Today's Quilter - UK (2020-01)

TECHNIQUES l string piecing

Fig C

Stringblock

construction

1

Startbylayingtwo(2)strips

rightsidestogether,acrossthe

centreof thefoundationsquare.

Thepatternwilltellyouif youare

piecingdiagonallyorstraightacross

thepaper.Sewthetwo(2)pieces

togetherthroughthepaper,usingan

approximatein seam.Flipthe top

strip over and press(FigA).

2

Continueaddingstrips,using

a stitch-and-flipmethod,until

thefoundation is completely covered

(FigB).

3

Presstheblockwell.Trimtothe

sizedesired.Carefullyremovethe

paper(FigC). Thepatternwillgive

youthesizeof foundationto use,as

wellas thetrimmingsize,to complete

the blocks in each quilt.

Below,Sortingscrapsof fabricintocolour

families can inspire themed string pieces

Fig A String block construction

Fig B Stitch and flip to fill

Finished string unit

Crumbpiecingbasics

Thedierencesbetweena stringand

a crumbareslight,andthetwoterms

aresometimesinterchangeable.But

generally,thedierenceis simplythat

a stringis longerandnarrowerwhile

crumbsareshortandchunky.

Stringsandcrumbsmaybeused

togetherin thesameblock.Forinstance,

longerstringsmaybeplaceddownthe

centreof a diagonallypiecedblock,

butas thestripsgetshortertowardthe

outsidecorners,crumbscantaketheir

placeto finishthejobas only small

piecesareneeded.

Wheredocrumbscomefrom?Ends

of stripsets,leftovertrianglestrimmed

afterjoininglengthsof bindingor

bordersonthediagonal.Sometimes

evenleftovermarginsfromtrimming

stringblocksleavelargeenough pieces

to beused again as crumbs.

Foundationor

no foundation?

Thechoiceis upto youwhetheryou

chooseto piececrumbblocksona paper

foundationorsimplygopaper-free.I

willchoosea paperfoundationif my

blocksneedto bemorethan5inin size,

simplybecausea foundationgivesme

a blockthatliesflatterandthepaper

givesmea sizeto shootfor,makingthe

placementof fabricbothquickandeasy.

If theblockis fairlysmall,no

foundationis necessary.I justkeep

a smallruleronhandto checkmy

progress.Rememberwhenusinga paper

foundationto keepthestitchlength

small.Withouta foundation,

a shortstitchis notnecessary.

If youarelookingto makelarge

crumbblocks,considersewingtogether

severalsmalleronesto achievethesize

blockyoudesire.Thepiecingwillbe

moreinterestingandit willbeeasier

to useupsmallerscraps this way rather

than going too big.

Buildingcrumbblocks

1

Startbyplacingtwo(2)random

scrapsrightsidestogetherand

stitchwithanapproximateinseam

allowance.Piecesdonotnecessarily

havetohavestraightedges– just

eyeball,aimandshoot.Trimanyexcess

fabricawayfromseamspressing toward

the piece just added(FigD).