Improv String Quilt: A Beginning

Ah, pride goeth before the fall! I've made several string quilts over the years including a queen size Strips and Curves so this one should be a breeze. How hard could it be? [Pretty hard as it turns out.] This quilt frustrated me all month until I finally just started cutting. After all, this is a learning experience and we are meeting to discuss this score in a week. What's the worst that could happen? More pieces for the scrap bag.

I pulled fabric, divided them into three piles and started cutting the first group. Soon I recognized some problems.

Original fabric groups

Much of my fabric is less than forty inches wide. Some are fat quarters; others are leftovers with "interesting" holes. I sewed short lengths together but ignored how long they finished (36 to 60 inches).  This mistake created a very uneven bottom that made it hard to judge how long the next strip should be. Eventually I went back and cut all the strips a more uniform length.  It seemed like a minor point in the book, but it made sewing the strips so much easier. Next time I'll decide on a length before cutting strips.

Part of Group 1

I'm not sure if Sherri created wide string sheets but I am wary of them. The very wide string sheets created for the Strips and Curves quilt quickly became long and unwieldy. This time I limited sheets to 40" or less (by the 40" width of fabric for a length.) My experience with Floating Squares taught that reserving some fabric components makes it easier to put them together in the end. I hope shorter sheets will both make it easier when they are cut across and increase the diversity of the strata. Each smaller sheet can be rotated or sewn to the others in a different order. A few single strings are left to join these smaller sections as needed. [We'll see how this works. I haven't reached that step yet.]

As pairs of strips are sewed together.
I pinned them on the wall to keep them neat.

My other problem is simple math... and the fact that I didn't do any ahead of time. This is freehand cutting but still I want forty inches of strips. Forty strips are needed if they finish 1" each; twenty strips if they finish 2" each; twenty-nine if they finish 1.5". So 20-40 strips should be enough. How many were cut? Over 150 of this first group alone. [This is how I always end up with large quilts.]

I've decided to divide the second set of fabrics into two subsets and discard my original third set (the blues and greens at the bottom). This time I'm going to count.

Two sheets of Group 1 fabrics

As usual, my fabrics range from the 1990's to last week. The green, yellow and brown print to the right of the beige and white plaid (about eighth from the left) is the oldest. I used the tiniest amount to make shoes for my sons in this quilt. It's been in the stash ever since because... I have no idea. Time to use it up.

Enjoy the day, Ann