Strings project update - Strings 2 top finished!

I seem to be unable to come up with a catchy name for this top, so for now it is simply "Strings 2".

But I worked on it and finished it this weekend! 

This makes the second "strings" top I've finished since putting my mind to it and focusing on working on strings/crumbs for at least one good session each weekend. Last weekend I didn't manage to get to it with my sister here. Since "strings" and I aren't good buddies it wasn't too hard to tell myself I didn't have to work on it while I had company. Not hard at all, in fact!

However...I felt the need to get back to it this past weekend. I found myself actually thinking about it during the week. Could it be that part of me wants to like strings? Maybe, just maybe they are growing on me!  One thing I know - the challenge to make something I like is real and that part is fun. I find that I also love the fact that I'm trying to use up what many other would just toss - to make something nice.

Anyway...........

This took several hours, BTW. I didn't just whip this out in 45 minutes!  I wasn't watching the clock too closely, but maybe as many as 7 hours for this "session" :) It was one whole baseball game plus part of another one I was watching before the live game can on. Plus a little time after the game was over.

I find sewing together an "on point" top quite a long process. One with sashing - even more so! However, i was listening/watching a baseball game and the Rays were actually winning, so I was more or less in a competition with the game - I was trying to finish the top before the end of the game. Sadly, I didn't quite manage it.

Here is a summary of what I did.

A chain block

1. Finished making one more chain block like this.  The one I made was actually a yellow block as I made it from what leftovers my sis used in some of her sewing while she was here.

2. Added sashing strips to the edges of the blocks and joined them in rows. Then I laid them out on the floor. I used a diagram I drew out in the EQ program.

You can see the rows are all put together . The diagram I used is below.

Side setting triangles cut from a 12" square and cut 2x diagonally.

3. Cut out side setting triangles from 12" squares and cut them diagonally twice to make triangles.

I placed the colors so they were more or less evenly spaced. I ignored the corner setting triangles for now.

4. Placed them in position on the floor

I first joined the individual rows together, adding the corner setting triangle in the right direction. Then I pressed well, added the row of 1.5" sashing to the bottom of the entire row. Then I pinned in place as I added the next entire row of blocks. I wanted to line up the white sashing as closely as possible and needed to pin carefully.

6. Sewed the rows together, adding sashing between rows as shown:

This is how it looked after I sewed the first 6 rows together. (These are diagonal rows as usual when making an on point quilt.)

Here I am over half finished. These long rows were a bear, but it was worth it!

Here is the enitre top finished except for the corner setting triangles.

7. Cut out 4 corner setting triangles by cutting 6" squares and cutting them in half diagonally once. Sew to corners to finish the top.

Completed top!  I still need to trim off random white strips and trim it down to exact measurements, but I will probably just do that after I quilt it.

I worked hard to finish this one so I could turn my attention to the next one of this type of project. This one has been on the "docket" so to speak since June. I know that I was gone for 3 weeks during that time and that my sis was here as well, but I was kind of tired of thinking about this one. I pushed through to finish the top completely.

Now to my String 3 top. Check in next week for the next segment of this continued series!

If you need some backing fabric or anything at all, make sure you take a look at what we have to offer over in the shop. My sis is back home waiting for your order!

Well, not really...she doesn't just wait for your order - she has another business she is running but I think you know what I mean.  She'd love to fill your order!

Click here to return to the blog page!