Workday With the Swamp Fox Quilters - Strip Quilting

Swamp Fox Quilter's Work Day 
 3rd Thursday of the Month - August 13th, 2011

The third Thursday of every month is The Swamp Fox Quilter's Work Day.  This last meeting many events were going on in many nooks and crannies and even large rooms.

Sara's Strip Quilt 

 Sara one of our members was doing a demonstration on Strip Quilting. She shared her love and enjoyment of this technique with the group.

This the red, white and blue strip quilt top that Sara finished. She set up shop and was ready to demonstrate.  



She said you have to begin by cutting strips of fabric. The strips can be the same size or different widths.  The strips were about 1 1/2 inches wide.  

The first strip is glued on.

The strips are sewn on a muslin background which is a permanent stablizer or you can use freezer paper, deli paper or even newspaper.  The paper stabilizers will be removed later.  You lay the first strip face up on the diagonal and glue it down to hold it in place. You can also leave a white strip open on the diagonal as a pattern variation.



The strips can be
Placed on either side
of the center white muslin
diagonal and sewn into
place as a pattern variation.



Place the next strip right sides together and sew l/4 inch.

The next strip is placed on the diagonal strip right sides together and you then you sew 1/4 inch from the side of the strips. Flip the strip, finger press and then add the next strip until you get to the corner and then do the other side.  Trim your block and it is finished.  If you used a paper stablilzer, you will have to remove the paper before you baste or pin the quilt for quilting. You can quilt by stitching in the ditch or an all over quilting pattern.

Here is a finished block that is given a final trimming on the cutting mat by lining up the corners of the block on on the diagonal lines of the mat.






Ed is talking to Francis about the strip quilting on the left and Jim and Shirley are sewing the strips  together.  Here are the Blocks that Jim and Shirley finished at workday.

Francis is working on her block.
She told me today she has several
 more blocks completed.

Jim and Shirley were helping each other complete the various steps of making the strip block. 

Shirley's Block.



Jim's Completed Block



 We have recently started a Block of the Month Challenge again. This time quilters bring in a block of a pre set theme, for September it is leafs, and one very lucky quilter leaves with all the the blocks. This has brought back memories of past Block of the Month activities for many quilters who have been sharing their blocks from previous challenges.



Gramma Moses Quilting Bee



Lorene brought in her completed quilt of blocks that she had done from a previous Block of the Month Challenge and we had a modern version of an old timey quilting Bee  in one of the church's classroom. The quilting bee has a long history of the social threads that held together a community. 

 If you follow this link, you might get a more complete version of what the quilting bees were actually like: http://www.womenfolk.com/quilting_history/quilting.htm


Lorene's Beautiful Block of the Month quilt with many techniques

Lorene brought her quilt in to be basted and you can see how this is done on tables without a frame. So the quilters pushed together the sturdy white plastic fold up tables in the classroom and used masking tape

 to gently stretch the back of the quilt. Then the cotton batting or filler was placed on top of the quilt and finally the top of the quilt. I am a rank beginner at putting together a quilt and I admire the tenancity and faith of quilters who know that they will tame the divergent quilt layers of back, batting and top to form a cohesive whole. They like most people have particular moods and desires of who they want to be close with.  
                 

 I have seen the quilters use quilters safety pins to pin the quilt together but this time the quilt was going to get basted using needles and thread. My personal favorite is the petite flexible person who gets up on top of the quilt table and bastes the middle part of the table. (I personally refer to this as "The Table Dance". 

 I am the first to sadly admit that I would never be chosen for this particular task because of my traditional built and arthritis.)       

You can see how the quilters are using a running basteing stitch thru all the layers of the quilt. 

     The most wonderful thing of all is the social interplay among the quilters. Sharing a task like this brings together a group of divergent women  into a community of social quilting that far outstrips the original task.
                       

Nooks and Grannies

You would think that there wasn't any time for much else.

But a great deal of sharing of projects and experiences was going in the small crannies.

Akemi's daughter is looking at
some of Ray's beautiful blocks



Ray is working on some of her beautiful hand appliqued blocks in the foreground and in the background, Ed and Francis are "Quilt Talking"

With each needle and thread and stitch taken, threads that hold and bind our hearts and spirits together will be remembered for a life time.

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