Tuesday 17 October 2017

String Pieced Log Cabins


I designed my guild's challenge for the year, 
and I thought I would share it here for the rest of you to join in if you like.
I'm not asking you to send me your blocks, but just giving you an idea
for a group project or a way to use up those long bits of batting.

Just a little aside: My quild is called The Strip Piecers,
so we often have challenges with strip piecing techniques.


We're also a thrifty bunch, so this project is using up what we have
in terms of scraps of fabric and scraps of Warm style batting.
We hope to display this quilt at a local show in May 2018.

Here's our challenge:


Finished block size: 15 inches; Finished quilt size: 90 by 90; Total number of blocks: 36

Colour scheme: lights and darks and brights. 

Method: Cut your batting strips into 3. 25 inch strips. Piece your small bits in a flip and sew method on the batting. Trim fabric and batting to 3 inches.

Block components: Each block needs 30 inches of light strip pieced batting, and 45 inches of dark/bright. They do not have to be continuous.

Cutting instructions: From your finished strips, cut the following:
Light strips: 3 inches, 6 inches, 9 inches, 12 inches
Darks: 3 inches, 6 inches, 9 inches, 12 inches, 15 inches
Light and dark fabrics: Cut 1 inch  joining strips of light and dark. You will need 30 inches (non continuous) of light strips and 45 inches of dark


This is what the back of a similar block looks like when the pieced strips are joined:



 Sewing instructions: Referring to photo, sew dark 3 inch block to light 3 inch block with one inch dark strip, using scant ¼ seam. Continue clockwise around the blog in log cabin style, using dark 1 inch strips when joining dark pieces and light strips when joining light pieces. When joining dark to light or vice versa, use dark strips.


We plan to bring our finished and cut strips to our January meeting and then swap them so each block has a variety of colours. The sample block here was made from my dark scraps and I think it needs a bit more variety.  We plan to tie the completed top to a wide flannel backing.


Here's a quilt I made a few years back using solid joining strips
and the Steps to the Courthouse pattern.
My batting strips were slightly wider and I only made four blocks
for a throw sized quilt.
Read more about it here and here.
I'm fine if you link to this tutorial, but please credit me for the idea.
And let me know if you are making blocks alongside us.


5 comments:

Ann said...

Have you heard the phrase, "She who laughs last doesn't get the joke"? It took me a while but I finally understand your process. Great idea to use up scraps of fabric and batting. Exchanging units before sewing the blocks will add diversity. Thanks for sharing the idea.

Quiltdivajulie said...

Great approach for a group project! Small pieces do add up to a lot, especially with many hands involved.

Carli The Quilter said...

Interesting! I have a gazillion strips that I was saving for another log cabin, but this looks very intriguing. But everything is on hold until the unfinished bin is empty and then I will begin and finish only after that.

Thanks for the tutorial!

Carli The Quilter said...

OMG. I came for a second look. I love this new thinking for QAYG!

The Joyful Quilter said...

What an amazing project!! Thank you for sharing the directions.

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