Last Year's Roses

I finished this quilt last year, posted it on my other blog but never added it here. Sorry.

Why would I call it a string quilt? The background is composed of skinny to slightly stubby strings and scraps. After making several with a wider range of values I wanted one that could be a background for appliqué. 

And then I didn't really appliqué much. Funny how adroitly I weasel out of that task.

Chinese Coins with Roses quilt

The leaves and stems are machine appliquéd but the roses were... I don't know... free-hand/crazy/log cabin pieced. When they were large enough I added corners of blue fabric or small sets of Coins to allow me to insert them into single or double columns of the background. Does that make sense?

Rose detail

The finished top aged in my closet for about a year before I finally hauled it out to quilt. At least the roses didn't fade. I have a bad habit of setting tops aside until they are way out of date/out of style. I guess you could say I'm out of my mind. 

Anyway, it's a cute top that used lots of leftovers and strings with only a bit of fabric pulled from my stash for the stems and leaves. That was about a yard. And it was old/vintage fabric. And it's all gone now, too. So not much more work than my usual string quilts. 

Happy New Year to all. 
Ann

Log Cabin

Would you call this a string quilt? It's not like the others but it's my "final gasp" before actually throwing a string away. Unlike most string quilts, all the logs finish the same 1/2" width. Any string 1" or larger works. I used to cut the strings to the appropriate width before sewing but now just sew them on and trim back.

Log Cabin of 1/2" finished strings

I started making the blocks when my scrap bag was overflowing. Now, it's a habit. When a quick quilt is needed, these blocks are on hand. And my scrap bag is still full. Go figure.

Ann