Week 2 Block Preview

Week 1's blocks came out a little wonky and I will be posting pictures of our second set of block 1 some time this week. If you have completed your block 1 (Abbey's Eyes), feel free to post a link to it in the comments section so we can all check it out.

I hope to start a gallery soon and will allow users to submit their pictures directly to the gallery so we can see all the lovely blocks at once.  I'll let you know when I get that up and running.

For week 2, we will be making Adelaine's Apron Strings which is spot J4.  

Adelaine's Apron Strings by msueh

Normally, the blocks are made on Friday nights, but I will be out of town, so we will be making these on Saturday.

Every other week is Holly's week to choose the beer that we will be taste-testing. She will post which beer she has chosen to go with this block on Thursday or Friday.

Mary

Review of Left Hand Brewery's Milk Stout

Friday night, we taste tested Left Hand Brewery's Milk Stout while sewing the Abbey'e Eyes block from Dear Jane.  Here is what we thought. 

When you first pop the top off, I get a coffee aroma. It's a darker brew and tastes to me like it has a little chocolate milk or mocha-ish flavor. When I drink it, it 's smooth. Kind of like a root beer float that's gone all melty on a hot summer day. This beer is a bit strong for me.  I think it'd pair well with some oatmeal cookies tho. Then again, I may just be saying that just because I'm writing this review in 4-5 minute increments while I actually am baking oatmeal cookies. But I would be willing to give it one more shot. I give it 3 out of 5 thimbles.

Holly

The Milk Stout smelled wonderful when we opened it up. The aroma was sweet mixed with stout. The first sip was good, but left a slightly bitter after taste. The more I drank it, though, the less I liked it. The stout was a little thick for me. I would love to try the idea of milk and sugar in a lighter beer. I give it 2 out of 5 thimbles.
Mary

Abbey's Eyes + Correction (first of many)!

Apparently, we can not be as insane as we thought. Some blocks can not be done all three ways and frankly, we hate applique. So....here's the deal. We are going to make 2 quilts each. We will do each block 2 different ways when possible and then talk about the options.  For Abbey's Eyes, the only option seems to be by using templates or rotary cutting with really wacked out angles, like 27 degrees.  Seriously, who has a 27 degree ruler?

Anyway, we will be doing the block as a template.

...

Ok, after 2 hours of sewing we have 3 blocks done. Mary's making her 2nd block at home since that's where she left her fabric. Ahhh the joys of commutal sewing! Then again, at least she could find her seam ripper!! The blocks aren't exactly "square" you know...in the geometrical sense. :) My first block turned out more than a bit wonky, Mary's turned out a tad small, my second one went a bit better. Well, it is the first block after all. I gotta say, inset seams are not that fun... at least not when they are this tiny!

Our First Block

Who picked this block anyway? Why did it have to be the FIRST one? I think we'll put a bunch of little numbers in a hat and leave it up to fate. That way no-one will get blamed for picking THAT block out. Just picking it out of the hat! Hey, we gotta complain about somethin'! We googled after the fact and found that one method was to use a solid block and then applique the second color on top. Probably that would eliminate some of the puckering....but we would've had to applique.  Enough said.

As for the beer, the review will be posted tomorrow or Monday.

Mary & Holly

Absolutely Insane!

Well, it's settled. Holly and I are completely insane. We have decided that not only are we going to make the Dear Jane quilt and let you know any tips or tricks we come across, but we are going to make one using rotary cut piecing, one using paper piecing and one using applique...EACH.

Yep. That's right. When we are done, there will be six(count them, 6!) finished Dear Jane quilt tops. Whew!  The good news is that you, as our loyal followers, will know which way is easiest and why for each and every block in the Dear Jane quilt.

Wish us good luck.  Our first block (all 6 of them) get done tonight!

Mary

Gearing up!

Beer? Check!

I went to World Market for beer. Let me just say...that store has some really cool things! Here is their beer selection.

World Market beer aisle

I like shopping at World Market because you can buy individual bottles of beer. They even provide handy-dandy 6-pack carrying thingies to hold all your singles. Picking a beer was easier than I thought it would be. I looked around and said "ooh...that's a pretty label" and that was the beer for the week.

The hard part is fabric...

Holly and I are both starting from our stash.  I have only been quilting for a couple of years, which means my stash isn't that full.  On top of that, I have decided to do my entire Dear Jane quilt in batik, further limiting my available stash, as seen here.

Mary's tiny batik stash

As you can see, I don't have much to start with.  I will be making the first block on Friday using what I have and will try to add to my batik stash through purchases instead of leftovers from quilts every time I shop.  I am planning on shopping Saturday because I have some coupons to local shops.  Love coupons!

Now, Holly has been quilting for most of her life and has a much larger stash to select from...

Holly's huge fabric stash

As you can see, I have a ways to go to catch up to that, but I'm trying!

so...Fabric? Check, check, check!

See everyone Friday night as we try to sew Abbey's Eyes and taste-test Left Hand Brewery's Milk stout.

Mary

Week 1 Preview

Unless something interferes, we will be sewing the blocks and taste-testing the beer every Friday and posting over the weekend.

Early in the week, I will try to give you a preview of the block and the beer for the week so you can follow along with us.




This Friday,  January 28, we will be sewing the block called Abbey's Eyes which goes in spot H4.

We will also be tasting Milk Stout brewed by the Left Hand Brewing Co.

I hope you will join us in both!

Welcome to Our Hoppy Place!

Hi! Welcome to Our Hoppy Place. This blog is going to document my and my friend Holly's journey through the Dear Jane book and our journey through many specialty beers. There will (hopefully) be a block every other week. There will be a beer and a post every week. The posting schedule isn't set yet, but we will get one through trial and error.

Right now, we have the Dear Jane software for EQ6. We will play with it this week and post about it next week. The software sounds promising, so cross your fingers. We have the actual paper book and the templates on order from Amazon and anxiously await their arrival.  

Once we get all the books and stuff, we will start making the blocks. People have told us we are crazy. Who knows, maybe we are! For anyone who would like to undertake this journey with us, we gladly accept the company and will do everything we can to make the journey a fun one.

Keep watching, this is going to be fun!

Mary & Holly