I love how this string quilt is coming along - bright and colorful yet it still fits in with the antique utility quilts that I love so well. Kristin's comment about it not needing a solid border made me think about how I could extend the strings out. I like this, emphasizing the zigzags even more.
That means I have a lot more string blocks to make. If I could just get Lily out of the way:
I think the little cats get extra fiber in their diets rolling around on the cutting board. I try to pick off as many of the fabric bits as I can, but I suspect they still manage to eat some of them when grooming.
I want to keep this quilt really scrappy, so yesterday I cut more strips from reproduction fabric Siobhan gave me. Some of it is really busy, so it is good for strings (not so good for letter making). I cut so much managed to make my hand ache - not even the one holding the rotary cutter, but the one that was keeping (or trying to keep) the ruler in place. Ow. Stupid repetitive stress.This morning I finished basting the monster beast that is Slither Eek Boo. I even got some hand quilting done on it today, but nothing interesting yet. Right now I'm just going around letters.
I just saw this now. What a hoot. It's a trailer for a book (that I will totally read) but I would sooo go to see this movie as well:
I'm reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies right now and it is really fun. I just wish there was a great trailer for it too.
Woohoo for Lance Armstrong finishing third in the Tour de France. Okay first would have been really cool, but not bad for an "old" guy coming out of retirement who's on the same team as Contador. What an amazing year for the Brits at this year's tour. Bradley Wiggins in 4th place and Cavendish winning 10 stages. Too bad this tour was arranged to be so boring, even the much vaunted Mont Ventoux was rather dull. More mountain top stage finishes next year please.
I really like the border A LOT! It blends the whole quilt together very nicely.
ReplyDeleteThe border is a nice finish to your string quilt.
ReplyDeleteI'm just going to add my opinion on the border... I think the 2 rows of zigzag distract from the letters. Maybe you could use a solid border, say 1" or more wide, which would frame the interior portion of the quilt. You might be able to also use the same color for the binding. --from Annette
ReplyDeletePokey looks so adorable. I love the strings and word mix. I am looking forward to making a string quilt. I am not quite free enough yet to make letters. Thanjks for making life fun by stretching my horizons.
ReplyDeleteWhen you showed it the other day I was not crazy about the string blocks but it has grown on me. I like the fact that the words are not prominent, you have to look for them. Great scrappy look.
ReplyDeleteMiss Lily sure does look like she's going to be picking up a lot of leftovers from the matt board!
ReplyDeleteYour Hope and strings are looking amazing. So much work! It will be gorgeous!
Can't wait to see the updated pics of Slither, Eek and Boo!
The book trailer is hilarious!
Love the border! Its excess energy begs the eye to rest in the HOPE blocks - and isn't that your point?
ReplyDeleteSeriously? Pride and Pred & Zombies? Two of my favorite things all in one book??? I'm going to have to keep an eye out for it.
You need to buy a Fiskars cutter-ruler combo unit. It's a one piece ruler that also cuts. It's 6 1/2" wide by 24" long and one side has an attached sliding rotary blade you simply press down on. It's completely stable all the time and doesn't slip around at all. Mine cost $25 from Walmart on sale. Fabulous for string cutting but I use it for most everything now. http://www.quiltersreview.com/article.asp?article=/review/product/011105_a.asp
ReplyDeleteYou will not believe the difference in makes when you're doing a lot of strip cutting! I think Joanne's has it too...for a little more money.
Oh yeah!
ReplyDeleteOh wow! I like this one a LOT!
ReplyDeleteYou know how to work it out. Have fun with it! I'm guessing this is not as big as it looks when i see the blocks sitting next to pokey... how big is it?
ReplyDeleteThe zigzag border looks fabulous! Even with all that going on, it makes a perfect statement! (Also love the 'LIVE' in there!)
ReplyDeleteI really like your border idea! It adds more zing to the quilt. I think it looks just like some of the antique string quilts I've seen. The ones that you can tell the maker was thinking "more is better"! How big are the blocks? They look like 4 to 6 inches.
ReplyDeleteI see Lily is getting the hang of being the supermodel - she's been practicing and it shows! And why do the cats always want to wallow in the scraps and threads??
Thanks for the video! That is great - I'd go see that movie too! I'll have to look for "Pride" too. Sounds like one I'd like!
love the zigzag border too, I might go as far as planning the colors to make it more dominate in the movement of the zig and zag :)
ReplyDeleteKathie
I love the scrappy quilt idea there, really bright and shouts out hope to you, lovelyx
ReplyDeleteI like it! (both the quilt and the you tube video!)
ReplyDeleteThe zig zag border is a nice idea but NOT for that quilt. There is so much going on there already and the zig muddies the whole thing up. I think you need something around the border that stops the eye.
ReplyDeleteGo back and look at your (beautiful) quilt before and then go look w/ zig...def. a detractor on this part. quilt IMO
It's just wonderful. The zigzag border is perfect.
ReplyDelete...only thing: it's soooo high energy, how would anyone ever sleep under it? ;>
rainey
I like that the two HOPE and LIVE blocks have LOVE in them too.
ReplyDeleteH O <-- L I
P E <-- V E
(Yeah, it's a little bit of a stretch, but love is always worth it.)
That's an awesome quilt, thank you for sharing!
Loving the stringies!!! Aren't they fun? Addictive? Can't make just one? want to keep making them forever?! Well..I do :c) They are mindless and wonderful....and I'm way too stressed. Whhhhaaaaa!!!!
ReplyDeleteAs an art therapist working in a hospital, I'm particularly moved by the "hidden" messages in there. What a lovely idea.
ReplyDeleteI know this quilt will talk to you and tell you what to do....
ReplyDeleteI think the way it looks now gives it a real "old fashioned" feel.
I just love it and of course the choices of how to finish it are endless.
Happy sewing
Wow, wow, wow! I think this string is fabulous. I like the border and can't wait to see more. The words look great when they are separated by the string blocks as opposed the the photo in the last post with all the words together. It's gonna be great!
ReplyDeleteNow I'm falling in love with that string quilt!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Michele,
ReplyDeletethe Fiskar cutter combo will reduce your wrist fatigue.
For your kitties safety too. The blade on a rotary cutter can result in serious wounds. Until you switch.... If you have a padded eye glass case, slip it in between use. The sides are snug enough that a cat's paw won't be able to tug it out.
Delia
Miss Lily looks like she has everything under control! I love the colors in your quilt.
ReplyDeleteI really like the zig zag border. But maybe a narrow solid inner border would give the eye a tiny bit of rest.
ReplyDeleteI never thought about the cats getting fiber! Yeah, mine eat a lot of threads too probably. They hairball it right back up though!
ReplyDeleteI love your string and alphabet quilts - how cool is that! Look forward to seeing the slither, eek boo quilt. What a great idea.
ReplyDeleteAngie.
sooooo pretty and your cat is cute too! feel free to come over and link your favorite quilt to my blog!
ReplyDelete