Dear Jane Update

Here are the Dear Jane blocks I finished for October.  I am so glad the Sew Small group is doing this challenge this year because it is really getting me going, and I am enjoying working on my DJ blocks again.  I would love to get this quilt finished - I think it is going to be really pretty and old fashioned looking :)

It is funny because I struggled to pick out the fabrics for the 100 Modern Quilt blocks, but I LOVE picking out the fabrics for the Dear Jane blocks.  I think it is because of the "modern" large print fabrics.  With the large prints, a different piece of the same fabric can completely change the look of the block, so a lot of fussy cutting is involved, whereas with these Civil War reproduction fabrics, which are mostly small prints, the block will look OK no matter how you cut and piece it.  It simplifies the process ....

I paper pieced the top block using the freezer paper piecing method, and I just pieced the rest of these the regular way.

Starching the fabric before cutting, and then using the tailor's clapper with a steam iron has really helped improve my piecing recently. Tips I learned from friends at the Sew Savvy retreat.