In my local quilt last month we learned a little bit about how to sew a string quilt. I was so surprised at how simple it was to sew….and with the foundation piece you can keep control of all the pieces.
The process is very similar to Mile a Minute sewing….except you have a back or foundation piece.
There isn’t any hard and fast rule with the size of the foundation piece. You can pick the size– and then cut enough foundations
Materials Needed:
random strips of fabric
foundation piece -you pick your shape and size
How to Sew a String Quilt~
1) Cut your foundation pieces to the size you’d like your finished block to be (or maybe add just a titch so you can trim it later)
2) Taking your first background piece and lay one strip right sides facing up– pin in place if you need
3) Lay the second strip right sides facing the previous strip. Sew to secure
4) You can totally speed piece through this part. Sewing one piece after another.
5) Iron the strip back
6) Continue the process on either side of the strip that you placed at the beginning, until the foundation piece is completely covered
7) Place right sides down and trim your block using the foundation piece as your guide
Ready to make a string pieced quilt?
Flamingo Legs String Quilt Pattern

Becky Jorgensen is the creative quilter behind Patchwork Posse, the Patchwork Planner and her online quilt group Patchworkers Plus. You can find her patterns in books, magazines, and her quilt membership. Gather your quilting supplies, organize your sewing space, explore the process of disappearing quilt blocks, or finish a free quilt pattern. I'll help you use what you have, finish what you start and make your quilting journey fun!
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This is a great pattern for a quick quilt. Thanks
How do you get the rest of the tutorial i.e. Put the blocks together to form the quilt, how and at what stage do you quilt it? etc. Do you have to be a member to get the pattern?
Ellen- it’s right here: https://www.patchworkposse.com/string-piece-strip-quilt-tutorial/
Thanks for letting me know it isn’t linked here. I’ll go ahead and add it!
This was one of the first things I learned when I Joined my Guild a few years ago. For foundations we used a piece of muslin but I have seen it done with blocks cut from old telephone books. This way you get to recycle, reuse.
I do this directly onto batting, quilt each square to a larger piece of batting and use scrappy sashing to join the squares to finish the quilt.
I’ve used a foundation piece ever since I started quilting. I was pretty much self taught relying mainly upon memories from my childhood of my grandmother quilting. I was 20 when I first started and we didn’t have access to wonderful resources like the internet back then. While I admire lovely quilts made from traditional patterns, my preference for quilts I make are crazy quilts, crumb quilts and string quilts. I love making something lovely from scraps and leftovers, recycling old clothing, curtains, sheets and the like.