This batch of sashing includes one of the first appliqué blocks – nope, make that the first appliqué block I did on my Dear Jane quilt, way back in 2016.

While I was marking stitching lines in preparation for sashing, I got a good look at the stitches on the back of my first hand appliquéd block. And naturally, I had to compare it with my most recent appliqué block:

Look how far I’ve come! My appliqué stitches have gotten so much smaller since 2016.

As I sash together blocks on this seemingly never-ending quilt, I’m starting to think ahead to a time when the Dear Jane top will be completed (about two years, if I stay on this schedule), and what I will do next.

It would definitely be nice to continue having a hand-piecing project in progress, so I have something to work on when I’m on the go. So, I took an opportunity at retreat to try out a new toy of mine: quilt stamps.

They’re basically like rubber stamps, only they are clear, so that you can see through the stamp to line it up just so on the fabric.

The stamp transfers ink to produce a solid stitching line and a dotted cutting line in the desired size and shape on the back of your fabric:

This is a huge timesaver! I spend so much time drawing stitching lines on the pieces I’m hand sewing together. With these stamps, an entire piece can be marked in a literal second.

For a trial run of this technology, I bought the apple core stamp, since that shape (with all its curved lines) looked to be the biggest pain in the butt to mark by hand.

I stamped four apple core pieces in four seconds, and then spent much longer than I wanted to stitching them together into the world’s smallest (2 inch) apple core quilt:

While my appliqué has come a long way, my curved piecing skills (and inclination) have not progressed. At all.

But the quilt stamps, as a general tool, are quite helpful. Now I just need to find a stamp set with shapes that are more suited to my stitching style.