Got strips? I do. And it is time to use up all those 2 1/2 " strips and pieces that fill 3 shoe boxes in my closet. My de-stash project will be a scrappy braid quilt, where anything goes, or at least almost anything. So if you want to sew along, I will be giving details and explaining how to put a scrappy braid quilt together.
I love scrap quilts, but there does need to be some sort of order or plan to make it successful. So I plan on working in colorways and blending by value. A simple braid ends up appearing complex, because it is "on point" or diagonal when finished. Yet it is very easy to sew and it "grows" in length quickly.
This is a snapshot from EQ5 of a "block" done in a simple braid, so you can see the easy construction. It is kind of like a log cabin--you just keep adding to one side instead of going around the center. The braid will not be done in blocks but in one long strip. And you have a zigzag edge to it that will be trimmed when the strip is finished.
Rather than re-invent the wheel or construction wheel, I guess it would be.....visit Bonnie Hunter at quiltville because she has a great tutorial on the pioneer braid construction.
So how do I plan and figure out how much fabric I need? Decide on the size I want to end up with....a lap size of 50 " by 60 " is what I usually aim for. In general, that size will require about 3 yards of fabric....so I think I have that in the 3 shoe boxes of strips.
The math: I am working with 2 1/2 inch strips .....remember to subtract the seam allowance. Finished at 2 inch works out to be----- 2 times 1.414 equals 2.8 inch diagonal measurement. (Note* refer to the photo above to see how the strips end up on the diagonal). Each strip in the braid will give me a diagonal length of 2.8 inches. I want a length of about 60 inches. Divide 60 by 2.8 and get 21.4. YUK! Don't like those fractions. So I will work with 20 strips for each braid and should finish up about 56 inch in length for the braid. That will give me room for adding a border.
So how wide will each braid strip be? That depends on me! I plan on using a separator strip of black---2 " that will finish at 1 1/2 " ---between each braid. I want an odd number of braids---design principle that odd is better than even. That means 5 or 7.....using 5 braids runs and a 1.5 inch strip between each one, the braids would need to be 7 inches wide to get the width. If I make 7 braid runs (again with a 1.5 inch strip between them), the braid width will be narrower, probably 5" or 6" which will be good for using smaller strip lengths.
So here's a mock up I created in EQ5 using 5 braid runs to give a better idea of what all those words and math figures meant.
Got questions? Ask them.
Got strips? Get them out.
I am going to check my stash and see what I have to work with.
Then I will explain how I will sort them and get ready to sew.
Here's a signature creator that I ran across last week for bloggers. Just thought I would share.
Happy stitching.....
The computer pattern looks gorgeous. Looking forward to the tutorial and the final result.
ReplyDeleteI would love to see how the paper pattern relates to fabric. It looks wonderful.
ReplyDeleteAll I can say is WOW! I sure hope your quilt turns out just like this ,I love it !
ReplyDeleteMaybe I will try one for next year .
I really like this braid!! I've always wanted to do one, but get squeamish about the bias. I love how youe explained the math! I may just have to ride your coattails on this one!! :-D
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Mary Lou