To combat the overflowing bin of blue strips and strings, I’ve been string piecing on 4 1/2″ wide sections of phone book paper. This turned out to be a great project to take on last week’s quilting retreat because it doesn’t require concentration or precise piecing.
Megan’s “Blueberry Crumble” quilt inspired me to make “Sail Away.” (Megan posts bi-weekly, upbeat and informational tutorials on her You Tube channel, Tiny Orchard Quilts.) Modifying her design, I increased the width of my strip-pieced bands and incorporated larger sections of a sailboat fabric. I also included some red strips for interest as they draw attention to the tiny red buoys in the theme fabric.
For quilting, I chose an off-white thread so the “Sea Worthy” pantograph design of sailboats and anchors would show up against the medium blue background.
Believe it or not, I did not use the whole fat quarter of sailboat fabric or all of my blue strips and strings, so I see another “Sail Away” quilt in my future.