BLOG 171

 

I would like to thank everyone for their kind words of comfort and support during this difficult time over the death of my mother. The funeral and the formalities are now behind me and I feel as though I can move forward once again, albeit rather numbly. But as the wonderful memories of her long and loving life trickle back to me, I will savour them. I have now been thrown reluctantly into the position of the ‘elder generation’ with no-one to shield my back, but I take comfort from the fact that both my parents are within me for the remainder of my own life journey.

 

And so what do you do when you are feeling numb …. You make a quilt!!

I will be leading a mini workshop soon in Gresford on the subject of string piecing. As it is now close to Christmas and I have lots of Christmas scraps, I thought this would be a good place to start.

 

CHRISTMAS STRING QUILT.

 1 Cut your scraps of fabric into strips of varying widths: 1” 1 ¼” 1 ½” 1 ¾ and 2”

                                         Fabric strips

2 Decide on your sewing method and cut 6 ½” (larger f you prefer) squares of your chosen background. You can use paper, calico or batting as a background. Paper is a very cheap medium, it is accurate and it is removed after sewing and trimming. Calico adds an extra layer because it is not removed, it is accurate and it allows you to sew by hand if you prefer. Batting can stretch during sewing (but this can be adjusted on the cutting table) but you won’t have to do extensive quilting afterwards.

                                 Calico, batting and paper

3 Pin your first strip RS upwards along the centre diagonal. You can mark guide lines parallel to your diagonal to help with alignment.

                                         Pin centre strip

4 Place another strip on top of the first strip, with RS together and sew a ¼” seam. If you have chosen to sew onto paper, sew with tiny stitches to perforate the paper for ease of removal but not to tear it.

                                         ¼” seam

5 Flip the strips over to lie flat on the paper and finger press to remove creases in the seam. Or press with an iron as you go.

                                        Flip and press

6 Cover the complete background square with strips and press.

                                 Press when complete

Turn over onto the WS and you will see the extra fabric extending beyond the edges of the background.

                            Extra fabric from WS

7 Trim away the excess fabric on a cutting board.

                                               Trim

If you are using calico or batting, the procedure is just the same.

                                     Different backgrounds