Dark Strings for Blogger's Quilt Festival

I'm entering this quilt I call Dark Strings in the Scrappy Quilts category of the Blogger's Quilt Festival Fall 2016 Edition at Amy's Creative Side.  What a fun way to see quilts other bloggers have made, especially bloggers whose blogs are new to me.

I had an abundance of strings and began sewing the dark and medium ones together.  They are not all the same width.  My only criteria was not to have strings of the same fabric touching as I sewed lengthwise.

The blocks are 6" square and I used 2" squares on the corners, then sewed them diagonally.  The finished quilt measures 64 3/4" x 85 3/4".

The batting is Soft n Crafty 80% cotton / 20% polyester.  It hand quilts easily and puffs up nicely after a turn in the washer and a spin in the dryer.

You can see other entries in the Scrappy Quilts category here.  Any blogger can enter two quilts before Monday, September 26 at 11:50 pm. EDT.  Voting begins on Sunday, September, 25.  Click through and have a look at all the categories.

Thanks for visiting.

--Nancy.
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My Best of 2015

I'm linking this post with Meadow Mist Design's Best of 2015 Linky Party.  Cheryl asked us to write about our five best blog posts of 2015.  Thank you, Cheryl.

Here we go!  (I chose these posts because they highlight successes.)

I finished hand quilting and bound Sunday Morning, a quilt from the book of the same name.

I finished hand quilting and bound Dark Strings, a scrappy string quilt.

I finished piecing, layered, pin basted, and began hand quilting another quilt, Red Wings and Stars.  (I don't have a photo of it sewn together or with the quilting in progress.)

I began sewing scrappy blocks and appliqueing stars on them. 

Oh, and I finished sewing a cloth doll, dress, and diapers.  I think the doll was a hit with my granddaughter if the attention she gave it is any indication.

Thanks for visiting my blog.  Happy New Year to you.

--Nancy.
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#1 November Finish for a Lovely Year of Finishes

Early in November I wrote of my goal to finish the binding on a quilt I call Dark Strings.  Despite surgery, visits from family, and work, I am pleased to be able to say that I've met that goal.  The quilt has been bound, washed and dried, and slept under.  A true finish!

Here are the details about this quilt.

Measurements
66 1/2" x 87 7/8" - top with borders
65 1/4" x 86" - after quilting
64 3/4" x 85 3/4" - after binding

Timeline
9/10/14 - string blocks begun
10/16/14 - string blocks finished
11/1/14 - corners added to blocks
11/21/14 - blocks sewn together
7/7/15 - first border sewn
7/8/15 - second border sewn
7/11/15 - scrappy back sewn
7/13/15 - layers basted together
7/18/15 - quilting begin
11/5/15 - quilting finished
11/7/15 - binding sewn on front
11/15/15 - finished sewing binding on back

Batting
Soft 'n' Crafty 80 cotton/20 poly, 3/16" loft.

Observations

• This quilt has been particularly hard to photograph, not just for the finish photo but through all its stages to completion.
• This is probably the fastest I've ever made a quilt -- just over 14 months.
• As I hand quilted I realized that some of my stitches on the underside of the quilt barely caught a thread or two.  I tried to stitch more carefully after that.  (I'm still learning the art of hand quilting.)
• I really like the look of the wide border when the quilt is laying out on the floor or on a bed but I'm not so thrilled with it when it's folded across the back of the couch.
• I still like the 80/20 batting (which I've used for several other quilts).

I'm linking this post to A Lovely Year of Finishes November 2015 Finishes Party at Fiber of All Sorts and Binding Blitz at JulieKQuilts.  Thank you both for hosting.

--Nancy.

P.S.  You can see other photos and posts about this quilt here, here, and here.
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A Binding Stitched -- a Finish!

I gravitated to sewing the binding on this quilt (for whole photo see this post) while recovering from surgery.  I'm beyond pleased:  it's my first finish in many months.  (But don't look too closely at the photo or you'll see a section of quilting that's either come out or that I missed.  I fixed it as soon as I noticed it in the photo.)  I'll tell more about this quilt when I write a post for Julie's Binding Blitz and A Lovely Year of Finishes.

After the binding was sewn I started working on other things, stitching I could do while resting -- those scrappy squares with the applique, mostly -- but not organizing the containers of scraps.  Hah!  Wouldn't you know I could put those off a little longer without any remorse.

Thanks for visiting.  (Continue reading if you want an update on my surgery.)


Patient Notes 
The surgery was a success and the pain has been minimal, but I was battered about in the hospital.  Nearly everyone involved in my care ignored the bright red allergy band on my wrist and the notes in my chart indicting an allergy to adhesives on my skin.  The doctor used some protective sheet or layer around the surgery site which she stuck to my skin and which left 2" wide strips of welts.  And the incisions are layered with adhesive tape under which is flaming red skin.  Besides that those leg huggers (or whatever they're called) left little "brands" on my legs.  None of these problems are end-of-the-world horrible but inconvenient just the same. 

The outcome of the surgery is that I have granulosa cell tumor, a kind of slow growing cancer.  Or maybe I should say had since the body part with the cancer cells was removed.  It's possible the cancer spread and to determine that I will have CT scans and blood tests.  My husband and I were both surprised and he's not taking it very well.  Whatever happens will be fine -- maybe not easy, but fine. 

On another note, I have this weighty question:  How can a person drink only water for 24 hours, drink nothing for another 16 hours, have body parts removed, eat less than a day's food over two days, AND gain 5 pounds?!!!  Isn't that crazy?!

I'm linking this post to Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation, Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? at Confessions of a Fabric Addict, and  LAFF (Link a Finish Friday) at Richard and Tanya Quilts, and Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.  Thanks, Kelly, Sarah, Richard, Tanya, and AmandaJean.

I hope you have a great day,
--Nancy.


P.S.  Don't forget to come back Sunday through Thursday to link a post about your quilty inspiration.
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#1 November Goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes

 In November, I will (I will!)

• finish the hand quilting on this quilt
• cut binding
• attach the binding, and 
• hand stitch it to the back of the quilt  

I'm linking this post to A Lovely Year of Finishes - November Goal Party at Sew BitterSweet Designs.

--Nancy.
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Quilty Inspiration #6 - A Recent Quilt

What was your inspiration for the last quilt you made or the quilt you're working on now?

I will soon be able to put a binding on a quilt I call "Dark Strings."

My inspiration for the quilt was a basket of strings sitting by my sewing machine and the quilt "Snowball Strip" in 101 Fabulous Rotary-Cut Quilts by Judy Hopkins and Nancy J. Martin.

Since I didn't want a light quilt and since didn't have the fabric to make one exactly like this one, I chose the colors, the size of the blocks, and the corner triangles based on the the fabric I had available.

If you're feeling uninspired you might like to read Diane's post, Quilter's Blocks:  the do's and don'ts, at Butterfly Threads.  Be sure to read the comments, too.

I hope you'll share a post about the inspiration for a recent quilt.

An InLinkz Link-up
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--Nancy.
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A Scattered Week

I've been out and about, at home, then away again, etc., without a stretch of time to devote to much.  Still, I've been able to work on two quilts.

I've been cutting these triangles and squares...

...to make more of these side setting triangles for this quilt.

I also cut all the green strips and white squares to make the stars in the center.  Some are sewn but not many.  Some quilt blocks have many pieces and seams in their creation.

I'm finally nearly finished hand quilting the first corner (only!) of this quilt.  Two sides and three corners to go.  I'm a slow quilter.  At first I thought the brown quilting thread might be too dark.  Now I think it could have been darker.

This past Saturday there was a Zero Landfill event nearby.  Design and interior decorating companies donate their unwanted samples and deliver them to a specific location where educators, artists, or anyone else who knows about the event can look through them and take what they want. 

I found a sample book of 50/50 linen/cotton fabric in a fun range of colors.  These are a few.  I couldn't leave them behind. 

Each sample has enough usable fabric to make two 3" squares.  The fabric is about the same thickness as several thrift store cotton/linen shirts I have.  I can't spend much time on them at the moment other than imagine the possibilities. 

That's been my week.

Hey, there's still time to link up to Quilty Inspiration #3 -- until Thursday evening.  It's a new, small, little-known link-up for sharing an inspiration for a quilt:  colors, fabric, photograph, painting, another quilt, etc.  If that's interesting to you, please link a post.

I hope you having a great week!

Linking to WOW at Esther's Blog, WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced, and Let's Bee Social #94 at Sew Fresh Quilts.  Thanks for hosting, ladies.

--Nancy.
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Yes!

Thank goodness for this online quilting community where we can post a problem and others respond with help -- sometimes almost within minutes of our plea.

In my last post I showed a photo of puckered quilting along the border of a string quilt in-progress.  I knew it shouldn't pucker but I didn't know what I was doing wrong.  Within an hours of the post Ann Marie of AMSewing read my problem and responded with the suggestion to baste the border.  (The pin-basting wasn't effective.)

Another several hours later Allison of New Every Morning Patchwork and Quilting left a comment suggesting that I baste around the very edge of the quilt.

I unstitched the quilting over the weekend, basted the border and very edge of the quilt this morning, and requilted this evening.  Yes!  Because of their suggestions I have no more puckers.

Thank you, Ann Marie and Allison.  I appreciate your help.

--Nancy.
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Puckered Up - A Hand Quilting Problem

Hand quilting was going along smoothly until I quilted into the border.  Then the puckering began.  (The white line is masking tape used as my guide.)

This is the first time it's happened -- that my stitches have puckered the fabric in the border.  But then this is the first time I've quilted a border on the diagonal.  I'm using the same "tension" on these stitches as I used on the center of the quilt where there was no puckering.  I'm using a hoop in which I begin with the fabric tight but after I get the knot buried I loosen the hoop so the fabric has some give.  And I'm not pulling the thread tight.

Should I be concerned about the puckering?  If I don't take out the stitches what will the finished quilt look like?  Maybe I should not quilt on the bias in the border.  I originally intended to quilt straight lines parallel to the edges of the quilt.  Maybe there was some wisdom in that.  If any of you have knowledge to share about this problem, please leave a comment.  I would be grateful.

I'm quilting on this string quilt.  I so need to finish it so I can get on to the quilt for new grandbaby.  Do you dislike interruptions and quilting problems as much as I do?

I hope you have a great weekend.

--Nancy.
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The Better Photo

Here's the better photo (compared to the bad photo) of the scrappy dark strings quilt I'm working on.  It's hard to get the colors accurately in a  photograph but I think these two photos come close.

The quilting is in progress.  The caramel-colored squares where there aren't pins are already quilted.  I keep thinking I should count the blocks in the quilt and keep track of how many I've quilted so I could tell when I'm a quarter done, or halfway, etc.  But I keep forgetting and just keep quilting.

Here's a close up.  The quilting barely shows but I'm quilting parallel to the sides of the caramel-colored squares.  It ends up being about a 2" grid across the quilt.  Plain but good for this quilt.

I'm linking this post to
-- WOW at Esther's Blog
-- WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced
-- Let's Bee Social #84 at SewFreshQuilts 
-- Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework 
Thank you, ladies, for hosting.

Wishing you a good day!

--Nancy.
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My First Double Border (with the Poor Photo)

It's a terrible photo (which I'll try to replace) but I'm so excited about having this top ready to quilt I couldn't wait to post.

I've been without a computer for nearly a month.  I thought my old one could be repaired but it couldn't, and then I took time to deliberate about which computer to buy.  Then the company lost the boxes before they ever left the factory.  The computer finally arrived last week and a few days later my computer-geek-friend came over and transferred everything from my old computer to this new one.  It's been a bit of an ordeal but now I'm good to go.

The good thing is that I've spent more time quilting and reading.  (I'll post about books and a local quilt show another day.)  I finished hand quilting "Sunday Morning."  My hope is always to have a new quilt layered and basted before the last one is done but I didn't succeed this time because I didn't have a quilt top ready.

I decided on a narrow red border and a wide brown border for this quilt.  It's the first time I've put two borders on a quilt.  The side borders are narrower than the end borders.  The quilt just seemed to need a little extra length and I felt like the borders worked for the quilt.  At this point I like it a lot.  (Those tan squares remind me of caramels.)

I'm doing simple diagonal quilting using the corner squares as a guide.  I'm not sure what I'll do about the borders but I have time to decide.  (That's probably what I said when I was approaching the finish of "Sunday Morning," too:  I have plenty of time to get another quilt layered and ready to quilt.  Ha!)  Still, I think about the border as I quilt, wondering if continuing the diagonal lines into the borders will be good or whether I should consider a different kind of quilting around the outside of the quilt.

Apologies for the poor photo.  I'll replace it with a better one if I can.  (EDIT:  You can see a better photo at here.

I'm linking this post to WOW at Esther's Blog.

Thanks for visiting.

--Nancy.
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Searching for a Border

The top is stitched together but I haven't decided about a border / borders.  The top is a little on the smallish side at 54" x 72" so it really needs a border.  I thought narrow red then wider tan then a piano-key string border but it didn't work (and I forgot to take photos).  Then I thought narrow red with piano-key strings, but I didn't think that worked either.  Next I considered strips of red sewn together into a wider border.  (I don't know how I managed it but I have a lot of long red strings.)  My next thought was a dark, medium-width border.  I'll have to fold or cut some fabric to try that out.  Size isn't the only reason it needs a border, though.  As it is, it looks incomplete to me.

I worked hard to get the blocks stitched and ironed before family comes to visit this week.  I'll put it away now but after Thanksgiving I hope to pull it back out and give it more thought.

I'm linking this post to WOW at Esther's Blog.  Thank you, Esther.

I hope you're staying warm!

--Nancy.
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Beginning to Play

These blocks have been sitting on a cupboard nearly always in view when I'm sewing, cutting, or quilting.  Since I have the strings quilt well underway, I thought I'd put these up and play with possibilities.

No sashing, no corner blocks:

No sashing, two red corner blocks:

Several different sashing possibilities, 1 medium corner block (and a bunch of tape!):

I think the color of the sashing on the left makes the quilt look very peaceful and calm.  But maybe it's boring, too.  Below is a red corner block which I like less than the tan, above.

Same sashing as above with red corner block:

Other possibilities I might try

• black, dark brown, dark green sashing with light stars in the corners
• dark sashing with solid light corner blocks
• medium sashing with white stars
• medium sashing with light corner blocks
• light sashing with red, medium, or dark corner blocks
• narrow, medium, or wide sashing

On the other hand, maybe no sashing would be perfect.  I just saw photographs here and here of all the blocks together.  Hmmm.  So many possibilities.

I love this part of quilting, the playing with fabrics, patterns, colors.  It takes me a while to make a decision about what I think works for the quilt but for me it's all part of the process.  It has to be since I never use a pattern for a quilt!

I have 41 of the blocks above.  They finish at 9½".  There are 15 with really light backgrounds and 26 with slightly darker backgrounds.  I don't know if I'll put them all together or make some more of the light or the dark ones.  It's all just "let's see what works" right now.

The string quilt looks like this right now:

All the corners are sewn.  They are in the process of being trimmed.  Then I'll lay them out, sew them, and decide about a border.  I was thinking a red inner border with an outer border of shorter string blocks, but maybe I'll use an inner border the same color as the corners.

My mind's eye is often fuzzy and inaccurate.  It's better if I actually see things with my real eyes than try to imagine them.

I'm linking this post to
Design Wall at Patchwork Times,
WOW at Esther's Blog, and
WiP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.
Thank you, ladies, for hosting.  I appreciate it.

Best wishes for a great day!
--Nancy.
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Strings and Churn Dashes

Yesterday I finished sewing all the blocks for this string quilt. 

I was uncertain about whether to stitch the corner squares on every corner or on alternating corners.  I decided that every corner needs them.

I think light/medium tans will look better than very light fabric on those little corners.  I'll choose the fabric tonight or tomorrow and begin cutting and sewing.  I think the corners help unify the variety of colors, plaids, prints, and plains in the quilt.  I'll probably use the same fabric for all the squares to add more unity.

The finished blocks will measure 6".  There are 99 of them which equals 9 blocks x 11 blocks and 54" x 66".  It seems a little squatty and I may add more blocks.  I'm planning to add a border or two which will increase the finished size.

I'm almost finished hand quilting the plaid churn dashes.  Two or three more fans on the row with the hoop and another row of fans and I'll be done.  You can see only about a third or a quarter of it in this photo.  I love this quilt!

It's interesting how some fabrics quilt more easily than others.  I was very new to quilting when I made the blocks for this quilt.  There's a great variety of fabrics, even though they're all plaids, which are not woven the same.  It was fun to sew them and it's been fun to learn about how different fabrics quilt.  When I buy plaid shirts for quilting now I lean toward some kinds of fabric and leave the others behind.  (But first I look for color when I buy shirts -- or any fabric, for that matter.)

That's the current state of quilting affairs in my world.

I'm linking to WOW on Esther's Blog; WiP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced; and Scraptastic Tuesday at She Can Quilt and Mrs. Sew and Sow.  Thanks, ladies!

Thanks for stopping by for a visit.

--Nancy.
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Quilter's Riddle?

Q:  When is a straight line not a straight line?

A:  When I sew it!  Yes, I have a hard time keeping long, straight seams straight, especially at the beginning and end.  Not to worry, though:  I have plenty of strips to practice with and, if all else fails, I have an acrylic square and a rotary cutter.


This is how I think the quilt may look -- unless I decide to change something about it, maybe the color or size of the corner squares or the color range of the strings themselves.  The strings are sewn into blocks but the blocks are not cut to size or sewn together. 

And this is how the blocks look without the corner squares.  I think the corner squares help unify the quilt.

I'm linking this post to WOW at Esther's Blog and WiP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.  Thank you, ladies.


Happy quilting to you!

--Nancy.
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