Quilt as You Go.

Back in May of 2010 I joined a list of ladies that were working on Dear Jane quilts.
I am not so sure all were, but that did not matter to me.
What you did was to make what they call a "Siggy", which is a signature block using  D-13 From the Dear Jane book.
As you signed up you were given the directions to make the block with a finished size, and the list of participants.
You could write to any or all of the ladies on the list.
I did start aggressively, by writing a note, sending a block and hoping they were respond.
As time went on, I refined how I proceeded.  Not everyone would respond, unfortunately.
Most all of the ladies on the list are from overseas.
Eventually, I did make a list of who I sent to, and when I received their block.
One of the requirements was to send  a note, telling a bit about yourself.
For me, I have now gained some very special friends.
My "siggy" friend, Isabelle from France and I have made quilts together, we acknowledge each other's birthday, and Christmas, and send postcards when we are on vacation.  We each are on Facebook, so we can keep up with each other there as well.
My friend from Sweden,  Johanna and I keep in touch through each other's blogs. Her friend Angus has inspired me with his beautiful bird pictures.
Helen in Australia, and I keep in touch from Australia, between our blogs and Facebook.
It has been a wonderful way to make friendships.

Any way, this quilt is going to be the result of the exchanging of siggies. A while back Marga (MarPie) of MarPie's Sewing Projects, showed how she was making her quilt, by using the Quilt as you Go method.  Now this was something I have not done, so decided to give it a try.  I always like handwork and there is a lot of that in this quilt.
Marga Pieper is now the keeper of the list.
If you are interested in being part of this list, please contact her.

I started following her directions.
One row is completed.  I think I have over 300 of these to work on.
I am also making my quilt 18 wide.  Marga is making her quilt using only 15 in a row.

I am using charm packs for my backing squares, and have trimmed  my siggies to 5 inch square.  A couple I have had to add strips of fabric around the edges to bring them up to the 5 inches.
I am using a black on black for my front connecting sashes, and have cut 1 inch by 5 inch pieces of fabric to use for the back connecting sashes.
I have hand quilted around each of the center signature part of the block.  (You do need to do this before you start connecting them together.
On one side of the block you machine stitch with a front sash on top of your sandwiched and a piece of fabric you are going to use for the back on the back.  Sew a quarter inch from the edge.
Then you sew the next block to the top piece of sash  only.
On the back you will turn under the piece of sash and hand stitch it to the back of the next block.

The first row is completed.  I don't have the second row hand stitched at all yet, so cannon add the two rows together yet.

It is a fun way to put this quilt together.
Right now it will be 16 + rows long, at 83 inches.  I am pretty sure I have more then 300 to work with, but have not kept good track in the last year or so. I will just keep working on it.
Up until now, I have them in plastic page protectors in big notebooks.
Each block has the note or letter that came with it, as well as the envelope.
They are in the order I have received them through the years.
I will make sure I organize the letters to make sure they match the order they are sewn together.

It has been a great way to meet and make new friends that have the same interest as you.
Happy Sewing
Mary