string quilt

I have been working on this string block quilt for a long time. It was interrupted by my back surgery. I restarted it as soon as I was comfortable to treadle again. So far it has all been done on the treadle.
There are lots of strings in this quilt. I have it to the top stage and need to decide on borders. I am glad to be far enough along that I can clean up the mess. A string quilt tends to be very messy.

It was pumpkin carving time with our Grandchildren last weekend and it was great fun.

I am linking to:

TGIFF

Whoop Whoop

peacock party
oh scrap

UFO busting

lightening and liberty

I have finished a few more blocks for my string block that I am calling lightening. I think I need 4 more blocks and then I will make it a quilt.... or not. But, I have cleaned up the area and even vacuumed, so I am hesitant to start the mess. I swear, the strings just go flying.

My women's group at church had a patriotic themed crafty evening. They said bring your own project if you want. Why not a quilt that I have started and need to finish. Other than my daughter's quilt, this is probably the oldest UFO I have. It is from the early 90s. I think it is called sweet land of liberty. I have several parts of it made. I just need to figure out what I still need to do and start putting it together. Everyone loves a puzzle, right?

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creative compulsions

needle and thread Thursdays

I am linking to:

WOW

midweek makers

Oh Scrap

boms away 

strings and organization

This is the first time in a long time that I could see this much floor in my sewing room. I am pretty excited. On the other hand, the reason I can see it, is because the flat surfaces are now covered again. And when I want to sew, I will move everything to the floor, and the cycle will continue. Hopefully, every time it goes back and forth, the mess will shrink, as I figure out what I am going to do with odds and ends of stuff.  Do you have little bits of this and that with no real home? - one package of fancy buttons, one zipper, one water soluable stabilizer...

I was so excited about the floor I bought a fatigue mat for it. I found it at Sam's club and it is actually pretty. The wire baskets contain my scrap bins. Any piece less than a half yard but not a fat quarter goes here.

My next goal is to finish the cutting table area, but someone keeps cutting fabric there and making a mess.
I did make more string blocks and I am playing with how to set them.

I am linking to:

Monday Making

Moving it Forward Monday 

design wall monday 

boms away 

Oh scrap

borders and strings

I have the borders on smith mountain morning and it is a race to see if I can finish it before the end of the month. I have the backing material and a just emptied longarm. It could happen. It's a pretty quilt, and I hesitate, thinking I should do something special in the quilting. But, I know I prefer a more simple pattern, and I don't have to do what everyone else is doing. I love the piecing of a quilt, and I certainly wouldn't pay a longarmer to do the fancy stuff, so why would I take the time to do it. But, I have to admit, that a heavily longarmed quilt gets more oohs and ahs. I also feel bad for the quiltmaker who has made a beautiful quilt, and at show and tell, everyone wants to know who did the quilting. The longarmer didn't pick the colors or pattern, didn't buy or cut out the fabric, or sew it together, or apply the binding. I try to remind myself of that when I longarm for a client, even myself. Enough of a soapbox.

I have been working on this string quilt, every off chance I get. It is a bit like potato chips, you can't make just one. Every block will be the same but, no two will be alike.

I am linking to:

to do tuesday

chameleon color linky

Oh scrap

I am linking to:

Monday Making

Moving it Forward Monday 

design wall monday 

boms away 

pineapple round 2

As a way to chain piece my pineapple blocks, I used a  long strip of color for round 2. I could lay the pineapple centers on the strip and just sew. Then I cut them apart and did another side, and so on.

I have had an obsession with making these little 4 1/2 inch string blocks and creating larger blocks. It uses small bits and goes very fast. And you can't make just one. I did not enjoy making the larger
 6 1/2 inch blocks for sand castles. I took forever and it was more difficult to find the right size strip, but this was fast and fun.

I had cleaned up the string mess from sand castles, and vowed I was going to stop string piecing altogether - at least for awhile. This time the idea came while I was cleaning the desk, and found little squares of phone book paper. I had a nice stack of 4 1/2 inch squares so I laid them on the treadle. I walked by a couple of times, and, then, thought I would just try and see. I imagine it will take a million squares to create a quilt of sufficient size.

I am linking to:

to do tuesday

chameleon color linky

Oh scrap

I am linking to:

Monday Making

Moving it Forward Monday 

design wall monday   

boms away 

May one monthly goal

My May one monthly goal is a the same as the April goal only taking the next steps. I have made it more challenging by upending my sewing room for a remodel. I am not sure why I picked this exact time to try something new, but, it is a big mess right now as we put everything to rights. I had no idea how many little containers of little scrap pieces I kept shoving to the back and ignoring.  The big change is turning the corner with an ikea table. I am going to really like the space to the left of the sewing machine for borders and big quilts and bindings. The corner piece was bigger than I expected, so everything had to move around for it to fit.

The sewing machine has been silent but I have used the treadle to make this string block, even though, I had decided no more strings for awhile, and had cleaned up the area. But, all those little baskets of little pieces I found had to go somewhere.

The ironing board is at best all covered with undecided stuff from the sewing area, and I haven't really had a place to press anything yet. I did find the crayon for the rainbow scrap challenge accessible, and, I could sew the strip together for orange for the color for May.

I am making progress and hopefully, I will back to a regular quilting routine.

For May I want to assemble allietare, quilt and bind smith mountain morning, swap our circa 1880 blocks, and keep current with the rainbow scrap challenge. oh and hook up my sewing machine.

I am linking:

lots of orange inspiration at:

rsc19 super saturday
oh scrap
UFO busting
One monthly goal

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TGIFF

Finished or Not Fridays   

Whoop Whoop

peacock party

offwall friday

Oh Scrap

beauty pageant