Colorful String Quilts are a Great Use for Scraps
Get Creative with Super Easy String Piecing!
String quilts are a great way to use up miscellaneous strips of leftover fabrics. They’re also very adaptable and so easy to make. You may find that a string quilt is the most fun of any quilt you’ll make!
Make the blocks any size you want, make as many a you need for any size quilt, and go all scrappy or add a coordinating fabric to tie the blocks together. You can also arrange the finished blocks in several different configurations.
The following wall quilt, by Terri at Quilternity’s Place is a lovely example of a string quilt.
Notice how the low volume black and white strips in each 9″ square create order in the overall design. (Terri recommends the tutorial linked to in the yellow box below. Learn more about Terri’s adaptations here.)
This version, from Film in the Fridge, is 48″x 70″. The blocks are 11″ square. Notice the narrow white strips. They run through the center of each strip-pieced block. You can easily omit the white, make it wider, make it any color you want or use one print fabric throughout.
The following version is by Kati of From The Blue Chair. She also used white strips to calm the overall scrappiness.
The following, by Marie at Quilt Bee, shows how lovely string quilts can be when made in coordinating colors. It also shows you the basic block structure.
This version by Angela of Fussy Cut uses gray to tame the strips. The finished blocks are 8″.
Look what Carla at Cora Quilts did with hers. Imagine all the ways you can use color to make a string quilt that is uniquely yours!
You’ll find many more beautiful examples of string quilts on Pinterest.
Part of the beauty of string quilts is that you don’t need to match up all of the fabric strips (unless you want to!). This makes them super easy and quick to make. You essentially sew fabric strips of various widths to a foundation, in this case paper. That also means you can easily use strips that are too narrow for normal piecing.
Sherri from A Quilting Life provides an excellent tutorial for using fabric for the foundation. This is our favorite method, as you don’t need to remove paper. Just trim the edges and your blocks are ready to stitch together. Otherwise, the process is the same as using paper.
Give string quilting a try. You’re sure to have fun with this easy and creative piecing method.
