Today's Quilter - UK (2020-01)

TECHNIQUES l string piecing

Left,Stringpiecingis the

ultimate stash buster

themdance.Themorevariety there is
in placementthebetter.
Mystringcollectingis simple.I start
witha basketundermycuttingtable
andI putin anything‘stringworthy’
thatI don’twantto cutintootherscrap
sizes.Everyprojectleavesstrings.I have
suchanaddictionto odd-sizenarrow
stripsthatI’llevenmovetherulerover
aninchorsowhenstraighteningup
a pieceof fabricsoI cansavea whole
string,insteadof discardingin of
trimmings.Varietyis key:the more you
save,themoreyou’llhave.
Whenthebasketis fullI havea
coupleof choicesto make– doI want
to makea stringquiltwithallof the
coloursof therainbowincluded?Ordo
I wantto playwitha fewselectcolour
familiesfora moreplannedlook?
If a quiltwitha certaincolour
schemeis at theforefront,thesorting
takesplace.It’sa funandmessy
process,thesortingof thestrings.
I dumpthebasketonthefloor,and
whilewatchinga movieI sortthesaved
stripsbycolourfamily,storingeach
familyin itsowncleartubsoI cansee
what’swhatandcaneasilydigintoan
evening of string piecing by colour.

Foundations
ThereasonsI wantfoundations in my
stringpiecingaretwo-fold.
QA foundationstabilisestheblock
whenworkingwithnarrowstrips,
especiallyif thestripsareslightlyo
grain,ordon’thavestraightedges.
QA foundationgivesmea boundaryto
aimfor.I knowthesizeof myblock,
andwhetherthestripwillfitornot
becausethepapershowsmethesize
of theunitI ammaking.I canvery
eectivelyusemyscrapsto fill the
block dimensions this way.

Inlookingat vintagequilts,youwill

findanyandeveryfabricusedfor

foundationsin stringpiecing,including

muslin,printedcotton,batiste,

lawn,andmanyothers.Inthepaper

foundationcategory,I’veseenevery

kindof paperused– includingsheet

music,churchbulletins,newspaper,

andevenfamilyletters.

I preferto usepaperfoundations

in mystringpiecingformanyreasons.

Onereasonis thatI findsewing

straightstripsof fabricacrossthe

biasof a fabricfoundationcancause

warpingandrollinganda foundation

thatwon’tlieflat.Paperis sturdyin

everydirection,havingnobias.

Myquiltsarefullof smallpieces

and,therefore,manyseams.Being

ableto removethepaperfromthe

stringpiecingalsohelpseliminate

excessbulkthatwouldaddmore

weightif I leftfabricfoundationsin

placewhensewingthetoptogether.

Therearemanykindsof paper

suitableforstringpiecing.Pagesfrom

telephonebooks,financialprospectus

pagesthatcomequarterly,cheap

doodlepadsfromthestore,and

newsprintendrollshaveallbeenused

successfullyin thepast.Lookfora

thin,crisptypeof paperthattears

awayeasilyafterstitching.Pieces

of tracingpaperandvellumarenot

recommendedas theymaycurlor

shrinkwhentouchedwithaniron.

Therearealsowonderfulfoundation

papersavailableforpurchase.Try

CarolDoak’sfoundationpaper(by

C&Tpublishing),especiallywhen

printingfoundationswheresewingon

a lineis necessary.It is designedfor

stitchingandtearingaway.The

8 in x 11inand 8 in x 14insheets

feed through a printer easily.

For easypaperremoval

Paperremovalis easy if you remember

thefollowing:

QUsea size 14 needlein yourmachine

to makebiggerholesin thepaper.

QSetthestitchlengthverysmall–

to 1.5ona digitalmachineorabout

17 stitchesperinchon a vintage

sewingmachine.

Smallerstitchesandbiggerneedleholes

makethepaperveryeasyto remove.

If thepaperis fallingotoosoon,

lengthenthestitcha bit.If thestitches

aretoolarge,youmayfindthestitches

pullinganddistorting as you fight to

removethepaper.

Aspaperis hardestto removewhen

seamlinescrossotherseamlines,

I squareupmyblocksandremovethe

paperbeforejoiningunitstogetherin

thequilt.Oncetheunitsarepieced,

squared,andde-papered,I cansimply

sewthemtogetherin thequilt just like

anyotherpiecedblock.

Pressing

Whilepiecingstringblocks,I tendto

workwitha dryiron(nosteam).

Somestringblockswillhavebias

edges.Toaddstabilityandminimise

stretchwhenremovingpaper,lightly

spraythecompletedblockwitha

spritzof spraystarchandpressbefore

trimmingandpaperremoval.

Removingpaperis anacquired

technique.I findthatif I placethe

thumbnailof mylefthandonthe

seamlineI ampullingpaperaway

from,thestitchesareheldsecure

asI removethepaperthesameway

I wouldfroma perforatednotebook

withmyrighthand.I startat one

cornerandworkmywayacross

theblockinthereverse order that

pieces were sewn.