I was recently asked to create a quilt for a new baby that would be arriving this summer. When the client told me the nursery would be peaches, green and gold, well, how could I resist?
She wanted something delicate and whimsical for the baby girl she would be gifting it to.
She also asked that it be scrappy and an original, not from any of my patterns! Okay, then, it was time to dust off my Scrappy Strings HST method and get to work.
Usually I use 100% scraps for this method. Since I was low on the perfect colors and prints requested for the quilt, I used some treasured Art Gallery fat quarters along with some scraps that I had on my shelves.
I love making these blocks. There are so many ways to arrange them but my favorite is to form the center star and then arrange the others in an outward formation toward the corners.
So, why do I love this block? It utilizes scraps, it comes together quickly (you basically get two out of one). It's a great combination of traditional and modern. It's feels like improv in many ways as nothing in the blocks is meant to "line up" or be exact which makes it very user friendly and forgiving.
In the tutorial I wrote for this method, some ten years ago or more, I recommended using muslin as a foundation. Pretty old school and not that economical on time or money. Over the years I've tried it using paper, just to stabilize the block.
BUT this time around, I didn't use any foundation at all and it worked out just fine. My concern was that it would get too wonky and I would be able to make the corners crispy. I feared maybe the blocks would be too easy to warp during quilt construction and/or quilting.
This was not a problem at all! Both the construction of the overall quilt and the quilting at the longarmer, went smoothly with amazing results. I'm so thrilled with how this quilt turned out.
I chose the minky backing on this just to give a little extra cozy, cuddle vibe. And finished it off with a scrappy binding and a hand embroidered little label as requested by the client.
If you'd like to try this method, please find my tutorial HERE and keep in mind that I will be updating it to reflect the NO foundation option. Although it makes construction a tiny bit tedious and fussy, perhaps less beginner friendly, it is a much faster and more economical way to go!