Saturday 21 March 2015

Using up stash

 
I was thrilled to get my sewing machine back, fully repaired, on Thursday afternoon which meant that I was able to go to my Quilting Group this morning. I had a very productive few hours, sewing together the String quilt blocks I had all ready to go.  I am still a way from finishing the quilt top but I made a good start today. 
 
This made me think back to the String Quilts I have made in the past and how much stash went into their making. Reminiscing on all the different fabrics I had used over the years and how many quilts some of the same fabrics appeared in.
 
This is the first one I made, back in July 2010 which I called Rainbow Quilt:



Then came Rainbow Nation String Quilt, a 60th birthday gift to a New Zealand friend.


Handed over in Christchurch just four days before the big 22nd February 2011earthquake.

Then Cat from Auckland ( catalinaz.blogspot.co.uk), had a quilt drive for quilters to send comfort quilts which were handed out to earthquake victims. By then I was back in the UK and made this quilt which was sent over to Cat:

Christchurch Earthquake String Quilt:




Then came a quilt I made for a three year old boy, back in July 2013.
This time, an I Spy String Quilt:
 


Since then I have made several String Quilt blocks as contributions to charity projects, blocks which were included in this Group quilt, a gift for one of our members to celebrate her 70th birthday:


  
And several String blocks turned into cushions like this one:
 


So, I think you could say I am addicted to String blocks!
I have enjoyed looking back over some of my older quilts, remembering the different fabrics which I included - and finished up - in the process.

We all have pieces of fabric which seem to hang about in our stash and appear in quilt after quilt.  However, I have been pleased to notice that as the years have passed, some fabrics no longer appear so are DEFINITELY used up!

Perhaps the message of this post is: Make String quilts to "use it up"!

4 comments:

  1. Fabulous! I love your string quilts I'm on a mission to use up stash too, I know what you mean about fabric which keeps on appearing

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! Yes, String quilts are great. Quite scary seeing the same fabrics appearing over and over again in your quilts!

      Delete
  2. It's wonderful to see all your string quilts, it's such an effective way of using scraps. I actually like seeing bits of the same fabric in different quilts, but then I know it's also good to feel as though they are actually being used up.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Do you sew your strings on to a foundation or just sew strings together then cut to square size

    ReplyDelete