I have done a few more string blocks this weekend and I am over one third done! Our local quilt club is having a community quilts sewing day next Saturday and I am hoping to get 64 of these critters done by then! But, I have heaps of marking and prep to do for school this week, so I'm not sure if I will reach my goal. ( A little calculation tells me I will need to make 8 a day - not going to happen. I wonder if I can get 48 done instead?) Anyway, this is the progress so far:
My friend Joy, who tells me she is really enjoying my blog, (Hi Joy, here is a challenge: leave me a message!) wanted to know if I was foundation piecing these. No! I dislike foundation piecing with a passion because I don't like to take the time to rip out heaps of paper and have a big mess to clean up (well bigger than what I had before - it probably wouldn't get cleaned up since the mess I already have isn't going anywhere anytime soon!).What I have been doing is grabbing any old strip of fabric and sewing them either side of a black homespun strip until I have enough 'fabric' to cut out a square using my 8" square ruler. A little "photo tutorial" follows! The colours are not great, all 'blued out' (and I haven't got the inclination to fix it up with photoshop - I need to go and have my Sunday afternoon zzzzz...)
The strips sewn together:
See that pink strip on the bottom? That is from a kit for a grandmother's fan cushion that I purchased at least 25 years ago!What it looks like on the wrong side:
With the squsre ruler placed ready for trimming:
Edges trimmed off:
I'm so a*** that I am saving the wider trimmings:
To make these (who knows what they will turn into!!):
16 comments:
They are looking wonderful, I am going to try my next lot with no foundation and see how I get on.
Cheers, Joy.....just to prove I can do it!
This seems so much better than removing tons of paper. This is the voice of experience speaking.
I love the look of braided strips but they take so long to make. This is a good two-for-one deal!
Heather
www.spiritblog.net
Ahh, I wondered when I saw your ruler placement why it was not centered - but that's so you get some wide trimmings for reuse!! How clever!
I've made these blocks both ways before and provided your strips aren't too narrow it works just as well to sew and trim without foundation. You do probably end up wasting a little more of your strip fabric in the trimmings but you haven't had to provide a foundation fabric or remove paper.
I like the string blocks, but LOVE the sewn together side trimmings. Can't wait to see where they end up.
Oh, they're just great! The side trimmings could be for a border couldn't they??? Or of course, a whole new quilt.
Love those strings -- and your demonstration/lesson photos are wonderful, but my favorite part of this post, is the last part -- "who knows what they will turn into?" .. those snippets are delicious!
Do you think you'll use up all your cut pieces? No matter how much I piece I never seem to empty a drawer completely. But your blocks look great and the little chevrons are delightful, I didn't expect them as a by-product!
Only a Maths Teacher would know the percentage of completed work ! I really like the chevrons too - especially that they all have the black v on the bottom of each row. Hope to see more of them soon....Frances
Thank you very much for the tutorial. Like the others,I like very much the small braids.
Answer to your question on my blog: the pattern is either from Quilts Japan or Patchwork Tsushin, both of them have very nice ideas about bags, purses, etc...Keep well
Helen these look great! Hows the goal going of 8 a day?? Love what you are using the off cuts for. I'm embarrassed to say my off cuts go in the scrap bag for my daughters kindy! :)
Thanks you very much for the tutorial. it's very beautiful. With your demostration now I can try to do
a block. So is more easy! ciao ciao
Thanks for the tips! Like you, I don't want to do foundation piecing either. The braids, I would use them in the stripy quilt for borders.
What an effective, yet simple, way to stash bust, Helen. I love your picture tutorial.
I will give it a try one day soon since I never throw any scraps away. Recently made a baby's quilt with 1/4 inch pieced applique hexagons, so I know that even the teensiest scraps can be used!
I do love your tutorial, too, like all the others! :))
It seems to be SO easy to get that "comm'on" for a quilt...Your work is really beautiful! keep going-keep sewing!
Thank you so much for this tutorial. Your blocks are great and I actually think I can DO this!
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