Really big strings

I made dozens of string blocks last fall and winter

for a group string project in my group.

The requirements were piecing bright strings with no blacks

onto an 8.5 inch foundation, 

with a 1.5 inch white strip at the centre.

Together we made lots of blocks

enough for a 96 inch square quilt.

The woman who collected blocks put the together in groups of 16

and made a nine-patch with a dark green border and binding.

She quilted a loopy meander all over the quilt

and you can see the quilting better on the back,

which has a sunflower theme.

This was a great quilt to use up lots of narrow strings.

Most of my bits were 1 to 1.5 inches wide.

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.  

A pressing matter of strings

My guild is putting together 8.5 inch square string blocks in brights

for a group quilt.

The organizer asked for 1.5 inch white strips on the diagonal.

She suggested drawing lines marking where that first strip could go,

but I used my iron instead.

I pressed each of  foundation blocks diagonally,

and then pressed by white strips lengthwise, right sides together

I nested the strip into the valley of the foundation piece

and sewed on the first bright strip.

Here are the 16 I made for the group quilt.

I stupidly trimmed them from the back,

so in some of the blocks the diagonal isn't in the centre.

Hope the rest of you have fun stringing along.

Annette's String Quilt

This beautiful scrappy string quilt was made by Annette. Notice how she changed the center strings of each block from orange to golden yellow for the border blocks.

Magnolia Sewing Circle Makes String Quilt Blocks

At our Magnolia Sewing Circle today I was in charge of this group of ladies making string blocks for a comforter top.

By the end of the day their 38 blocks made quite a show.

Another version of anything goes

 

I've had these blocks for several years,

planning to make a red stripe string quilt from it.

But they sat in my drawer for a long time

and at one point, when we were working on the group quilt here

I thought I would incorporate them.

But I found the colours too dull,

and all of you were so generous, I didn't need them.

In fact, I didn't use up some of the blocks I made.

Fast forward to the beginning of October

when life was making me crazy

and I needed to sew something.

I took out these blocks again, sewed them together,

and found some fabric in my stash for the borders.

Now it measures 46 by 60 inches,

big enough for a donation to the children's hospital

or to a young friend needing a bit of comfort.

 

Since all these blocks were sewn on foundations,

I'm backing it with fleece, but not putting in batting.

 

 

Our quilt is getting media attention!

Thanks again to all of you for participating in this string quilt.

You may recall we donated it to the Katie Cares Foundation.

Katie's mother Ruth was just on a local radio station being interviewed about the foundation,

and she mentioned an upcoming fundraiser, which includes raffling off our quilt.

For the record, it is the first prize, ahead of a pair of Winnipeg Jets hockey tickets.

She thinks it is beautiful -- and I know all of you do too--

and she's thrilled that 20 quilters from around the world made it.

The website doesn't have many details about the quilt

(check under fundraisers)

but there's a link to our blog on the Katie Cares facebook page.

Check that out, and be proud once again of the effort we all made together.

What started as a bit of a joke to prove that string quilts are beautiful

has grown into into a larger piece of good work that could potentially help many sick kids.

Thanks again!

Anyone want to make another quilt?

Let me know in the comments, and I'll issue another string challenge soon.

A Diagonal Finish

All done and loving the results!!

Final measurements are

62 by 82 inches. I even managed to miter the piano key border. Yea!

Think Diagonal String

This 9 by 12 inch string is the first of many that I'm sewing up to use of some of those pesky useful scraps.

To see more of my progress, pop over to my blog, Ravelly1.