I'm sure this is a stupid question...
09-20-2011, 03:36 PM
#53
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Originally Posted by HomespunHandmaiden
What is a dear jane quilt?
09-20-2011, 08:03 PM
#56
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Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Owensboro, KY
Posts: 1,420
I am fascinated by the Jane Stickle quilt history. I'll share what I know with info from a website as well as my input.
In 1863 a woman named Jane A. Blakely Stickle completed a sampler quilt. Her name would be unremarkable today except for one thing that she did; she signed her amazing quilt.
"In War Time. 1863. Pieces. 5602. Jane A. Stickle."
The quilt was passed down through the family. During the depression years a relative in St. Louis, Missouri found the signed quilt and knowing Jane was from Vermont sent it to the Bennington Museum. The museum is one of the finest art and history museums in New England.
The quilt appeared in Lady's Circle Patchwork Quilts magazine, Winter 1983 issue which featured quilts and quilters from the state of Vermont. Jane's quilt was shown draped from a bowfront chest so it was not seen in its entirety. But what really put it on the road to becoming world famous was when it was pictured fully in Richard L. Cleveland & Donna Bister's book Plain and Fancy: Vermont's People and their Quilts as a Reflection of America, published in 1991. That is where and when Brenda Papadakis saw "The Quilt".
The geometry of the block designs quickly captured Brenda's attention. She spent the next five years researching Jane Stickle's life and times. She drafted the patterns of the 169 four and a half inch blocks, the 52 triangle border blocks, and the 4 kite-shaped corner blocks and then published those in the book Dear Jane, The Two Hundred Twenty-Five Patterns from the 1863 Jane A. Stickle Quilt.
The fascinating fact about Jane's quilt is that it was created during the Civil War when cotton prices were exorbitantly expensive; like $40 a yard. The government required all the cotton it could get for uniforms, etc. But, Jane was a dressmaker. There are over 500 different fabrics in her quilt, and they believe they are made from scraps left over from her dressmaking. There are no repeats of the patterns/blocks or fabrics. Each one is unique to its own block.
My quilt guild had a quilt show almost a 18 months ago. About 10 years ago, the lady who wrote this book traveled around the country conducting workshops on how to make the blocks. One of our quilters finally finished hers; took her 10 years to do it. Why did it take her so long? Because she wanted an exact replica of Jane's. She had visited the museum and viewed the quilt, although it's only exhibited a couple times a year. She bought the book, made the quilt and even hand-quilted as closely as possible to Jane Stickle's quilt by using a magnifying glass to see the stitches in the original one.
I created a powerpoint on the history of quilting that I used when I taught, then edited it for our quilt show including an entire section on Jane Stickle's quilt. Mary's (our member) quilt was on display, and every time I talked about it, I got cold chills. I can't even begin to wrap my mind around a quilt that has over 5000 pieces. It truly is an amazing quilt. It took Mary almost 10 years to complete her quilt; working on it on and off.
In 1863 a woman named Jane A. Blakely Stickle completed a sampler quilt. Her name would be unremarkable today except for one thing that she did; she signed her amazing quilt.
"In War Time. 1863. Pieces. 5602. Jane A. Stickle."
The quilt was passed down through the family. During the depression years a relative in St. Louis, Missouri found the signed quilt and knowing Jane was from Vermont sent it to the Bennington Museum. The museum is one of the finest art and history museums in New England.
The quilt appeared in Lady's Circle Patchwork Quilts magazine, Winter 1983 issue which featured quilts and quilters from the state of Vermont. Jane's quilt was shown draped from a bowfront chest so it was not seen in its entirety. But what really put it on the road to becoming world famous was when it was pictured fully in Richard L. Cleveland & Donna Bister's book Plain and Fancy: Vermont's People and their Quilts as a Reflection of America, published in 1991. That is where and when Brenda Papadakis saw "The Quilt".
The geometry of the block designs quickly captured Brenda's attention. She spent the next five years researching Jane Stickle's life and times. She drafted the patterns of the 169 four and a half inch blocks, the 52 triangle border blocks, and the 4 kite-shaped corner blocks and then published those in the book Dear Jane, The Two Hundred Twenty-Five Patterns from the 1863 Jane A. Stickle Quilt.
The fascinating fact about Jane's quilt is that it was created during the Civil War when cotton prices were exorbitantly expensive; like $40 a yard. The government required all the cotton it could get for uniforms, etc. But, Jane was a dressmaker. There are over 500 different fabrics in her quilt, and they believe they are made from scraps left over from her dressmaking. There are no repeats of the patterns/blocks or fabrics. Each one is unique to its own block.
My quilt guild had a quilt show almost a 18 months ago. About 10 years ago, the lady who wrote this book traveled around the country conducting workshops on how to make the blocks. One of our quilters finally finished hers; took her 10 years to do it. Why did it take her so long? Because she wanted an exact replica of Jane's. She had visited the museum and viewed the quilt, although it's only exhibited a couple times a year. She bought the book, made the quilt and even hand-quilted as closely as possible to Jane Stickle's quilt by using a magnifying glass to see the stitches in the original one.
I created a powerpoint on the history of quilting that I used when I taught, then edited it for our quilt show including an entire section on Jane Stickle's quilt. Mary's (our member) quilt was on display, and every time I talked about it, I got cold chills. I can't even begin to wrap my mind around a quilt that has over 5000 pieces. It truly is an amazing quilt. It took Mary almost 10 years to complete her quilt; working on it on and off.
09-20-2011, 08:28 PM
#57
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Peoria Arizona
Posts: 696
I designed a Baby Jane (using the Dear Jane software) with a selection of 49 of her blocks and have finished 37 so far. I am using Civil War reproduction fabrics and have tried to lay it out in the same color pattern as her original quilt. (i.e. green center block, surrounded by yellow, surrounded by lavender, etc) I do not plan on making any of the border triangles. The Dear Jane software allows you to print out the block patterns as paper pieced, template or just with the dimensions. Making the blocks has been a challenge, and one that I have set aside periodically so I could work on quilts with larger blocks. I did piece all the applique blocks first as they were the easiest. Worked on those while sitting in the hospital after my DH had 5-way by-pass surgery. Sure did help me retain my sanity.
09-21-2011, 12:42 AM
#58
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Brisbane, Australia
Posts: 3,453
Originally Posted by HomespunHandmaiden
What is a dear jane quilt?
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