Rainbow Scrap Challenge Aqua--post 8

Scraps and leftover chunks

Angela, the creator of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color, chose aqua as the color for July. I didn't have many strings of aqua so I looked through Martha's scrap bag. I added a few. Then I pulled the chunks I had remaining from past projects.

Piecing the aqua

To have enough fabric, I needed to throw in a few teal and turquoise strings to have enough string material to piece all the rectangles. I believe I managed an aqua vibe to the block! 

Strings leftover

I had few strings remaining, which is great! It makes me so happy to be using instead of collecting!

One block

Then it was on to piecing the gray and black bits to the blocks. Gosh, my table gets to be such a jumbled mess as I work through the blocks! 

Four blocks sewn into one big block equals two big blocks

I spent a day piecing the aqua part of the block. I spent a day and a half piecing the grey/black part of the block and piecing the sections together. Matching the intersections has improved since I began gluing the center string.

I need four more blocks. Gertie is thinking that for two of the blocks, I piece one additional big block of green and an additional big block of yellow. She is likely right; but, I'll piece purple next and then decide! It is shaping up to be 60 x 96 inches. I've asked Gertie to think about ideas for getting it to 72 inches wide. She said she would appreciate suggestions from you. She is such a cheeky squirrel!

Blocks so far

To answer a question I've received about the foundation that I use to sew the strings--it is newsprint. Weekly grocery circulars and the voter's pamphlet from the May primary are my current sources since it is "free." I use a short stitch length--12 to 15 stitches per inches or 1.5- 2.0 setting when I'm stitching the strings to the paper. I do try to back stitch at the beginning and end of the seam. Removing the paper is easy, although it is messy. I tend to remove the paper when I'm ready to sew a big block together. I do take a victory lap around each big block to discourage any seam from "unsewing" itself!  Piecing the aqua strings was goal number two on my July list.

Linking to Finished or Not Friday, Patchwork and Quilts, Rainbow Scrap Challenge and Oh Scrap.