Granny's String Quilt Completed

I am so excited to have finished Granny's String Quilt this week. I am very pleased with the way it turned out and I know she would be also!

 In this close up you can see the quilting pattern - Daisy Bounce - using a variegated pastel thread and I used four different fabrics for the binding.

 I really liked the way Granny used even her leftover Christmas fabrics and threw a lot of reds in. With the thirties fabrics, they just blended in and gave a little accent to the quilt.

 Here is the back. I had several blocks that were not large enough for the front so I just made a little backart, wanting to use all her fabrics. The yellow border was also in the box with her other fabrics strings.

Here is a close up of the back showing the quilting a little better. So much fun to finish a project!! Granny would be proud of it!

Floating Borders Tutorial

 This is a little tutorial on how to make "floating borders" on a quilt. Each border is the same length and the corners are not mitered. Above shows how the final border will look on each corner. You do this by starting with a partial seam on your first border, see below.

Temporarily lay the last border on the fabric or measure it's width to know how far to extend the first border past the white inner border.

 The border is pinned in place but several inches are left unsewn at the beginning, thus your partial seam. This applies only to the first border. After it is sewn, you have a finished end.

Above see the other end of the first border, sewn all the way to the end of the white inner border.

Add your second border and sew from beginning to end, as above.

I did not measure these exactly to size since they were pieced, it was hard to get an accurate measure. I left a little on the ends and then squared it up each time a border was sewn.

This picture is of the fourth border and first, ready to be joined. You can see where I had the partial first border seam still open.

Now it is pinned in place to complete the seam of the first border.

And here it is - totally sewn.

Here is the completed top with a not so good picture of the borders. Zoom in and you can see better. I was just too anxious to get these pics up I guess.

And two empty containers, meaning I had used up all my strips and fabric from two shoe boxes. 

And here is the pieced backing. I had several leftover blocks that were too small to fit on the front, therefore they became backart. I was trying to use all of Granny's strings and the yellow fabric, which was also in the container. I did add a few of my own to even it all out.

Now all that is left is quilting!! 

Granny's Strings Making Progress

I have finally taken some time again to work on Granny's String Quilt. I say that because when you quilt for others, it is often difficult to take the time to make your own quilts. In fact, I have had to quit doing custom work, so I can free up some of my time. But today I said,  "It is okay, you have quilts to make, so go sew!!" And I did. I added a 2" white border to separate the inside strings from the outer border.

I've been sewing the leftover strings all morning, making sure they were at least 4 3/4" long. I pieced some to make better use of the scraps. I kept sewing them together until the pieces above got much larger then I trimmed the strips down to 4 1/4" wide.

Here's how it will look once I get the border sewn on. Maybe tomorrow, but this afternoon it's back to longarm quilting! I love seeing quilt tops become quilts whether they are mine or other peoples!! Happy Stitching!!

Class, String Quilt Update & Jake

 I recently took a class with Terry Atkinson who makes all those wonderful fun and easy patterns, like the Yellow Brick Road and the pattern I used for my Dr. Seuss quilt. However, it was testing a pattern that she will be publishing this spring so I cannot share the quilt top.......yet!! But, above you can see the fabrics I chose for the quilt, laying on top of my background piece. All I can say is, it is a very unusual quilt and so fun to make. Sweet Home Quilt Company sponsored the Retreat at the Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center in Mansfield, GA, and we were treated so well. Great place to sew, a large room, delicious food and nice clean rooms to sleep in after sewing all day. Thanks, Melisa!!

 Here is an update on my mother-in-law's string quilt. I managed to take it completely apart so the blocks would lay flat, resized the blocks, added a few that I had made with her fabrics and put them back together. I had a few leftover small blocks which will become part of the back art. I think I may still add a piano keys border to make it just a little larger and use up more strings.

 Here is a close-up! You probably recognize many of these fabrics from the past 15 years of quilting.

 And here is Jake on his first picnic with his mom. Isn't he adorable!! He was having such a good time and there was a Girl Scout get together so he was entertained, too.

And now he's walking around and playing ball. My, my, how these babies do grow so quickly!!

Granny's Strings

 This is a quilt top that my mother-in-law made about 12 years ago. Her health was failing but she loved to sew and quilt and always learn new techniques. I showed her how to string piece these blocks and she was using her favorite colorway - pastels. She loved pinks and blues, but also red, so you can see lots of little red strings thrown in for a splash of color.
I am going to finish this quilt top and make a quilt with probably 48 blocks.

This was her only UFO when she died as far as quilts were concerned. She loved to piece the tops and then I would quilt them for her on my trusty Bernina sewing machine. No longarm back then! Above are the strings and pieces of fabric she had in the little plastic shoe box with the quilt top.

 Last night I began pressing all the strings and sorting them by size and separating the whites which always go down the center.

 I began piecing some more blocks, working on four at a time. The paper I am using comes on a roll and is 8.25" wide. I've had it a long time and it was sold to be used behind machine embroidery. It tears away very nicely.

 I just keep adding various colors, being sure I cover the paper plus a generous seam allowance on the outside of the paper.

Here you can see I've left plenty of fabric because my seam allowance is outside of the paper.

 Here is a block that has been trimmed on the left, with 1/4" seam allowance.

And here is the finished block. I like to leave the paper intact until after I sew the blocks together, mostly because the seam are on the bias and the paper keeps it from stretching out of shape. I think I am going to have to take her blocks apart, press them well and put them back together. Because of her failing health, they will not lay flat and I want to put the quilt together as she would have wanted it. She was an expert seamstress in her younger days and loved to quilt and have things very neatly done.
This Feb 8 will be ten years since she passed away. I am going to show some of her other projects in a couple of days to honor her love of sewing, quilting and embroidery and sharing her gift with many others.