a colorful (and slightly wonky) string quilt top

Thank you. Truly. You all are so nice, and left such sweet comments about my grandfather. I really appreciate it.

I haven’t really been doing much sewing this week, though I do have photos of the Anna Maria Horner voile string top that I sewed together last week.

voile-string-quilt

It’s made out of most of the prints from her Little Folks line, which I’m really quite taken with. The colors, the prints, the feel of it – I just love it! (I’m even thinking about ordering a little more just to make sure I don’t run out!)

voile-string-quilt2

I made 10″ string blocks (tutorial here), but instead of keeping the strings completely straight, I went for a wonky look. It’s not super wonky — just enough to give it a little extra something something.

voile-string-quilt3

Still working on a backing, but hopefully I’ll get something figured out soon because I’m looking forward to seeing this one finished!

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poppy

My grandfather passed away this weekend. I don’t think I can fully express what a caring, generous, hardworking, and wonderful man he was, so instead I’ll simply tell you how much he will be missed. Very very very much.

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the start of the flying farfalle quilt

ff-quilt

This one is named as such because Morgan thinks it looks like flying pieces of bowtie pasta. I think that makes it sound a bit circus-like, but so be it. I like the circus, and I really like this quilt, so I guess all’s well.

The small colored fabric triangles are the scraps from my Anna Maria Horner voile string quilt. I couldn’t bear to throw them out, and you all had great suggestions about what I could do with them. Many of you voted for Amanda Jean’s ticker tape quilt, which is definitely on my list, but not for these scraps. Instead, I went with this design, which I spotted in Gwen Marston’s Liberated Quiltmaking II book. The book simply shows a photo of a finished quilt, though I’m led to believe that there’s more information about the block (called the Exquisite block) in her first book, Liberated Quiltmaking (which unfortunately no longer seems to be available for a decent price…).

I love this design for its simplicity, for the way it uses up scraps I can’t bear to throw away, and also for the speed in which it all comes together!

ff-quilt2

The solid white fabric in this one is an Ikea twin sheet. Amanda Jean posted about this idea here, and one very lovely reader offered to pick me up a sheet when she last visited Ikea (no Ikeas in VT… ) (Lisa, you’re the best!) I really loved using the sheet as the white solid. As Amanda Jean says, you get about 4.5 yards of fabric for under $5, which makes it the cheapest white I’ve used yet. It’s a nice creamy white color and after washing, it has a bit of texture, which I kind of like. I’ve read lots of places that you shouldn’t use sheets for quilting, but I thought it worked out quite well. I guess it’s a matter of personal preference! So if you’re looking for white fabric, you just might want to try this out and see what you think!

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A huge thank you to everyone who commented with great suggestions on things to do and see around San Diego! I’ve never been, so I really appreciate all the suggestions – thank you, thank you!!

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