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Pick-Up Sticks/Acid Trip coming along

6/1/2021

1 Comment

 

NEW FABRIC TO PLAY WITH!

My quilting mentor Rosanne is working through the book Cut the Scraps!, by Joan Ford.  The book's premise is simple and smart: take your small scraps of quilting cotton, anything under a fat quarter, and cut them into a set of prescribed sizes: 2" squares, 3.5" squares, and 5" squares.  Sort these squares by value rather than by color, so you end up with a pile of lights, a pile of darks, and a pile of everything in the middle.  If you make a four-patch with four 2" squares, it makes a 3.5" square; if you make a nine-patch with nine 2" squares, it makes a 5" square.  Then the book has instructions for twenty different quilts which can be made from squares of those sizes.  I love the idea!  Anyway, as Rosanne is cutting and sorting her scraps, she is making even smaller scraps, little strips that I can then use for string piecing.  So my string piecing project for my brother is coming along, fed by an influx of fabric from Rosanne's stash. 

A QUALITY BASE

As I continue to piece strips on a dryer sheet base, I have discovered that not all dryer sheets are created equal.  Where I work, we do many loads of laundry a day, so instead of discarding the used dryer sheets, I take them home.  We use Bounce dryer sheets at work, and Kroger (store brand) at home, and I have discovered that Bounce Dryer sheets stand up to pressing better than the Kroger off-brand, which are prone to melting under a too hot iron!  (How's that for nearly useless trivia?) 

BLOCK ARRANGEMENTS

I have (by serendipitous inattention) made two block designs to play with.  This picture shows the first design (Block A) on the top row: the rectangles are sewn to the center square at the little triangle corner, so the stripes swirl in a spiral or diamond shape.  The second design (Block B) is on the bottom row: the rectangles are sewn to the center square at the terminus of the wide strip, so the stripes flare outward like a star. 
Picture
Top Row - Block A twice; bottom row - Block B twice.
Picture
Top Row - Block A, Block B; bottom row - Block B, Block A.
But look what happens when I alternate blocks... secondary patterns emerge and dance, depending on how I focus or relax my eyes.  So cool! 
I will continue playing with design options. 
1 Comment
The Sister
6/16/2021 07:35:46 pm

That is very interesting! I love the little blocks you've been making, all those cheerful colors together! There is an unexpected cohesion despite the disparity of colors and patterns.

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    Karen Roy

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