Stacking Coins
We’ve had weeks on end of rainy days here in The Netherlands. I have been told that autumn = rain in this land, something which somehow escaped my awareness until now. Hmm? Strange.
But the thing about rainy days is that they’re Perfect for sewing. I love to be inside all cozy and warm when the rain is falling. My fabrics never fail to offer a daily does of pick-me-up color. These days string scraps are overflowing the windowsill and crowding around my ironing board.
I am still strip-piecing coins. I sew together two string scraps and then press and trim them into tidy columns of alternating rectangles. The process is so simple and orderly. It is really hitting the spot.
What is not so orderly is how they go up on the design wall. With all these seams, it is virtually impossible to keep the columns precisely aligned. Some alignment is necessary so that I know that I am making columns of the same length! It also allows me to see how the colors look next to each other. I prefer to make the very dark values in adjacent columns zigzag rather than sit parallel to each other. It’s more dynamic.
So, this was my progress as of earlier this week. I’ve actually added quite a lot since then, but you’ll have to wait to see more. Perhaps next week I will have a finished quilt? At least, if it keeps raining - - -
Ta da, my finished Scrap Cabin quilt! She’s bright and warm and made from so many, many scrap fabric strips, folks. It truly boggles my mind that I have this many scraps, given how many scrap quilts I sew. Where are they coming from?
Do I hear your scraps calling? Or is it that low volume fabric stack you’ve been saving forever that is begging to become part of a Scrap Cabin quilt? Log Cabins always makes us smile, don’t they? Come join the fun online this January! Supplies - Options - Prizes - Schedule - it’s all here in the master post. I hope you’ll sew along with us!
This month in the Dutch circle of the do. Good Stitches quilting bee, we are sewing string blocks for our collaborative charity quilt. The block style comes from the book Why We Quilt by Thomas Knauer. Fun, straightforward and definitely scrap-friendly!
When paging through Uppercase magazine, I photographed spreads which particularly inspired me. This is one favorite by Margo Selby, which I immediately wanted sew. I love how the colors graduate subtly along the sharp stair-stepping stripes. The regular light and dark accents punctuate the design gorgeously.
Floris says that my latest quilt top has a retro vibe, but I think of it as pure Anna Maria Horner. It’s about abundance - all the colors, all the patterns, all the energy and life. What could be better on a drizzly December day?
Bright for the gifts and the laughter and the fresh start to come. Color upon color for our love of making, our innermost artsy selves. Shady for the drama of life, its ebb and flow, its birth and death. The bright and the dark mingle, like all this year’s highs and lows, to create something of value. Something as ordinary as it is lovely.
But the thing about rainy days is that they’re Perfect for sewing. I love to be inside all cozy and warm when the rain is falling. My fabrics never fail to offer a daily does of pick-me-up color. These days string scraps are overflowing the windowsill and crowding around my ironing board.
My first coins are really hitting the spot! I barely have to think when I match up two fabrics for a strip of coins, especially since my sewing recipe is quite relaxed. Here’s my recipe for a quick, scrappy coin quilt sewn from string scraps.
Week 5 Sew-Along Goal: Sew Border. I’m glad that it is the last week of our Circus Cabin sew-along. I’ve been pacing myself with this quilt, when I really could have flown through the blocks in a week! Now I give myself permission to finish it, and I’m looking forward to the quilting stage. How about you?
Week 4 Sew-Along Goal: Sew 5 Blocks + assemble Quilt Center. With this quilt, the momentum quickly builds. The blocks are easy and fun to sew, and when one is finished you lean easily into the next. I think we might be coasting at this point! A finished quilt top is just around the corner.
Week 3 Sew-Along Goal: Sew 5 Blocks. Or sew a few more, because you’re having fun! Today I share my progress and then celebrate some of your finished quilt tops, before finishing off with prizes at the end of the post.
Week 2 Sew-Along Goal: Sew 5 Blocks. Everything’s prepped, and you’ve sewed your first test block - there’s nothing stopping you! I have a feeling that once you start sewing these Circus Cabin blocks, you won’t want to stop.
Week 1 Sew-Along Goal: Gather Fabrics + Sew 1 Block. Still feeling stumped about your seasonal palette? Need some help going from palette to practice? This post walks you through my process for gathering and choosing fabrics. Follow along and get inspired to start your own Circus Cabin!
Ta da! I’ve dubbed this design Circus Log Cabins, for the stripey log style that reminds me of circus tent stripes. I started sewing blocks for this on a whim, inspired by log cabin blocks made for a bee quilt. My multi-colored scraps were begging to be used. I don’t think I’ve ever used them so successfully!
This week I turned the scraps from sewing Kismet patchwork curtains into new dining chair covers. The patchwork version is sewn with the quilt-as-you-go method, meaning that batting is already attached. That method is always nice when using string scraps.
Do you remember the Monument block tutorial, a free resource that I posted earlier this year? Hurrah, all the blocks have arrived from my bee mates! It’s quite a pile and I’m excited to take in the collective effect.
Have you had a merry holiday season? I hope so! For me it has been a lovely time, not the least because of my new scrap quilt. Making a quilt on a whim is such a treat! Today - tips on how to sew these scrappy log cabin blocks.
I have a problem, a perfectly delightful problem = too many string scraps. I browsed through my Patchwork Pinterest board, Flickr faves and Instagram saves to find ideas for a string quilt. Here are some that caught my eye.
This quilt design is not mine; it’s a pattern called Concert from the book Quilt Modern Curves & Bold Stripes. Comfort Circle quilt bee did a fantastic job sewing this intermediate quilt block. Look how well those stripes match up!
I’ve been wanting to sew this block since I saw a friend making it at a sewing retreat in 2012. Isn’t that funny? How did it take me this long? The paper piecing pattern I’ve developed for this block can be used to make a braid of any length desired!
Aria is really hard to shop for these days, but I had a late epiphany that I could make her something to do with knitting. She loves to knit, and said she said could use another yarn-keeper. This bento bag is super easy to sew!
My new scrap drawer system in my Dutch sewing room is a little smaller than what I had in the States. That’s as it should be, as everything is smaller here. I’m getting used to it! But do you know what I found when I was putting scraps away?
Introducing, Iridescent! My latest work in progress is a new pattern in my Color Mentor series. Are you color-curious? This scrappy string quilt is poised to broaden your horizons.
A quilter at work: trimmings, triangles, tools. A book in the background or a child underfoot. In batches or snatches, something lovely comes.
It's finished! This Moody Strings scrap quilt was so satisfying to piece. The idea was born out of practicality, because I really needed to use up my scraps...
This weekend I had a lovely crafterday making string blocks while Rora slept. On a project like this, I become fully immersed in the Choosing - which color, which pattern...
Do you know what I think when I buy a new dining chair with a padded seat? I think Patchwork. It's so easy to wrap and staple a dining chair cushion with quilted patchwork.
String-a-ling-ing-along. That's me. All week I've caught moments in the early morning or just before dark to stitch at my string blocks. I'm doing them quilt-as-you go...
Thrift is at the heart of patchwork. In baskets, bins, drawers and jars all over the world, we tuck away the trimmings from other projects until we have enough for something new. Something Made From Scrap.
with warm and cool contrast