Hello! It’s Tuesday, and that means it’s time for Quilt Your Stash Week 6. As I mentioned yesterday, I was away at a quilt retreat last week, and so I wasn’t able to work on my latest strip pieced scrap quilt. But I did spend a good part of one evening working on my string blocks.
I thought it might be good to talk about these today since I’ve had a fair
amount of emails and questions on these blocks recently.
I took this project along because it was so easy to take. I keep my strips in a basket, and so all I had to do was empty them into a container to take to the retreat. I did separate them by color to make it easier to sew.
I also packed along 12 foundation squares for my blocks. I am using muslin for this quilt, but I think a light, non-fusible interfacing would be the best choice. I just don’t want to use paper and have to tear off all of the middles between the seams.
(You can read about my string block method in this post). The blocks I’m sharing today start out at 6 ½″ and then are trimmed to 6″ before being sewn together.
I’m sewing my string blocks into groups of four, and I’m about ready to start sewing those groups together, too. I have four completed “big blocks” from the past couple of years, and last week I was able to make 12 more small blocks!
I’m hoping to sew these together this week and start putting my quilt together!
This was really a great project to work on in the hotel room. Since I had so many strings with me and the foundation squares ready to go, I was able to chain piece every step of the way. I think I could have finished at least double this if I’d taken more scraps.
I
actually thought about buying some fabric at the retreat so I could
keep working on this but convinced myself there were plenty of strip
pieces at home!
I hope your scrappy sewing is going well! Feel free to comment with any ideas or tips you might have!
PS Craftsy has a sale with 50% off on their most wish-listed classes right now…maybe one you want to take is on sale…Thanks so much for stopping by!
Hildy says
Your string blocks look so great and I love the navy bits you've add it makes the other colors even brighter.
Needled Mom says
Those are so nice and I like the secondary blocks when set on point like that.
Little Quiltsong says
Love how bright your strings quilt is. I like the idea of using muslin on the back to sew the strips to.
Robby H. says
Your blocks are so stinking cheerful! I have resisted this as I am not thrilled at the idea of de-papering the blocks, but your interfacing idea may be a winner. My other hurdle is my rather small scrap collection. I tend to find ways to use it up as I go rather than letting them accumulate. Who knew that was a bad habit?!
Pam L says
What a pretty quilt this is! I'm fairly new to quilting and this looks like a good project to try.
Chris@Cats On My Quilts says
I am making string blocks right now out of all fig tree scraps. Love making these. I use paper but I don't sew all those seams to the paper. I only sew the first seam the paper then fold the paper out of the way for subsequent seams but using the paper as a guide. Then I only have to rip out two pieces of paper. Very simple.
Karen says
It's a snowy day here in Dayton and my day off, so I am pressing and cutting fabrics in preparation to start several projects (a baby quilt, infinity scarf, zipper bag, BOM, and Plus Sign quilt). Needless to say, my strip bin is getting some new prints! I plan to make a quilt like yours someday. It has been on my list for several years before I had any strings to make one!
Quilts By Laurel says
I love these blocks! How fun! 🙂
Leeanne says
You have such pretty scraps! I wish we were scrap swapping buddies!
Anne / Springleaf Studios says
I love string blocks. Haven't made any in a long while but yours are certainly inspiring me.