Scrappy String Blocks

For the past few weeks, I have been trying to find a pattern to use up my scraps. I tried this diamond pattern:

It takes four blocks together to get the diamond:

I am not totally thrilled with this one.  The diamonds are too big and  I really want a white background. Also the majority of the scraps I have are a bit too narrow for this size block.  I may continue later to make enough of these to use for a border; right now I am just not feelin' the scrappy luv for this one.

I recently visited  Outside the Lines blog and saw a string quilt quilt she is working on in this post.  I liked the center star and decided to find a pattern to try it out.  I found a few patterns on the net, but ended up using a smaller one (4.5 inches finished) from my own book collection so I could use some of my 1.5-inch string scraps.

Again it takes four of these to make a finished 9-inch block:

I do like the white background. 

 I toned down the "scrappiness" by making each of the three stars around the center in the same fabric.  I am making each 9-inch star block in different fabrics.  All the blocks will have the same white background with a black fabric for the outer star and black for the four corners:

So far I have made three sets.  It takes about 30 minutes to sew one set if you have all the pieces already cut.

 I am liking this pattern.  The aqua and purple block is a bit off. I changed it to black and white and you can see why.  I need more contrast between the aqua and purple.

It's not enough to make me toss the block, but I will pay more attention to the next set of colors.

All in all, I am having fun sewing these. So I will continue on until I get bored and then I will figure out exactly what to do with them.