Perfection and Soul

I've been thinking about G7 - Indianapolis, forever! This block is in the dead-center position on the Dear Jane Quilt, an important spot in a quilt with a "trip 'round the world" color arrangement. My intention all along has been to use the inspiration fabric for this block; all my color decisions (and mistakes) have been based on it.

Save the Day?
I put off making this block because my skills were not up to it. I hoped there was a technique that would save the day. So I searched the web to find out how others tackled this block. I learned that this block has been approached many different ways -- machine piecing, hand piecing, paper piecing, foundation piecing, applique, reverse applique, etc. Over and over, bloggers were saying the same thing -- "I probably should have just pieced the whole thing." That told me no fancy tricks were going to appear, I just had to have my piecing skills well honed.

On the other hand, I did not want to wait any longer. I recently decided that I would repeat fabrics in this quilt and I wanted to use the inspiration fabric in a few other blocks. Which ones? I would not know until I had made Indianapolis.

Sateen
The additional challenge is that unlike most quilting fabrics, this one is not a plain weave. It's a sateen. I used a sateen for I11 - Coyote Chase, too. Sateen has long floats. That means raveling is more likely. The floats make the fabric more shiny; in the case of Indianapolis, that meant some photography challenges.

Color
I was surprised at the paleness of the pink. The contrast with the ivory background fabric is rather low. I had been planning (all these years) to use a dark green for the "X" but decided it would be too stark amidst the field of pastel blocks, so I used a toned-down green. I'm not sure I like it. I am looking forward to creating a new Dear Jane mosaic with this block in the center to get a better feel for how this block will work with the rest of the blocks and how I may fine-tune my fabric/color choices for the remaining blocks.

Perfection and Soul
The curve of the circle is not perfect. My skill at handpiecing curves is inconsistent. Some days I get a perfect curve without trying very hard at all; it just seems to sew itself. Indianapolis was not one of those occasions so, I opened and restitched a few seams, all the while, thinking about an interesting blog I read yesterday. Others found it interesting, too. It had over 40 comments!

The topic? Does a "perfect" quilt have soul? While reading all the comments, I kept thinking about when I stitched together B11 - Melissa's Cross. Those curved seams sewed themselves! It was a Zen moment. Not all curved seams happen that way. When they do, I can't explain it. In my opinion, the resulting block could be ugly or beautiful; it all depends upon the fabrics, pattern, color, etc. I've seen more than one quilt where the quilter clearly nailed the technique but their design felt dead. Maybe it has too much symmetry, or the colors are off, or the design just isn't dynamic enough. Call it the negative aspect of je ne sais quoi. [I'll say more about this further down this long (sorry) post.]

Jane's Charm
Think about this: Jane Stickle's quilt is loaded with charm -- imperfections and all. Conversely, adding a mistake or a wonky block will not guarantee you a quilt with charm or soul. [I prefer the former term.] For me, the fascination with the Dear Jane Quilt comes down to a handful of factors:

• Age: Jane's quilt is well over 100 years old. It's survival alone is impressive.
• Variety of fabrics: 225 different fabrics represents a lot of money -- or good connections. Think about it a moment, but if you are making a Baby Jane quilt, stop thinking about it right now before you change your mind!
• Variety of patterns: 225 blocks and everyone of them is different!
• Tour de Force: One definition is "a feat requiring unusual strength, skill, or ingenuity." That just about says it all but, consider this: Jane did not have clear plastic rulers and all the other gadgets contemporary quilters keep in their arsenals.
• History: This quilt was made while the country was in the midst of a lengthy and grisly Civil War -- fighting for it's life, for it's soul.
• Je ne sais quoi: In the end, for me, it all comes down to this. There is a certain something I cannot name that draws me to this quilt. After all, why do I, who avoid copying the work of others and prefer to make my own designs, want to reproduce this quilt? I'd love to know what that certain something is. Perhaps this is the soul of the quilt. Maybe when my quilt is all done, I'll have some answers. Maybe not.

One Final Thought 
Maybe the reason this quilt fascinates me so is that so many quilters are making Baby Janes! It's so much fun to see how different people interpret the quilt. It's like a long talmudic debate that spans over centuries. People who will never meet are engaging in a long conversation about all the ways one can interpret Jane Stickle's masterpiece. This is an interesting and fitting analogy since coming to a conclusion is not the point of a talmudic debate!