We would like to welcome Annie to our group!!! Annie is just starting her Dear Jane Journey. Aren't her blocks just amazing and lovely? Wow! Below is what Annie wrote to me...I am sharing her blocks and words from my email, with her kind permission.
From Annie:
Since I am just starting my “Jane Journey” and others are so much further along, I thought I’d begin with the end blocks to avoid repeats of everyone seeing the same block. I am going to try and make at least two a week, depending on how much down time I have to work on these. Here are my first three blocks ( from the bottom row). The wide range of blocks made me wonder about how Jane made hers – did she have an organized design/layout with each block already drafted? Did she assemble them as she went as I am doing or wait until she had made a large number of her blocks? Where did all her fabric come from – this woman had a serious stash, especially impressive given the shortage of cotton created by the war. And then I thought about what might have been on her mind when she was sewing. The Civil War took its toll on both sides, and many people she knew must have died, were injured or were never heard from again. I sewed my first block this week (the green one) while a younger friend was dying. I know that I will always think of her when I see that block. We sew pieces of ourselves into our quilts, don’t we? Annie
I absolutely love this, Annie, because I have wondered all the same things about our Jane!!! Look forward to more of your sharing!!
Here is a rainbow tiny block...I have a ton of tiny blocks cut out, and just need some sewing time to make all these tiny blocks.
Please see https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/, to see and or make all the blocks for this year! A treasure trove of tiny blocks. Thank you, Angela!
Look at how far along our Binsa is!! She made the pink block above,
And the blue block above. GORGEOUS! you go girl...making great progress!!!
I hope each of you has an amazing day today...Happy Monday!!!
***************************Housekeeping****************************
So when I get up, I make the bed, start laundry if needed, make the coffee, put any stray dishes in the dishwasher or wash them, and them start in on the tasks of the day. I am just really wanting to do a good job around the house, but it is frustrating! Whenever I clean off a surface, it is a mess by the end of the day. grrrr!! I seem to be doing all the same things at an ever increasing frequency...how do I get others on board with me??? Any hints?
Thank you...as my mother died when I was very young, she did not have time to teach my everything I need to know...and at 55, I am still searching for that perfect routine!
Julie
14 comments:
Don't feel bad, Julie, at 74 I'm still trying to figure out how to keep up with the housekeeping. Thankfully, I let my obssessive DH take care of the dishwasher and making the bed.
Love all those Jane blocks!! Fun to get more peeps onboard!!
How about asking everyone to put their dishes in the dishwasher as soon as they are done eating. After they get used to that, then add another little thing....
One chore at a time. Or resort to a chore chart! LOL But if you are talking about hubby, maybe not!
I enjoy seeing the Dear Jane blocks from everyone. Loved hearing from Annie, and her thoughts on the quilt and its maker.
It sounds to me like you are trying. I like Lori's idea of focusing on one thing at a time.
And I've told you that I try to keep the front room straight at all times, but the rest of the house only gets tackled once a week or so, aside from a little daily picking up.
Loved Annie’s thoughts with Dear Jane. I normally do my housework once a week and of a night before I go to bed do a tidy up especially in the kitchen and family room.
Nice little DJ blocks, each one. Wish Jane had kept a journal as she stitched. I’ve heard someone propose that perhaps she had access to salesman’s samples and that gave her the large variety of fabrics. Doing chores together worked best for me when my children were at home. Changing DH is a whole different ballgame...lol.
Such beautiful Jane blocks. It has been a long time since I have made any, but I certainly should make some more at some point to get the quilt done. As to tidying, I don't think that there is a perfect system, because by the time you perfect it, the situation will change and you will have to adapt yet again. My only advice is to talk to your family and let them know you want help and together come up with a game plan. When I had foster children, we wrote chores down on slips of paper which we put in a jar (they helped choosing and writing the chores), and we all spent 15 minutes doing those chores a day. It helped a lot to share the burden. I realized that I was helping them learn how to do chores and get good habits, etc. so I stopped feeling guilty about it. Consistency is the key.
Love all the DJ blocks - I always do dishes after each meal, therefore that issue is not one. Laundry is done on Mondays - OR on the week-end and then on Monday I change sheets. Vacuum and moping are done 3 times a week - or if I think I need some extra exercise! I have finally found a fairly good cleaning service to come in 1 time a month to do all the dusting.
I try to keep things in order. When we did the massive clean out of things not needed in May before we had new carpet, it has helped 100% in keeping things in order. Clutter drives me nuts.
I do not know if this helps you or not, but remember - I am a perfectionists - even at 74!
Hugs and enjoy your stitching!
I also love all these blocks. Amazing how people got things done without all the "appliances" we now have to help us, and still have time to quilt.
When I turned 50 -more years ago than I care to admit- I made a promise to myself that all decisions I made would be of benefit to ME. About the cleaning... I AM A QUILTER! Cleaning is not one of my "gifts". Change sheets once a week... Why? Vacuum carpets weekly... Why? DUSTING????? never heard of it. OK, if I happen to walk by a dusty piece of furniture while holding a damp cloth then I may or may not actually dust it. I see no benefit to me by doing all that housework. I would much rather fondle a pile of fabric. Having said that - I do keep my bathroom and kitchen clean! After all I do live in a civilized society. thanks for listening :)
Way to go, Annie. That's a great start!
Love your orange fabric, Julie. Yum!
As for a clean kitchen in a house with 4 men, the trick is "your responsible of your mess". And I call them on it. Whether they are in their room listening to music or upstairs playing games, I don't care. I just call them down to come and clean up after themselves. Yes, I repeat every evening when it's their snack time. "Put the butter away." "Dirty knife on counter." Over and over. Maybe, one day my daughter in law will thank me for it because they sure won't, lol.
When I leave for work, I leave little notes on the microwave (dry-erase pen writes well) "Start dishwasher", "sweep the floor", etc.... If they do it, it is that much less for me. If they don't do it, ... they usually have to when I get home. Then again, these are my kids; they don't pay for the food on the table so they owe me, lol.
Maybe you will be surprise at the reaction you'll get if you just ask him to help more. Wink! Good luck! ;^)
Jane was possibly confined to bed while she worked on her blocks. Her brother had been a tailor, so he may have been the source of some of her fabric. While she had a serious stash, her tiny block pieces indicate a very frugal woman. Her visitors may have brought her bits of fabric. Your blocks are sweet. And housework is so over rated.
Wish I had the patience to try those beautiful Dear Jane blocks all of you are doing! So far as house cleaning, I have only two set rules. 1. Wash all dishes before going to bed every night! 2. Every morning, make the bed and get fully dressed before going down the hall for breakfast. For everything else, it gets done when absolutely necessary, particularly if I'm trying to finish a quilt. ---"Love"
I have always wanted to do one of these quilts but just haven't taken the plunge yet.
I love all the blocks in this post, Julie. What a fun challenge to make them. Annie's thoughts are so similar to mine as I work on Cheddarback. How I wish I could have been around (or go back in time) to watcher her create this and see how she made choices about fabrics and blocks. Too bad there's not time travel, huh?
Annie makes really well done Jane blocks.
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