Cathie's Campfire

I was going to go to my plein air class yesterday but I got sick the night before and could not imagine standing in the heat for three hours, so I stayed home and made a Dear Jane block instead.  It took me longer to decide on the fabric for this block (I was obsessing for days), A5 - Cathie's Campfire, than it did to make it, and I fear that will continue to be the name of the game in the coming months because I hope to make the remaining blocks from the fabrics I already have.

Draft and Construction
The draft in the book was perfect so I just had to cut out the three templates. Construction was pretty straightforward except that I wanted all the fans in the five squares to be pointing the same direction. You can see I goofed on the middle square but since it still had a symmetry to it, I left it as is. The pink fan fabric was also used in I10 - Iris' Medallion. The red colorway of this fabric was used in E4 - Buffalo Tree Hopper. That's a little closer to this block than I'd like, but eventually Jane kicks all our butts just enough times that we decide finished is good enough. Besides, as testified by those who hve seen Jane's quilt in person -- imperfect can still be charming.

My Friend Cathie
This block reminds me of my dear friend Cathie. In some ways, you could say I made my first quilt for her. She bought a doll bed for her granddaughter and wanted a quilt for the bed. Cathie insisted I would be able to do just that since I already had sewing skills. With a lot of pestering, I took the challenge, but I never really thought of it as a true quilt, since I did not know what I was doing, and I knew I had just made things up. Years later, I learned that my method had a name -- strip piecing! I used to have a Polaroid photo of the doll quilt on the doll bed. If I ever find it, I'll post it here. I miss Cathie. If she was still alive, I'm sure she would take great interest in my quilting escapades.

Dear Jane Progress = 142 Blocks
As of August 5, 2010, I have 27 blocks to go, I've completed all the blocks in column 5, which means I have four complete columns.