Sunday, February 12, 2012

Stringing Along


Hearts strings, stringing you along, string of bad luck, string of good luck, tie a string around your finger, string quartet, string of music, quitar string, yo-yo string ....... Oh, I could go on. When you look at a piece of thread do you see it as a string? When you look at a bit of fabric, do you notice how the threads (strings) are woven to make the whole? When you use that thread and that bit of fabric, do you see how the strings become stronger?


Yes, that endless bounty of strings in that tote! Seems to be no end in sight, but hey look! How is it that a dangling string of fabric will always attract a kitty just as much as a bit of yarn? It was hard enough to sort out what I wanted without the Queen trying to 're-claim' it as hers.


These are my blocks for the Scrap Attack Strings QAL and I decided to go with a rectangle block rather than a square. I love Char's at Clothe Stitched and Pattie's at PattilousQuilts rectangular string quilts and had to give them a go. My center string is a 'mushroom' colour - I use so much white, I thought it would be nice to play with another kind of string - these are 6.5" x 8.5". Yes, Moe had to help too.


OK - had to make some 6" string blocks. There are just so many in that tote to play with. I am just so amazed at how different these look compared to the other blocks. They are fun, and a great way to use up those strings.


These are so cool. The pattern is from Marcia's Quilter's Cache and those strings are 1/2" - so I am using right to the smallest up. I think I will use a skinny black sashing so I don't have to play with all those setting seams.


And of course there were lots of triangles created, found, and given to me (clippings from the 1600 Jelly Roll Race), so they were done up into HSTs which I love to play with. I had a LOT of small ones to say the least. Those will finish at 1" and I didn't count them - just chained them up into groups of ten.

I will be linking up with Scrap Attack Strings Quilt Along and Judy's Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times.



And I did have a finish. This baby quilt was made from scrap strings given me - yes, wider strings, but they made for a sweet crib quilt. I hand quilted this up in one night - yes, when I don't sleep. The backing was in my other scrap tote - a lovely piece of Hoffman 2007 International Challenge fabric. Pink, peach, raspberry, and cream string/scrap goodness someone was going to toss out - now a cuddly quilt.

CLOSING THOUGHT

"Words form the thread on which we string our experiences."
-Aldous Huxley

Sewingly Yours,
Sharon

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

well done Sharon lots of beautiful things there.xx

Cheryll said...

Its a wonderful thing isn't it.. especially for quilters.. the way they strung strings together...lol!
Great post Sharon! :)

Connie Kresin Campbell said...

You have some wonderful strings and Queen seems to be enjoying herself! Beautiful baby quilt and you hand quilted it in one night??? Way to go!

Wilma Lee said...

I love string quilts!!! So pretty.

Sue Daurio said...

well who doesn't love playing with the strings, I'd be right there with Queenie, grabbing all I could and rolling in them :) LOVE the rectangle blocks, thanks for the link, will definitely give that a try!! HSTs- holy smokes that's a lot of little pieces you have laying on that table. I love HSTs and playing with them

hueisei said...

Amazing string quilts...pretty! :)

Frog Quilter said...

Lovely. Scraps rock.

Pattilou said...

Love your string quilts! You always get so much done!!!

Denise :) said...

The string blocks are pretty, and they scare me! I've never made them and yet I find that I *have* to (for our guild president's thank you quilt). I've been looking at everyone's string blocks and trying to decide the best route to go! :)

Sheila said...

I LOVE your string quilts! Heck, I love strings quilts. String on, girl!

Eat Sleep Quilt said...

I really like your layouts. I had thought of doing a rectangle, but I'd already cut squares so I just went with that. Maybe on my next string quilt - and I know there will be many more!

Dar said...

Wonderful outcomes for all your strings. You are a gal after my own heart. Love to make something beautiful out of discarded scraps. Keep inspiring us.

Jane said...

Hope you post that string quilt with the black sashings. It's gonna be great! Thanks for sharing.

Deonn said...

Great quilts, Sharon! What a busy girl you are! Beautiful! (Love the musical notes too)

Heather said...

What beautiful projects! Love those string quilts, and the baby quilt is SO sweet! :o)

Snoodles said...

I love doing string blocks. I've never tried putting the same color in the center, but now after seeing what you have done, I think I will give it a try. Do you find a light or a dark to give you a more pleasing pattern? I know it's in the eye of the beholder, but I enjoy your work and would like your opinion!

Teresa F. said...

Great String blocks. TThey look lovely. The baby quilt is beautiful too.

Char said...

Great string blocks. Thanks for the shout out! I think I like the different color center strips best. That's how I made my first one.
Love those soft girlie colors in the baby quilt. I haven't done any real hand quilting in a long time.

Michelle May-The Raspberry Rabbits said...

Love strings!!
Beautiful job!

Marcia - Crafty Sewing and Quilting said...

Love all the strings and scrap quilts! You really stayed up all night hand quilting? WOW!
Enjoy your day!

BillieBee (billiemick) said...

Great post!...She already kicked up her heals....they are laying just off to the side.

Your energey amazes me. Love everything you posted here!

Chrissy said...

Wow! Look at all those string blocks! They look amazing! Thanks for stringing along with the Scrap Attack Strings QAL! :-)