More Stripping, and Some Interesting Blogs

Here's another strip/string pattern I like for my lap quilt series. Found in Freddy and Gwen Collaborate Again, it's called Liberated Wedding Ring. Pieces of varying widths are foundation sewn to a newspaper base cut in this lozenge-like shape, and the triangles are added. Four of these make a 14" block. I wiped out my blue strips, and even had to steal some other blue scraps for the border! And I now have two of these to quilt at the upcoming retreat, where I'm too easily distracted to do anything that isn't very routine.


The newspaper base is a good idea because it tears away relatively easily. But if I did it again, I think I'd just piece the strips together and use a template to cut from the strata. That would be even simpler, and the bias edges wouldn't be particularly difficult to handle.

I came across two thought provoking blogs. Elizabeth Barton laments the way quilt artists keep making the same quilt over and over. This may ring true to anyone who's been to a big show lately. If you're going to Houston, or even just look at the pictures, see what you think.

In this post, Leah Day, who is writing a wonderful blog about machine quilting, discusses the kind of quilting that wins prizes. To sum it up, "more is more." She's right, I think, but I have issues with that idea, not just from the practical standpoint but from an artistic one. Anyway, the post and her whole blog is well worth reading, full of very practical ideas for free motion quilting on your regular machine.

And finally, for readers, I found this article in the New York Times about a woman who almost a year ago resolved to read a book a day. She reviews the book the next day on her blog. (Clearly, she doesn't quilt.) I'm always looking for books to try, and her list and the reviews should be a great source. They're mostly, but not all, "serious" books, not best sellers, but are relatively short. I found some I knew and liked, but many more that are unfamiliar but promising.