A-1 Pinwheel Gone Awry

This is the first block in the first corner which is why it is titled A-1, its actual title is pinwheel gone awry, but everything is also titled by grid letter/number. Like I said before everything on the quilt is laid out like a grid so it makes it a lot easier to follow along with!

We of coarse me and my mom chose to tackle this block first because it is first in the grid!

We decided the best coarse of action would be to sew each little triangle together and lay it out properly so we could see how it would look.

Heres the very center!!! I dont know if you can tell but Im really excited about this block!!! I love pinwheels and have never done one and well.. this one is just awesome!

TADA!!! here is the final product!!

I am new to sewing and thus new to patterns. Seriously I think most of them are in some foreign language! Once my mom and I sat down and she read through it and put it in to words I understand it was actually really really simple!

My mom does have the software and it has really helped me (Im a VERY visual person) We can print off the correct size grid so we know exactly what it is supposed to come out like! I have to color in all the darker fabrics so I dont get confused but it REALLY REALLY helps! I say if you are going to tackle this quilt it is a good idea to spend the little extra to get that software!

happy stitching!

~candace & nanette~

Getting Started!

Alright so Im gonna share with you a bit on how we got started when we finally dived in to this project!

My mom and I decided it would be best to cut fabric before we do any sewing (makes sense right?!)

here is my mom cutting her fabric while Im (besides playing paparazzi) am reading off what she needs to cut.

here I am cutting my fabric while my mom reads off the measurements. (please ignore the wardrobe I was on vacation) My poor mom had to repeat herself about 5 million times! Im not incompetent I swear! Well maybe just a little. Shed tell me the dimensions and how many I needed to do and I would flip the numbers around in my head when I repeated it so shed say no Candace its this. We went round and round until I finally got it!

here is my stack after round 1 of cutting!

We also came up with the best way to keep our cut fabrics organized for each block.

for those of you who have never seen the dear jane pattern everything is listed like a grid. It is lettered for each row going across and numbered for each row going down! This is truely the best way to stay organized. At the end of the day we had all these lil sandwich bags full of our cut fabric labeled with their appropriate letter and number according to their spot on this grid. This made it a lot easier for me to keep up with everyday and bring do the house to work on with her.

I also had a bag for my small scraps, because you end up with a lot! Any larger scraps I folded up and put back in the bag they came in. Also since all the blocks are 5" when completed they fit just right in one of the small bags! (this way I wont lose any)

We got a lot of cutting and a lot of sewing done. I will be posting each block and our experiences with them, but for now I think it is important to share that some times being a little ocd about organizing fabrics and blocks is VERY VERY helpful!!! (and important)

~candace & nanette!~

In the beginning....

Hi! My name is Candace, you may know me as craft-crazed

and this beautiful lady in the pink is my mom, Nanette! (that guy is my dad but this isnt about him is it?)

you can find her and her pre-K greatness at mrsnanettesnuggets

Alrighty now that I have given you a formal introduction, its down to business. My mother and I have a very special (crafting) relationship. Besides her putting me on this earth and raising me up right she taught me (is teaching me) to sew.

A few years ago I told her I wanted to learn to quilt, she of coarse thought I was crazy, but helped me out non the less. A friend that she worked with also worked for our local quilt shop HIQ (thats Happiness is Quilting! for those who arent in the know) We decided the best way to learn would be to pack our bags head to the lake house and spend a weekend at quilt camp! Im the only one who graduated ;)

Mom wasnt to interested but I kept pushing for her to do projects with me. She started with a crazy quilt, got into the block swaps our shop offered with me, and now she is just as hooked as the rest of us.

Now.... On to why and how we started this Dear Jane journey!

We share birthdays, well not really mine is Dec. 14th and hers is Dec 15th, but we do celebrate together (dad splurges on the better dinner when you share a birthday with your mom) I am all about spoiling myself for my birrthday! Why not treat yourself?! I buy myself one present every year with my own non-birthday money. This last year I told my mom that we needed to do this Dear Jane BOM at our quiltshop down by the lake Stichin' Heaven She said she'd been eyeing the same thing so we went for it!!! Now we've come to realize we were absolutely nuts, but hey its a labor of love!

This particular BOM is 10 blocks a month for 2 years..... We've been getting them since January and hadnt started yet. Finally I took a week off spent every day at her house and we sewed... cut... sewed some more.. Ive got 6 down and many many more to go! We have now decided our best course of action will be to get together at least one weekend a month and get some serious sewing done! Im thinking this will need to happen at the lake house so we dont bother my dad ;)

Im really excited now that Ive gotten some blocks done and cant wait to share them with you! This is going to be an interesting and exciting learning experience and Im so excited to be sharing it with my wonderful and inspiring mother!

happy stitching!!

~candace & nanette~