Wednesday, January 30, 2019

String Quilts Finished!

The string quilts I pieced in December and January have been quilted.

The queen sized one was quilted by Joy from Calico Point. 

You'll need to be satisfied with pictures taken while the quilt is displayed on our bed. It is frigid outside with record wind chill factors. It's bad enough to go outside for barn chores, I'm not going outside to take quilt pictures!


This picture is of the bottom of the quilt. The center ended up square. To turn it into a rectangle I added a row of white sashing and then a row of straight strings to the top and bottom of the quilt. She measures 90" by 104".


For the quilting, I selected this happy flower design.


A picture of the center.


If whoever ends up with this quilt gets tired of looking at the front, they can turn it over and have the bright, cheery whole cloth side up.


I quilted the crib quilt myself on my home sewing machine. Quilting on my machine is not my favorite thing to do so I just do it and get it done. 


My Babylock Melody has a curvy line design, I push a couple of buttons, change the stitch length and I'm ready to quilt.

A view from the front.


And here's the back which does show the quilting better.

This crib quilt was quilted several weeks before the other quilt came back. The temperatures were cold but not the frigid weather we're experiencing now.


A couple of pictures in the snow by the old tree stump.

This crib quilt measures 42" by 49".

I did wash this quilt. I was concerned about bleeding and wanted to take care of that before it was donated. I was very happy to see there was no bleeding.


In January I had show you a box full of strings or strips that I was going to empty in 2019. 


So far I've pieced two queen sized log cabin quilts and the third one is waiting to be sewn together. These three quilts are in autumn colors. 

This picture take inside because it's too cold outside.
There are very few of those colors left in the box but the box is still full! I must have had them really packed in there.

This picture taken last week before it was so cold.

This design was popular back in the late 90's in my area. It's especially nice for hand quilting. These two flimsies and the one not sewn together yet will be donated to the school auction my Pennsylvania grandchildren attend. Someone else will quilt them.


Linking to Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Stringalong, Needle & Thread Thursday, Free Motion MavericksPeacock Party, TGIFF!, Finished Or Not Friday, Show Off Saturday, Oh Scrap

27 comments:

Jayne Honnold said...

You sure have been keeping busy, Gretchen! Bravo! Is your stash getting any smaller? I find that even though I often sew from my stash, there still seems to be quite a lot of fabric! lol> (Oh, the dilemmas we quilters face!)

Rebecca Grace said...

Wow, you've been productive with those string scraps, Gretchen! I think we can excuse the indoor quilt photos during the Arctic Blast or whatever they're calling it. Well done!

Created by Kathi said...

Such beautiful eye candy here Gretchen... stay warm and your grands are lucky to have these for auctioning... hope they make lots of recipients happy when all are done and auctioned! You are so creative with your strings :D Kathi

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

beautiful quilts! it sounds like you are much colder than us - it finally hit 32 here at noon. I know what you mean about machine quilting not my thing either

Magpie Sue said...

Wow, I thought I had a lot of strings but I don't think mine even come close to what you had! I really like the quilt at the top of this post. Might have to do that design someday. ;-)

Lori said...

Fantastic! I really like that backing too!!

Birthe Marie said...

Wow! So many beautiful quilts you show us here. Your string quilt is awesome and I liked the back very well too . :-)

Vivian said...

Talk about busting a lot of strings! These all look so good and isn't it a joy to finish and bring comfort to you and to others! I don't blame you onebit for not going out to take pictures. We just had a snow squall an hour or so ago and the temps are supposed to drop to the negatives tonight! Stay in, stay warm I say!

Quilting Babcia said...

I love both of these string quilts! Your quilting on the baby quilt is similar to what our quilting ministry members (myself included) use for most of our donation quilts. It's a good versatile stitch and gives the quilts a nice texture. And most of our ministry quilters don't have any free-motion quilting experience, so it's a great way for them to be able to feel happy with their completed projects. That's definitely a win-win in my book.

maggie fellow said...

wow - i love your goal and your quilts. Stay warm- It's the coldest I remember

Susie H said...

I love that squared up quilt. That was a beautiful way to set your string blocks. I think one of those will be in my future too. Unbelievable all the string quilts you've made and your box still runneth over??? Lol! Guess it's true that they multiply overnight!

Lisa in Port Hope said...

Such joy in scrappiness in these quilts! I love and hate my scraps -- love using them, hate keeping them organized lol. Good luck emptying your string bin!

Chopin - A Passionate Quilter said...

You have really made some very nice quilts in the last 6 weeks! I love the one on the bed and the setting is just perfect!

Leanne Parsons said...

That's some impressive scrap busting! All of your quilts and tops are beautiful. Thanks for linking to TGIFF this week :)

Alycia~Quiltygirl said...

Love both of those string quilts!

Janine @ Rainbow Hare said...

You've had a fantastic month. These quilts are stunning :)

Susan said...

My word you get a lot done!! Lovely quilts and all for such good reasons.

K Reeves said...

That's some major sewing this month! Beautiful scrap quilts in fall colors. Does that mean there are more log cabins on docket in spring/summer colors? Wow!

Sue said...

I love your string quilt Gretchen. What a great idea. I have yardage of brown fabric ( dont no why I bought it) and thought I could make a quilt like yours for a charity quilt. I have a quilt on our bed right now, the same as your star log cabin. I made it in the early 1990's and hand quilted it. It's one of my favourite quilts.

Mary R. said...

These are all just beautiful! Such a great use of strings. The one on the bed with the white sashing is my favorite, such a strong graphic and so many strings used.

Jayne said...

If that list of quilts didn't bust your stash...All are masterful works and whoever ends up with them is very lucky indeed!

Cynthia Brunz Designs said...

So much scrappy goodness in this post! I love all of your projects. Thanks for sharing them with Oh Scrap!

Wendy @ Wendysquiltsandmore said...

They are both beautiful. String quilts seem to be very popular at the moment. Thank you for linking up to the Peacock Party.

Lynette said...

Wow - Gretchen, your strings box really has produced a lot of beauties. I love string quilts. And that is one phenomenal tree stump!

Cathy said...

I love your quilts! Didn't you know, strings breed when you turn off the lights. ��

Bonnie said...

Wow -- you've been really busy. What great ideas for using up a TON of strings. I have great plans but little follow through. Sigh. You may be my inspiration to actually do something with some strings!

Bonnie said...

PS -- do you sew your strings on to paper? or just next to each other?