"Hope" is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -
And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -
And sore must be the storm -
That could abash the little Bird -
That kept so many warm -
I've heard it in the chillest land -
And on the strangest Sea -
Yet - never - in Extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.
~Emily Dickinson
2021 opens so hopefully. Here goes!
Quilting
As always, many ideas for a prompt run through my mind but something different kept coming to the top. Repeated comments about the angled strings and the tulips gave me the idea for a quilt along instead of a prompt. So this time, let's have an Electric Socket Shock QAL. I was asked if there's a pattern. Answer: Of course not. I was making it up every step of the way. But it's a simple variation of a string quilt and those are always useful for clearing out the scraps. And it will force me to write something down.
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| Electric Socket Shock quilt |
I'll start writing guidelines for us and we'll head out. Remember, they are merely suggestions. Change anything you want or go in a completely different directions. That's why we love improv.
Interestingly the tulip quilts were constructed like kawandi. I started with the border and worked my way in. So we will do the same with this QAL. We will start with the string blocks and then move to the string tulips. You can make one or both parts and add your own variations.
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| String Tulips quilt |
My previous quilts are about 40" square - baby quilt sized but you should choose a size that works for you. The final size will determine how many blocks you need to make. And BTW, my blocks were 5.5" unfinished/ 5" finished. Feel free to change those up, too.
You'll need assorted strings and scraps, about 2/3 yard for the background {more if you make a larger quilt}, and some leftover binding for the tulip stems. Or you can pull from your stash. Or go shopping. I also used newsprint for a base. You can do that, or nothing. If you sew with a fabric base, you should increase your seam allowances due to the extra bulk.
Are you in? Let me know in the comments. If it's a go, we will start sewing next month and continue monthly.