I belong to a group called the HeartStrings Quilt Project. We're a pretty far flung group, mostly North American based, but with an Australian contingent as well. The whole point is to make string quilts and donate them to local charities. At first we were looking at all donating to a central charity, but as the numbers of quilters grew, we knew we had to work more locally. There are currently 247 members some of whom are piecers, some quilters, many are both. We communicate through our Yahoo!Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HeartStringsQuiltProject/
While I originally signed up to donate my time quilting someone else's top for them, I've not had any takers. I thought, "why not make my own?" Goodness knows I've got enough strings here to get going on something. Here it is, today's efforts. I have a bin of strips that I don't tend to
work with very often - It seems they are two narrow for most of what I do these days. I also have a lot of leftover batting chunks of odd sizes. The guidelines for the HeartStrings quilts is to work on a foundation, then assemble the blocks. Because I'm quilting my own, I can bend the rules a little. I'm doing a quilt-as-you-go method based on 10" blocks. My centre strip is red, then I'm attempting to use light strips on one side, dark on the other. I'm already running out of light coloured strips!
As you can see, the untrimmed blocks leave a lot to be desired - but clean up really nicely!The light/dark balance starts to really show once the blocks are put together. The last picture here is of my first 6 blocks, not assembled, but laid out.
I'm not sure yet how big this quilt will be or where it will go, but there are a couple of charities close to my heart. I hope wherever it ends up it will be used and enjoyed.
Happy stitching,
Lisa
5 comments:
Lisa, I love these blocks. The lights and darks look wonderful together.
Don't give up on the quilting part yet - we're just getting started and so far I've only had to use 3 of the 11 quilters on my list. I'm sure as we go along I'm going to be begging for you all to quilt tops. In the meantime, I've been piecing my own blocks too as well as sending some in to Sue.
Don't worry, Mary! I haven't given up on anything, quilting-wise. I'm just not very good at sitting still - once I decide to do something I really need to get going on it, that's all. I look forward to any tops that come my way!
L
Hey Lisa, try turning some of your darker strings over and use the wrong side for your lights. I did this years ago for a log cabin and it worked beautifully. I learned this years and years ago from reading one of Roberta Horton's first books. I love her statement, "Remember, you paid for the back of the fabric as well as the front." No one can tell unless they look REALLY closely, and then what difference does it make if they do? It'll just create a little mystery to go with the quilt - "I wonder why she did that?"
Thanks Patti! I'll keep that in mind as I'd rather not dip into my wider strings TOO much - it seems I never have enough light coloured strips anyway. I have been into some of my other fabrics, cutting new strings for lights, but I'll be able to keep going for a good long while on the darks before I have to get into yardage.
just lovely. i've done a quilt similar in denim strips years ago. that was fun to machine quilt lol
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