Scrappy String Ring Quilt Top Finish

I'm a couple days behind in posting this finish, but here it is.  The string ring (string Dresden) quilt top is done!  

Details and more pics can be found on my blog, here.  

Thanks to String Thing Along for the motivation to keep going with this project, and for the suggestions when I started putting the blocks together to finish it.  It was very helpful, and you all rock!

Wanted: Your Opinion

I'm working on my scrappy string ring quilt but have run into a "design opportunity" and have some decisions to make before I sew the top together. 

Care to weigh in?  With your opinion, that is—no scale involved!

Stop on by!

String Ring Table Mat

My String Thing-Along project is to make a quilt out of these string rings, and I've got all 12 of them made now.  I will do an update on that here soon.

But I am also making some extra ones up as table mats, which will go under flower centerpieces at my dad's 80th birthday party on Memorial Day.

I just posted a tutorial for making these on my blog.  Come and see!

Prom Queen Goes Hunting?

It's as if this string block has a dilemma: Go to the prom or go hunting?  I pulled out my ugliest of uglies, the mustard camo type fabric, for this special block, as well as a sparkly blue star and a vintage feedsack strip that looks like snow cones exploded on the sidewalk.  

This is going to be a fun quilt!

Scrap Challenge Block with Strings

Greetings, fellow String Thing Along-ers!
 
Brenda asked if I would share a link to a scrap block that I made recently for a challenge Sarah was having at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  I am happy to do that!

HERE is the link to my blog post and tutorial about it, where you can read how I was inspired by a chocolate bar wrapper (weird, but true).  We were to create a block using the scrap management system described in Joan Ford's book Cut the Scraps!, which has you cutting your scraps into 5 inch, 3-1/2 inch, and 2 inch squares.  We didn't have to use all the sizes for the challenge.  I used 5 inch and 3-1/2 inch squares for my block, trimming several 5-inch squares into four strings 1-1/4 inches wide.

I have not yet made a whole quilt with this block, but if any of you do, please let me know and share pictures!

Finally an Intro!

Hello, it's P. (as in Paulette) from The Way I Sew It.  I've been enjoying reading the posts here and getting to know a bit about each of you.  I'm happy to be a part of the String Thing-Along too!

I love string quilts, and I've made a couple over the past few years.  The first one I made was for Heartstrings.  I threw everything but the kitchen sink into it!  I sent it to Mary, and she quilted and donated it for me.  I didn't have a blog at that time, but she posted a picture on hers, which can be found here.

A couple years ago, I was inspired by a photo of a vintage quilt and decided to make one like it, a double pinwheel string quilt.  I posted a tutorial for it on my blog, which you can find via that link.  Feel free to check it out sometime (and if you make one, please share a photo!).

Since then, I've bookmarked a lot of string quilts for the bucket list.  Funny how that bucket list just keeps filling up, isn't it?  Recently, I was inspired by another vintage quilt photo in Gwen Marston's Liberated String Quilts book, and that project is what I will be working on for the String Thing-Along.  You can read about how I got started on it here.

The first block that I made was a test, but I liked how it turned out and made it into a wall hanging.  Then I decided I might make one block per month, and by the end of the year I'd have a quilt.  Now that I've joined this group, I may have to kick it into gear and move that plan up a bit!

Here is the block I worked on this week.  I don't have the center added or it appliqued onto a background yet.

The way I've been making them is to make four or five different strata, or layers of strings, trim to 6-1/2 inches, and then use the Easy Dresden ruler to cut the wedges.  

There are 20 wedges in each ring, and by varying the fabrics in the different strata, I can get some interesting scrappy variety.  But I'm trying to keep the color scheme to cream, gray, blue, red, and green.  Might seem strange, but I think it's going to work, and besides, I like all those colors!  I also like to mix vintage fabrics with contemporary, and even throw in some recycled plaid shirts.  I think the eclectic mix adds interest.

Thanks for the opportunity to share my plans and progress with you.  I'm looking forward to seeing how everyone's projects turn out!