X another one off the list

I made this String-X top several years ago and it has been sitting in the closet on a shelf sadly watching other tops become quilts while it was ignored.  :-( I have no idea why it kept being passed over. I adore this top.  I love BRIGHT and SCRAPPY... this quilt definitely covers both those!

My husband has been pulling UFOs from the shelves (most of them tops he made) and getting them finished up left and right (8 out of 12 done so far this year!)  This is #9.  He quilted it a couple of weeks ago and then, once again, it sat.  I originally planned to bind it with black fabric.. just a solid black. He went to do that yesterday and found we did not have enough black for binding strips!  (Oh my!  How did that happen?!)  So we started auditioning other colors and fabrics. There were several he liked, but nothing really grabbed me.

And then I remembered.... we hit the clearance bins at Hobby Lobby shortly after the first of the year and hubby pulled out a TON of this wild reddy-purply-pink fabric.  I remember saying "Good grief!  I don't think we need that much!"  Seriously... we have about 10 yards! They were in 2 yard cuts and were $2.00 a yard. He kept saying they will show up in something. He was right... righter than right. Not only was this used for the binding of the String-X quilt, but I have some pulled to use in another string quilt I am working on for a graduation gift  AND I pulled some fabric to whip up some new cheery napkins for the kitchen table and this is one of them! (Yes, I know it is bright.. did you miss the fact that I love BRIGHT?)

When I made this top years ago, our daughter announced she wanted it.  Maybe one day.... LOL!  For now it is on the back of the couch.  The pups and I tried it out last night and it "fit" us just right!

"Belle"

p.s.  The pattern for this great quilt is found at Quiltville along with lots of other great patterns and other wonderful quilty info!

Stringing you along....

I have a quilty friend who just does not like string quilts.  I am always a bit surprised by that because she loves loves loves scrappy quilts.. the scrappier the better.. and to me a string quilt is one of the scrappiest!  Oh well... my mom always says "If we all liked the same thing it would be a dull world."

I, unlike my friend, love string quilts.  I think a lot of it is the resourcefulness behind them. The frugality in using up scraps. Granted, many today are made with fabric purchased specifically for that project, but the original intent was a frugal one. I also like the simplicity of making a string quilt. It is pretty difficult to mess one up!

There is a quilting group in a town an hour south of us who have a show each March called Pieces and Strings. Many of the quilts there.. most in fact.. will  be string quilts.  This was the first quilt show I ever attended and I look forward to it each year.  I was inspired several years ago to make a string quilt.. I got the top made (I used the String X pattern found at Quiltville ).  And then the top sat in a closet with all the other UFOs that have been popping up here lately.  Hubby decided to quilt it this year.... no there isn't a picture yet. It would be UFO#7 for him (yesterday's Sailing Quilt is #8). It is quilted.. just needs to be bound and I will get it done.. soon.. in fact, real soon. We are going to enter it in the show!  I don't expect a prize.. don't even care about that. But I love the idea of it hanging in a show and the fact that I pieced the top and hubby quilted it is wonderful... a collaboration of this quilting couple.

Here it is folded on a chair waiting patiently for me...

Hubby, tired of quilting and UFOs, decided to play with some strings himself.  He is making up scrappy blocks from various size strings we have saved from other projects.  Here are some of his blocks...

Here is his stack of strings.. notice that they are rather neat and tidy....

I have been playing with ideas for a quilt for a friend's daughter who graduates high school this year. After seeing hubbies string blocks and seeing all the strings we had, I decided to make her a string quilt.  It is scrappy, but I am controlling the colors a bit. I'm using pinks, greens, purples and teals (or blue-green or whatever you call that!) and some white thrown in.  I love how the blocks are looking....

Had to show my workspace... I am not quite as tidy as hubby! (see my GFG sneaking in the photo?)

String quilts are a bit mindless.. and right now that is great for me!  Sometimes I just need to create and not have to really think about it a lot. Know what I mean?

Off to do some stringing.... "Belle"