Wednesday, July 6, 2022

It's a solid YES!

It's been too long since I posted on my blog! Well, I'm back! I've been so busy with t-shirt quilts and granddaughters 💕 that I haven't really given it much of a thought.

BUT LATELY....I've re-discovered string quilts.  Over the 30ish years I've made t-shirt quilts....almost always with a solid fabric...I've accumulated an overabundance of smallish and odd-shaped scraps. NO WAY would I discard these fabrics. Kona solids are the best...and not cheap...quilting fabrics. My recent quilt 'THAT'S A SOLID YES' focuses on those solids! My first ever quilt made with only Kona solids (front and back!).

Old phone books are a necessity for me to make string quilts. Recycle when you can, right? 


I cut my phone book backings 5-1/4" x the height of the phone book. The width of each row is really irrelevant... actually the height is irrelevant too! Make your units whatever size you want them to be.


I can't even imagine how many different colors are in this quilt. My scrap bins are FULL. Even after this quilt was finished, my bins are still overflowing 😖

The strips from the bin are cut to 5-1/2" long - width of strip is 3/4" - 2". Wonkiness is key for variety! 

I sewed the units end-to-end and never considered the size of the finished quilt until it told me it was done. You just sort of know, ya know?


I considered sewing the rows together like this but TOO many seams said uhhh no. I divided the rows with a 1-1/2" row which is a perfect separation between rows.



Choosing the border color wasn't hard. Empty a box of crayons and pick one! I actually love this shade of green, and it goes well with the inner 1" light green border.



Sewing on my old (relatively new to me) Singer 404. I LOVE this $29 purchase! The best straight stitch machine I've ever used. Check out those estate sales! You never know what you might discover. 



I HATE hand sewing. I've said this before, and I repeat myself! I added the beautiful magenta binding by machine (notice the back of the binding looks the same as the front).  The contrast of green and magenta is so special 😍



The finale! Wonky, crazy, rainbow explosion, spilled crayon box! Easy, fun, and it makes a statement!



And why should the back be boring? More trimmings from quilts and odds and ends. NO YARDAGE WAS USED IN THIS QUILT!  Oddly enough, I could probably recreate a similar quilt 10x with my stash 😆