I have another group of quilts to show you that Ray has finished up. I always love getting emails from Ray and seeing all of the great finished quilts.
Ray writes:
“I wanted to share this adorable quilt that I just finished with you. The top was made by Arline H. in North Fort Myers, FL. Yup, just across the river from me.
Arline makes the most wonderful, beautiful quilts and spoils me by including the backing and the binding with the top.
This string quilt is a bit different than most that I get in that it has narrow sashing and binding. That really makes the blocks stand out.
I had a major internal debate and struggled with what to do for the quilting. I finally decided to free-motion wavy lines across the quilt.
No, they were not meant to be straight lines. LOL. I like the end result. With the white thread, the quilting does not take away from the beauty of the quilt. My thanks to you and Arline for your continued devotion to supplying me with quilts to finish and donate.
This is a beautiful quilt from…
Becky that you forwarded to me.
It is a nine-patch pattern made of pastel gingham and white blocks. It is sashed with a pastel circle fabric that really compliments the blocks. It is so adorable and cute!
Before anyone questions it, yes, I did quilt it sideways for several reasons. It is 49 x 84. Rather long and narrow. The top was assembled in columns with no corner blocks. It was much easier to keep it straight by turning it 90 degrees. I also did not have to advance and reset the quilt on the frame as much and was quicker to complete. Also, the floral motif is not directional. I have done this for a few customers that made wide king quilts so that I could get them on my ten-foot frame.
I used a white thread on the front and back to minimize the quilting.
The backing is from Colleen M. in MN.
I really like this quilt and think it would be a great quilt to use on the couch and share since it is so long. Thanks to you, Becky, and Colleen for getting the makings to me for this beautiful quilt.”
Weren’t they great quilts? I think quilting and binding do so much for a quilt. It really makes quilts come to life!! Ray does a great job of it. Thanks to everyone who had a part in making these quilts happen.
Great quilts. They are all very pretty and I like the way Ray quilted them. I am going to try the wavy lines for quilting so it was fun to see how he did them. Thanks all for your donations – time, fabric, quilting!!
Both quilts are beautiful. The string quilt is striking. I agree the sashing makes the block stand out. Wonderful work from both the quilters and the Ray.
Ray, you always do a beautiful and professional job with everything you share with us. How I enjoy the pictures from everyone who works so hard on these quilts so that others may be warm. Thank you!
Very nice. I have gingham to use up so I may just copy this great idea.
You referred to this quilt as long and narrow. A quilt historian told me quilts like that are officially referred to as a “hired man’s quilt”. Or hired girl as this could be. Just a fun fact.
I really like the string quilt with sashing that Ray finished. Can you tell me what size finished the blocks ended up being. This is such a great way to use up strips and I like how they are slightly slanted next to each other…
Thank you Jo for showing this quilt to us.
Each string block finishes at 4 inches square. Therefore the finished block is 8 inches inside the sashing. Hope that helps.