I finished one of the childcare Christmas Quilts. Here is Geese on a String from Bonnie Hunter’s book String Frenzy.
I’m so happy to have it finished. I started this way back when Bonnie Hunter had a tutorial on making the stringed triangles. I immediately grabbed my scrap bin and started making them. Then I heard nothing else about them….so the blocks sat. I was tempted from time to time to resurrect them and make them into something but I was fairly confident that Bonnie would come out with a pattern that included them.
….and she did. You can find the pattern for this in her book String Frenzy.
I have to tell you though…when I saw the pattern, my heart sunk.
I liked the design. I liked it a lot but I couldn’t figure out what I should do for colors. Cheddar and lime were not what my quilt needed. I was “stuck”. After taking the book to bed with me a few nights and studying and thinking, I came up with this idea. white based neutrals to complete the corners of the geese blocks…then I made all of the four patches a mix of purple and white. My idea was that if I placed them so that the purple square was oriented like this, then there would be a “purple” line down the quilt too.
I knew these would be gifted so I didn’t really plan on making them bigger than the twin size the pattern allowed for. When I counted how many string triangles I had…. I quickly realized I had enough for not one but two quilts.
So I made two. The other one just needs a binding. For that one I reversed the placement of the pink and purple.
I did a simple looping circles motif for the quilting. These are going to be gifted to the childcare kids so they will be washed often. Besides, with the busyness of this quilt, no one would see the quilting anyway. Why not do something easy?
The binding is scrappy…Can you find Mickey???
I am pleased with how this turned out.
This is fun backing I bought at Quilted Twins.
I needed to add a little extra to make it big enough as I did alter that pattern and added two extra string triangles to each row.
..and of course we needed a Ruby picture. The lighting was bad…sorry.
…and there you have it. One Christmas quilt completely finished and three more to go.
I’m feeling pretty confident I can get them done though. I’m actually pushing to try to get them finished by December 1st. December is always a little crazy and it would be nice to have these all finished. Besides, I want to be sewing the mystery quilt, not fretting about these.
Wow! Those are very nice Christmas gifts!
That is a very happy quilt! I love it!
Fabulous. I love your color choices and the scrappy border.
I remember when you started these string triangles. I love their journey to these terrific quilts and how you took Bonnie’s idea and made it your own. Great finish!
You did a beautiful job on this quilt. Congrats on a great finish!
Love and prayers
I love that and the colors are perfect. Much better colors for my tastes.
Your color choices really make me love this. The book picture doesn’t really inspire me. I love Bonnie’s work, but my color preferences differ pretty often. Thanks for sharing your process and work with us.
Oh what a wonderful Christmas gift! I’m sure the children will be happy!
That’s absolutely amazing! It makes me smile to look at all those happy colors! I like that it’s sustainable sewing in that we all have leftovers that will work perfectly for this.
I remember you had doubts about that piano key border, but somehow it seems to rein in the whole scrappy design, at least I think so.
Congrats on finishing up the first of four Christmas gifts!! I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to see your example of Bonnie’s quilt, as the lime and cheddar wasn’t working for me, either. Looking forward to the next finish, Jo!
This turned out so cute. Great job! Those are some lucky kids to receive a quilt from you. Hugs!
I love these quilts! What a beautiful way to use up scraps! And I have that book!!
I absolutely love this quilt!!! Great job Jo!! I have Bonnie Hunter’s new book and I am going to make a variation of this quilt also. I am recovering from my second back surgery and while recovering I have made 71 crumb blocks. Now, I know what to do with them!!
I think your color scheme is amazing and I love that the two quilts are going to be “the same, but different”! Your color scheme might be better than the original. *wink*
What a great quilt! I love the colors,too.
Thinking of you today! Blessings to you. Love your work! What a lucky kid that will receive this Christmas gift!
Jo they turned out amazing!! Way to go!
I love your colours on this quilt (yes even more than Bonnie’s). I had been tempted by Bonnie’s instructions but resisted. But now looking ar yours I’m feeling tempted again.
Many blessings to you
Sam
Jo–your work is amazing. I cannot the magic you do with scraps and strings. I get paralyzed by the thought of trying Bonnie Hunter’s style. I love quilting, but always rely on simple patterns. Great job! Hopefully the kiddo’s parents know what treasures you quilts are and cherish them.
Wonderful!
-Jean ❤
Love this quilt. So happy and cheerful. Do you happen to remember the name of the fabric on the back? Absolutely love it!
This one is on my want to list!! Love the girl feel of yours and so amazing to me what the different colors can do to the same pattern.
Congratulations on getting a Christmas present done in October! Love your colors; pink and purple always look great together!
The quilts are indeed beautiful!! You do excellent work!!
Beautiful quilt. You’ve put so much work into it. I hope the child who gets it loves it.
Love that you told us your thought process on these quilts. And am so impressed that you seem to have three childcare quilts for the coming holiday.
Wow! I think I like your version of this quilt better than Bonnie’s. I especially like the way you placed the purple squares in the four patches.