Patriotic Strings

This post was set to publish on July 4, 2024. I plan to share updates each Friday night if I have something to share. During the week, I’ll review previous posts, make edits if necessary, and republish them. I had another patriotic string quilt to add to the original post. It’s the first one you see below.

String quilts are among my favorite type of quilt to create. I enjoy transforming leftover fabrics that many quilters discard into something useful and beautiful.

I have several friends online who have been making them for years. My interest sparked when a local friend claimed, “string quilts are ugly!” Gauntlet dropped. Challenge accepted! In the process I discovered how much fun they are to make and unlocked a new realm of creativity. I’ll let you be the judge on whether or not she was proven wrong. 😉

My latest string quilt features blocks that finish at 8″. I use old phone book pages as a foundation for stitching the strings when I have them. For this quilt, I used our local grocery store (Publix) ads, as they provide large newsprint pages that allow for various shapes and sizes. The strings often aren’t straight or even, and often cut on the bias. Paper foundation helps stabilize them.

The stars were made using a free pattern from Urban Elementz called Fast No Match Stars. I like how easy it makes piecing the rows without worrying about clipping off the star points.

This star quilt was made by piecing 8″ string sections for the centers, stitched horizontally rather than on a diagonal. The finished block is 16″, with 1″ sashing and cornerstones.

My smallest strings are stitched to adding machine tape and trimmed to 2.5″ wide. I replaced the pieced squares in the pattern Star Trails by A Bright Corner with strips of strings.

I have friends who avoid paper foundations because they don’t like removing them. I prefer paper because fabric left in the block makes the quilt too heavy for our warm South Florida climate.

I actually enjoy removing the paper while watching TV in the evenings. It’s not a bother for me and keeps my hands busy when I’m not stitching a binding by hand.

I’m really happy with how the three quilts turned out. I still have many patriotic strings left, so I’ll look for my next idea to use them after I finish the million other projects on my quilt bucket list!