Nita,
Since I have been the hostess for the washed swaps on
Yahoo (2+ years) I do wash the fabrics I swap.
I always wash batiks before using them in a
quilt.
Most of my scraps are now a mix of washed and unwashed.
Most of the strings are from my past WASHED swaps.
Well, I have went and done it again. I am hooked on another version of string blocks. The versatility and fabric/stash busting value of string blocks just cannot be beat!!!
And yes, that is my version of Jamestown Landing being assembled. I have a bad habit of making ALL the units for a quilt and then putting all them away in a box. This has been sitting and waiting for assembly ever since the pattern came out. (designer is Our Bonnie Hunter of course)
In an effort to find any pitfalls of making these blocks I became a guinea pig. I consider myself a competent string block maker. But this 45 degree angle can make you cut your strip off too short if you try to eyeball the edge before folding the strip out.
I eliminated most of that issue by cutting my foundation papers a bit larger than Michele Foster has in her tutorial.
http://quiltinggallery.com/2013/02/20/tutorial-scrappy-herringbone-quilt-block/
Michele was trying to be frugal with her expensive leave-in foundation papers. We are not using those type of foundations. We are using removable papers. And telephone book pages are free!!!! So I cut my foundations 4" X 8.5" instead of 3.5" X 8.5" as Michele recommends. Problem solved.
And by cutting this way I can get a matched set of lefties and righties all ready for sewing.
Note to self...use a waste piece of paper under foundations to avoid pencil marks on the cutting mat.
They look so rough before trimming!!!!
And so nice when done!!!
String piecing can be messy. And I have one cat who is bound and determined to kill herself by eating threads. She knows I am watching her watch me for any lapse in my concentration on just where she is at during the sewing process. This is the same cat who ate two quilting needles with quilting thread attached. The thread wound around the base of her tongue and the needles lodged in her stomach. She had to have abdominal surgery to fix this...my fault. It will never happen again if I can help it!!!
Another perfect loaf of wheat bread came out of the bread machine.
XOXOOXOXOXO Subee
9 comments:
When I saw Michelle string piecing I thought the same thing you did...telephone book! Great minds think a like. Love your Jamestown Landing, Its on my list of "Want to do's".
Wonderful work.
Grit from Germany
Oh poor kitty! And poor Subee - that had to be expensive!!! Thank goodness my Gypsy seems to have no desire to eat threads :*)
If only my Jamestown Landing was that far along. String quilts are so fun to do....and I've never seen one turn out ugly. I really wish I was there to help you eat that fresh bread. My bread machine died over a year ago and I'm still debating on whether to get a Bosch mixer & baking my bread in the oven or getting a Zojirushi (sp?) bread machine. The mixer would be more versatile and I could get the blender attachment for it to get one thing off my counter. Anyway, I'd sure like to have some good homemade bread.
hi Subee, thanks, just bought the eyefooler pattern from quailvalleyquilts using paypal. really looking forward to doing this
Love all you works in process and the swaps that you organize!! Poor kitty!
Beth in MN
I have a question for you. Do you wash your fabric before you use it for quilting?
I just tried the string piecing on used fabric softener sheets and I am not going to have to tear out paper. I read on a blog a year or so ago to use the sheets. You inspired me to try them out when you showed yours. I think it is a great new shape. Mine are 5 1/2 by 8 1/2 cut and will finish at 5 by 8. Thanks so much for your great ideas.
Cindy N.
UT
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