Wonky Log Cabin

Wonky Log Cabin

45 x 54

It's a flimsy!

Made with shorter strings it is string quilt top #5 to come out of my big box of strings. 

I used three inch red squares for the centers. Why? Because I had those pieces left over from making the Crossed String Top still on my cutting mat so it seemed to be a good idea to use them up. I almost had enough but had to dig a red solid scrap out of the box of red scraps so I'd have 30 squares. 

I decided to make 9 inch blocks with half in light strings and the other half bright/dark strings. Then I used the Fields and Furrows layout. 

 

Valued Tops

Last year I cleaned out my 2.5 and 3.5 width scrap bins. One of the things I did when clearing the bins was cut 2.5 x 3.5 pieces.  I've also been cutting those pieces since then whenever I have scraps left over from other projects. They have been collecting in a shoe box and the box was full so I thought I should do something with them. Now I have about 10 little rectangles left in the shoe box and I'm not sure if I should start over again and fill the box or move on to something else.  

This one is 63 x 76. I intended for it to be 60 x 80 but somewhere along the line it ended up in other dimensions.  I webbed pieces together from the center out on each side and ended up with 21 instead of 20 pieces across. No worries. It's all good. 

For this one I took inspiration from Valued Quilt at Kitchen Table Quilting. 

Pieces are sorted into light, medium light, medium, medium dark and dark stacks. You know...I really had a problem figuring out the value of some of these little pieces so I sorted into three categories (light, medium, dark) and then after that I figured out medium lights and medium darks. And really I had fun looking at all the fabrics while I was sorting. 

I'm thinking I might just fill that little shoebox again with little rectangles 2.5 x 3.5 and make the other version of this that moves from dark scraps in the center out to lights at top and bottom. 

This one is 63 x 80 and the reason I started cutting the little 2.5  x 3.5 pieces. I was inspired by a scrap quilt at Blue Elephant Stitches. 

For this one I just had to sort light...

...medium...

...dark. 

I cut, sorted and sewed and now I have a couple of "value added" tops!

(Now back to my string box).

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun than Housework. 

 

Chips

I guess I forgot what day this is - Rainbow Scrap Challenge ScrapHappy Saturday. 

I 've mostly been working on my box of strings but I did make a few Chips this week. I've been using jewel tones and black on whites to make these blocks. I now have 75 and my target is 140 so I guess this project will carry on into 2022. 

Free pattern by Alison Glass

 

And Yet Another String Quilt Top

String Quilt Top #4 from what used to be a  BIG box of strings a couple weeks ago. 

This is the lap quilt sized quilt (51 x 68) made with a tutorial from a June 2017 Quilt Along at Crazy Mom's Quilts. 

This one takes a lot of background fabric and doesn't really use up all that many strings. 

I thought the background fabric would overwhelm the strings (quick! Look away if busy quilts are hard on your eyes) but I can still make out some fun strings with hearts, hummingbirds...

...birds, dogs, ladies at a tea party...

For this quilt I didn't follow the instructions at Crazy Mom's quilts. At this point in my string usage I still had a lot of long strings to use so I cut a lot of 9.5 inch lengths off of those strings. I sewed together those 9.5 inch strings along the length until I had a long sheet of them.  Then I cut them into 8.5 inch sections. I trimmed each of those 8.5 x 9.5 inch sections to be 8.5 x 9 and then cut that section in half so I ended up with two almost identical 4.5 x 8.5 pieces.  I was able to make the 48 string pieces for the quilt in no time and was able to use some of the longer strings instead of sewing lots of shorter strings together. 

...ladies at a tea party, butterflies...

This is string quilt #4 from a box of strings. I probably have a couple more. You saw me cutting wedges for a kaleidoscope string quilt I've been working on and I have at least one more string quilt after that. 

Other string quilt tops from the big box: 

#1 - String Stars

#2 - Crossed

#3 - Heartstrings

Finished or Not Finished Friday at Alycia Quilts

Peacock Party at Wendy's Quilts and More

 

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! 

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.

Monday Musings

Autumn is the time when I start collecting seeds to sow next year. It is also a time to put this year's gardens to bed and a time when dreams of spring gardens begin. 

And there are still time to stop and smell the roses now that the deer, rabbits and Japanese beetles have let them be. 

I think I'm supposed to pinch out my mums earlier in the year so they make a nice mound. I have two different plants of them and every year they are full of blooms but they flop over. 

Monkshood is in bloom. 

This year I staked them otherwise they, too, would flop over. The stems are about 5 feet tall. They do well in a very shady area. I've had these for many years. They used to have blue flowers and more flowers on each stem. They have changed as they have aged. 

Some Cosmos are still blooming. I save the seeds from year to year and some years I buy seeds of a new variety. If I remember correctly this variety is called Bright Lights. I had a couple of mutant plants that came from my saved seeds. The plants looked kind of like a cross between a Cosmos and a Marigold, they grew taller than the rest of the Cosmos of the same variety and they were multibranched with smaller flowers. 

I'm still enjoying the Zinnias...

...and I've been gathering Zinnia seeds...

...to sow next year. Like the Cosmos I sometimes buy a new variety to add to my saved seeds. 

I was surprised to see the Gaillardia blooming. It's a perennial I started from seed this year so it will be back again next year. 

This is my little patch of Foxglove seedlings. When my Foxglove set seed this year I sprinkled the seeds that are like dust in August in another part of the cottage garden. It is a biennial so I am hoping that next year I will have lots of Foxglove blooms. 

Earlier in the year I cleared out brambles and honeysuckle and lots of weeds from an area I want to make a cutting garden next year. Part of the area was shaded by Boxelder and Locust trees so hubby and I decided it would be a good idea to cut down four trees in that area. Clearing all the brush away ended up to be a lot of work but I needed the exercise and I think I will be glad we did it come spring. 

I used the big pieces of wood to outline paths and beds in the new cutting garden area. 

Hubby surprised me with a bunch (90) of tulip bulbs with names like Brownie, Grand Perfection, Orange Princess and Sugar Crystal. So next year this space in the cutting garden should be full of tulip blooms. I started preparing the bed and hope to get the bulbs planted soon. That is part of my Sweet Pea trellis in the background. 

I have several large brush piles and as time permits I usually end up cutting the limbs into smaller pieces to use on garden paths. And sometimes I don't go near the brush piles because I find furry critters nesting in there. Eeeeeeeek!

I also cleared more space in the Wildflower garden that I started this year. A few months ago this area was filled with wild black raspberry brambles, locust tree seedlings that sprouted anew, and poke weed. I have been hoeing it every few weeks since then to keep it weed free. But every weed seed that sprouts now will be one less weed seed that sprouts next year. Right now it is full of bindweed seedlings. Yucky stuff! After a hard freeze I will fill this area with some wildflower seeds that need cold stratification. So watch this space next year for some more wildflowers! 

I hope to have some string quilt tops to show you soon! For now I'm enjoying the nice weather outside. I still have to help hubby clean up the veggie garden and turn the compost piles.