String Braid {Bloggers' Quilt Festival 2015}

It's time once again for the Bloggers' Quilt Festival, hosted at Amy's Creative Side.  This year I am entering my string braid quilt into the scrappy quilt category.

This quilt was the second in a set of scrappy string quilts that all came about because the very generous Judy @ Quilt Paradigm sent me a LARGE box of scraps she wasn't going to use.  Among the scraps were a lot of string which pushed my string storage beyond capacity, quilts had to be made!

This quilt is made from a series of string pieced 60 degree triangles (tutorial here) set into columns. I stippled the whole thing with a variety of thread colors.

This quilt was actually one of my first quilts to go toward the charity I started back at the beginning of the year, Covered in Love. I am collecting quilts to be donated to the families of patients who pass away in the hospital where I work.

I actually had the immense honor of giving this quilt away personally. One of my coworkers suffered a late term miscarriage and was in the hospital to be induced and have her baby. I got to take her this quilt and she was so grateful and comforted by it.  I wish I could have taken a picture for you of her hands holding her rosary, crossed over her pregnant belly on top of this quilt, but it wasn't the time.

Over a dozen quilts have been distributed and they have all been received with tears and gratitude, bringing comfort into despair. If you might be interested in donating a quilt, top, or blocks for Covered in Love please check out the main page. I promise they will go to people in need, and they will be treasured!

Thanks for visiting! Be sure to check out my other entry in the ROYGBIV quilt category here and visit the rest of the festival!

Stats:

• 56"x70"
• made from scraps
• pieced and quilted by me on a home machine
• donated to Covered in Love
• entered in the scrappy quilt category

String Braid (Scrappy String Quilt #2)

My string braid quilt is done! I talked about this quilt and shared a tutorial for making the blocks back in this post.  I have been working on string quilts ever since I sorted my strings back in November. This first finish was the brown and blue traditional quilt, and this is the second.

This quilt finished at 56"x70".  I still have a stack of these spring colored 60 degree triangles left, so there will be another similar quilt to come. The satisfaction of reducing a pile of string scraps into useful quilts is right up there for my favorite part of quilting.

I quilted it with a stipple using a variety of thread colors that match the colors in the top. Not only did the quilt use up scraps, it used up several partial spools of thread, too!

For the backing I used a bright pink polka dot I've had for years.

The bright happy quilt is a perfect antidote for the weather we've been having. Don't let the bright sunshine fool you, it was below freezing when I took these pictures and the wind was literally whipping the quilt around.  As you can see by our dwindling wood stack we've been making lots of fires to cope!

Elvis says "Stay Warm Folks!"

Linking to Finish it Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts and Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework.

String Braid Top Finished (and a tutorial)

The first string braid top is done. I say "first" because I still have plenty of triangles left, so there will be at least one more quilt to come.  This top measures 70" x 56".

(It''s wider than shown. At the time I still had light for the pic one column was not yet in place)

This is still part of the series of string quilts I am making after sorting my strips a few month ago. The first was the blur and brown string quilt here.  Organized scraps are so inspiring!

This design comes from the blog American Quilting. Several commenters asked her for the pattern but I don't think she was able to find one. There may not be one. It's a simple enough design to make and perfect for eating through scraps.

The triangles can be made in two ways. You can piece together shorter scraps into a rough triangle shape. Lay your ruler over them as you go to make sure all the pieces are long enough.

Press, with STARCH (I have never used starch before, but it was a lifesaver this project. There are plenty of recipes to make your own on google). Then cut out using a 60 degree triangle ruler.

For the longer strings, piece them into strip sets that are just wider than your ruler and press, again with starch.

Then cut triangles, alternating the direction of your ruler as you go.  And that's how you make 60 degree triangles from your scraps. Arranging them in columns as I did in the first picture make a braid effect. I am planning to experiment with some other layouts in the next quilt(s).

I hope this tells you what you need to know to make your own string braid, please email or comment with any questions!

Linking to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced and Oh SCRAP! at Quilting is More Fun than Housework.

A Happy Accident

My room looks like a fabric store exploded in here. It's the combined effects of working on a last minute Christmas project and a string quilt at the same time.  I now have 2 of the 5 columns I need for the string quilt finished.  Last night as I was moving them over to make room on the design wall this broken herringbone sort of design emerged.  I added to green sashing strips to see how it looks, what do you think?

Portions of this design wall have been modified to prevent certain individuals from snooping on their Christmas present.  Unfortunately I won't be able to show this one on the blog until after it's gifted :)

Linking up to WIP Wednesday.

Newest String Quilt on the Design Wall

The newest string quilt is on the design wall today.  A mix of girl spring time colors cut into 60 degree triangles.

I think if I actually put all these into one quilt it would be huge, so there may be more than one quilt in potentia here.

And as for the previous string quilt? Well, here's a sneak peak.   It will have its big reveal later ;)

Linking to Judy's Design Wall Monday.