titled “Cooking with Jane”. Now the middle section of the quilt is
titled “Half Baked Jane” and the little strippy is called “Jane’s Leftovers” in
keeping with my “cooking” theme for my potholder quilts. I like what I ended up
with and the smaller middle segment actually fits better on the wall in my
grandson’s room that the original. Can’t beat a Yankee when it comes to
ingenuity and frugality! Thanks for staying with me through the whole agonizing
story. Go make something fun!
Oh, my goodness, you have really hit the highs and lows with this quilt, Wendy! I love your undaunted spirit and the way you tackled the problem and resolved it. The leftovers quilt is so clever. Ingenious, for sure!
ReplyDeleteThanks Janet. Ingenious was not the word that came to mind at first! I do think quilting helps with learning patience.
DeleteAmazing save - so glad you're happy with the project finish. I'm a fan of the color catchers too - when I remember to use them!
ReplyDeleteThey certainly saved me this time!
DeleteCongratulations Wendy ! You saved your awesome quilt !! I'm so happy for you.... Never give up in patchwork !! :)
ReplyDeleteI do think mistakes make us stronger and a bit more creative!
DeleteOh so glad to hear the bleeding came out in the Color Catchers! And you never gave up : )
ReplyDeleteWell,, it did take me a while to get inspired.
DeleteWow, that is a saga...glad it had a happy ending. I think every Dear Jane has a story to tell!
ReplyDeleteShe does live on doesn't she!
DeleteOh, my gosh. Our precious quilts can certainly cause heartache and anxiety. I'm so relieved that the bleeding situation was rectified. And that your border was used so ingeniously. Wow. Jane certainly has more stories to tell.
ReplyDeleteYes, Dear sweet Jane will live on forever thanks to wonderful quilters.
DeleteWell, that settles it--no stupid triangles for me--I'll just finish my wee blocks and have my own 'half-baked' Jane (love title and your quilt.) How very clever of you to use the borders in a smaller quilt--leftovers is great. I'm off to buy another box of 'color catchers' because you just never know (although Synthrapol and Retayne have always been my friends too.)
ReplyDeleteOh don't give up the ship because of my errors. I think if I had done them the conventional way it would have been fine. That being, half baked is just fine with me!
DeleteI thought the saga of your Jane quilt was over but I see it has rebirthed into some wonderful quilts varying in size. How thrifty you are in saving all the parts.
ReplyDeleteThrifty is in fact my middle name. And I promise (maybe) no more Jane stories.
DeleteYou 'Jane' is beautiful. I'm so glad that you were able to correct the migrating red dye problem. And the borders....you took a problem and made it a creative opportunity! Nicely done!
ReplyDeleteI think I'll be adding vinegar to all my red washings from now on.
DeleteI'm glad it didn't stay in the bag! So happy you found a solution to all the problems,.
ReplyDeleteHa, thanks Lori. I do have a few quilts that should have been left "in the bag".
DeleteFirst let me say your quilt is INCREDIBLE. The border waving is an interesting problem. Not sure how I would have solved it. Your solution is fun and creative! hooray! are you going to the CW day at the NEQM?
ReplyDeleteThanks Barb! I did try a few things first, but found that trimming up ever triangle would have been overwhelming. I was planning on goring on the 17th but got roped into doing a potholder demo at a local show. Cyndi and I plan on coming down in early November. Will let you know what day. Woohoo!
DeleteThanks for a good laugh at your comments Wendy - and well done for making the very best of it all - inspirational stuff! Your 'leftovers' is a great little quilt and 'half baked' is just wonderful as it is. Colour catchers have saved the day for me too - amazing what they can do!
ReplyDeleteWe do have to laugh at our mistakes, although I must admit I don't always "learn" from them. Fun to keep trying though.
DeleteSo pleased you came up with such a clever solution. I'm certainly glad the color catchers did their job. The quilt can still hold it's head up high without the borders.
ReplyDeleteWell, you know what they say about "necessity". Thanks for your positive comments!
DeleteSo sorry you had to go thru all of that! But what is important is your happiness in the end. Great solution and what tanacity!
ReplyDeleteWell adversity is supposed to make us stronger. If this is all the adversity I get this month I will be very happy!
DeleteLove a colour catcher. Love the border quilt you made too.
ReplyDeleteWhen I did my Jane, I had a time getting those corners to lay flat. When I took it to our retreat, someone said I'd cut my sashing too wide so I'm not sure how I got it all to fit together. I know people that have made as many as 5 Janes (all blocks, tris, and corners). I'm happy to stick to one. Yours looks great!
ReplyDeleteYour quilts are so gorgeous, you should be proud of both of them! So let's see, are you saying you don't recommend using the potholder method on the borders? What would I need to do if I use the potholder method and want straight borders? Also, does this mean that since each block is bound, when I am finished putting the blocks together, there isn't any more binding to do? I was thinking of single fold binding for the blocks, but I do like double fold for the outside for extra measure.
ReplyDelete