Some Thoughts About String Piecing

Here is a little string doll quilt I made, looking at the label, in 2003. Our little group was on a quilt shop hop of our own, and I saw a quilt in a store in Ohio similar to this. When I returned home, I made one for myself straight away.

It was in one of the Guild shows later, and I remember the judges comment was that the strips of light were distracting and didn't complete the design, or something to that effect. Jeez! It wasn't made to be a showpiece, just a little doll quilt made in the spirit of quilting of old. Just one of my gripes about modern quilting.

This backing fabric is just lovely, imho. I have no remembrance of who manufactured it. It is nice to have a good sized piece for a backing so that I can look at the design. The label was cut from some yardage of images like this.

I am still plugging away at my string quilt. Here is my messy sewing area with boxes, and bags and basketsful of strings, and pieces too small to be called strings. Our friend Susan, who I have mentioned, calls this scrapnel.

When sewing the other day - a cool-enough-to-be-upstairs day, I was thinking about why it's so fun to make these quilts.

1. There is something in me that just wants to use the last bit of everything when it pertains to quilting. Little pieces in a quilt, of any size, just make me want to look at every square inch of that piece.

2. It is difficult to work on more than one project at a time because there is fabric everywhere. Maybe if there is more than one work station, but my room is pretty packed.

3. It is a great use for fabrics that are hard to use otherwise - the old VIP and Cranstons, and just plain weird prints. The weird ones are the ones that look the best, I think.

4. Lots of thread gets used. Having no history of home sewing, I wonder where the yellow and aqua threads came from. I know where they are now - in these blocks.

5. Speaking of thread, a downfall of this type of sewing is little threads that can get caught in your bobbin case. The little pieces are the culprit here.

6. String quilts have to be unique, by their nature. Even if a dozen of us were to make the same pattern, they would all have our signature look to them. As Gwen Marston says, "You can't even copy yourself!".

7. Very light fabrics can be hard to use in most reproduction quilts, but really sparkle in a string quilt. I was hesitant to use them, but Bonnie Hunter reassured me that they really are necessary, and she was right! The lights just dance around the blocks.

8. The ends of strip piecing are usable, at least in the string star, and look pretty cool, I think.

9. Just when you think you can't look at the same strings that you seem to grab again and again, you find a "new" one that you hadn't noticed before!

10. And, finally, people have given me their scraps because of my love of little pieces. They get incorporated into the blocks, and when I am sewing with them, I can remember who gave them to me. And, with my own fabric, I can remember many of the pieces and where, and when they were purchased. It's a trip down memory lane!