*Clearing off the cobwebs*
Here’s a string quilt tutorial for my Twilter peeps. This block is inspired by a quilt I saw on Emily Cier’s Instagram feed and a tutorial I saw ages ago on Missouri Star Quilting Company.
In news that would surprise no one, this will be a rainbow quilt. Each block will be half monochromatic colour and half white/off white. This is a great block for using up strings and small scraps, so pick a colour and go mad.
Start with a 6 ¾” paper square. If all you have is regular printer paper, use that, but if you have some thinner paper, this will make removing the paper easier. It so happens that the Yellow Pages were distributed in Munich a couple of weeks ago and I happened to pick up a couple because I need to make about a squillion blocks for this quilt. They’ve made removing the paper a total breeze. Reduce your stitch length to 1.5-1.8.
Place a white or off-white strip diagonally across the square, right side up, overlapping the centre of the square by about ¼”.
Place a coloured strip right side down, lining up the edges. Sew the two strips down with a ¼” seam.
Press open towards the coloured side (it’s not really possible to press to the other side ;)).
Use strips of varying widths, but no wider than 2 ½”, and try to use no more than one 2 ½“ strip in the block. Work one side of the square and add more strips, pressing open after each strip, until you’ve covered the entire side.
Tackle the other side of the square in the same way, until the entire square is covered.
Turn the block over and trim along the edges of the square.
Lastly, remove the paper.
In terms of colour, on the white/off-white side, creams and whites are ok, as is one low-volume strip with a matching colour to the coloured side (if you have it, not mandatory). Here are examples of inserting a low-volume strip on the white/off-white side.
On the coloured side, go nuts! I hit my orange scrap box at a sewing retreat recently.
Merrilee
Nonnie