A little layout

My string quilt will be 6x6, so a total of 36 10" squares.  Well, actually less than 10" because of the seams, but I like to make lap quilts, and I know, from having made a bunch of these before, that this size is quite adequate for a curl-up-under quilt.

So a layout with 9 blocks done.  Just playing around here; I have 27 more blocks to make and arrange.  What always surprises me with these string quilts is how how the colors ultimately interact with each other.  I carefully put together strips in some sort of order, but when you start to arrange them, the total effect is greater than the individual blocks.  Self-evident, I know, but I hadn't planned on this being a red/white/blue quilt, but that's what's happening.  Serendipity at its best.  Those dark blues were just tossed in because I needed more darks.  Surprise!

I love doing these things.  I lay down the first strip, and then decide how to put down the rest and in which order.  It doesn't look like I do that, but I do.  Most people just grab the next strip from the pile and sew it down; I don't.  What I do is slow, but what I'm most interested in in quilt making is the interaction of the colors and patterns. Speed is of no importance to me.