A Set Of String Blocks

I just finished a set of 48 - 10 inch finished string blocks. I don't think I will assemble the top at this time so the set will join a lot of other block sets in the SAR (Some Assembly Required) bin. 

I used a paper foundation and black/white 2 inch center string on all blocks and then added dark strings on one side and light on the other. I used quite a few odd sized pieces set aside for string block corners. On this one quite a few of the darker corners were pieces left over from 2020 mask making that someone gave me. 

And sew on...

Finished Or Not Finished Friday at Alycia Quilts

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I've finished a lot of books this month. Most reading takes place on my Kindle in the middle of the night when I can't seem to get back to sleep after a visit to the bathroom.

Copper River by William Kent Kruger.  This is book #6 of 22 in the Sheriff Cork O'Connor mystery series. I've enjoyed all the books in the series I've read so far; however, this might be as far as I get into the series. It is the last free one available with my Kindle Unlimited subscription. 

Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow. This is not my usual type of book to read but I really loved it. I guess it is classified as magical realism and a portal fantasy. 

The Sideways Life of Denny Voss by Holly Kennedy. Another book I really enjoyed. Denny's "number" (IQ) is 72. He has a good heart and sets out to do good deeds; however, those deeds are misinterpreted by others and he ends up charged with murder. 

Long Way Gone by Charles Martin. I've read most of Charles Martin's books and some, like this one, brought a few tears to my eyes. This is a story about a prodigal son. “No matter where you go, no matter whether you succeed or fail, stand or fall, no gone is too far gone. You can always come home.”

Glory Over Everything: Beyond the Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom. I actually read The Kitchen House in 2016 and didn't know there was another book that followed. 1830s historical fiction about slavery, the underground railroad and a mixed race man who tries to escape his past in the South to live as a white man in the North. 

 

Pastel Strings Top And A Week In Review

It's a top!

Pastel Strings

40 x 60

Strings was the April theme in my sewing space to move UFOs and scraps forward. I didn't get very far because that month I called the ambulance for hubby John and he ended up an hour away in MICU and Respiratory unit for a week. And the reason he got aspiration pneumonia that put him in he hospital is because he has a fractured jaw and jaw bone infection. And since he can't swallow a lot of infection and blood built up and tried to go down his throat but couldn't so instead went to his lungs. The infection also tried to get out of his jaw and made a little hole under his jaw so  gunk could ooze out.  Reason he can't swallow and has fractured jaw is because long ago when he had oropharyngeal cancer he had radiation and all these years later the side effects of radiation are still taking a toll on him. 

I made a few string tops in April but still have quite a few that need attention. Since the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) "color" of the month is pastels I thought I would sort out all the pastel strings for a little top. 

And sew on...

Finished Or Not Finished Friday at Alycia Quilts

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And now for the "Week in Review" part of this post...

June 12 - we made a trip an hour away to the University of Iowa (UOI) hospital and clinics for a presurgical evaluaion and ENT appointment.  John was hoping for a free flap restoration of his right jaw like he had on his left jaw in 2016. At that time they took his fibular and blood vessels and made it into a jaw bone.   This time they had told us they might take a bone from his arm to reconstruct his right jaw.  John's goals were to get rid of infection in jaw and keep it from coming back, fix jaw fracture so he was not in pain.  The jaw bone fractured because it is necrotic from long ago radiation.   After much discussion it was decided that they would remove the bone but not rebuild it so he would have a "hang jaw".  He doesn't need jaw to eat since he will always have G-tube so doesn't really need it. He will still be able to talk. The surgery will be easier on him as will be recovery. He was agreeable with all of that. Of course they placed a lot of emphasis on "quality of life over quantity of life".  No date has been set yet for the surgery. 

***

June 10 - 16 - A lot of John's family were in town for a family reunion/camp out at the county park down the road.  I took John over to the park several days for a few hours so he could visit with everyone. Thankfully the weather was beautiful most of the time.   John(1st generation) is the oldest of 8 children. 3 are now deceased. He and his siblings and spouses had 25 children (second generation). Those 25 children (second generation) are still having children. I think the oldest of that generation is 54 and the youngest is probably 3.  And we now have Scarlet who will be two in a month or so and the first of her generation.    We took family photos on Saturday and 47 showed up that day although a lot of families came and went at various times so were not in the photo. A lot of the second generation and their families did not attend. They are all scattered across the U.S. from Oregon to Texas to Arizona to Missouri to Florida and probably other parts unkown. 

A small fraction of the family.

***

June 17 - I took John to UOI for Mohs surgery on the squamous cell carcinoma on his nose. Appointment was for 9 o'clock and they did not finish with him until 4 o'clock. It was an hour drive and in the morning I had to drive right into high winds and heavy rain. Thankfully I was on an interstate; however, at one point I drove with my hazard lights on at 35 miles per hour. And thankfully it was sunny and clear when I drove home.  John's nose is so bandaged up that he can't wear his glasses for a few days. Sunday afternoon we take off that bandage and then I start wound care and thankfully for his follow up appointment on Wednesday I just need to take a few photos of his nose and add to his chart, they will review them and then follow up with a phone call. 

Poor guy.

***

Also this week the storms took down some trees  I need to have my son help me clean up. And this morning I saw a raccoon on the garage roof I chased away. I think it has been sneaking into my garage. And I read four books. So more on all those things and the state of the gardens later.  

Rays Of Sunshine - String Quilt

Rays of Sunshine

It's a flimsy!

60 x 80

I've been working with the overflowing string bins this month.  I usually do that in a month after I have a quilting marathon because I end up with a lot of quilt back trimmings. 

And I get some strings from other folks. I never have to cut strings for string quilts - strings just happen. 

When I was trying to decide what to use for the center string I noticed quite a few yellow strings in my 2 inch width scrap bin. Most were width of fabric and were given to me by others. So that is what I decided to use - yellow - rays of sunshine. I cut a few more yellow 2 inch width strips from some yellow scrap chunks. 

I use paper foundations and made 10.5 inch unfinished blocks. I save weird small cuts and triangles of scraps I receive from others or make myself to use as string block corners. I use longer and wider strings to make this type of string quilt. With shorter and skinnier strings I make other types of string quilts. More on that later. 

And sew on...

***

On April 8 I posted about state of husband John's health:

"Still trying to get my husband some treatment for his pain due to Osteoradionecrosis of the Jaw (ORNJ) and Osteomyelitis (bone infection) - one of many side effects of radiation received over 20 years ago for stage IV squamous cell carcinoma at the base of his tongue. He went to primary care physician on March 10 for swelling of face and received an antibiotic. Two weeks later he had a CT scan. Finally, he got a referral to Oral Surgeon and now that he has all the records he needs and Easter vacations are over we are waiting for a phone call from that office."

On April 9 the Oral Surgeon's office called to say there was nothing they could do for him so he needed to make an appointment with the Otolaryngologists at University of Iowa (UOI) Hospital and Clinics (state teaching and research hospital) that is a little over an hour drive from here. That is where John went in 2017 - 2018 to have the left side of his jaw replaced with his fibula (fibular free flap restoration). Of course, the doc he had then is now transitioning to a job in Arizona so he will see another doctor. And since it has been over 3 years since he has had an appt. then he will be considered a new patient and needed a referral. Ugh! So, I called in tears to the primary care physician and for a change they got right on that referral!! I heard from UOI on April 10 but there are no appointments available until April 27. The nurse I talked to told me to call once in a while until then to see if there are any cancellations so he can get an appt. sooner. 

***

I finished a book -The Nine: The True Story of a Band of Women Who Survived the Worst of Nazi Germany by Gwen Strauss. "The Nine follows the true story of the author’s great aunt Hélène Podliasky, who led a band of nine female resistance fighters as they escaped a German forced labor camp and made a ten-day journey across the front lines of WWII from Germany back to Paris."   What incredible women! 

***

Oh joy! Donna and Doris sent me boxes of lovely scraps and fabric and thread. That kept me busy sorting and measuring each piece while sitting with John. 

 

String Quilt Top #3

Inspired by Heartstring Quilts

40 x 60

I say "inspired" because I make my blocks a different size (10.5 inches unfinished) and I use newspaper for the foundations not fabric.   But I have used a consistent 2 inch in width center string like the Heartstring quilts.  

This is the third string quilt to come out of the giant box of strings I started with a few weeks ago. 

I used some of the long strings with novelty prints. 

I should have been a little more careful about center string placement because it doesn't line up quite right in a couple of places. But I don't think most children would care if I didn't color inside the lines. There's a lot of other things to look at in the quilt than unmatched centers. It's a string quilt!!! 

 And on to the next! 

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. 

Remember That Box of Pink and White Strings?

Remember that box of pink strings I was going to make into quilts? (If you don't remember go back and read my Feb. 15 post). 

Well, so far I've made a couple of flimsies from that box of strings. 

 Rocky Road to Kansas

63 x 63

I've always wanted to try to make a Rocky Road to Kansas string quilt because I've been inspired by many vintage ones.  

 So I've finally done it. 

 I actually didn't even know how to begin. I didn't want to make a lot of small blocks because a lot of my strings were wide and I wanted to use the strings without further cutting.  I'm not good at making my own templates but then remembered...

...a quilt called Chance in Kathy Doughty's book Making Quilts. Her wedges are made up of triangles but the wedge template for the background pieces worked perfectly for me.  I made wedges out of newspaper and sewed my strings to them. I first thought I would make strip sets and then cut the wedges out of the strip sets but later decided I wanted four similar blocks in each set rather than some willy nilly blocks like the stars in my 3+ Sheets to the Wind quilt  The wedges aren't all exactly the same since the strings weren't all the same width but each set of four uses the same strings. 

 Strings without a clever name.

40 x 60

 I made 10 inch (finished) blocks. I used taped together phone book pages for the foundation piecing. 

 Both of the quilts, when finished, will be donation quilts.  They probably won't be finished until summer. Right now I don't have batting or backings for them. 

  So now...what's left of that box of strings? 

I took out all of the bright pink strings and put them in with the bright strings box.  That left me with a few pale pink strings. I'm not sure what I'll do with them right now. I may combine them with other colors of pastel strings and neutrals when I get to them and make a quilt. 

 I have some small string end pieces that I'll put with the crumb scraps or make into coins. 

I have some wide and very long pieces (from sheets I used for backings) I separated out that I can use for bindings or piece together for backings. 

And I have some white/neutral strings. I'm thinking I might combine those with some black/dark strings and make something.  Time will tell. 

On a Lighter Note

Mollie of the Heartstrings Quilt Project Group I belong to issued a challenge for July and August to make Heartstring quilts with light colored centers.   Well, here it is almost October and I finally finished a top 60 x 78. I used a light gray floral print and had just enough for the blocks with a little bit to spare.  I wanted to use a garbage bag full of light colored quilt trimming strings and I used about half of the bag.  That's about the extent of any light colored fabrics or scraps around here.  For the border I used another gray floral piece that looks like it is left over from a maternity top I made in the 80s.  (I might have made a little dress for my daughter with that same lovely piece of calico). 

And if I ever get it quilted (after I piece together some batting pieces) it will be a donation quilt. 

Can you tell I use a lot of cotton sheets for quilt backs? 

Since I definitely used scraps I'm going to link up to Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework. 

Two Flimsies

Heartstrings Quilt Project suggested a black/white and brights project for November. 

When I dug into my string scraps I found  shorter strings in mostly black with a few black/white and for brights I found a lot of blue so stopped there. 

I ended up with a 40 x 56 Wonky Log Cabin top which, when finished, will be donated - probably to Quilts Beyond Borders.  

My other flimsy is "Cat Houses" 

63 x 77 

I have to make some little embroidered in neon signs for the buildings and some words for the backing. 

The night sky will be quilted with glow in the dark thread. 

Now off to finish some prep for Thanksgiving dinner and wait for the families to arrive. 

Even the little ones look forward to reciting what they are thankful for at dinner.  

Heartstrings - A New Project and an Old Project

Over at the Heartstrings Quilt Project some members are working on making string quilts using black/whites and brights as our November project. 

I looked through my scrap bins and didn't have enough long strings for regular Heartstring blocks but I did find enough b/w short strings and some bright blues for some wonky log cabin blocks. So I will be quilting along with other Heartstringers in November.  So far I've made 6 - 9 inch blocks out of the 24 I need for a child sized quilt. 

I more or less followed the instructions at Mary's Quilts. 

Strips and Strings Log Cabins

And speaking of Heartstring quilts...

...I was surprised to see the Heartstring quilt I finished after a New Year's 2013 purple-centered quilt along and donated to Wrap-a-Smile...

(photo by Val Edwards on a Rotaplast mission)

...has made it's way to a patient in Cumana, Venezuela on a Rotaplast mission. 

Rotaplast performs surgeries on kids with cleft palate and cleft lip. Wrap-a-Smile provides each patient with a quilt. 

You can read more about the Cumana mission, Sunshine Online Quilt Guild, Rotaplast and Wrap-a-Smile at the Sunshine Online Quilt Guild blog. 

Seeing Red But Not For Long

I finished up a lot of red lozenges. Mine are the small size which will finish at 2 x 4.5

They are pretty boring to make since I can't get into the leader/ender type of sewing but I like them because they are kind of a diary of fabrics that have passed through my hands. 

I finished my red postage stamp Sunbonnet Sue.  I saw the vintage  pattern last year at Q is for Quilter. 

She will get added to the rest of the rainbow girls. I have a brown one I made last year when the RSC color was brown.  So now I have 8.  My quilt will have 12- not 9 like in the pattern. 

I did use a lot of red strings and used up some small red fabric chunks when I made these 48 string blocks...

...and these 48 Happy Blocks. I mailed them to some members of the Heartstrings group since they are having a sew-in today to make quilts for Veterans entering hospice. 

Got Scraps?

Join in with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge and show us what you do with them each ScrapHappy Saturday.

Stay tuned for the next color...it changes at the beginning of each month.