Some quilters use the pages ripped from the Yellow-Pages phone book to sew strings on. It stabilizes the thin fabric strips as you sew and press. I personally don't like having to remove the paper when I'm done. Others use dryer sheets after they've gone through the laundry cycle. Those have the benefit (so I'm told) of being alright to leave attached and becoming part of the quilt. But, as a single, I don't have a lot of spent dryer sheets saved up. Presumably I could haunt the local laundro-mat and dig through the garbage cans, but that just feels wrong to me in so many ways, not the least of which is people would see me doing it.
What I do have, is a stack of thin cotton squares (all cut from a cheap bed sheet). This was one of my less than clever purchases. They were advertised as Egyptian Cotton, but so cheap I should have known there was something very wrong with them. These are so thin you can literally read through them. The fitted sheet just shredded down the centre (while in use) after being washed a couple of times. Ah well, you get what you pay for and hopefully learn your lesson. I sliced the top sheet into a stack of 8.5" squares for string blocks. I starched a couple and cut them down to 6.5" square. My modern monday string blocks were done in no time at all.
This is the view from my living room this afternoon. First, to the West.
And then to the East. I feel like I'm living in a snow globe.
And the temperature has really dipped (which is noticeable if you live in a building as old as mine) - Lucas is hiding under the quilt on my bed. Change of plans. It's too miserable to go out for groceries (I am without car, so generally walk) so I think I'll just stay in, make a sandwich out of whatever I can find in the human food cupboard, and start chain piecing my Great HST Caper blocks. I have them all laid out in piles of 30 next to my sewing machine.
When I stacked these up last night, not once did I have to move a component because it was next to another of the same fabric. Now that's scrappy.
Michele, I love your modern blocks! And aren't you smart to use the sheets...a great recycling job! Please keep the snow there...do not send it east yet. And your HST quilt is going to be amazing...the picture of the stacks in the box really shows how the blocks will come together.
ReplyDeleteCheers!
Good-looking modern blocks!
ReplyDeleteI don't blame you--I'd want to stay in, too. I love a good snowstorm--if I don't have to go anywhere. : )
Looking forward to your Great HST Caper to come together.
the hst quilt is going to be fantastic!
ReplyDeleteLove those colors for your modern block and the HSTs look great as well. That's what I love about quilting, you have so many choices of fabric.
ReplyDeleteQuilting rather than eating? Now that's extreme!
ReplyDeleteStay away from the cat food and hit the peanut butter and jelly. If you're out of bread, well, crackers? taco chips? rice cakes? I always save a big hunk of blue cheese in the fridge for emergencies like this! LOL! But I love blue cheese!