String Flowers Revisited

String Flowers started to come together in a Gwen Marston workshop and ended up being published in American Patchwork and Quilting.  This class was titled as Strings, so I didn't bother to read any the the class supply/info list and showed up with my string patches, an idea and Gwens String book.  I knew Gwen would give me "hands on" instructions/inspiration, and I couldn't wait to get started. With her guidance this was the end result.  This version was hand appliqued and hand and machine quilted.

None of the string petals are stitched to a foundation.  I strung together enough fabric to cut out my petal shape and appliqued them down.  If you look closely, you will notice I cobbled together different greens for the leaves. The stems are all going in different directions, the leaves placed in various positions. The fun of working this way is that you don't make 4 identical blocks, but you make something that is creative, and uniquely your own design.

It turned out that the class required yardage! Oh well, I was able to make a few sample blocks to take home and play around with the class technique.  I ended up using the class technique that Gwen taught as the outer border for this second color version.

Here is my second version that was machine appliqued.  I also faced this piece. Instead of appliqued leaves, I used a 12 wt thread matching the stem and did some big stitch embellishment.  Notice that I machine quilted right over the big stitch.  The stems were machine stitched along the edge while the petals were machine sewn with a blanket stitch. The flower petals were hand quilted to add a bit more texture.

I tried out some new to me tape.  3M Scotch brand green tape for ROUGH SURFACES.  It's a painters tape, but I was able to stick quilts to a concrete wall and the side of our condo.   I tucked this in behind a blooming rhododendron. It was vibrating with so many bumble bees buzzing in and out of each blossom.

So many bees that it was quite easy to get this photo.

The link to another version and the pattern is at the beginning of this post. Here is APQ's second colorway that they showed.

So get buzzing and string a few patches together to create your own string flower garden. There are no rules, just guidelines and ideas when working with strings. If you string your favorite fabrics together, cut shapes you like, then the quilt will be your unique creation. Just have fun.
Keep stitching,
Sharon

Zig Zag Strings

My zig zag quilt has been shared before, but I'm going to be posting about each of my string quilts over the next few weeks. First off, I LOVE this and wish I had stayed the course and made this into a king size quilt. Yes, you heard me, KING.

My love for 1800's reproduction fabrics had consistently been met with "Civil War prints are soooo drab."  I've learned a few things about this over the last few years. I now refer to these prints as 1800's reproductions since the Civil War time frame is only about 15 years.  1800's reproduction prints and designs span 100 years, so there is plenty to pick from. I do gravitate to the brighter side of things and this piece showcases many of the scraps in my sewing studio.

Did you notice that the blacks are not the same? It was a great way to use up those smaller, random solids of black that seem to kick around the studio. Not enough for a whole quilt, but too big for the scrap bin. The method I used for this is the "stitch and flip" method so the black fabric is the base behind all the strings. I start with a bigger block and then trim down after the strips are sewn down. After that, they are simply a 1/2 square triangle and you can have a lot of fun arranging them on your design wall.

I do love a good zig zag! And use your favorite fabrics. If you don't have a long enough strip, just add onto it. They don't even have to be the same color. You can see I have cobbled together two strips to make this block.

This is a fun and relaxing way to stitch up some blocks, and burn through some of the boxes, bags or bins of left overs that seem to multiply overnight.

The best part of working with strings is that you don't have fuss and it doesn't take much concentration; something I seem to be lacking these days.

Keep stitching,
Sharon

String Stars

Everything I love about quilts and quilting are in this string star piece.  It was made in 2013 with the help of the amazing Gwen Marston during a retreat on Lopez Island.

It contains strings
It was created using Gwen's liberated star techniques.

The cheddar border bleeds into the corner blocks for a unique look, and that is a result of "using what you have".

It's hand quilted and has feathers in the solid red areas.

 The diamond border is all half square triangles that were bonus blocks from a Bonnie Hunter Mystery quilt. And no matter how hard I try to keep prints away from each other, this usually happens.  Really?? 3 plaids so close together??

The outside print gave me a grid for the border hand quilting.

 

It's red and cheddar and we all know "cheddar makes it better".
I hope you get out for some activity and fresh air this weekend.
Sharon

Sujata Inspired Customer Quilt

M.E. is the proud creator and owner of this quilt. I want to feature it in this blog post because it is a piece that may spark some inspiration in other quilters. When I quilted it, I kept picking out colors and prints and wanted to stop quilting and get to my string basket and start sewing! That is one small downside of being a longarm quilter. So many customer pieces inspire and yet, we continue to quilt for others. I admit, this past week I've been quilting small pieces and have been happy to get to my sewing machine for some personal sewing.
But on to M's quilt.

It was created using a process outlined in Sujata Shah's book Cultural Fusion  If you don't have this book and you love color and an organic feel to your work, click the link, buy her book and savor the photos.  It's worth every penny, and she will even autograph it for you.

M likes lots of quilting on her work and if you click on the photos, you can see that she chose a variegated  multi colored thread.  All the line work was done freehand to play off the gentle curves and waves of her string piecing.  The polka dots and striped borders play off the colors in the piecing.  Curly feathers that were not "fussy" added a bit of whimsy to the line work.

The print fabric has a fantastic bird print with lots of great colors.  The birds are flying in all directions and the pinwheel setting gives motion to the piece.

Curves, strings, wavy quilt lines, a mixed bag of color and prints.

This quilt can be defined by this, taken from Wikipedia

"In philosophy, systems theory, science, and art, emergence occurs when "the whole is greater than the sum of the parts," meaning the whole has properties its parts do not have. These properties come about because of interactions among the parts."

I know, you want to run your hands over this to feel the texture.  I love that I get to visit this quilt when I visit my friend! She has kept this one for herself.

Keep stitching!
Sharon

Wild Flowers - String Applique

This piece has been under wraps for a very long time and I'm excited to finally share it with everyone. I started this piece in a Gwen Marston string workshop.  I didn't read the supply list so when she put up a sample to show what we were making, I was caught off guard.  I assumed we would be doing a free wheeling day of string sewing and cutting and piecing.  Since I brought my intended project, Gwen was gracious enough to help.  However, when I asked her to explain how she pieced her string flowers, she laughed and said "I didn't!"  Whoa, what ???  It's in her string book that I had with me.  I opened it up, went to the page and sure enough, she gave you the outline and suggested how it "could" be done.  I shared my ideas/methods,  moved forward and then Gwen taught me the value of a circle.  Thank you, Gwen.  You have pushed me far beyond my self imposed boundaries, and I am ever so grateful for that!

American Patchwork & Quilting October 2018 issue is hitting your mail box now, and the issue will be on the stands August 6th. I'm always thrilled to be part of this publication, and yet again, they have put together a stellar line up of projects for the fall.

WILD FLOWERS - pg 82 

Used with permission from American Patchwork & Quilting® magazine. ©2018 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved.

Enlarge this one to see the quilting details.  I did ruler work behind the flowers, and then did a checker board around the border for some interest.  This was my first attempt at that border treatment, (I always practice on my own work first!)

Used with permission from American Patchwork & Quilting® magazine. ©2018 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved.

 Here is the pattern tester, Vicki Hoth's, version.  I love how they quilted the background and the string piecing.  Super cute in the soft colors. 

Used with permission from American Patchwork & Quilting® magazine. ©2018 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved.

This is a staged photo I took in my back yard a few years ago.  I loved using the old wooden fence, the vintage wagon wheels and whatever vegetation was growing.  I miss that fence!

Here is the cover so you can easily spot this issue on the news stands.

Used with permission from American Patchwork & Quilting® magazine. ©2018 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved.

And here is my second version.  I used a string inset pieced border and went with bright pinks. 

I didn't want to make it "the same" so instead of appliqueing leaves, I used green perl cotton and did a big stitch outline of a leaf. 

My first version was needle turn appliqued and this one was done on the machine, using variegated threads.  The magazine wrote the pattern using Machine Applique methods.

I'd love to teach this to your group or guild.  My method of string pieced needle turn applique is super simple.  I will share techniques that transfer to any string shapes and I'd love to share it.  Book a trunk show and workshop that focuses on string piecing, have some fun and learn a new technique!

And as always, keep stitching!
Sharon