Easy string project on leap day

I spent half an hour on this extra day of 2012

making a string pieced potholder.

Drop by here to see why.

I think I've finally decided....

I haven't posted anything here in quite a while I need a new string piecing project, but I've been having a terrible time deciding on one. So I've spent a little time in EQ7 today, and I think I have it. Now, the challenge here, is to get it done in the time allotted for this blog. June, I think it is. I'm not sure, at this point exactly what colour the backgrounds in the stars will be, except that I want the strong contrast to give the checker board effect. The individual blocks are 15 inches, since I didn't want to be working on too small a scale for the diamonds for the stars. It should be fun.

Amish Strings - the flimsy

The flimsy measures 60" x 72"

You can see several other photos of the flimsy

on my blog and on the UnRuly Quilter blog.

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Thanks, Brenda for this string quilt challenge!!

Quiltdivajulie

Heroes Helping Heroes Quilt

Hi everyone!  I've Val from PinkPlease! and Brenda asked me to share my Heroes Helping Heroes quilt with you.  What started out as one quilt block made from scraps and a plea to have some friends help make a few more, has turned into one incredible quilt, full of stories, that is ready to be auctioned off at The Night Under the Stars Gala benefiting the Heroes Foundation on Feb. 25th.

I dragged my Dad (and his camera) over to the railroad tracks by his house to take some fun shots.

(Thanks, Big John!)

Ok, the quilting on this is just amazing!!!!  Tammy Lawson, of Indianapolis, Indiana, home of the Super Bowl, what what, offered to donate her time (4 hours!), her batting, her thread, her long arm quilting machine, and her skills to put this quilt together. Watching her free motion quilt this was mesmerizing!  I can not comprehend how she quilts this without drawing the pattern on the fabric.  If anyone in the Indy area needs long arm quilting services, contact me to get Tammy's info. You will not be disappointed!  She even let me sew on her machine while I waited.  We called it a Sewing Play Date!

Check out this video I took of Tammy in action....

I LOVE the little ribbon block that Charlotte of Lawson and Lotti made. 

It makes a statement without saying a word!

 

My friends in charge of the auction thought a throw pillow would be a nice addition to the quilt.  I chose 4  blocks that were extras sent in that I thought went nicely together and made this pillow.  I put pink pom poms around the edges and now I don't think I'll ever be able to make another pillow without them.

The silent auction committee thought it would be nice if I would write up a little somethin' somethin' about this quilt to put in the brochure that everyone will receive the night of the Gala.  Here is what is submitted:

When I first became involved with the Heroes Foundation Silent Auction Committee, I knew I wanted to make something special to donate to such a wonderful cause.  Modern Quilting is a passion of mine and I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to use my art to raise money for others.  I posted a request on my blog asking my sewing bloggie friends if anyone would be interested in helping me make this quilt. Each person could make one quilt block using their scrap fabric and send it to me with a note telling who their block was in honor of.  I was very nervous that no one would want to help me.  To my surprise, within 48 hours, 45 women had responded that they would like to contribute.  Not only did these women send one block each, but many sent two!  Coming from as far as Australia, the stories behind each block will tug at your heart strings!  Some blocks are in honor of lost parents and spouses, some are in honor of those currently fighting, and one is even in honor of herself, a woman currently going through chemo and radiation.  This quilt has helped me see that cancer does not discriminate.  Everyone all over the world is fighting this ugly disease and the 46 of us hope that we can use this disease as an opportunity to make something beautiful, that will hopefully raise money for those who need it.

~Val Campbell

Blocks have come from: England, Australia, and The United States (Indiana, Illinois, Alabama, Kansas, California, Pennsylvania, Georgia, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Utah, Florida, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas.)

 

xoxoxo

~Val~

My Amish String Quilt - An Update

Here are my purple strings - in progress.

I trimmed them to 20" (more or less), saving the cut off ends.

Those end pieces were then stitched together to create more (scrappy) strings.

I used the same approach with the pink strings.

* * *

Come on over to my main blog to see what happened

after the pink strings and the purple strings were 

joined together and trimmed into squares!

You can also see photos in my latest UnRuly Quilter blog post.

Quiltdivajulie

The Collaboration Quilt

Hiya!  I'm Stacey, a.k.a. Peppermint Pinwheels, and Brenda sweetly asked me to do a little show and tell with my latest quilt.

This quilt is actually a collaboration between me and my friend, Jessica Ingram.  We've been working on getting it together for about a year now, and we're so excited that it's almost finished!  We based the design on an improvisational basket-weave pattern that I've been teaching and used both scraps as well as yardage cut into strips.

Thanks for letting me share!

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!

Valentine String Quilt

Today I did a post over on my blog, Loose Threads, showing my Valentine String Heart Quilt.  The blocks finish at 8".

This quilt is an extended version of my Heart Table Mat seen in this post.

Happy Valentine's Day! 

Spiderweb and Stars

Hi all,  I'm so glad that Brenda invited me to join you.  Your string quilts are very inspiring!!  String quilts are my absolute favorites, especially the older ones.

Here are two that I'm making based on old beauties in Gwen's Liberated String Quilts book.

This is a combination of "strings" (aka scraps) and strips of yardage.    A work in progress, about half on the wall so far.

I used Gwen's template and measurements in the book for this one.

String Hearts

I made some string hearts in time for Valentine's Day

and for a challenge over at the Modern8Create blog.

They're basically a capital L set on point

Here's the finished mini quilt, measuring 8.5 by 19.5 inches.

And here it is hanging by my front door.

Happy Valentine's Day!