Thursday, October 23, 2014

RSC Diagonal Strings

It has been a while since we did any string blocks. They are such a good way to use up scraps though.  There are lots of ways to make strings.  I enjoy sewing them on paper, and that would definitely work here, but I was trying to use up some charm squares again and so I cut them into widths from randomly ranging from 1.75 to 1 inches.  I had another charm square in grey and I cut it half from corner to corner along the diagonal.  If you don't happen to have charm squares, collect together some strings that are at least 5 inches long and cut a background square of fabric that is about 5 inches.  Everything is a bit big for squaring up, so don't stress to much about the exact measurements.
The strings in this block are going across the diagonal of a square.  So the length needs to be the hypotenuse of a right triangle.  Given the 6.5 inch unfinished size of the block,  I think about 9 inches will do it.  Go ahead and sew strings at least that long.  10 inches can't hurt.  Press the strings and straighten up the edges.  Mine ended up at a width of 4.5 inches after the trimming.
Sew a grey triangle on either side of the strings and press away from the strings.  Use your favorite 6.5 inch square up ruler to trim away all the extra.

Here's your finished block.  It is 6.5 inches unfinished but will be 6 inches in the finished quilt.  

8 comments:

Sooli said...

I like this one, something a little bit different from the usual string block. I think it would look great in all the colours of the rainbow with a solid black!

Ellen said...

Great block! I really like this one.

Deb A said...

Well, I am guessing red and black/grey are next to each other in the quilt =).

Helen said...

Great block! Want to see more...

Scrappy quilter said...

Lovely block. Waiting to see more.

Carla A Few Of My Favorite Things said...

My favorite way to piece. I love seeing the different fabrics and how they look against the next one and no worry about size or matching points which gets so boring to me.

Terri said...

That looks fun to make! Thanks for sharing.
Hugs

Kate said...

Looks like a great way to use up those smaller scraps.