In 2024, I made my annual Dear Jane block goal for the first time in years (possibly ever). I completed 28 blocks in 2024, and completed 7 sashing sections. It was a good pace of one sashing section for every four blocks.

Still, I was concerned about whether I was going to be able to complete each block before it was time to sash it to its neighbors. So, last week I sat down to really determine what was left and how I would get the timing right to make sure the blocks were ready before they needed to be sashed.

The conclusion? Instead of one sashing section for every four blocks completed, I should be doing one sashing section for every one block completed.

This drastic shift in the schedule will mean that by the time I get the blocks completed, most of the sashing will already be done. I feel this is preferable to a year of nothing but boring sashing after I complete all the blocks. Of course, there will still be a few months where I stitch two blocks before doing a sashing section, because I have about half a dozen more blocks left to complete than I do sashing sections.

The only downside of this new schedule is that I alternate posting links to my blog articles in two different Facebook groups, so one of the groups is going to get stuck only seeing boring sashing articles. If you only hear about new posts through Facebook, you can scroll to the very bottom of any of my blog articles and enter your email address to get notified via email whenever I post a new one. Or you could just join both Facebook groups.

Without all this discussion about the schedule, this would have been just another boring sashing article, where I grumbled about how the octagon block was too big and the appliqué circles were too close to the seam line at the edges of the block (which of course had not been marked at the time I constructed it).

Instead you get to hear that if I keep up this pace, I’ll have all the blocks and sashing completed in May 2027, just in time for my eleven-year anniversary of working on this quilt.

And with this article, I’m back on track with my blogging too – I completed this sashing less than 24 hours ago. Now, on to the next block … so I have something new to write about!