If there were a trophy for the most started-least finished quilt it would go to Dear Jane. The quilt itself comes from the Jane Stickle Quilt which is to be found in the Bennington Museum In Vermont and is on display every autumn.
It inspired Brenda Papadakis to write a book called Dear Jane:The Two Hundred and Fifty Five Patterns from the 1863 Jane A Stickle Quilt. and a quilt legend was born.
There are (as the title of the book suggests) 255 blocks and each and every one is different, both in terms of pattern for the pieced blocks but also no coloured fabric is repeated twice. Many of the block designs are unique and would have been of Janes own devising. The centre squares are four inches across and many are made by piecing and applique together.
Although married Jane Stickle had no children of her own and the quilt was constructed whilst her husband was away at war, Jane herself was not in the best of health during this time and yet she managed to construct this beautiful quilt which although of the style of the period was her entirely her won work (in a time when group quilts were popular) and also uses considerably smaller blocks than the norm.
Brenda's book contains drawings of every block in the quilt but no instructions. There are EPP kits that you can buy the papers for ( at several hundred pounds a piece just for the papers), there are also some YouTubers who have started Dear Jane quilt alongs, EQ also includes a Dear Jane supplement to their software (again lots of money to pay out!).
However my go-to (as I begin this quilt journey itself - Is this wise I wonder?) is the Susan Gatewood site which includes drafting instructions for each and every block which is offered entirely for free.
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