Shades of Green -- clippin' right along

Why stop after finishing Hannah's Rotation???

Shades of Green has reached a flimsy stage. 82"x100". I ended up doing the boring-border layout instead of a pieced one. So be it. {{Doesn't it match my blog colors nicely???}}

And it's only 8:10 p.m. Maybe Steppin' Out will see a flimsy stage tonight too??? All I have left with it is borders...

Along the same wavelength of "shades of green,"... our indoor greenhouse is in full bloom. Watermelon, cucumbers, beans, banana peppers, some other kind of peppers, and LOADS of tomatoes all sproutin' nicely. Two weekends away from Memorial Day here in the States; therefore two weeks away from planting the outdoor garden.

Happy Saturday

Sat. morning update...

First----Paul caught me "studying" online the other night and snapped a picture. I didn't even realize it until I uploaded pics to the computer.... Anyone dare to guess what I was "studying" on YouTube??? ;0)

Last night, I pulled out my Shades of Green top that was started LAST March! I had intentions of finishing it by quilting it in sections, but .... well....now that I'll have a frame (how far away is TUESDAY!?!?!?!), I pulled out the three sections and started piecing them together.
I needed to halt when getting to the borders, because I didn't have my original-planned border fabric anymore, so I needed to go shopping. {{yeah, Helper-Caitlyn couldn't resist posing}}


Since I needed fabrics for Black/Red Pineapple Blossoms and Steppin' Out and American Classic, and now Shades of Green, it was time to go shopping!!!

I choose THREE fabrics to use as a triple border for Shades of Green, bought some red for Pineapple Blossoms, some different "starry" red for American Classic,, an AMAZING fosil-fern (sp??) fabric for Steppin' Out, and OF COURSE....a few odds-n-ends in the form of FQ's ("shirtings" and some red/blues for the BOM). I also picked up some lovely double-pinks and pink paisley, in addition to a blue (reminds me of civil wars, but not quite sure since I've never really researched them)....And to finish it off, 10 yards of white (not pictured). I just LOVE LOVE LOVE quilts that use white in the background-----ANY color matches!

The only sewing I've accomplished so far is so put together a pillow for Cassie's horse latch-hook that she finished up last weekend. Simple pleasures..........she hasn't stopped hugging it.

So---we've had an early lunch and I'm back off to downstairs.
The house is a mess
Laundry is piled
Dishes are piled....

{{shrug}}
I sense a huge multi-task frenzy......but not now.

Maybe tomorrow?????
;0)

This -n- That day...

FIRST!!! To start the post; we are newly-made proud parents..... I really don't know if I ever informed any of you that my DH acquired yet another "Farmer Paul" animal. Last autumn, Cattle-ine joined our family, a pregnant heffer. This morning started with a new member. The picture is not the greatest, but I'm about 150 yards away, so....it'll do. Paul woke me up at 6:11 wondering if today was Monday or Sunday--UGH! Once I told him Sunday, he went "potty" and then snuggled back in. ME, on the other hand, shheeeesh---now I was wide awake, so....6:22 I finally rolled out of bed. Figured I might as well make use of the morning. Anyway---I peeked outside, and there she was, licking away. I got all excited and told Paul.....he didn't believe me! Come to find out that when he went to the bathroom, she was laying down with no calf, so she literally JUST calfed. The girls are still sleeping, but we both are up, eating muffins I made, drinking coffee, and are waiting patiently to share the news with the girls.

Okay---now to yesterday. I use this word a lot, but....it was a day of "putzing." It started out by working on the March quilt. All blocks were completed in the morning hours and were pieced into three sections. I think this will sit for a bit now while I decide how I want to quilt. I just purchased a new Machine Quilting book that takes me through the "practice" steps of accomplishing beautiful??? quilting.

After the sections were pieced, I came upstairs for a mid-morning snack and grabbed the book. Practicing my quilting sounded like a good plan, so I tore out a page of phone-book paper and traced a rather intriquite (sp?) design. I used an orphan Scrappy Basket block AND I grabbed the basting spray to finally try it out on a smaller-scale project. It worked rather slick! BUT, if you are going to use the "draw-motif-on-paper-and-sew-over-it-before-tearing-it-off method, I recommend to NOT spray the paper to the fabric. That was a PAIN to remove!!!

In addition to buying the quilting book last week, I also bought a whole bolt (25 yards) of white muslin (very nicely woven!!!) for $1.00 a yard! Couldn't go wrong there. Pictured is also a roll of 10 yards of Warm & Natural batting that was on sale for $5.99/yard. I should be set now for awhile :0)



While waiting for lunch to cook, I browsed over some of my online quilting bookmarks, and came across this Cathedral Windows tutorial from some time ago. I was instantly inspired, so I headed downstairs after lunch to give it a try using the new muslin. SLICK! This is FUN! I can foresee this being a larger-scale project in the future, but I think I want some sort of "controlled scrappiness" with the window colors, so this is just a small wall-hanging as a visual reminder for "someday."

Then...I actually was bored with the quilting room. I didn't know what else to work on and really didn't feel like sewing.


Paul was outside with the girls, working on his own version of "putzing." He was preparing the garden for tilling; covering it with some old leaves and compost that has been "brewing" since last year. I joined in the fun......

















And this last picture was a surprise on the camera this morning. Last night, Candace and Caitlyn "borrowed" the camera again. Caitlyn snapped the pic of her and Candace; it turned out amazing.

Happy Sunday

Some quick work...

I didn't get any quilting done last night, at least not with the sewing machine. Instead, I grabbed the markers and graph paper and started planning a quilt top for the next "Advanced Beginner" quilting class that I'll be offering during the month of May. Some of my ladies from the Beginners class has shown interest in the "next" class, so......

But tonight, I did head downstairs for two hours. During which time, I finished putting together all the pink double-nine blocks.....





......and sewed together 15 more March blocks, which now brings me to a total of 20.




I am now upstairs watching "Castle."



Boy----I have a lot of projects on that WIP and UFO list! AND, this new class is right on the horizon, so I'll have to put some time into that this weekend.....

One day at a time :0) I can't really say One project at a time, though!!!! :0)

Happy Monday

"March" quilt tutorial

Many members at Quiltville Chat are planning to create a Green Quilt for the month of March. Bonnie's Jared Takes a Wife is the pattern being suggested by Bonnie, but I wasn't feeling up to that quilt. Instead, this quilt (pictured from a 2005 Fons & Porter calendar) has caught my eye. The directions have been long-lost, I'm sure! I found this in a box of goodies from my mother last summer. Here is what I've put together to make this baby though..... I'm simply calling it Shades of Green.


Fabric selections.
Greens: 13 FQ's & and a 1-yard cut that I plan to use for a border
Lights/creams/golds: I started with 8 quarter-yard cuts, but needed to add more. In the end, I think I used 14 quarter-yard cuts (that's 3.5 yards of fabric total)

From each green FQ, cut three 3.5" strips & three 2" strips. (note: you shouldn't need the 3rd strip unless you want to create some sort of pieced border or maybe you'll want some pieced binding???). I was also able to cut a 1.5" strip to toss into the 1.5 strip bins (SOME FQ's allowed me to cut a 4th 2" strip instead of the 1.5". I've set all the extra 2" strips aside for now.

From each of my original light 1/4 yard fabrics (there were 8 of them), I cut one 3.5" strip and three 2" strips. (Yeah, that's half an inch MORE than 1/4 yard, but my lady always allows for a smidge more! WHEW! If yours doesn't, you may need more than the suggested amount listed above in the fabric list.) When I needed to supplement some more, I only cut what I needed. Sorry that I don't have exact amounts here!!! But I'm fairly confident 14 quarter yard cuts will suffice.

From the green 3.5" strips and using the EZAngle ruler, you want to cut 5 SETS of 4 half-square-triangles (HST) from each fabric. (That's 20 total from each fabric). AND you want to cut five 3.5" squares. Cut wisely! I started by cutting the 20 HST's from the strips, then used the "scraps" to cut the squares. I was only left with a small sliver of fabric from the first two strips, and about 2 inches of scrap from the 3rd.


When completed, you'll have 20 HST's (5 sets of 4) and 5 3.5" squares from each fabric. Once you've cut all 13 fabrics, you'll have 260 HST's and 65 3.5" squares. (NOTE: You only need 252 HST's and 63 squares---the extras, I'm setting aside for now until I decide what to do with them.)


Using the 3.5" light strips, cut 260 HST's using the EZAngle ruler. These DO NOT need to be in any sets; complete randomness is they way to go. Again, you only need 252 HST's, but I went ahead and cut the other 8 just to have "matches" to go with the extra green HSTs.


Lay out one set of HST's; all 4 greens match and the lights should be random. (If you elect, go all scrappy with the greens as well! Your choice! :0) ) I'm keeping my quilt somewhat "Controlled Scrappy."





Sew right sides together. One nice thing about laying them out before sewing is you can try to match up notched pieces together. It doesn't always work out though. Press towards the greens, and clip those lovely Dog-Ears!! :0)




Using 25 of the 2" green strips and 13 of the 2" light strips (recall, my greens were cut from FQ's and my lights were cut from WOF), strip-piece together and press towards the greens. (Note: I threw in one more green strip (26 total) to complete the 13th light WOF strip). Subcut strips into 2" pieces; each strip-set should yield 10 cuts which should result in 260 total. You only need 248 for the proposed layout, but again, the more the merrier to be used in the extra blocks or to be used in a pieced border.

Sew into 4-patches, keeping them as random as possible. You will need 124 4-patches for the proposed layout; you'll have a few extra if you've cut 260 subcuts from above.





Using 26 2" light strips, strip-piece together randomly. Note: Before I sewed, I cut each strip in half (to make two 20-22" long strips) just to create more of a variety. Once pieced, press to either side and subcut into 2" sections. Make FAST work here by stocking up the cutting mat and cut away! 260 subcuts should be the result; We only need 256.



Sew into 4-patches, keeping them as random as possible again. There is no rhyme or reason here----go scrappy! You will need 128 4-patches for the proposed layout, you'll have a few extra if you've cut 260 subcuts from above.





Using one set of pieced HST's, one matching 3.5" green square and 4 "light" 4-patches, layout the "light block." Piece and press seams in one direction. You will need 32 Light Blocks total.






Using one set of pieced HST's, one matching 3.5" green square and 4 "green" 4-patches, layout the "Spinning Star" block. NOTICE the placement of the 4-patches! You want the greens to be diagonal-ing out from the center. Piece and press seams in one direction. You will need 31 Spinning Star Blocks total.



Once all the blocks are finished (I have only the 2 samples done at this point), here is my proposed layout. Please excuse the non-completeness of it. I drafted in up on Excel; but Excel doesn't allow me to color triangle-shaped pieces. So, I started hand coloring on the print-out until I had enough to see the pattern, but then I stopped. I think it should still be enough for you to get the idea. At this point, if you have a perfect 1/4 inch seam (I STILL don't, know matter how hard I try!!), the quilt measures 63"x81" before any borders.


Go creative with the border. I am AMAZED at some of the borders I see when reading blogs off the Quiltville group. For example, take a look at Threadbare's border on her DoubleDelight. That is AMAZING!

Okay, this should do it. I've double-read all the steps, and I don't think I've left anything out. Are there mistakes?? Probably! Just let me know if you have questions or if something seems to be incorrect!

Happy Quilting!

Update

Andee's version: Green Bay Packers
(http://moderndiary.blogspot.com
/2014/08/green-bay-packers.html)
LOVE!













Regina (Bitnbyaquiltingbug) shared her pre-finished layout with me. What creativeness on the color placements of her 4-patches!







Here is a shot of Judi's (in Ohio).

Yesterday morning, I started the day by sewing on the borders for Nancy's (Life is a Stitch) mystery, and also sewed together the bonus triangles to make 24 pinwheel blocks. I see Nancy has posted step 6, but I haven't jumped into that one yet----but I sure wasn't expecting Piano Keys (step 6) for this border. How cute! I'll have to see how I can incorporate these pinwheels with her mystery border suggestion.


Once that was set aside, I plunged back into the Scrappy Baskets and Diamond Stings quilt, which I am now calling Grandma & Catherine. I still had to tinker around with the inner border(s) in order to get the outside string blocks to fit nicely. The difficultly I'm having (had) was that blasted light fabric I used in the string blocks. It's SO THIN, definitely NOT 100% cotton! It was from Grandma's stash and I used up everything that was left over from the OC quilt last year.

Anyway, at this point, it'll lay on the floor so I can see it everytime I pass by. I'm not ready to put on a final border (the fabric shown on the bottom left). I will make this bigger, so.......thinking about what I can do to accomplish that. More blocks? More borders? That's what I have to figure out......

DH shooshed me out the door at 10:00 cuz he knew I wanted to go to the LQS (local quilt shop). (and he wanted to go fishing when I returned).

As always, I ONLY had intentions of visiting and do some window-shopping. Yeah right! I saw a crate of FQ's (10 for $15.00); a BEAUTIFUL pack of greens caught my eye. BUT, dutifully, I placed them back and kept window shopping. Then, I went to the back "clearance" room and saw some lovely creams and golds, but once again I was desciplined and walked away. As I walked and chatted, I walked by the FQ crate again; those greens kept calling my name. So finally.....I caved! Then I figured since I had a handful of greens, I might as well go back and see about those creams and golds. In the end, I didn't go too crazy, BUT I did come home with some beautiful fabrics. The entire time I was picking them, I was thinking about the "March" calendar picture. So, upon returning home, I turned on the computer and played around with a layout (using Excel----I don't have any quilt design software. Excel is limited to what you can do, but it works well enough for me.)

Since then, I have been pressing and cutting and sewing and pressing some more and cutting some more and sewing some more. :0) One thing about buying fabrics from this shop---THEY SMELL SO GOOD when I press them! Her shop ALWAYS smells lovely!

There have been two ladies requesting some simple directions for this quilt, so I'm ending this post in order to put another "tutorial" post together.

Happy Sunday!