This quilted jacket was a two-day class put on by the Guild. The first day of the class was cancelled because the ferry from Texada wasn’t running and Barb couldn’t get to Powell River.

Most of day two was spent copying and sizing the pattern. We made our fabric by sewing our precut squares (more than 150) together into big enough pieces that each pattern piece would be completely covered. Day two was over before I had even finished this step in the instructions.

For the next three weeks I spent two days a week finishing this. We would get the next set of instructions at the Tuesday morning bee and then I’d spend one day on the weekend getting my “homework” done so I’d be ready for the next lesson.

When my jacket was finished to the point where I could try it on I didn’t like it! The jacket has bound seams on the inside so, in a sense, it was reversible. I decided I liked the reverse side better so I took apart all the seams and put it back together so the bound seams were on the inside.

Adding the cuffs, pocket and binding was a two-day project in itself.

This block is the first of two blocks that go with the first diary entry in the Farmer’s Wife Sample Quilt book. The pattern looked easy enough. Lots of half-square triangles, but I’m getting pretty good at those.

I soon realized that my template measurements were off. I thought I was working towards a two-inch square (made up of two triangles) but I needed a one and one-half inch square (still made up of two triangles).

I’m pleased with the result and, to my amazement, the block comes in at an almost perfect six and one-half inches.

I don’t remember Mum having a cut glass dish (she may well have had one), but I do remember the Cut Glass dessert she made with cubes of Jell-O mixed in whipped cream.

I’m a little behind on my Craftsy Block of the Month lessons. These are the two blocks for February. The theme this month was half-square triangles. I’ve more or less perfected a method for half-square triangles and I was reluctant to try a new way. But these lessons are meant to be about learning new techniques so I forged ahead and tried her Magic Triangle method.

The first block (Windblown Star) was done using the Magic Triangles technique. The squares are cut two inches larger than the finished size. You sew around all four edges of the square leaving a quarter-inch from each edge. I marked the corners so I knew where to end the stitching before turning the piece to stitch down the next side. Then you cut the square into four along the diagonal lines and you end up with four half-square triangles the perfect (in theory) size.

The second block (Chunky Chevron) was done using the method I’m familiar with – drawn lines. After I had cut the pieces for the blocks I worried that she was using the 7/8” addition rather than the one-inch that Deloise taught me. She apparently has heard of Deloise’s method and I was fine.

I liked both methods. The Magic Triangle certainly involves less work, but I don’t think the triangles are necessarily the perfect size (at least in my case). There is a lot of work to the drawn-line method, but I ended up with more accurate blocks.