For the last 2 years I have been a tutor at a 2 & 1/2 day workshop called The Gathering. It is held locally so I can do my ‘dog and pony show’ and yet be home in my own bed at night. I enjoy doing it once I’m there but the lead-up causes me some angst. I enjoy people but I get ‘peopled’ out quickly. Being full-on Ms. Sunshine and Lollipops for an entire weekend nearly puts me over the edge.
Anyway….this year I taught my version of ‘crumbs and strings’. In preparation for it, I decided to do a series of string pieces. I also challenged myself to use solids as I typically don’t. I ended up with 7 pieces and have called the series String Therapy.
I really do love working with strings. I’d actually like to continue the series and yet I have some other ideas too (triangles and more drunkard path variations to name two).
Here they are in order of how I made them.
String Therapy #1. Not QUITE solid color but close. The green is a shot cotton I picked up in Sydney and the brown/green is one I found in the USA. I took inspiration from Valerie Maser-Flanagen. I faced the top and sides and did a pillowcase turn-and-flip on the bottom edge.
String Therapy #2. This time I used 3 solid fabrics from Cherrywood Fabrics in Minnesota. I absolutely love these fabrics. They have such depth and mellowness to them. Again, I used inspiration from Valerie Maser-Flanagan. This one proved to be a pain in the ass to finish the edges so I ended up doing a machined button hole stitch with thicker Aurifil thread. I like the design….I don’t really like the finish but it is good enough.
String Therapy #3: Next I decided to work with a jelly roll from Cherrywood Fabrics. I randomly chose 2-3 strips and made them into a string set, trying to vary what I did with each set. I think I was reading Maria Shell‘s book on Improv at the time so I give her inspiration credit for this piece. I pretty much used the entire jelly roll for this small piece. I think it is quite attractive and has potential to be a larger quilt. All these small pieces were quilted with my Pfaff and a walking foot. I faced the edges of this one.
String Therapy #4: From here I switched to my black and white scrap bin. I had some pre-cut strips so I started there and did a string set. Then I did alternate rows of another fabric. It seemed a little dull so I added a couple strings of red.
String Therapy #5: Still in my black and white bin, I decided to go with solids. You can really see the effect of NOT using a ruler on this piece. On all these pieces, I went ruler-free and did all the cutting freehand. I love the organic nature of the strings/strips when cutting this way.
String Therapy #6: I had some left over pieces from String Therapy #4 which resulted in this one. I cut the string sets into squares and then on the diagonal and sewed different ones together. The piece on the right side was left over from another project. The two little squares were appliqued on afterwards.
String Therapy #7: This one came from left overs from 3 previous quilts. I pulled out the teal colored fabrics and the beige fabrics and sewed random sized strings into string sets. Hung them on the design wall vertically. It needed something so I spliced in the brown batik. I think it is a success! The edges are faced and I think once I get a sleeve on it, I’ll hang it above the fireplace in my studio for awhile.
Coloring Outside the Lines 
Hi Kris, I can just picture you trying to be all sunshine and lollipops and being mindful not to swear, ha ha! I really like your #7 I’m a bit partial to teal and Batiks. I’m finally up to hand sewing my tiny cot quilt then off it will go to London. The sewing in it is really rough but I don’t care because I like it. Now I’m contemplating my next project. I think it will be a SB size quilt made from some very bright Batik jelly rolls I’ve had in my box for some time. I cleaned out my fabrics a few months back and found quite a bit of fabric that was old Saris. Bought from a woman in Burrill. The fabric is very lightweight and fine. I don’t think I’ll ever use them. I was wondering if you could use them. There are some lovely colours. If you want them just let me know.
Great job on finishing the cot quilt! I’m with you…as long as you like it, that’s the most important thing. I’d love to have the old sari fabrics if you want to share. I have purchased a few in the past and sorta have a plan in mind for their use. I’ll swap you for the teal and batik wall hanging, ok?
Love them all – especially #3 made from the Cherrywood jelly roll. I wish I could be as creative as you. I seem to gravitate to the traditional and you are always able to think outside of the box and color outside of the lines – I really admire that about you. Nice job girlfriend. And I anxiously await your next series.
Thanks! And, you are an awesome traditional quilter and I love your work! We all have our niche. xo
Kris, I have been absent from here for awhile, and just signed into wordpress for the first time in ages. Here you are! I love what you are doing. I have been doing a variety of styles and designs, but am realizing that I really enjoy improv piecing best. Nice to see your work.