The Electric Quilt Company: Users: Newsletters and EQ Mailings

CONTENTS: Announcements - Ask EQ - Works For Me - Show & Tell - Quilt University - Floral Illusions - Club EQ - From Computer to Catalog - EQ Haiku - Yankee Doodle Jane - Designing a Jacket with EQ5 - EQ on TV - EQ in the College Classroom - Anniversary Contest- EQ Computer Lab at Houston Quilt Festival

Yankee Doodle Jane

Mission Impossible: How a wonderful group of Dear Jane quilters pulled the wool over our eyes.....

The quilt begins to take shape on Jean Folkes' design board alongside her EQ5 printout.

Almost done! See Jean's labels.

Karan Flanscha, of Cedar Falls, Iowa, began plotting and contacting Dear Janers in August of 2002. Their mission? To make a Dear Jane quilt for the Electric Quilt Company. And more? To actually sneak the quilt design into the Dear Jane quilt design program, then in development. (Karan was an Editorial Assistant on our Dear Jane software project.)

“The quilt was to thank Dean and Penny and everyone at EQ for their Dear Jane software,” explained Karan. Jean Folkes, of Casa Grande, Arizona heard the call, and became Karan’s co-conspirator. “We couldn’t have done it without her.”

Karan and Jean planned a red, white and blue quilt purposely, since Penny had asked Karan if Dear Jane blocks ever used more than two colors. They chose fabric, and mailed it to block-makers, to give the quilt a controlled, rather than scrappy, look.

The quilt hangs proudly in our AQS show booth, watched over by Sara.

Brenda Papadakis chose to sew the Papa’s Star block placed at quilt-center. Karan and Jean planned to have blocks A -1, A-13, M-1 and M-13 at the corners, to simulate the historic Jane A. Stickle quilt. Almost 50 others contributed blocks to the quilt -- from all over the US, Canada, Denmark, Great Britain & South Africa, representing DJers around the world. When all the blocks were completed, Jean sewed them together, and designed the border. Karan added border appliqué. Both Jean and Karan quilted. As a final touch, Jean made beautiful quilt labels, embroidering the makers’ names on her embroidery machine.

But how to sneak Yankee Doodle Jane into the Dear Jane software? Hmmmm. That required powerful spy-craft. The quilters were racing the program developers. The developers, unknowingly, were winning. So the quilt couldn’t be photographed before the software was completed. Technology to the rescue! Karan and EQ’s Ann Rutter snuck an EQ5 image of Yankee Doodle Jane into the software during development. And no one at EQ was the wiser.

Isn't our Yankee Doodle dandy?!

In April of 2003, two months after the software release, the quilt was finished and eventually hand-carried to The Electric Quilt Company booth at the AQS show where it hung proudly -- a huge hit, and complete surprise. (We love surprises!)

Thanks to Karan, Jean, Brenda, and everyone else who worked on our wonderful Yankee Doodle Jane – for the quilt, your friendship, and your help with our Dear Jane software.

Block Number	Block Name	Maker
A 3	Hunter's Moon	Connie Lukacs
A 5	Cathie's Campfire	Jane Lindsay
H 8	Eaton's Crossroads	Susan Mina
M 13	Lynnette's Diamond	Susanne Ellenberger
F 5	Parchesi	Barbara Eastwood
J 12	Rebecca's Basket	Barbara Phillips
E 11	Wagon Wheel	Barbara Vlack
G 6	Papa's Star	Brenda Papadakis
E 9	Quilt Jail	Carmen Dickerson
A 6	Uncle Homer	Cheryl McKinzey
K 6	Ann’s Folly	Cheryl Rogers
L 10	Nan's Naiad	CJ Spensley
F 1	Big Top	Claire Baker
L 5	Chattanooga Charlie	Constance Ross
G 12	Gloriae	Deb Kloss
I 10	Iris Medallion	Deb Schultz
D 7	Meeting Place	Debora Clem
F 9	Autumn Aster	Del Hersey
I 8	Pete's Paintbox	Denise Werner
H 12	Hannah Lou's Hearts	Diane Schneck
B 1	Batchelor Buttons	Elaine Terdal
C 12	Family Reunion	Elizabeth Gray
B 8	Water Lily	Gail Stewart
B 4	Chris's Soccer Field Hersheybar	Linda Hershfield
E 13	Moth in a Web	Jane Newble, England
F 7	Star Struck	Jean Folkes
L 6	Maze of Madness	Jean Folkes
J 6	Granny Weaver	Jeanne Meddaugh (Genie)
A 1	Pinwheel Gone Awry	Jennifer Perkins
A 9	Cabin Fever	Judy Meyer
C 13	Lakota Sioux	Judy Wright
D 1	Alison's Guiding Light	Karan Flanscha
D 11	Snow Crystal	Karan Flanscha
K 11	Columbine	Kari Schell
L 7	Town Square	Kate Donnelly
H 4	Abbey’s Eyes	Kathy Smith
H 1	Peek a Boo	Leah Estrin
M 3	Fireweed Flower	Linda Franz
I 9	Chase a Myth	Lisa Ruch
C 9	Jane's Tears	Maggi Fyre
K 3	Seven Sisters	Marcie Knudson
J 11	Twin Sister	Mary Althaus (Avalon)
I 2	Kaye's Courtyard	Mary Ellen Zeitz
B 11	Melissa's Cross	Mary Hartmann-Bowden
K 12	Doris's Dilemma	Mary Hickory
D 8	Dee Dee's Delight	Melinda Noonan
M 1	Dogwood Days	Pamela Austin
I 5	Maria's Majesty	Sarah Francis
C 5	Eye of the Cyclone	Susanne Kleen
D 5	Cathedral Window	Tilde Binger, Denmark
M 12	Hopscotch	Toni Carr
G 4	Shutterbug	Tutu Haynes-Smart, South Africa
A 13	Starlight Starbright	Val Champ, Canada