Saturday, January 25, 2020

Creature from the Green Lagoon

Winter has been treating us pretty well so far. It has rained and snowed here, which is good from a water standpoint. And the snow is usually overnight or when we don’t have to travel. So naturally, we appreciate that. Of course, I’m declaring our appreciation to the world because I’m hoping that if the weather gods are reading, they will spare us the nasty blizzard on the day we leave town in a couple weeks. We’re making our annual trek to Arizona to visit family, and last year we had to postpone our departure by a day because of the conditions. Do you think they will be reading my blog? Right. Me neither...

So, I got a lot of quilty stuff done this week. We had our first Quilts for Kids (QFK) workshop of the new year last weekend, and it was fun as always. Because we knocked out the quilting of our 200+ backlog of quilts in December, I was actually able to just sew. I checked out a quilt kit (Gumby-themed, because Gumby’s creator lived in our neighborhood in So Cal when I was growing up. I went to school, with his daughter Ann. Literally, we sometimes walked together to school, although she was a year behind me). Sorry, I digressed there. Anyway, at the end of our QFK workshop, I did get three quilts to bring home and baste, quilt and bind for next meeting.

I finished a couple other quilts last weekend or early in the week. If you didn’t see my last post, you can check it out here, or just look at my Quilts 2020 tab just below the blog header. So, let’s move forward from there, shall we?

My two most recent finishes are two donation quilts. The first, shown previously as just a quilt top, is now done.  It’s a simple brown with blue polka dots fabric made from scraps donated to me by a friend.


It finished at 36.5 x 50.5”. I wasn’t that crazy about it, but after just a basic stipple quilting and a run through the laundry, it crinkled and softened up so much that I fell in love with it. Seriously, this fabric is at least 15-20 years old, and I can’t believe the texture and feel of this little quilt.


Next, the Gumby quilt was finished. There were two different orange fabrics in this kit, and they behaved differently in the wash. I’m not as thrilled with how this turned out, but some kid will love it I’m sure.


This was quilted with just a basic serpentine crosshatch for the body of the quilt and a herringbone loop motif for the green border.


And then it was time to get down to business and finish up the flimsy of the scrappy green quilt. The January color of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) is light and bright green. So, I wanted to use up my scraps and as many orphan blocks and bits/pieces as possible. I pretty much got everything in there. The blue strips along the sides will be the binding. They’re just pinned there for show. I’m hoping they will frame the quilt nicely, echo the blue in the inner border and provide sufficient contrast and interest. And also frame up those floating selvage “planets” (hehe) at the top. Yep, I even used those selvage circles from a couple weeks ago! I’m linking up to Scrappy Saturday at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.


There is plenty of wonkiness built into this quilt, as I fiddled and cut pieces and wedges to squeeze in to make the math work out. But I did it! The backing was sewn up yesterday, so this will get basted over the weekend.  I’ll also be basting up two more QFK little quilts and the pink and green checkerboard quilt (#15 on my Finish-Along list on the blog post I linked to above).


I’m calling this green scrappy quilt “Creature from the Green Lagoon." This monstrosity sweet quilt seemed to take on a life of its own, so it felt apropos. I’m not sure if I love it or not, although I have to say it was both fun and a challenge to fit all these scraps and leftover blocks and bits into a semi-cohesive whole.

And now, some gratuitous kitty photos.  First, Alfie. He loves nothing more than to snuggle up with Bruce.


And here’s Darla. Miss Darla used this picture as her audition picture for a new feature film called “Downton Tabby”. She tells me she won a lead role playing Lady Kibbleton.  (wink)


16 comments:

  1. The last photo sure shows off your cat’s eyes, so elegant. I love the white lattice that you added to the green quilt and juxtaposed with the bright blue gives it a nice zinger. It’s a very happy quilt.

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  2. I love your Creature from the Green Lagoon, Cathy! And the blue binding is definitely a great idea for it, too. We have not had any measurable snow since November here - I keep wondering when it's going to dump on us... You're right - probably when we want to take off on a trip!

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  3. Creature from the Green Lagoon is a great quilt. To me, it sure looks like it was worth the fretting. Gorgeous felines. No wonder Darla got the starring role. :)

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  4. Beautiful "put together" of all your many green blocks...I like how it's turning out...hugs, Julierose

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  5. Hooray for progress on your Orphan Block quilt in Light/Bright GREEN!!! Put ALL the things in there. LOVE it!

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  6. The second best thing about quilting blogs is kitty photos!

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  7. Love the creature from the green lagoon. The blue is perfect, and those little QFK quilts are sure to be appreciated. Fingers crossed that "traveling weather" hangs around!

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  8. It might be fun to get a hug from that Creature!

    Do they still make Gumby? ('ll have to check. That might be a fun Christmas stocking stuffer even for adults. They sure (adults and kids) like those Walk Walker things and I have a hard time finding a lot of those.

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  9. Cute donation quilts, and the Creature from the Green Lagoon turned out great!

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  10. For some reason seeing your Gumby fabric brought Mr. Bill to mind. Remember HIM? Well that got me thinking about one of our old friends that LOVED Mr. Bill. See how my mind gets off track in my older age, lol. The Creature is a great quilt. I've been wondering how Bruce is doing.
    xx, Carol

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  11. Well that creature is pretty adorable! Happy quilting!

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  12. Wow! You really went all in on the green scraps. It does look good though.
    Cute kitties.

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  13. Good Morning! Aww, this pictures of the kitties. I love them. And how is Paul doing? I see him enjoying some quality time with Alfie, so I'm hoping all is good. Oh, that Gumby fabric! I didn't know they still made that, or that kids these days would have a clue who Gumby is. How fun your finishes are! ~smile~ Roseanne

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  14. very nice donations quilts! Ahhh, the wonders of a warm kitty for aging hands and fingers, relief! and such a pretty STAR you have there with Miss Darla! She will do well in Downton Tabby!

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  15. I believe that you laundered the "mehness" out of the turquoise/brown polka dot quilt turning it into a snuggle-worthy lovable quilt. I love the touch of blue on your green quilt. Alfie is so much like our Jonesie - both in appearance and behavior. I have that orange/white floral fabric behind Darla. I used it on one of the Sister's skirt and headdress. It is the one that required some touch-ups with an orange marker. I am wishing you a safe journey to Arizona and back, requesting kind consideration from the weather Gods!!!

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  16. Oh yes - the blue is absolutely perfect with the greens! Wonder how many seasons Downton Tabby will be on the air....should be a runaway success.

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