January 26, 2010

Design Wall Monday

Design Wall Monday, only it's Tuesday---better late than never, right! This is what is totally on the wall this past week. More String Quilt blocks. I'm auditioning a border for the string quilt. I've finished 8 more paper pieced log cabin diamonds. It's been slow as I've been "stringing' more than paper piecing on the logs. Like I said, the string quilt blocks are very addictive.



I like this border fabric I found in my civil war print fabric stash! This may be the one!



It may not be very noticeable, but the log cabin diamond is expanding, slowly.



And--- Itsy-Bitsy sewing room is overflowing with fabric-strings!



This beautiful quilt top arrived in the mail a few days ago from a group of Quilt of Valor "toppers" in Florida. I'm hoping my Quilt Whispering 101 class experience will help me decide what to quilt on all those stars!



(click on pics. for a larger view)

8 comments:

Michelle said...

That log cabin diamond is absolutely gorgeous, and I love your sewing room!

Purple Pam said...

Yes, those string blocks are addictive, aren't they? Your diamond log cabin is stunning, and it is not finished yet. WOW!

Shelley: the Dread Pirate Rodgers said...

Angie, I discovered a *very* interesting approach to foundation piecing. Usually we sew on paper (like computer paper) and tear it away afterwards. The annoyance: tearing away the paper is another project and messy. OR we sew onto a fabric (I have used muslin) foundation. The annoyance: it adds bulk and weight as well as the expense of buying the foundation fabric.

On a whim, I tried sewing on gift wrap *TISSUE PAPER* as my foundation. I discovered that it's sturdy enough to use as a foundation, provides enough firmness to sew the blocks together and is dead cheap to buy (especially at Christmas time). Score!

Then ... as a special bonus attraction .. I wondered if it would dissolve in water? Lord knows it disintegrated when you get it wet. I washed one block in the washer and *every bit* of the tissue paper was gone when the cycle was done.

However, I don't particularly like the idea of needing to wash the blocks *prior* to quilting, so I thought .... hmmm... what if I quilted it *with the tissue paper inside* THEN washed the quilt?

Ya know ... the tissue paper absolute, positively dissolved. There was *no* residue, lumps or bulges in the quilt when the wash and dry cycles were done.

I think I've found my newest, most favorite way to foundation piece!

Now, if you're on a septic system, this might not work for you cuz that dissolved paper has to go somewhere. But in my case, it didn't seem to cause any problems to our sewer pipes or connection.

Just thought I'd pass along my experiment results; you might want to try it too. :-)

Goblinf said...

love that diamond log cabin and the way the colours flow.
I don't know whether to mention it or not, because you might think it's rude... but I've looked at everyone's monday design walls this week and a couple have said how much work it is to sort out an upside down block they didn't see until the end - so here goes - did you realise one in the top right corner was upside down?

Angie said...

Hi Goblin,
Thank you for pointing that out to me. I moved the blocks yesterday to make room for the string quilt, and must have turned that one. I probably would have noticed the turned block before I started sewing the sections together. Now, before I start sewing the whole project together, I will post a picture here. I do hope you and everyone that visit here will scrutinize it for errors. Digital pictures are the best! Thank you, Thank you! I really appreciate your eagle-eye!

onlymehere said...

Beautiful, bravo on the quilts! I like the top too that was sent to you too. I know your quilting on it will be exactly what it needs and it will be beautiful!

Lyn said...

Angie,
I LOVE the log cabin diamond!!! Cant wait to see it when its done... Thank you for sharing...

Alycia~Quiltygirl said...

The Diamond is wonderful! How is the whispering working? Is it telling you what to quilt on that QOV?