JuneBillie

I have been looking at many pictures of string quilts, and would like to try one. I don't really understand what to do after cutting the strips. I seen where we are suppose to have a square foundation to sew the strips too. They show using a piece of paper. It also looks like they sew the first strip in the middle of the square paper. Are these strips always machine sewed or can they be done by hand? I kept thinking I would like to sew some strips together while sitting relaxing by hand, but not sure that is done. I just don't yet have all the instructions where I completely understand the method. Can anyone give me some information to help my understanding?

Thank you
Much Appreciated
Susan

DOTTYMO

Look up quiltville or do a search on google for jelly rolls or strip quilts and click on images. Most are not paper pieced these would usually be mor intricite.

Cherylsea

Since it will be your quilt, you can do it anyway you want to. Mostly string quilts seem to be a way to use up scraps and it is faster to use the machine. I can't see any reason why you would have to start in the middle. Why not try one and see if you like doing it. I started doing English Paper Piecing so that I could sew something while watching baseball - turns out that I enjoy doing it. Be sure to share pictures of your blocks!

Holice

I have some old string pieced blocks that were hand pieced both on a foundation of paper and on fabric. String piecing appears to have been done mostly on fabric. Difficulty with using paper seem to be the stability of the piecing and difficulty of removing the paper and getting flat blocks due to the crinkling of the paper while sewing. I might consider a light weight weight interfacing such as Pelion if I chose to hand piece.

DOTTYMO

There is a missorie star quilt company utube I think. It was,erry go round or similiar . I have a puppy trying to help me type so sorry for mistakes.
Paper piecing is easy once you get going. I think first step is the hardest.

ArtsyOne

You'll have so much fun! What I do is to cut 8" squares of muslin, take a normal school ruler (mine is 1.5" wide) and lay it diagonally on the muslin and then draw a pencil line down each side. Next, take a strip of fabric (I use strips anywhere from 1" to 2-1/4") and lay the edge of the strip right side down against the pencil line from the middle outwards. Sew a 1/4" seam, then flip the strip to the outside. Press it down. Take another strip and lay it right sides together against the raw edge of the strip you just sewed. Sew it down, flip and press. You can work on both sides of your pencil line at once. Don't worry about color placement - my best strip quilt was made totally randomly with fabrics from my stash that I no longer cared for. You will end up with a square that has a white strip down the middle. When you have several done, your center strips will form a secondary pattern depending on our layout. Can't wait to see your blocks!

ckcowl

one thing to keep in mind if you want to hand piece blocks---often the strips are all different lengths, stitched to your foundation- then when the foundation block is covered the block Is trimmed/squared up- so hand stitching would be cut- seams could come undone. you can still do them by hand if you want-but you will need to be more 'careful' about trimming so you don't cut through your stitching- I have done a few blocks by hand- they turn out just fine. lots of new patterns coming out using string blocks these days. fun way to use up those scraps.

QuiltnNan

there are so many looks that can be accomplished with string quilting. here's a link to google images http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy-a...w=1016&bih=628

quiltingsupport

I've been in your shoes. When I first heard of string quilting it didn't make sense to me. That's why I had to learn about it too.

There are several ways to do it. One of the most talked about patterns for string quilting works off of the middle of the square block. This creates the only uniform look to the whole quilt.

You can find more information by doing a search for string quilting. I suggest using Bing. It comes back with better results than Google.

blondeslave

I took a class and we used 8" muslin squares for the foundation. We also laid the first strip centered on the diagonal. I made a table runner with my blocks and it was gorgeous. At some point I want to do an entire quilt. Our instructor had us tear our strips and they were all different widths.