HeartStrings is collecting Chinese Coins sections between Memorial Day and July 4th 2008 to make quilts for wounded soldiers.  The following are brief instructions for constructing the sections. For the mailing address to send RWB Coins, please email me at mmcjohnson@gmail.com

I start with strips and strings that are about 7 inches long. Colors should be Red/White/Blue. The *whites* can be white, cream, beige, or even tan with or without red or blue prints.

I sew all my strips into pairs.

and then sew my pairs together. At this point I have 4 strips per section. I DO not iron my seams until I’m finished piecing a section.

Sew two of the above sections of 4 together (8 strips or strings) and this is the point I usually stop adding to a section. You can make these any length but I like to keep them no longer than the ruler I’m going to use to cut them to size.

Iron your seam allowances in all one direction at this point.

You’ll notice that when I pieced my sections - I kept one side fairly evenly lined up - this makes it easier to trim. I’m going to trim all sides so I start with the uneven side and straighten up the top edge at this time too.

Then I turn my block and trim the other side and bottom edge. The section should measure 5.5 inches wide by however long you choose.  Some of your strips may not be a consistent width but as long as you square up the section as shown they will work.