Power Strip Sets

I have been teaching this workshop, Power Strip Sets, for a while and keep thinking of more ways that the lowly strip can be used to make interesting patterns. Sunday I decided to get out the fabric and try a few out, just for fun.

I began by fusing up a kit, which is two different half yards of hand dyed rainbow fabric and then cutting strips with the pinking and wavy rotary cutter. These strips are cut about 40" long, since that is the about the length of the fabric from selvedge to selvedge. Then they are then fused together to make new striped fabric and then cut into squares.

I could stop right here and say Ooohh! I could make a quilt with these squares, alternating them with plain colors and it would be a dazzler.

Or I could alternate them horizontally and vertically for a wild take on Rail Fence, or do you call it Roman Stripe? Or set them on point and alternate with a different simpler block, say a Log Cabin or a square within a square, also on point.

But for the sake of experimenting, the squares are cut into triangles, four from each square.Half have horizontal striping and half have vertical striping. I have ten sets here, and these are all made from one long 6 1/2" set of stripes.

Imagine the possibilities for variations if I made two or three sets of stripes, some with fewer wider strips and some with many finer strips. The mind boggles.

This is one of the 18 variations that just happened when I started playing around. I call this set the Tip of the Iceberg.

I am putting all these variations into a Power Point presentation for my next class, and making the samples that go along with it, today. At least that is the plan.

The Hidden Wells Stripe Series quilt that started this whole thing.