Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2016 January Blocks

HI!  I'm Myra from Busy Hands Quilts.  In an effort to use more of the stash in 2016, I'm participating in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2016.  I'm using a ton of 1930s 1.25" strips which I purchased off eBay over ten years ago.  I remember vividly that we were building our house when I bought ten pint size bags stuffed with 1930s strips.  They represent a tiny drop in the amount of fabric I bought that year due to stress.  These fabrics could potentially be 20-30 years old depending on how long the person before me had them; I've no way of really knowing.


January's blocks are blue, and there is lots of variety among the strips which is perfect for a string quilt.  My goal is to not use the same fabric twice in a block.  I'll end up with a rainbow of blocks by year's end, and I'll probably make transition blocks that are half of two colors to blend the movement between colors in the quilt.  I'm envisioning a barn raising pattern at this point.  I'm using 10" foundation paper with a thin layer of glue stick to hold the middle string in place, leftovers from this custom Thimbleberries string quilt I made in 2013.

I'm aiming for a large bed quilt 95" square for my bed.  We turned off the heater on our waterbed last spring and didn't notice a difference until this fall/winter when we've found we need more blankets than ever before.  The current count is 5, so I should use wool batting in this quilt!

After making 7 blocks this afternoon, I realize the bags of strips will make far more blocks than I need for my quilt.  I'm even wondering if I could make the whole bed quilt from blue alone since the 7 blocks didn't make a dent in the blue pile!   I'll make as many as I have time for each month and make a second {or third or fourth} quilt with the extra blocks.  


RSC 15


6 comments:

Linda Swanekamp said...

Just love the way the blues go together. Such neat prints.

Julierose said...

This is going to be gorgeous! i love those old blue prints--so comfy looking. Hugs, julierose

Brenda said...

Looks lovely. And there's many more string quilts hiding in those bags too!

Ivani said...

I love string blocks ♥ Have fun with all those strips.

Linda said...

What wonderful strings! Your blue strings alone will make a super quilt. Idea if you have any leftovers and you would like to make some QAYG string blocks for a good cause - hope over to Sew Many Quilts - Too Little Time blog. Jan is a lovely Australian lady who makes QAYG blocks into quilts for needy people. At present she is donating the quilts to a Women's Refuge shelter.
Details: sewmanyquiltstoolittletime.blogspot.com

Ann said...

Lovely blocks. The narrow strings in one color are great. I made some in single colors recently but many of my strips are wider. I like yours better. Thanks.