Friday, March 5, 2021

Green, Green Scraps of Home

Well, this week saw some warmer weather across the US, a rocket that blew up after landing, some short-sighted governors opening up their states and ending mask mandates prematurely (have they never heard of Spring Break?), and crocuses popping up all over. The first and last of that list is what we’ve enjoyed the most as we have begun taking longer and more regular walks around the neighborhood. And some evenings we even forget to turn on the gas fireplace. Those are sure signs of spring in my book!

For eyes that are starved for green, many of us are thrilled that Angela chose green for March in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I’ll be working in all my green scraps to make green versions of blocks that will eventually become rainbow (all-color) quilts. So, first I started with blocks left over from last year.

For these half-nine blocks, I only needed two colors of blocks to finish up - green and orange. So, this month I made the eight green blocks. They aren’t sewn into the two big squares, just plopped up on the flannel of the design wall. I haven’t decided on the final setting of these versatile blocks.

 

When we get to orange, I’ll sew those and then the blocks will be ready to sew into a quilt. Next I sewed a mama cat 12” block. You may not be able to tell from this picture (wink), but this Momcat is pregnant! Yep, her five kittens will be delivered sewn by next week, so stay tuned! 


The other green blocks for this week were three green Spring Stars.


Two of them are for my collection of Spring Stars that will go into a 20-block RSC star quilt. The third one (bottom one in picture above) is the 11th of 12 blocks needed to finish this former BOM quilt. I felt it needed a true green. Anyway, I started these blocks in 2019 at a local quilt shop, but the class got cancelled due to Covid and I’m just finishing them up on my own. I’ve got one block left to do, but am undecided between orange or blue for the final block. Here are the 11 blocks up on the design wall (this isn’t the final layout).


So, what color should I use for the final block? 

Orange?


Or Blue?

I’m even open to another color. But right now I’m leaning toward orange. 

This week was also the final week for the Stay at Home Round Robin (SAHRR). The hostess Gail called for Pinwheels for the final round. I’m linking up to this week’s Linky party.

There was no way I was going to do pinwheels all the way around this quilt. It would’ve been too busy. What it needed was a border. So first I added a 1” red stop border all the way around, and it then measured 44.5x58.5”. 

Then came the final 4.5” green border and four pinwheel cornerstones. I know it looks wonky, but that’s just the way it’s partially pinned/partially hanging from the design board. The design board doesn’t go down far enough, so I can’t pin the bottom portion into the wall. 

It measures 53x67’. Now we have until March 29 to finish up. There will be a Linky party then for everyone who participated to show their final quilts/wall hangings. I have finished piecing the backing from some leftover red checked fabric and some green and navy scraps from the top. Stay tuned. 

And since I’ve become the creative repository of scraps from our Salt Lake chapter of Quilts for Kids, I’ve been using the RSC color of the month to pick out scraps and projects that match that color and sew up a few quilts. This month after going through everything, I’ve come up with five hopeful kid quilts to make; (1) green/blue frog scraps, (2) green/gold/brown Flower Fairy panels from Angie, (3 & 4) some seahorse border print fabric to make into 2 quilts, and (5) hopefully a miscellaneous scrappy Green Thang.  

The frogs grabbed me first. The focal fabric was a piece measuring about 13” x 22” - not enough for a quilt on its own, but with a little help from scrap “friends", this is what I came up with.

The central frog panel was surrounded by a 1” yellow border to echo the yellow in the frogs’ chests (seen better in the closeup, below). After that came a 3.5” green foliage (“swampy”?) print, then mixed 4.5” squares of remaining frog print, a blue and green batik, more swamp foliage and darker green cornerstones. Next were two side strips to widen the top a bit. These were sewn from 2.5x4.5” scraps, and there were just enough to do those two strips! Finally I added a 4.5” outer border of light blue polka dots. It really is light blue - not as dark as the picture makes it appear.

It was quilted with a basic stipple. The back and binding is this fun leafy green print from my stash. The final quilt measures 39.5 x 47.5"


Next week - seahorses! Green kittens! And more green scrappy goodness. Stay safe, wear your mask and get your vaccine. xo

17 comments:

  1. LOVE that GREEN foliage backing on the Frog quilt, Cathy! The Pinwheel corners were the prefect finish for your SAHRR and I think an orange block would be a nice finish to that BOM quilt. SEW many GREEN block (and many more to come!) I am a big fan of this month's Color of the Month so I say, "Bring it, Cathy!!"

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  2. Neat frogs!! Another sign of Spring, right??;))
    I love your "Mama To Be" cat--so cute in that perky green print...
    I say go for it= Orange!!
    I totally agree with your feelings on mask wearing etc. This is how you move BACKWARD!!
    Have they learned nothing in this long year??? S I G H
    Hugs, [from the now fully vaccinated] Julierose (Yes!!);)))

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  3. Yes, bring on the green. I really like the Spring Stars. I don't need to start another block, honest, really, I don't. What I really need to do is finish a baby quilt, figure out what to make for Hand 2 Help and put away the snowmen. We're cold today, but headed for near 60 next week. Yay!
    Pat

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  4. Clever use of the frog fabric - what a great quilt you created. Your Round Robin quilt looks super, good call to only use pinwheels in the corners of the outer border, it would have looked overly busy otherwise. Definitely Orange not Blue.

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  5. Looking forward to seeing your other kids quilts! Frogging in the Spring is cute! I got stopped on my SAHRR. I don’t know what I was thinking, but my orphan block did not lend itself to fabrics in my stash! Lesson learned...when you have seven rounds of border you’re gonna need a lot of fabric! I’m going to finish it into a rectangular lumbar pillow top!

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  6. Love all your green blocks and your beautiful quilts. I would go for dark orange for that last block.

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  7. Very busy and productive week again for you!

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  8. There is such love and beauty in this post. The Spring Stars have so much pizzaz and the SAHRR is so cheerful but I am in love with the paisley green cat. Paul is finally considering getting a new cat and I am keeping my fingers crossed.

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  9. I'm always craving green this time of year, too, so it's the perfect color for March! I love those half nine blocks - it will be fun to see your quilt made of them. The round robin looks great! I like your idea for using the pinwheels just as cornerstones. Have fun with your green Quilts for Kids this month, too!

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  10. Oh, gosh, your round robin looks so good! I keep wondering what to do with those pinwheels. The corners of the borders are a really great idea. And I love your frogs, too. Keep that mask on! We're not out of the woods yet! :)

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  11. You have inspired me: if I ever get another cat, I'm going to name it Paisley! Can't wait to see the paisley kittens! Perfect pinwheel corners on your RR quilt - they make me smile.

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  12. Hi Cathy! Well, well, well. Look how has a completed SAHRR quilt top. I agree - a whole border of pinwheels would have been WAY too busy. Perfect choice. So, how are you going to quilt it?!! For your 12th block, I really studied your blocks for a bit. I really think you need a navy-featured block. The blue block you have reads as light blue to me with the navy holding a secondary post. Just my two cents - whatever you choose will be perfect. I hope you are both well! ~smile~ Roseanne

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  13. Hi Cathy!

    The pinwheel cornerstones are PERFECT for your border. And the border certainly ties the whole quilt together. Lovely job!!!

    Hope to see you back for the SAHRR parade on the 29th!

    Thanks for linking your SAHRR!!

    Happy Quilting! :-)

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  14. There are no thumbs up emoji's here! So colorful and sweet!

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  15. Frogs were my favorite animal as a kid, so of course I love your frog quilt! And I also love the idea of "scrap friends." I'm late to the commenting game so I won't vote on the final block color :)

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  16. Your SAHRR turned out fantastic!!! I really love the colors and that ribbony star border takes the cake! Great job. Take a bow!

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