Saturday, May 9, 2020

Dark Green for May

Things have been busy around here. Today, with the help of extended family members, we are going to be tilling up the raised garden beds (we have a tiny tiller just for that purpose) and installing the drip irrigation. If we have time, the planting will begin. Since it will all be done outdoors, it should be easy to maintain our proper 6’ social distancing during these crazy pandemic times. No masks, but no hugging either. And sometime this weekend I’ll plant flowers in my Mexican Talavera pots for the front walkway.

It finally feels as though I had time to do some quality sewing this week, and I made a good start on May’s Rainbow Scrap color, dark greens. I’ll be linking up to Scrappy Saturday to share and see what other quilters have been sewing up.


Here are the 10 Twin Sisters blocks I sewed yesterday (above) and the Scraptastic Star block, below.


It was quick work to get the pink and blue Happy Blocks sewn together into a flimsy, which used up all of the leftover Monet-like floral sheet I had left from other backings.


I also sewed up a backing for this with leftover blocks and some pieces of pink and blue fabric, so this can hopefully be sandwiched up soon.

But the fun project I’m working on this week, and it’s my One Monthly Goal (OMG) for May, is sewing up the garlic knots into a flimsy. But I have a decision to make about the layout, and I’d like your help.  I’m not sure if I want to do a random, scrappy layout or a rainbow color wash (gradation) layout. And should the blocks all be facing the same direction or turned to form linking chains? My design board isn’t large enough to hold all the blocks at once, but the quilt will be 8 columns across (shown) by 10 blocks down. I could only fit 6 rows for these examples; the teals, blues and purples are not shown, but will be included in the final quilt.

Here are the options. Which one(s) do you like?

A.  Color gradation, same direction


B.  Color gradation, chains


C.  Scrappy, same direction


D.  Scrappy, chains


I should tell you that I plan to quilt it in an overall pattern, something simple as usual. Even if I end up going with a chain pattern, I won’t be doing any fancy patterns in the white areas. In fact, I’m not overly enthusiastic about all the white areas (give me COLOR!), but as this is a potential gift quilt, I’m trying not to let that “color” my choice. Pun intended.

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Alfie and Darla have been having lots of fun over the last couple weeks with a pair of blue scrub jays that have apparently set up housekeeping somewhere nearby. Whenever we have the front or back doors open, leaving the screen or storm doors, the kitties like to lay nearby and watch “cat TV”, most especially the Bird Channel.


The scrub jays are large and loud and relatively fearless (like Magpies), for a bird.  I’m not sure if they are taunting the cats or trying to communicate.


For Alfie and Darla’s part, I’m pretty sure they’re just considering menu options.


32 comments:

  1. I love "D" scrappy chains--(are you surprised hahaha?)but they are all really lovely--you did a great job on these blocks...nice that you could get the garden going...we are still having VERY cold temps--32 degrees this morning--uhh what month is this anyway??
    ~ ~ ~ waving with the parka on this morning Julierose

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  2. I love your Garlic Knots blocks and vote for option C, scrappy one direction. I like the fact that the white background makes Garlic Knots shapes in the other direction when the blocks all face the same way

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  3. Oh, scrappy chains for sure. That way it looks good in any direction. Love your green windmills!

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  4. I like A. It looks like the chains lose the gradation

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  5. I like A and C the best. I'm sure any way you arrange it that it will end fabulously! Glad to see you are keeping up a marathon quilting pace. Wow, can you get things done. Great job.

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  6. I'm voting for D - for some reason that layout is speaking to me. But what do I know - I'm so not a sane quilter! And you can tell Alfie and Darla that I like watching the bird channel too.

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  7. I don't think you could go wrong with any of those layouts! Rainbow Chains? Sharp intake of breath, which must mean that one is my favorite. Happy gardening and SEW glad you found time to play in your Dark GREEN scraps this week!

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  8. Gardening day sounds like fun, and hope everything is getting accomplished that iscon your list, Cathy! I love your garlic knots, and I think layout C is my favorite. Hope Bruce is healing well, and keeping up his good spirits!

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  9. I vote c also. Pattern more distinct there

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  10. I prefer the first gradation option but would probably make more blocks to smooth out the gradation. Hmmm...that may be why I end up with more extra blocks than the quilt.

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  11. When I made mine I used C and like how it turned out. Glad extended family will help with the garden.

    I am thinking about Scraptastic Stars for next year. Hoping to have all my various sized scrap boxes emptied after this year and have just squares to deal with. (Yeah, dream on...)

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  12. Hi,
    I like A and C...have a great day!

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  13. My choice would be C, for what it's worth. Guess you will have to decide what you like best! Our cat loves to look out the window at the birds too, and makes little noises as she gets more and more excited!

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  14. A is my first choice because I will always choose a spectrum layout. ;) But I also like C. I am making these blocks as well as my current L&E project & haven't decided what my layout will be when I finally get enough. But I'm guessing it will be A or C. LOL Yours look great.

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  15. I vote for C, just because that's what I always like, but you get to vote for whatever makes you happy. By the way, I think the birds are taunting the cats. They're cheeky that way.

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  16. Your knots are so bright and happy. I agonized over the layout on my garlic knot quilt too. I like the chains, either B or D. But C is really happy and random. And what’s not to like about rainbow rows in A. There, did I help?
    Hope you get your garden ready! We had freezing temps both Friday and Saturday night. I’m waiting a bit before planting anything!

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  17. I like C best because the garlic knots keep their identity, which becomes lost in the chains. Also, no big white spaces. And I just love the LOOK of scrappy, with the economy of it as just a bonus.

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  18. I vote for C. Happy you can gather with some family and plant, we aren't quite warm enough. Soon!

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  19. I like the chains, especially the scrappy one. You're lucky to have so much help with the garden. You're also lucky you don't live in New England right now, as we just had a little snow...in the middle of May!

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  20. I like C the best. The white space seems less and the random color placement ensures that all blocks will work. Great idea for RSC blocks.

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  21. Glad to see you getting back in the groove! A small return to what passes for "normal" these days. I like C because I tend to put everything in rainbow order and it's good for ME to see how wonderful those brights look all mixed up. Totally selfish of me, I know. And I would be tempted to do fancy-shmancy quilting in the big white spaces, and who needs that kind of pressure right now? Go with easy, I say :)

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    1. PS I love seeing your kitty all crouched and intense about the jay! Meanwhile, the bird is all, Whatever, Cat.

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  22. Hi Cathy! I wish you a Happy Mother's Day. I hope Bruce is hanging in there and doing well. Good job on getting the tiller out and put to good use. I vote for either layout A or C. Go with what makes your heart sing! ~smile~ Roseanne

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  23. Love your Garlic quilt. For me, there's too many warm colors to make option A but I really love D. Anywho, that's my twopence. Love the cats watching the bird. It looks like such a lovely day. Sigh! Enjoy it for those who are still stuck in Winter Weather. ;^)

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  24. I'm really drawn to the chain sets for the Garlic Knots. OTOH, I can definitely appreciate the same direction setting if you're planning to use all-over quilting. Either color setting looks great. I'm a lot of help, eh? ;-) Whatever you choose, have fun with it!

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  25. No chains - set me free, please. I like the non-chain layout because the negative space forms the same garlic knot block in the background. And that is super-cool, in my opinion. How come your dark greens look so exciting? Mine are so UGH that I am having to resort to trickery to complete the RSC blocks this month :-(
    On the upside that floral sheet flimsy is a wonderful idea for a quick quilt or four. Big hugs to you and good vibes for Bruce's continued recovery.

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  26. Scrappy, same direction gets my vote. (Looks like whichever you choose will be fine, given how scattered the voting is!)
    I've gotten up in the morning several times to find our cat sitting in the kitchen sink watching the bird feeder that's just outside the window. Apparently it's the best view in the house...

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  27. Color me traditional scrappy .... my choice is C. All four renditions would make a fabulous gift! Love the kitties. We have a window bird feeder that is always tuned in to the Bird Channel. Polly (my kitty) sits on her perch and is mesmerized all day with an occasional pat on the glass to change the channel (make those birds fly away and wait for more to arrive). Lol!

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  28. For what it's worth... I like "C"... xox

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