I’ve just finished a top for a string quilt and I was thrilled when I logged in to my Craftsy Block of the Month and saw that I would be making a couple of blocks using different string techniques. My string bin was full so I had lots of fabric to choose from.

The first block was done in the same manner as I did my quilt top except that we left a one-inch strip of the foundation block showing in the middle of the block. I used a very flimsy fabric for my foundation block but because it is such a narrow strip it didn’t seem to matter. I love the look of the solid color frame around this block. I used a blue and red combination for the block because those were the first colors that came out of my string bin.

I love this Broken Spider Web. I used a different technique for this string block. After doing some cutting, measuring and marking for the foundation block the first two strips on each side were stitched to the foundation as usual. For the second and remainder of the strips you pull the foundation fabric back and stitch the strips together. At the end, you use the foundation fabric as a template to trim the block and then trim off the foundation fabric (much like you do in paper piecing). In keeping with the spider web (garden) theme I used floral fabrics for this block.

I see more string quilts in my future and I’ll definitely be using these patterns again.

This quilted jacket was a two-day class put on by the Guild. The first day of the class was cancelled because the ferry from Texada wasn’t running and Barb couldn’t get to Powell River.

Most of day two was spent copying and sizing the pattern. We made our fabric by sewing our precut squares (more than 150) together into big enough pieces that each pattern piece would be completely covered. Day two was over before I had even finished this step in the instructions.

For the next three weeks I spent two days a week finishing this. We would get the next set of instructions at the Tuesday morning bee and then I’d spend one day on the weekend getting my “homework” done so I’d be ready for the next lesson.

When my jacket was finished to the point where I could try it on I didn’t like it! The jacket has bound seams on the inside so, in a sense, it was reversible. I decided I liked the reverse side better so I took apart all the seams and put it back together so the bound seams were on the inside.

Adding the cuffs, pocket and binding was a two-day project in itself.

This block is the first of two blocks that go with the first diary entry in the Farmer’s Wife Sample Quilt book. The pattern looked easy enough. Lots of half-square triangles, but I’m getting pretty good at those.

I soon realized that my template measurements were off. I thought I was working towards a two-inch square (made up of two triangles) but I needed a one and one-half inch square (still made up of two triangles).

I’m pleased with the result and, to my amazement, the block comes in at an almost perfect six and one-half inches.

I don’t remember Mum having a cut glass dish (she may well have had one), but I do remember the Cut Glass dessert she made with cubes of Jell-O mixed in whipped cream.