Saturday, May 14, 2016

Let’s Go Green!

I don’t know why this week passed by so quickly, but it just blew me away.  I missed sewing for several days because of Mother’s Day, errands/yardwork and eye appointments - my new eyeglasses should be here in another week. Oh, and then we had new windows installed, so there were wood blinds to take down, new windows to wash and then blinds to put back up. It’s always something, isn’t it??  Excuses, excuses.

But I DID get some sewing done. In fact, my Dresdens are done, although they are not yet appliquéd to their blocks or the center work done. But that is the work of a couple hours and they will be ready to share next week.

This week, I did my Rainbow Sampler flying geese blocks.  The block for May is a 3.5 x 6.5” flying goose. I chose to do two together, making it a 6.5x6.5” block, so I made 12 of those.


Above you can see them as complete blocks, but just up on the design wall to snap an easy picture. Below they are all sewn together in their column. I chose to alternate pairs of light geese/dark sky with dark geese/light sky. I also thought it would add interest to change the directionality, so I played a bit and settled on this. No pointing down; it just looked odd, IMHO. So it’s right, up, left, up, etc.


I should also note that a lot of time this week was spent sewing, pressing and squaring up an endless number of half square triangles. Tomorrow I'll begin my 16-patch and improv blocks, so it will be nice to have the HSTs at the ready.  I have so many green scraps, I really don’t know what to do!  I’m not sure they’ll go back into the smallish drawer from which they came. Even though I’ve used A LOT, I did add all the green leftovers from my Splendid Sampler fabric pull.

I have decided to stop participating in the Splendid Sampler because I am really not enjoying it all that much. One of the blocks I needed to catch up on would have had (for a 6.5” block) 45 pieces!!  That was the final straw for me. I am just not into it.  So, here is a rough layout of what I have so far, interspersed with some scrappy pink blocks:


I’ve decided to add one more row to the bottom, and it will contain 3 plain pink blocks and 4 pieced blocks. I will do a kitten, some flying geese, and two others.  With 1” white sashing and a 3” print border around, it will come out to 56”x63”, a nice smallish lap quilt for a girl. Once it's a top, I can put it away until a specific occasion warrants finishing it.

Both Alfie (my supervisor) and I agreed this would be the best course of action. He also pointed out that I need to replace the center blue circle in the middle block on the very right column. It was supposed to look like Earth, but it doesn’t. So it will be replaced with one of the cutesy pink prints in the quilt.

"Mommy, I need some scratching!"

On Memorial Day weekend I’m flying to Seattle to visit my daughter, so I would like to get all my green scrap sewing done by next week. Yeah, I know. In. My. Dreams.

Once again I am linking up to the Rainbow Scrap Challenge over at So Scrappy. I always look forward to seeing all the lovely things the ladies are working on - such a great, supportive group. Why not check it out?

Cathy maroon

17 comments:

  1. Your greens are so pretty, makes me think of salad. LOL My greens are dark and dull, I will have to do some stash digging to brighten my batch up.

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  2. Someone ran off with my week, too.
    I love your geese - especially their tendency to fly off in their own direction!

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  3. I like your green flying geese, too -so fresh! And it sounds like you have a great plan for your Spendid Sampler blocks. So nice to have a new purpose for a project you've fallen out of love with!

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  4. Congratulations for deciding that the sampler project wasn't working for you (good job, Alfie -- you convinced her!) and finding a way to bring it to a satisfying conclusion.

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  5. I like how you arranged your geese column.

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  6. Quite a nice value range of greens plus a funny pose from Alfie!

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  7. You made a great column of flying geese! I now have inspiration to do my own smaller column, thanks! (My oldest son lives in the Seattle area....it is far away! Enjoy your visit!)

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  8. You will probably find a good use for the Splendid Sampler before you know it. Good idea to set it aside if it's not fun.

    I love Flying Geese. They are so versatile.

    Have a good trip.

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  9. Love your flying geese column, you're going to have a colourful quilt at the end of the year. I too decided to go no further with one of my projects and what a sense of relief after coming to the decision.

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  10. Very pretty flying geese blocks... and an adorable supervisor!

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  11. Good to see that the Supervisor has come up with a plan for you! Your pretty pink sampler will be a delight for any little girl. I agree with Kat. Your greens are very pretty, unlike my dull ones. I think I will give myself permission to throw a few yuck pieces away. I am sure it will be a relief not to have to look at them any more.

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  12. what a cute and distracting supervisor.

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  13. Pairing up the geese was a good choice, they can be used in lots of ways. I agree with your SS plans. It will make a sweet quilt with the pink. There's nothing that says we have to finish what our heart no longer cares to do. Have a great Seattle visit. I do miss it after almost 30 years.

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  14. The greens are so pretty. I'm not usually a green fan, but recently I have been seeing such pretty green quilts that may change. That darned Alfie has so much personality. I just love this pic of him. 45 pieces, precision cut and stitched to make one block blows my mind. Lovely to look at but a pain my a** would never accomplish or want to. You HAVE to love that stuff!!! But your pink top is just so darned pretty!

    Nice for you to take time out for a little visit on the holiday. Be safe and have fun.
    xx, Carol

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  15. I really like how your RSC flying geese turned out! FGs are one of my least favorite blocks to make, but I'm tempted to do some playing with them. I hope you have a wonderful trip to Seattle and give Alfie some scratches from me!

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  16. I think you made a smart decision to cut short the project you weren't enjoying and turn it into something that will be darling when it's done. Good luck with your trip to (and from Seattle). No doubt you've heard about the long lines at security check points?

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  17. again pretty greens on your flying geese collumn. Alfie is great supervisor, so cute! I like the way you are planning to set your blocks, and you did the right decision, if it was not fun, better stop.
    I had problems with the internet, from Saturday to Tuesday morning, almost lost the RSC link party.

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