Setting Options – Opinions Requested
With this cold I’ve had for two weeks, I have felt too foggy to concentrate on anything even slightly complicated, but I have been wanting to sew. So I have spent a little time each day working on the most basic project I have going, a string quilt. It is so satisfying to use up scraps from thrift store shirts, and odds and ends of old Coats and Clark thread!
I have 20 big blocks done, 12.5 inches by 25 inches, and today I laid out 15 of them to get an idea of how I want to set them. Then I played around on Photoshop and went and looked at more options on Pinterest. So here are some of the layouts I am considering, and I would appreciate your input!
#1 – the Easiest. Just put the rectangles together. I would mix up the colors a little more, and add a border or two.
#2 – String diamonds. I would cut the rectangles into squares, piece randomly, add border.
#3 – Grid Sashing. Sashing forms rectangles to complement the diamonds.
#4 – Diamond Sashing. Sashing in a mid-tone emphasizes the diamonds.
#5 – Dramatic Diamonds. Black sashing makes it all look more dramatic.
#6 – Crisp Diamonds. White sashing brightens the look.
#7 – Emphatic Sashing. Thicker sashing tones down the string diamonds.
#8 – the Unconventional. Thick and thin blocks of strings reverse directions.
I saw another layout that I liked, that had thick white sashing and little 9-patches at the intersections. but I think that one would need more uniform strings widths than what I used here.
And just to boggle your mind, I will put all the possible layouts in a gallery so you can see them all at once!
I await your expertise and creative thinking!
huh. My first reaction was to use the simplest with rectangles. But I do really like the narrow grid sashing, as it looks as if we’re looking out of a window at these interesting angles. I also wonder about adding some contrast/accent with the deep pink… 🙂
One thing I think is funny is I’m working on a Chinese Coins project now. It is just strips… And I’ve seen someone else’s very recent post of working with just strips. Must be the season…
I think you’ve been amazingly productive since you’ve been so poorly! Love all samples – think I like no3 with the grid sashing best. I’m particularly interested in these old shirt designs since I have a quantity of my husband’s increasingly tatty checked shirts that I am eyeing up for some sort of upcycling 🙂
It is a lot of work to cut up the shirts, but the fabrics are so beautiful to work with! I love looking at the small scale designs and seeing them as quilt block combinations, and they just feel so nice too!
Wow–I feel so validated because I like #3 as well!! I like the way it brings order to the diamonds and, as Melanie said, makes it feel like looking through a window!
I think #3 will be the easiest of the sashing options as well! Thanks for helping!
I’ll plump for sashing of some kind for your strings. I like the mid tones of option 4, but wouldn’t vote for the black or white sashing. The wide sashing takes away from the strings. I understand the appeal of option 3, the windowpane. It depends in part on the setting where you want to use this quilt.
I think I will go with number 3, but I will put 4 small squares together into a diamond, and then sash between those.
I have never thought of matching the quilt to a setting! I have a small house, built by my father-in-law and thus totally paneled in every room! I have painted some of the paneling cream but it is still paneling. I have not painted it in the guest room and I put quilts in there to try to draw attention away from it! 🙂
What a helpful post for a Novice like myself. Blessings Always, Mtetar
I am glad if it is helpful to you!
Yup, #3 for me. Then I think, is it because I am so Anal or or or ?
Then the irregular width of the strips would probably drive you crazy??
haha, you got it!!
While i like the narrow sashing of #3, my preference is #4 using a thin sashing. doesn’t take away from all that beautiful sewing of strips…
Thank you, it has been so interesting to see what people think, and the reasons for their choice!
I like 3. The sashing? rests my eyes from so many stripes. You certainly are a busy girl!
Well, we won’t discuss the other things that have been piling up nor the weeds in the garden….
Another vote for #3. I think the narrow sashing sets off the blocks, and the grey offers just enough defintion. The white doesn’t quite do it for me, and the black sashing is too harsh (for me!).
Most commenters are going for #3, people who just leave a vote are going for the black one. But nobody is going for white! Very interesting to me, because I’ve never done a quilt with white, but I do like them and pull their pictures from magazines for “one day.” 🙂
I found the white blended too much into the blocks so that you lost some of the impact, even with the wider strips. I think one of the challenges with strip and other scrappy quilts is getting enough definition and ‘rest’ from the scrappiness. Something my last attempt did not achieve!
I like that scrappy quilt – the zigzag one. I especially like the repeated lines of quilting along the zigzag. I was thinking of trying to do quilting that would evoke the wonderful lines of tailoring in men’s shirts on mine, and I may end up with something like those lines you did.
If I just look at the quilt, I feel it might need a little rest from the scrappiness, but if I think of it in relation to the whole room (which is pretty plain), all that scrappiness together is bearable. I’m not going to be able to work on it any time soon, so I have time to let it percolate for a while. 🙂
Oh wow! I wish I had the patience to do anything as intricate as this. I would go for 3 or 4.
Yes, but I am not trying to restore a centuries-old home or create a beautiful garden! I can stay in the air conditioning and stitch. 🙂
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