String Blocks

Finished String Blocks

This is what I've been working on lately.  You take a piece of paper; phone book paper, almost any thin paper that tears easily.  I like the glossy ads in the Sunday newspaper the best.  Anyway, you have paper about a half-inch larger than you want the finished block to be.  Lay a strip of leftover fabric across from corner to corner face up.  Then lay another strip face down on the side of the first strip.  Sew with 1/4" seam allowance and flip the second strip over.  Finger-press over the seam.  Add another and another until you cover the paper entirely.  Then I press the block flat.  I turn it over and cut the block into the size I need for my quilt.  Because I shorten the stitch length before I sew the blocks I can tear the paper off the back easily.  Then I have blocks I can use for almost any solid block in a quilt.  They can be cut in half and used as triangles.  String blocks make use of fabric that would normally go to waste, being long and too thin to cut for blocks.  I think I am going to make an entire quilt of these blocks, using sashing around them to make the bright colors pop.  The strings seem to multiply in their bin so I am never close to running out of fabric. 

Top - Paper on back of pieced block.  Bottom - Front Side