Friday, September 09, 2005

Bonnie, Please sit down first!


Tahhh Daaaah!!! Here is my version of a strips and strings quilt! I have 12 blocks done! And the reason I asked Bonnie to sit down first is that these were all strips and pieces of leftover fabrics from my Bricks and Stepping Stones and my Scrappy Bargello quilt that I ----- Bonnie are you sitting? ---- had thrown in the garbage can and pulled back out. (I'm ducking in case you throw something at me). I know, I threw them out. But I thought I had made such progress in actually hauling out all this old and ugly fabric and actually using it for something, that when I had all these little leftovers I didn't mind parting with them, so I tossed them. Well then I got thinking about all your strips and string quilts. I hate piecing on paper because I hate pulling it all off. But then I got this idea of doing a roman shadow type block! And pulling it all together with the black since I had to get some for my 4-patches anyway! And look how awesome it is! I'm so excited! But of course I have to pull the paper off yet.....

This is how I did it. I only had regular paper to work with at this point, but I did have some great cheap paper from Walmart that is thinner so easier to rip off. Since a sheet of paper is about 8.5" wide I cut off the ends to make 8.5" squares. Then I placed a fairly wider strip across the middle diagonally, and sewed strips on each side out towards the other corners. When the strips covered the full square I flipped it over and squared it up to 8". OK you ask why I did that? Well since this was cheap paper from Walmart, it didn't start out exactly at 8.5" wide and by the time I sewed all the strips on it shrunk a bit more also. But I wanted a good even square to cut the black pieces. So I trimmed to 8". Then I cut 8" black squares from my black fabric. Laid those on top of the strips of fabric. Drew a chalk line from one corner to the next on the diagonal (I chose to draw the diagonal same direction as the strips ran, but you could do it the other way also. Or some blocks one way and other blocks the other way). Then I sewed 1/4" on either side of the chalk line. Cut in half on the chalk line and pressed open and Wha-La! Scrappy Strippy Roman Shadow Blocks! I will now be using all my leftover strips to add to this quilt! Won't this be cool someday!

7 comments from wonderful readers:

Sarah said...

Dawn -

I like your strippy quilt blocks. I really like how the black makes the strips really pop. Good work!

(Don't tell Bonnie but I throw away tiny scraps too!)

Sarah N.

Finn said...

Ooooooooooooooooooooohhhh...it's a grrrrrrrrrreat one !! So glad you had Bonnie sit down tho...and watch out for Tonya, she'll get ya too for throwing away pieces...*VBG*
I'm so proud of you.
It's great with the black, and such a smart way to do it. I have a purple one started, but was going to just do strippy across the whole block. Now I tink I will change directions and add the solid(which I have way too much of) and get a bigger quilt faster..*VBS*

Quilts And Pieces said...

I know! It does make the quilt twice as big, twice as fast! And can use up some solids or almost solids!

Joanne said...

It's wonderful, Dawn! I really like using the black -- it really sets them off.
You're inspiring me - gotta finish this paperwork and get back to my machine!

Quiltgranny said...

Love the popping colors! I throw away stuff in fits and starts, then organize again and then save them for a while. Glad you had Bonnie sit down! LOL!

You can get even cheaper, great paper at your doctor's office, you know! It's the paper you sit on - but be sure to ask for the fresh stuff. It's about $3.00 a roll, but my doc gives it to me free when I tell her it is a prescription for stress reduction. Of course, she is still waiting for her string pieced quilt (using the paper she's given me over the years) LOL!

Bonnie K. Hunter said...

I'm sitting I'm sitting!!! I can't believe I've got Dawn dumpster diving through her trash retrieving scraps :c) I'm so proud of you!

It looks great against that black...fun fun blocks, can't wait to see how it grows!

Bonnie

Tonya Ricucci said...

Needed to have Bonnie sit down? I almost had a heart attack myself. You were going to throw away bits that big??? Agggh. Put those pieces into a bag and donate them to a quilter who like to use bitty pieces - I know they are out there. Love the quilt tho, love the black and the bright colors. Never would have been that clever about making it tho. Smart idea.