Friday, March 9, 2018

Sewing O’ the Green

I did get a lot of sewing done in the early part of the week with my green scraps. And I’m sharing some of them in this post. Others I'll save for next week. Today I’m exhausted. It’s been an emotionally charged and draining week. A roller coaster. But life is like that sometimes, and sewing sure helps to even things out for me. Sewing and quilting melt away stress, sadness, anger, even boredom. Does it do that for you? And I find if I add music (current playlist is Ed Sheeran and Mary Chapin Carpenter), time just floats happily by.

And so I’m cheerfully and green-fully linking up to Angela’s Scrappy Saturday party.

First up are the Squared Away blocks for March. They’re this month’s installment of our Rainbow Scrap Sampler for this year.  I love the left one. The right one, not so much because of the fabric I chose. They are 10-inch blocks.


And then I did about eleven selvage squares measuring 6.5”, unfinished. Because I have very few dark green scraps, especially selvage scraps, I decided to mix all the greens for these blocks instead of focusing on just the medium to light ranges.


Next up was a Geese Migration block, a lovely pattern by Cynthia Brunz (of Quilting is more Fun than Housework). You can find her free pattern HERE. It’s a great stash buster.


And this weekend I’m joining in on Cynthia’s Oh Scrap! linkup. There are many of us currently working (or who have already finished) her Geese Migration pattern. These are only some of my blocks, and they’re on my design board with the fabric I’ll be using for the background and sashing.


The gray fabric is a lovely cotton called Linen Look by MakowerUK. It has a wonderful, rich color and drape. And I believe it shows off the colors to good advantage. Now there are probably some of you eagle-eyed stitchers who have noticed that my blocks are not all stitched with the same orientation. The yellow and pink blocks (and even the yellow and pink ones that aren’t shown) all have the geese on the left, while the rest have the geese correctly on the right. So, all I can say is ..... do all geese fly in the same identical formation every time? And if they do, then Oh.Well. I’m not changing them. :-)

I haven’t decided if these will be set on point, as shown in Cynthia’s pattern, or if they will be set like shown above. To date, I’ve never done an on-point setting (there! I admitted it!), but this quilt’s finish and Bonnie Hunter’s Ringo Lake pattern (I’m still sewing those blocks together) both call for on point. We shall see.....

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The rest of this post is pretty much for the birds...... my Lattice Birds quilt. I need to come up with a better name. Suggestions welcomed at any time!

This was the bird I made last week:


 And then I added three more:




And THEN I combined them with the blue members of their flock, as well as the inspiration fabric by Tamara Kate that will become a border, backing (and parts of blue birds).


Oh my, I am really loving this. When we get to blue again, there will be at least two more blue birds, maybe more. Blue and green will be the primary colors of the quilt, but we will also see some other colors. I added some pulled fabrics for those future birds in the picture below.


Oh, yes please! The birds will be flying all over the quilt on a Kona White background. Between the birds I’ll have a dark royal blue lattice made of single Irish Chain blocks. I plan to do those when we get to the dark blue month. I hope it turns out as nice as my drawn plans!

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Tonight we’re going to cap off the week by seeing the WellRED Comedy Act (The Liberal Rednecks) in Salt Lake City. Have you heard of them? Funny as heck, intellectual, but rather rough language. Bruce and I have tickets with Cousin Kim, Cousin Carrie (Kim’s sister) and Carrie’s adult daughter Jenny. It’s a dinner show.  And I’m looking forward to laughing a lot.



26 comments:

  1. I can't imagine my life without music. I have an ADHD friend who finds music distracting. How sad. I know all the words to "Perfect" except I sing "barefoot in the park" because if rhymes better than "grass." Your bird quilt will be stunning!

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  2. Your blue and green birds are adorable! They really do look as if they are flying around on the white background!

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  3. Those birds are so pretty, I'm almost tempted to make some myself! You can have your geese flying any way you want, although they always want to fly in a V formation. Textile geese, however aren't so fussy!

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  4. Your geese migration blocks look fabulous.

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  5. I love your birds too ;) They look amazing, in green and blue, it's going to be a very pretty quilt. Love the other green blocks too, you have been busy!

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  6. I just love your bird blocks! I have made many bird blocks myself but I don't recall seeing that pattern before. Did you make it up or is it something I could find somewhere?

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  7. Since your blog is new to me I did some poking around after I read this post the first time. I've now seen the evolution of your bird, just fabulous! Also, I looked through many of the quilts in your quilt gallery -- so much gorgeous eye candy! I've added your blog to my blogger dashboard so I won't miss the things you work on in the future. Glad I found your blog!

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  8. I love the birds! and your geese are great= and you're right: geese don't fly the same way all the time. way to mix it up!

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  9. The geese in my neighborhood fly every which way, especially when we have roller coaster weather, so you can mix the flight pattern any way you want.
    I love the birds (I'm away from home,so I haven't had the opportunity to play with that block, but I will). Moda Bake Shop has a bird house block that you might be able to work in. It's going to be a happy quilt.
    Pat

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  10. Sweet GREEN projects in the works. LOVE those birds!! Sorry you had a rough week, but dinner and a show should perk you right up.

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  11. I absolutely adore those birds! What a happy quilt they're going to be!
    I've got Geese Migration in my queue, but who knows when I'll get to it. I keep getting ambushed by fabulous new projects - like by your birds, f'rinstance...

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  12. Reading these Saturday posts is so dangerous for me, because I want to make everything! I love your Geese Migration blocks and your bird blocks so much! And isn't it amazing how different the two Squared Away blocks look just by reversing where the white fabric is? Hope the coming week is calm and uplifting, Cathy!

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  13. Your Squared Away blocks are a great example of how fabric placement mixes things up and gives you totally different looks.

    I think your Geese Remixed are fun and it's great you are just going with them. I really like that block and someday when I finish a few quilts I'm going to make one.

    Ah...the Birds....wonderful...

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  14. Great blocks and I LOv for Geese Migration blocks and the way you have set them out. Beautiful!

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  15. Your birds are going to be so wonderful, flocking all together! Blues and greens with touches of the other other brights in your inspiration fabric...perfect! And yes, a bit of sewing can help distract from those sorts of emotions that we don't want to dwell on. I hope next week is better for you in that regard :)

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  16. I love those birds and the accent print you picked out is fantastic! It's going to look great!

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  17. Molly suggests you name your quilt "Yummy Birds." She is also impressed with your progress and is thinking of giving me an emotional rollercoaster so I can be more productive.

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  18. Love, love, love the birds - can't wait to see more of this quilt!
    Fabric therapy & laughter = two of the best things for soothing the spirt. And music , too! To quote MCC "why walk when you can fly?"!

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  19. You are inspiring me to make some bird blocks too. That quilt is going to be fantastic.

    And the geese migration blocks are amazing. You are really doing a great job with your fabric selections. I put my geese on both sides too. I think it adds interest!

    Thanks for linking up with Oh Scrap!

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  20. I think your name "For the birds" is perfect! What fun they are. I really love the flying geese blocks. They are a fantastic way to use leftover bits.

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  21. Lovely Geese Migration quilt Cathy - inspired to now get on and complete mine.

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  22. I'm doing the Geese Migration quilt as well and it's so fun to see everybody else's versions. I have not seen those birds before that you are making. They are SO CUTE!!

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  23. Such wonderful eye candy today. The birds are great in those wonderful bright colors. I love Geese Migration. I've hopefully saved the info on how to make it. What a stash buster! Thanks for sharing all of this today.

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  24. I love your birds! My favorite so far are the florals. I love the flying geese RSC too. You have a good eye for value and placement.

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  25. As I read this post I was all in like with the geese blocks but THEN I saw the birdies alongside your inspiration fabric and all I can say is oh wow!!! How I love those birdies!!!

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  26. All so pretty - looking forward to seeing how the birds turn out!

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