Last January I had a post about cleaning and organizing my cutting room. I showed you a picture of a box of 1-1/2" strings or strips or whatever you want to call them. I said that a challenge to myself in 2019 was to empty this box. And I wondered how many quilts were in the box?
I've sewn the last flimsy, which measures 63" by 81". This makes flimsy #8 which is also destined for the comforter bash. Most of the quilts I sewed were log cabin blocks. I was tired of log cabin so for this project, I changed it up slightly and made courthouse steps!
These are regular courthouse step blocks. I started piecing these blocks before Bonnie Hunter made her crooked courthouse blocks.
The strings were picked over and there wasn't much variety. I refused to cut more 1-1/2" strips so I used 2" strips from the 2" strip box to finish them. I always trim to size after they're sewn anyway so I had plenty to trim off this time.
Originally, last January, I sorted the strings into 3 groups, autumn, brights and then the leftovers.
Flimsy #1 - I chose to make log cabin blocks with the autumn and bright fabrics. He measures 92" by 106".
This setting was popular in my area back in the late 90's.
I used all sorts of fabrics for the lighter logs. If it had a cream background, it went in this quilt, even it it had red roses! Some of the logs were more beige than cream but I used them anyway.
I did have to pull some fat quarters and yardage to cut more yellows/oranges. Apparently I don't use those colors a lot because there weren't many strips of those colors in the box.
For flimsy #2 - I chose a barn raising setting with a star in the center. Measures 90" x 106".
Flimsy # 3 is similar to the first quilt but has a star center and measures 90" x 106".
I don't have to quilt the 3 autumn flimsies, they'll be donated the my Pennsylvania grands school auction. Someone there will hand quilt them.
Most of the autumn colored fabrics were gone, certainly not enough left to make another quilt. Now onto the bright strings!
I made two large twin sized quilts with brights that have been long arm quilted
The first one has a regular barn raising setting with a star center, this is flimsy #4 and measures 70" by 98".
Tammy from the 3 Sisters Quilting quilted both of the quilts. She called this design rain drops.
I saw a star log cabin quilt on someones blog somewhere and thought I can do that. And so I did for flimsy #5 and it measures 67" by 94".
The quilting design I selected for this quilt was what I called orange peel but Tammy called pumpkin seed.
It's hard to see on the front side but shows up better on the backing.
Flimsy #6 has traditional strings on telephone book paper to make this 60" by 86" comforter top for the MCC Comforter Bash.
I'm not an overly patient person and I found removing the telephone paper from the back of the blocks extremely tedious! Not going to do that again!
For flimsy #7, I went back to piecing log cabin blocks and made this comforter top which measures 61" by 83" which also goes to the comforter bash.
I did cut yellows just to give this flimsy some color.
I have been pulling small pieces of yardage and fat quarters to cut for the light strings. I ran out of lights from the box while piecing the first 3 quilts!
So to answer the questions of how many quilts were in the box of 1-1/2" strings, there were 3 queen sized and 5 twin sized quilts. How many quilts are in your boxes of strings?
There were a few strings left, most of them shorter pieces. To use them, I am making 9 patches. I do have a 9 patch project in progress but the progress is extremely slow.
This was a fun challenge but I don't think I'll try to empty a whole box next year. The 2" and 2-1/2" boxes are overflowing too. Next year I'll see what I can make from them. There is no sense in having string boxes if I don't sew with strings.
Linking to String Along, Month 10, Midweek Makers, Needle & Thread Thursday, Peacock Party, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, TGIFF!, Brag About Your Beauties, Finished Or Not Friday, Oh Scrap
I'm getting back in to the swing of things here at home since the Jane Stickle retreat last weekend. I haven't touched my sewing machine since I've been home but I do have something to show.
My choice for strings has been to make log cabin blocks. For a change, I've been sewing string blocks.
I used telephone book paper for backing. Never again! Next time I'll use thin fabric, too much time is wasted in removing the paper. And Yes! I did use a small stitch.
At the retreat I sewed some of the blocks together. I had seen a quilt made with string stars somewhere online. I like the way the quilt looked so that's what I decided to make.
The stars are 28" unfinished. I've completed 2 stars so far, I need to make 4 more.
I like how these are turning out.
Linking to String Along, Needle & Thread Thursday, Peacock Party, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, TGIFF!, Brag About Your Beauties, Finished Or Not Friday, Oh Scrap
After finishing 3 queen sized log cabin quilt flimsies in autumn colors, I've moved onto the bright colors from the box.
I saw a log cabin quilt online somewhere made with all star blocks. I loved how it looked so I decided to piece a log cabin with that setting. This is a large twin sized flimsy measuring 70" by 98".
I had the individual blocks pieced, then sewed the star blocks together at the guild retreat in February.
After the stars sections were sewn together, I decided to have sashing in between the sections. I hadn't brought any fabric along to do that with.
Several of us made a point of visiting The Scarlet Thread. I purchased some 'word' fabric and some aqua fabric too.
I cut the necessary strips for the sashing then remembered I had wanted to get a small piece of yellow for cornerstones. I thought yellow would be good since the center of the log blocks were yellow. Oh well, I cut the aqua fabric and used it. It looks just fine.
For the corners of the piano key border, I made half log cabin blocks.
This quilt is set in the traditional barn raising but has a star in the center. The flimsy measures 72" x 100". I added the narrow outside border so when I bind the quilt, I won't cover up the logs. Part of that narrow border will be trimmed before binding.
A close up of the center star.
I'll have these two flimsies long arm quilted.
The strings in the box are decreasing but the box still isn't empty. Now I'm going to divide the fabrics into lights and darks and see what I get.
Linking to Sew Fresh Quilts, Needle & Thread Thursday, the Peacock Party, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, TGIFF!, From Bolt to Beauty, Finished Or Not Friday, String Along, Show Off Saturday, Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Many quilters are making string quilts this year. I'm sewing my strings into log cabin quilts. I've got #3 into the flimsy stage, another autumn log cabin.
I'm having fun making the stars in these flimsies.
I won't be quilting these 3 flimsies. I'm donating them to a fundraiser.
I posted about the first two flimsies in this post. Scroll down to see the log cabins. The 3rd flimsy is the same as the 2nd one except this one has a star in the center.
Linking to Oh Scrap, String Along, Moving It Forward , Peacock Party, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, TGIFF!, Finished Or Not Friday
