I grew up in Pennsylvania Dutch country. My mom spoke "Dutch" to her brothers and sisters and lots of Dutch words and phases were used when they spoke English to us kids. ( In case you don't know about Pennsylvania Dutch - it is really a German dialect and not Dutch at all!) Schnibble (pronounced shnibble - rhymes with kibble) means a little bit of something - so it could be little bits of fabric for this quilt or little bits of paper when you cut out something or little bits of yarn or... almost anything else. The German dictionary lists the word schnippelche as a noun meaning snip, but growing up we always pronounced it schnibble...so I'm using my version.
This quilt is based on string pieced quilts, but I use the construction of each block for the "quilting." As you sew on the schnibbles, you are quilting each block. You then sew all the quilted blocks together to make a full size reversable quilt. I have attached photos of 2 quilts. One is made up of 25 blue cotton blocks and fits on my queen size bed, the second is 16 blocks and is a lap quilt made of purple corduroy fabrics.
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Signing UpStep 1: STEP 1 - START CUTTING
25 squares of fabric - 18" - BACK SQUARES
25 squares of batting - 18" - BATTING
SCHNIBBLES = strips of fabric - varying widths & lengths12 strips of fabric 3 1/2 " wide for binding at least 80" long.
Sewing machine
Scissors or rotary cutter
18" template of acrylic or cardboard (optional - you can carefully measure and cut squares by hand)
BACK SQUARES: Cut out 25 squares of fabric for the back. I use 18" squares and end up with a finished quilt that is 78" x 78" which I use on a queen-size bed. Use fabrics that you like, because this quilt is reversable and you want both sides to look good. The squares can be all one fabric or you can use coordinating colors.
I use a rotary cutter and an acrylic template to cut out my squares. For the 18" square template, I went to the local glass cutter and had them cut a piece of acrylic - they smoothed the edges. It cost about $17. You could easily use a cardboard template and cut them by hand.
Cut BATTING: Cut out 25 squares of batting at 18" to match the back squares. Any kind of batting that you like, I have used polyester and cotton...and have some bamboo waiting to go.
Lay one of the back sqares face down and lay one square of batting on top
SCHNIBBLES: Rip or cut strips of fabric into various widths (I use strips from 1 1/2" to 3 1/2".) Use a lots of different colors & patterns. The weight of the fabric should be similar, Don't worry if the weights are slightly different. Cotton fabrics last longer then polyester, but if polyester is all you have you can certainly use it. I use whatever I have in the back room.
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1. Sew one row of blocks together. Press the seams flat. Topstitch a short piece of binding over each seam. (18" of binding). Sew the rest of the rows and press seams and topstitch binding over each seam.
2. Sew row 1 to row 2. Press seam flat and topstitch a piece of binding over the seam (about 78" of binding). Sew the remaining rows and press seams & topstitch binding on each seam.
3. To bind the edges, open up the binding (that you worked so hard to iron) and fold down the top edge about 1" ...then on the schnibble side, match the raw edge of the binding to the edge of the quilt and sewing about a 1/2" seam stitch the binding to the edge of the quilt. Flip the binding around the edge of the quilt to the back side and topstitch the (folded) edge of the binding to the quilt. I end up with a binding of about 1/2" on the schnibble side and a binding of about 1 1//2" on the back (which matches the size of the other binding strips that cover the seams.
Hope this helps - along with the drawing.
In step 2, are you sewing the strips to each other, or directly on top of the batting? I guess it's on top of the batting, which is why you quilt as you go. Are there any tips to keep it aligned/keep the batting from puffing things out of place? Do you need a wider seam allowance than the traditional quilters 1/4 inch? Normal stitch length?
As for keeping it aligned, it doesn't matter if it goes slightly wonky, or if it is crooked, or even if you accidently sew on a schnibble with the back of the fabric showing rather than the front. With all the colors and patterns, no one can tell if it is not perfect. The seams can be whatever width you want, some of mine are much more than 1/4". And yes I use a normal stitch length.
Lovely quilting, I should really get my sewing machine out of storage...
Great jop on your ible!