Batik Leader and Ender Rail Fence Donation Quilts

My personal leader/ender project has been fruitful this year. These are donation quilts #7 and #8!

Numbers 5 and  6 can be found HERE.

Numbers 3 and 4 are HERE.

Numbers 1 and 2 are HERE.


This time, I went with an uneven Rail Fence block to better show off the colors in the batiks I used. I did one in a stairstep layout and the other in a windmill layout.

#7 Batik and Black Rail Fence (stairstep layout)--66" x 74"

#7 Batik and Black Rail Fence (detail)

#7 Batik and Black Rail Fence (backing and binding detail)

#8 Batik and Black Rail Fence (windmill layout)--64" x 64"

#8 Batik and Black Rail Fence (detail)

#8 Batik and Black Rail Fence (backing and binding detail)

I'm not a big batik fan, and some of these fabrics are truly ugly! However, when you put them together, the overall effect is good.

I'm still putting together Rail Fence blocks as leaders and enders--more quilts to come!

I'm linking with Fiber Tuesday 148 at the Quilting Room with Mel.

Boxes Of Strings: An Original Design

Update: I have added the basic instructions for this quilt to my sidebar. Click on "Boxes of Strings Instructions."
 

When I was designing and making Stringing Beads, I thought "what if?"--always a dangerous thought for a quiltmaker!

The centerpiece of the Stringing Beads block is a trapezoid shape.

Stringing Beads trapezoid

What if I made it a triangle?

Boxes of Strings triangle

I used the same size paper foundation (4.5" x 8.5"), and I arranged the strings with medium/dark tone on one side and light on the other.

All blocks have the same color orientation.

It created a wonderful optical effect, I think--boxes and boxes and boxes!

Boxes of Strings 74" x 84"

A huge variety of fabrics add interest.

Boxes of Strings (detail)

Boxes of Strings (detail)

Boxes of Strings (detail)--Scooby Doo!

I used a solid backing and quilted around the diamonds and through the string blocks.

Boxes of Strings (backing and binding detail)

This was a lot of fun to create. The instructions are very like the Stringing Beads instructions found on the right sidebar of the blog. Just make a triangle template and arrange your colors, light and medium/dark, on either side of the triangle--all the blocks are the same. (In my case, the light strings are on the right side and medium/dark on the left of an upward-pointing triangle.)

Sometimes wonderful things come from those "What if?" moments!

I'm linking with Fiber Tuesday 147 at The Quilting Room with Mel and the UFO Challenge at Jo's Country Junction.