Thursday, March 1, 2007

I have done a little sewing!

I have finally got a little sewing done. I am such an organised person (sometimes - see previous post on the state of my sewing area!) that I have all my scraps pre-cut into different widths from 1" up. These have been annoying me lately as I now want to organise my scraps by colour instead of size. I've been inspired by the heart string blocks everyone is making over on the Quilt Mavericks blog, so I have decided to make up the 3 narrowest widths (1", 1 1/4" and 1 1/2") into string blocks using a 1" finished strip of black across the centre:

I'm quite pleased with how they look considering a lot of these scraps are from when I first started quilting (way, way back) and a lot of them are dullish country type colours. I used to buy scrap bags before I got sensible and bought lengths (yardage to you USA quilters) and some of these scraps date back over 25 years!.

These blocks are just stuck on my design wall at the moment, not yet sewn together. I am cutting them 8 inches 'cos that is the size of my square rule, so they will end up as 7 1/2 " finished. An odd size but I guess it doesn't matter with this type of block. (why the square ruler is not 8 1/2" I will never know!). I have made 12 and I guess I will need about 64 to make a decent sized quilt, so I am 20% there.

10 comments:

Shelina said...

Helen, these are great. It's a good idea to just sew up the strings rather than organizing and reorganizing them. The way you are doing it now, they will permanently be neatly organized.

Janice said...

Yayy for sewing!! They're lovely Helen - are you choosing your colours as you sew? These seem to have a purple tone emphasis. Or is that just the way your strings are... It actually looks quite cool with the narrow white strip showing between the blocks.

My first ever quilt was one of these with a blue strip down the middle and cool colours on one side and warm on the other. The blue centre strip varied in size though.

DubiQuilts - Quilts and Fiber Arts said...

Great Job! I too am making strip blocks. They are good for the soul.

Nellie's Needles said...

These are very appealing. I'll bet making these is like eating peanuts ... you just have to have one more. I sure am tempted to join in and make one of these too, but there are other projects that require my attention. Have fun!

Joanne said...

I think your string blocks are marvelous. I, too, have most of my "strings" cut into strips, so they are a bit more organized than true string blocks -- but I like them just the same.

Webfrau said...

These look fantastic - tempts to go get rid of some of my scraps. Must go check out quilt maverick.

Feeling Simply Quilty said...

It's interesting the color choices we made years ago and what we like now. Maybe I should start a timely scrap box-'seasons of my quilting life', if you will...smile.

Mrs. Goodneedle said...

They look great! I think cutting them to the size ruler you have on hand makes perfect sense, you need not rationalize any further! Good job.

Elaine Adair said...

I am watching your blog to see what you do with the cut-off points of the string blocks. They are so enticing! uh ohhh, maybe another project in the making, or maybe more mental UFOs? The strings are so wonderful - they don't look like much to start with, but boy, they end up pretty nice!

Nadia said...

Ciao Helen! eccomi anch'io nel tuo blog! questo quilt รจ stupendo!! i colori sono bellissimi, complimenti!!!
ciao Nadia