When I first got this “kit” for the Dear Jane quilt, it came with a piece of the background fabric that had a 13×13 grid of 1″ squares basted to it in a trip-around-the-world pattern (shown here). Clearly, this was how Paulette had planned to arrange the different fabrics in her Dear Jane quilt.

In the center position on this grid, she had placed a square that had a little person on it. That one-inch square was all I had of this fabric, but it had received pride of place in Paulette’s plan, and I wanted to honor that if at all possible. And what better place to do that than in one of the cornerstones, which conveniently calls for a 1″ square of fabric?

The tricky part is that I literally only had a 1″ square of the fabric, and if I stitched 1/4″ in from each side, the top of the lady’s head would get caught in the seam, which was unsettling.

So, there is very little seam allowance on the seam at the top of this cornerstone, and a very large seam allowance on the bottom, as you can see in the extreme closeup of the back below. Let’s hope it holds up.

I’ve been referring to this cornerstone as the Pauletta Stone (like the Rosetta Stone), because I feel like it’s important to communicate Paulette’s story (as well as my own story) through the quilt. It’s those intersections between quilting and real life that make this more than a hobby for me.

Someone posted in one of the Dear Jane groups I belong to on social media recently, talking about how working on her Dear Jane quilt helped her to cope with what is going on in Minneapolis. She did not talk in-depth about specific events, offer any graphic details, or even really take sides.

So I was shocked at the anger with which some other group members responded to her post. How dare she make this quilting group all about politics, and so on. Many of them went on to describe their own political stances in their replies, which made the thread feel way more political than the original post had been.

I think I fall somewhere between the two. I don’t really want my quilting chat groups to be overrun with posts that are completely unrelated to quilting, but it also seems unrealistic to doggedly pretend that none of these world events are happening or impacting the people in the group (and the stories of their quilts).

So, here we are. I’m writing a post about political events on my quilting blog. Because the things that are happening around me are bound to impact me, the quilter, and therefore, my quilting.

While I work on this project, I spend so much time thinking about family and friends, and even Jane Stickle and Paulette. Fabrics from loved ones and people I’ve never met have found their way into the quilt, and memories of things (both good and bad) that were happening when I made those blocks are woven in too.

I wonder what Jane Stickle was coping with when she made this quilt during the Civil War. I spend a lot of time thinking about Paulette as well, what was going on in her life, and what she wanted to communicate through this quilt. And I’m super pleased to have worked in that one tiny cornerstone square – the Pauletta Stone – into my quilt story.