It's a Finish!

Crossed String Quilt

57 x 76

It's a finish!

Crossed Quilt block tutorial.

This is one of several different string quilts I made last year. This one used some of the longest strings. 

I finished the top back in October 2021.

  I previously made one like this but with a white background. 

I quilted it with horizontal and vertical lines with a red and yellow variegated thread on my DSM. I was going to use red thread but didn't think I would have enough so used the variegated. 

The binding is scrappy - made from a lot of leftover pieces of bindings. 

I had to piece the back and there wasn't quite enough of the fabric so I had to add another colorful piece. 

And sew on...

 

Crossed - A New String Top!

 

Crossed

57 x 76

Tutorial for the Crossed block can  be found at The Long Thread.

I finished one with a white background last month. 

This is the second top to come out of this year's box of strings.  

The first top, in case you missed it, was a String Star. 

When I have a big box of strings I start making tops that will use the longest strings and then I gradually make tops that use shorter and shorter strings. 

Really, anything goes when I make a string top. Most of these pieces are from quilt back trimmings or yardage ends. All colors, all widths mix and mingle and work together.  Diversity. 

Actually this is a lot like how I made quilts when I first started out. In the old days which were my younger days I never knew people actually bought fabric just to make quilts. I made clothes or curtains or pillowcases when I bought fabric. Then leftover scraps or old clothes went into making a quilt. I still have one of those old quilts I made in the 70s and one of my sisters has one as well. And I have the shirt I made of one of the fabrics to match! 

And on to the next! I wonder how many more string quilts are in that box of strings.

Quilts of September #1

It's a finish!

#1 for September.

Crossed

57  x 76

I started making these Crossed blocks (tutorial at The Long Thread) back in 2011. Can you believe at that time I only had enough strings for just 10 blocks?? 

At the beginning of this year I made more blocks and in February assembled the top. 

And now this month I finally have gotten around to quilting it. I just quilted it on my DSM with horizontal and vertical lines.

The binding is also scrappy - made from old quilt backing trimmings. 

I think I am going to make another one because I definitely have a LOT of strings now.  Instead of white I will probably use some other solid color...maybe red. 

Ho, ho, ho! It is finally finished! And it really has character(s)...Snoopy, Spiderman, Santa.

The back is pieced with some yardage and two strips (one pink, one white) left over from other quilt backs. 

Ready for giving or gifting!

And on to the next!

Finished or Not Finished Friday at Alycia Quilts

Peacock Party at Wendy's Quilts and More

 

Crossed - A Flimsy

Crossed

It's now a flimsy!

57 x 76

I believe I started making these 9.5 inch (finished) blocks back in 2011 to use up some strings but can you believe I actually did use up my strings back then and only made 10 blocks? I did. And then I put the blocks away and forgot about them for a long time. 

Well, I definitely had enough strings (and then some) this time to move this old UFO forward. 

I used a tutorial found at The Long Thread.

And now I see some ways to play with these blocks in different ways. So, since I still have lots of strings left there may be a variation of Crossed in the future. 

I'm glad it finally warmed up so I can go out and take clothesline photos again. For several weeks it was below zero and snow too deep and ground too icy for me to even venture out for anything. But I am thankful that I did have some heat in this old house although sometimes it barely went above 59 degrees. I am thankful I can bundle up in quilts and read a book if need be. And I'm thankful I have a back up sewing machine because my main one has been in the shop since Jan. 21. I finally decided I'm not going to have it fixed anymore because constant repairs are getting too expensive. But again I'm thankful that I have a new and hopefully more heavy duty one on the way. 

 

Some Assembly Required

Back in December I blogged that I wanted to dig into my skinny strings and make a few quilts.  At that time one of the UFOs I wanted to move forward was a Crossed Block Quilt.  Now I'm happy to say I have made 38 more blocks with my skinny strings (well, I had to use a few fat strings too) and now I have 48 blocks - enough for a nice sized quilt.

The blocks finish at 9.5 inches. 

Now they are going to go into the big "some assembly required" box of complete block sets. 

All month I've been cutting a few "peacock feathers"  (Dresden wedges) to move a UFO forward. 

When I blogged about Peacock Feathers back in December I needed over 700 more pieces.  I've met that goal.

Now Peacock Feathers is also in the "some assembly required" box. 

Last month the "some assembly required" box contained the following block sets: 

 Clarissa (vintage inspired hourglass)

Animal Crackers II

Pastel Roses

Blue Economy Blocks

'30s repro Economy Blocks

Wishing Rings

Wedding Rings

16 Patch

Double X/Snowball (vintage inspired)

Flashes of Brilliance (Sugarloaf Stars)

Dakota Farmer Stars

I've crossed four off of the list because I assembled those tops this month.  

And this month I have added to the box: 

Crossed Quilt

Sunny Lanes

Peacock Feathers

February's OMG (One Monthly Goal) is to assemble at least one top from the list above. 

OMG at Elm Street Quilts

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework

String Symphonies

 I sometimes feel like the old lady who lived in a shoe but instead of too many children I have too many scraps and don't know what to do.  Last year I tackled my crumb boxes and now I have several crumb quilt tops in the queue for quilting.  In 2019 I want to tackle the selvages and strings. You've seen a couple of selvage quilt tops I've completed the last couple of days so I have a head start on those.  I've sorted and sorted the string piles and now I think I know what to do. 

Earlier this year I made a wonky quarter log cabin quilt top from the brown, green and a few yellow strings.  And I still had strings in that box.   So now  I have decided I will make wonky log cabin blocks with log cabins in the center -- Cabins in the Woods.  I made these blocks nine inches because that's one of the sizes of square rulers I have which makes them easy to trim. 

 A log of the strings left in the box are trimmings from the sides of quilt backs and some are long and wide. Before I proceed on the Cabins in the Woods I'm going to iron these and trim off 2.5 inch pieces for the binding box.  I may have enough to use as a scrappy binding on both the Cabin in the Woods and Camouflage Quarter Logs. 

 I also have some strings that are ends of fabrics or leftovers from other projects. The ones that are getting too short for use in the Cabins in the Woods will go into a general box of smaller pieces for a Coin or String X  or X  Marks the Block type quilt later on next year. 

 And then there's the low volume/light blues box. I'm making ten inch blocks and using paper foundations. They will have a consistent two inch center like you see here. 

Singing the Blues? 

 I chose that fabric as the center because I have two yards of it and I think it's pretty ugly. My husband loves it. He suggested I buy some a few years ago when we were out and about because it reminded him of his grandmother.  Well, I guess it does remind me of an old lady. 

 Then there's the bright strings. 

I found ten of these ten inch Crossed Quilt blocks buried in a bin with some other old UFOs.  I think I made them a long time ago with the strings I had on hand then.  I see the tutorial still exists  at The Long Thread and her blog post was from 2011 so maybe 2011 is the year I started them.  I'm hoping I will have a quilt top in 2019. 

 Also from the bright strings comes Cattywampus II -- wonky log cabins with 6.5 inch black background cat centers.  Cattwampus I consisted of 15 inch blocks but I'm only making these 12 inches - again because that's the size of a square ruler I have making it easy to trim these wonkies. 

 Here's some other old string blocks I started and never finished.  I have three of them. I'm making these ten inch blocks with a black polka dot stripe strip inserted somewhere in each block.  

 I have two boxes of bright strings so should be able to get more than the three quilts mentioned from the pile. Like the brown and green strings there's some long wide backing trimmings in there and I'm going to iron and trim to 2.5 inch for the binding box. What's left will go back into the bright string box. 

Earlier I showed you the low volume (with volume turned up once in awhile) hearts I started from a low volume and pink box.  Earlier this year I made two different quilt tops using strings from this box-   Rocky Road to Kansas and pink strings with polka dot centers (the Pink Polka?). 

So that's the plan so far for strings in 2019. 

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun than Housework.