Heartstrings blocks

This week I mailed off 48 Heartstrings blocks to another quilter who will sew them into a top for the Heartstrings project.  http://heartstringsquiltproject.com/ .  48 blocks will make a nice size quilt for someone. If you love making string blocks from your scraps, then check into this organization. 

I've made 2 tops previously for Heartstrings and sent them off to be quilted and bound by someone in the group.  One of those had green centers and another had black centers. Heartstrings will take your blocks, or tops made from the blocks, or finished quilts.  Just follow the guidelines on the website for size and number of blocks needed.

Design Wall Monday

My Sunday evening sewing included finishing the final 4 Heartstrings blocks for this set.  I laid them out this morning on the family room floor so that I can rearrange these into rows without similar strings meeting up.  The top will then be mailed off to a Heartstrings volunteer to quilt or tie, and then donate to a worthwhile location.

My 2015 set of Heartstrings blocks are going to be black and white, with either pink or bright center strings.  I'm leaning right now to using several different bright colors for those centers, or go with just pink scrappy centers.  Either one will be fun.

I'm linking up to Judy's Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times.

A little weekend sewing

I managed a little sewing this weekend, including 3 HeartStrings blocks.  I thought I only needed 5 more to finish the set, but found that I really need 7 more.

And I'm thinking ahead to the next set of HeartStrings blocks . . . pink centers with black and white strings. I have a ton of black and white fabrics in my stash, and quite a few pinks too.

Easy mindless sewing

Sometimes when I only have a half hour to sew I like to work on something that is really easy and doesn't require any major concentration.  Heartstrings blocks fit that description. And now that my scrap strips are all in one container I can just reach in and grab what I need.

So, 2 more are done.  I hope to get at least 5 done this month.  This makes 38 of the 46 blocks I need for a completed Heartstrings top.

Taming the beast

Sometimes the mess in my sewing room just gets to be too much and I can't stand it any longer.  Guess I've reached that stage again with the scrap bins.  My scraps have begun to over flow the 2 canvas cubes and into one shopping bag.  These cubes are 12" square and hold a lot of scraps.

So I spent part of my morning and turned the shopping bag full of scraps into these . . . strips for my string blocks, 5" charms, 3.5" and 2.5" squares, and finally some 1.5" postage stamps.  Next step after lunch was to empty the canvas cubes and sort things into strips and chunks.  The large chunks went back into my stash. The small ones all went back into the cube to cut into squares - some other day.  And all of the strips went into the other cube to use for string blocks.  Much better organized so that when I work on string blocks those strips are all in one place and ready to use.

Once I had that taken care of I made 5 more string blocks with red centers.  I believe that makes 36 of them, so only 12 more to go.  And I cut and pinned together a new pillowcase from that stash fabric.  I'm determined to tame that out of control sewing room.

String blocks

Saturday afternoon offered a small window of sewing time so I finished up this month's 5 string blocks that were part of my August goals.  There are now 31 blocks in the pile and I need 48 total, so I still need 17 more.  Maybe my September goals should include 8 or 9 instead of 5 so I can make faster progress.  

Check off another small UFO

This UFO can finally be checked off my list too.  These string blocks are made with a muslin foundation block and a black center.  All of the fabrics are from my scrap bin except the black centers.  I'll be mailing this top off to the Heartstrings project and let another volunteer do the quilting or tie it, before passing it along to a deserving charity.

Working on a UFO

Finally spent a little time working on a UFO last night.  Unfortunately, that UFO list is not shrinking like I had hoped it would.

I pulled out the Heart Strings blocks I made over the fall and winter and put them all together into pairs.  Then I put the pairs together into a square of 4 with the black center strips forming a diamond.  Two of those units are done and the rest are ready.  This top will be sent to the Heart Strings project to be tied or quilted, and then donated.  It is the second one I've done for Heart Strings and is a great way to use up scraps.  This one has black center strings and lots of bright colors. The first one I made had lime green center strings.

I'll share a photo of the finished top before I mail it.

String blocks

Finally got some sewing time in today and one of the things I finished was the set of 24 string blocks. These will be sewn together and the top will be donated to the Heartstrings project. Getting them sewn into a top and mailed will be one of my March UFO goals, unless I manage to get it done before then.

These all have a black center and mostly bright fabric strings from my scrap bin.

Scraps become string blocks

I have been trying to not waste the scraps I have left from my various projects.  I've cut some scraps into 5" and 2.5" squares and storing those in containers for some future inspiration.  Some of it goes to my scrap bin to use for string blocks. And as you can see, my scrap bin has become invisible under the huge pile of scraps. 

Last winter I put together a small quilt top using 24 string blocks with lime green center strips.  I bought the lime green and the muslin. But all of the other fabric was from my scrap bin.  Well since then I've cleaned out some fabric from the drawers in my sewing room.  I gave away some of the larger pieces, and the small scraps I put in the bin. And that explains part of the reason this bin is overflowing again.

So I've started another string quilt.  These blocks have a black center, and again I purchased enought black to use in 48 blocks. So this will either make a bigger quilt or 2 small ones. And I purchased muslin. I really love making these blocks because they are fast and simple, but also because I can keep one going on my table and just run another strip through in between other items.

Once the muslin is completely covered, then it is squared up to 9.5".  And voila - a new block is born. 

I must give credit to the Heart Strings project for this idea.  My first string quilt was mailed to Mary, and she quilted it and then donated it through Heart Strings.  She has all of the instructions on her web site, so check out the link to see how you can contribute blocks, tops, backs, etc.

Sunday finish

My heartstrings blocks have finally become a complete quilt top! The color is much brighter than this photo looks - with bright lime green strips running diagonally throughout the blocks.

This top is being donated to the Heartstrings project where someone else will tie or quilt it, and bind it. Then it will go to a deserving project.

This was a great way to use up some of my scraps and make something for a good cause. Check out the heartstrings project at this link.

http://heartstringsquiltproject.com/