Friday, June 15, 2018

Teal Zeal

I guess I could’ve titled this post Aqua-something or Turquoise-something, since those are all the colors (not blue but not green) that we’re working with for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this month. But it’s summer and I’m lazy, so there you have it. Teal.

My scraps this month are tamed as much as they’re going to be. Lots of nice chunks got put away to use for next year or for when I decide what other teal/aqua/turquoise blocks I’ll need for other WIPs.  For now, here’s what I finished up this week to share.

I made 13 - 6” (finished size)  quarter log cabin blocks. It always seems as though I have an odd number of these blocks when I make them. 


This month there will be no birds sewn because that color is not represented in my Birds in the Lattice quilt. So, the final blocks for this month (unless I begin a new project) are my 6” (finished size) crumb blocks. I got seven of them before the smaller scraps ran out, and really didn’t want to cut down any bigger chunks.


So, that leaves me a couple weeks to twiddle my thumbs sew on other things. So, just for the sheer joy of piecing (because I already had all the orange lozenges and a large pile of black and another of white 1.5” squares), I worked on these lozenges.



I was sewing these into 3x2 blocks, then sewing those together. Only I kept going and somehow got the starting colors reversed. But this is still early days in this quilt top, so it will be easy just to add to the bottom part before proceeding. And that little lozenge in the second row, fourth from the left - that has got to come out. That fabric needs black corners. But that, too, is an easy fix. Anyway, I’m liking it. I don’t know when we will have orange month for the RSC - hopefully not next month when I’m gone for half the month - but I plan to work on this pretty heavily this year in order to finish it up by Christmas. It’s already 2 years old. At least 90% of the cutting is done. 

And then, guilt struck. Bruce’s poor Groovy Guitars flimsy shamed me mercilessly (“Having fun piecing, are you? What about me? I need to be appliquéd!"). And finally when I found one of the tiny purple circles that represent a tuning peg, I caved and switched gears yet again.

You may recall, the top looks like this:


After reattaching the errant purple tuning peg, I began hand sewing those down. That was no fun. Well, it was, but the other larger pieces are not taking well to being scrunched while I hand sew. So, I actually began machine appliquéing them down. All the blue parts are done, and now I’ve started on the yellows. They’re done with the exception of one seam.


The very fine thread I bought for the appliquéing of Groovy Guitar didn’t work out. It was just too fine. Originally this was meant to be a wall hanging, but Bruce wanted a useable quilt. So I expanded the edges and filled out the guitar shapes, adding headstock motifs, etc. to make them all float on a larger black background. The fusible, per the instructions, was not lightweight, but a lighter medium weight. It has changed the hand of the pieces and I hope it will soften after washing. But at this stage, using a fine thread was not cutting it. So, I’m back to my 50-weight Aurifil and it is behaving admirably.  

Today I’ll finish up the yellow and do the orange and perhaps move on to the green and purple. I’d like to be able to sit down and enjoy some slow stitching of all the tiny dots once everything else is secure. Then I’ll probably add a red border. My goal is to get this ready to be basted by the end of July. 

This garden photo was taken last Monday, and the garden has grown even since then. The various squash plans (left side, middle area) all have blossoms now, as do the tomatoes and the tomatillo. We’ve finished up the radishes (“we” meaning Bruce, because I hate them) and are feasting regularly on spinach. And I’ve been making lots of rhubarb-strawberry compote for the freezer to enjoy during the off-season.  

And the white climbing rose in the middle on the back wall is now blooming mightily. It’s lovely to sit out on the patio and see it all!





23 comments:

  1. You made good progress this week. Looking forward to seeing what you will work on next (since you are done with your TEAL/TURQUOISE/AQUA scraps for the time being!)

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  2. WOW Cathy, You always impress me with your production of blocks.Well done!!

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  3. I know it isn't the color of the month, but I absolutely love the orange lozenge blocks! And your garden looks wonderful! I'm going for the chaotic look with mine (although I have spent some time weeding in preparation for my Dad's Father's Day visit)!

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  4. Your garden looks amazing. And the lozenges are wonderful. I also suspect that you did make teal birds and Alfalfa's mouth is quite teal.

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  5. An amazing amount of sewing - love it all! Those lozenges look great. The fact that I now love the colour orange is still a surprise to me. When I was a little girl I hated that colour - in fact looking at it made me feel nauseous. Then suddenly about 20 years ago I found I was actually looking at clothes that were orange and even bought trousers, a T shirt and a dress that were orange. And I enjoy wearing them!

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  6. Beautiful teal blocks, they are great looking all together! Still in love with your guitar quilt ;)

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  7. Love the garden (mine is really growing well too... well, the weeds anyway!). Lots of progress made - the teals and the lozenges look great. I kinda like the orange rebel one without the corners in there! My son would love that guitar quilt.

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  8. I really like your quarter log cabin blocks, Cathy! They have such a neat effect when you lay them out together like that. Bruce's guitar quilt is really amazing! That kind of applique wouldn't be my favorite either, but hopefully it's going to all be worth it in the end!

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  9. "Teal Month" is my favorite. Radishes? I HATE them, but when I was pregnant I CRAVED them. Go figure. I just love your garden and how organized it is. We do a little at a time in the garden. We have had A LOT of rain that has kept us inside to watch the weeds grow. Now it is in the 90s and HUMID. HA! the weatherman just said that we will have a cool down next week. The temps will be in the 80s, lol. It plays havoc with Terry's COPD. I am plugging along on my Endeavourer challenge. A real learning experience.

    The guitar quilt is looking great.
    xx, Carol

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  10. Always love seeing your colorful blocks. And thanks for the word "Teal". I might just use that in a quilting project that I'll be working on later today. I'm quilting all day today! It's quite a process to get to the quilting machine, so I get a few things prepped and rearrange the room for the task. No gardening for me. THat's hubby's job!!

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  11. Those quarter log cabin blocks are great. Is there a plan for the layout for them? When I pulled my teal/aqua/turqoise bits, I followed the not blue, not green guideline, but then I keep second guessing some of them thinking they are blue or green. I don't think I'll have enough little pieces to do many crumb blocks. I struggled to get one 16 patch from 2" squares.
    No garden here, the deer consider it a salad bar. We've had very little rain since April, so I guess it's a good thing I don't have to haul water for veggies. It's hard enough keeping the deck pots watered.
    Pat

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  12. I admire your teal blocks, but you know that the orange lozenges have my heart!
    Your guitar quilt looks like a fun challenge - good luck with all that applique!

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  13. Love the teal blocks--but I also favor those lozenges--I tried making some (they are stashed away in some box under the bed!!:00) and my flippy corners came out all wonkified --like a lot of my stuff I guess. I may try to unearth them after I get off my "basket train" (woo-woo chug-achuging-a-long--about to begin # 3: #2 is going to be a gift for an injured quilter so can't show it as yet...) Am I wordy or what???;000 must be the appearance of Mr. Sun....
    hahaha anyhoo..love that orange one a lot..
    hugs Julierose

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  14. I was never much of a turquoise person, but I am really loving all of this turquoise. I have quite a few turquoise quilts myself so it is growing on me. LOL

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  15. Your turquoise blocks are coming along nicely. I'm impressed by your orange lozenges. If they were round, they would be pumpkins. Maybe they are anorexic pumpkins. The guitar quilt is fantastic. Love the little circles. Have a fun week!

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  16. You had to use "teal" in the title, because what the heck rhymes with turquoise or aqua?? Your scrappy blocks look great as they always do, because you've got good, bright scraps to work with. I mean, look at the saturated color in those guitars! Someday those scraps will work their way through your system, if you can stand the sight of them after you get this big project finished :)
    louise dot hornor at gmail

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  17. Lots of pretty blocks happening there.

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  18. Too bad the Teal Zeal is at an end. Lots of goodies there.
    So your lozenge quilt will be all orange?
    And I always love some garden goodies!

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  19. Sorry to hear Groovy Guitars is not behaving well. I don't know what fusible you used for the applique shapes, but SoftFuse is a very lightweight fusible. I've used it several times and been happy with the results. The garden looks great! So far we've had cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers from our potted garden. Still waiting for squash and eggplant...

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  20. Pretty teals and oranges, but I have to admit it's the guitars that catch my eye the most. Glad it nags you into working on it once in awhile so we get to see it again!

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  21. Love the guitars and the teal blocks, my favorite color!

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