Sunday, March 4, 2018

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.

36 comments:

  1. It does create a great optical effect. I am cutting up bunches of small scrap fabrics and this is one scrappy I would like to add to my list. Will you share you block dimensions?

    tushay3 (at) yahoo (dot) com

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    1. The foundation rectangle is 4.5" x 8.5".

      Thanks for visiting.

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  2. This is brilliant and the lines where the blocks meet add a lot of interest and movement - I love it!

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  3. Thank you for sharing a great pattern. I am going to try this to use up strings I am saving

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    1. I'd love to see it when you finish. Thanks for visiting.

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  4. Love love love this quilt, thanks so much for sharing how you made it.

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  5. oh, das ist ja eine geniale idee für alle scraps. danke fürs zeigen
    lg elfriede

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    1. Vielen Dank für Ihren Besuch auf meinem Blog. Ich bin froh, dass Sie wie meine Idee.(Ich bin eine Übersetzungs-Website benutze, da ich nicht Deutsch, sprechen so dass ich hoffe, das macht Sinn!)

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  6. I love this quilt! Well done and thanks for visiting my blog. I'm enjoying your blog a lot! Thanks!

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  7. How many blocks are in this quilt?

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    1. 180. Nine across and twenty down (remember, they are rectangle blocks).

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  8. This is beautiful! I love the 3-dimensional look - and the effect is so rich with the variety of strings.

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    1. Thanks, Susie. Thanks, too, for visiting my blog. :)

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  9. What a wonderful idea - such a pretty Tumbling Block quilt! I'm pinning this one to a new board: Tumbling block ideas! Thank you for sharing!

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  10. Gorgeous scrappy goodness!!! Love the unifying effect of black diamonds. Thank you for sharing your process. Also saw that you are on the M*Q Forum.

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  11. Squee!! What a delightful result! My eye and heart always go to 3D effects and this marries that to my desire to use up my scraps. This one's a keeper, and Stringing Beads is going into my "Up Next" folder too. Thank you for sharing this.

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  12. I love your quilt! I just tried a sample block. The triangle that I used would make the distance from the tip of the triangle to the edge of the block a half inch. What size triangle did you use for your block? Thanks for your reply.

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    1. That is how mine is. I like to float the points a bit so I don't lose them. Overall, I don't think it detracts from the effect. One thing I did was to sew the light side first, lapping the dark side over it--look closely at my pictures, and you will see what I mean. You could narrow the triangle a bit if you don't want floating points.
      I'm so glad you tried it--I'd love to see what you come up with. :)
      theeclecticabuela@gmail.com

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  13. That you so much for your reply. I will continue making blocks. It might take awhile for me to get enough for my quilt!

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  14. I love string Quilts - I’ve been looking at since it was posted on face book- One question- what size is the bottom of your black triangle? This is so clever- the end result looks so complex. Thank you.

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  15. thanks for quick response. I am just gobsmacked by this quilt. And I want to make Strings Crossroads too!! Need to start hitting my friends up for more strings. Thank you for your quilts, blog, and delightful quilts.

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    1. Thanks, Mary! I'd love to see what you come up with. Sometimes I just cut strings from larger pieces because I love using them so much (shhhhhh... don't tell anyone! 😀 ).

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  16. Scrappy Eye Candy! Thanks for sharing your process! I think I may have to try this as there are plenty of scraps in my sewing room!

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    1. Please do! It is so easy, but it looks complicated--just make string blocks on those days you want something mindless, and in no time, you have a quilt.

      Thanks for visiting.

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Happy Quilting,
The Eclectic Abuela