Fabric Dyeing & String Quilt Layouts

Today was very productive! I dyed about 32 yards of fabric and enjoyed it immensely.

I had to work indoors because it was in the 40's today. Procion MX dyes don't like to be cold, so these are resting in the dining room tonight and will get rinsed and washed in the morning.

I also spent yesterday and this morning photographing string quilt blocks in an array of layouts; they'll be used in my string quilt programs and workshops. You've seen these blocks recently as my nephew's college quilt. Each block is a square with strings sewn on the diagonal. This is just one of many, many kinds of string blocks. In the photos below I have manipulated the blocks, but the blocks themselves can also be manipulated for even more layouts. For example, using one color for the center diagonal fabric will give a very different look to each of these layouts.

This was the layout my nephew AJ chose for his quilt blocks...


I call it zig-zag, but it has a great 3-dimensional quality.

Here are a bunch more layouts I tried with these same blocks...

I saw the above pattern in a 1920's or 30's movie on a huge wooden door.

This one is simple but with the right fabrics it can be very special...perhaps a waterfall or field of wild flowers and grass.

This is a variation of the zig-zag with a twist: squares on the sides.


These two geometric layouts (above and below) are my favorites.
And lastly we have the simple "on point" layout. The squares can also be sewn with horizontal strings, but having them on point gives a different feel to the quilt.
Can you see from this layout how strings are different from strips. These strings read as movement...perhaps a running stream.

I LOVE string quilt blocks!