Saturday, May 13, 2017

The Scraps are Always Greener in May

I’ve been cutting green scraps like a madwoman, and I have the dead/numb right arm to prove it. Thank goodness for ibuprofen! I have a lot to show this week, and am linking up to Scrappy Saturday over at Angela’s blog. If you are craving green, that is the place to go!

So let’s get started. This week, I made the green shelf of books for my bookcase quilt. Normally, a row consists of 5 twelve-inch finished size blocks. This time, since the row was going to be all green instead of a combination of two colors (like the blue/teal row), my goal was just to sew a continuous line of books that was all green, 60.5” across, with seam allowance. The number of blocks, per se, didn’t matter.

This is what it all looks like as a finished unit. Sorry for the bad picture and the odd coloring/shadows of my design board. That orange coffee mug is a big question mark; more about that in a moment.


Here are some closer shots, from left to right....

First, my favorite area, with a fishbowl.  Kim and I were sewing together when I came up with this. And since we had just been talking about Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn getting their stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, I had to name them Kurt and Goldie.


In the next section the books definitely seem to be listing to port. I was going to say the section is straight-up books, but they’re definitely looking tipsy. In double checking the actual section, it’s just the way they are pinned to the design board in the picture. Yikes!



OK, here is where I need an opinion. The orange coffee mug is temporarily positioned there. Should the mug stay, or should we vote it off the island?? Or keep it in a different color perhaps? If it stays, I will naturally trim out the handle area before fusing it on.

Moving along, here is the rightmost section.


Once again, I have filled the bookcase with such well known and best-selling titles as  A Walk in the Park, Downton Abbey and (my favorite), Turtle Parade!!  Selecting titles is my favorite part of this process. Yep, I still have some growing up to do!

But wait, there’s more.  Oh my, that sounds like an infomercial. But I digress. I also knocked out my 6” Plus blocks, 16 of them. I have no idea yet if these will become a quilt on their own, or if they will be filler blocks for something else.


This next week will see me sewing on green bowtie blocks, green friendship stars, and finishing the Stars and Stripes quilt top sashing. The blue fabric for the sashing arrived and it looks good, so time to get that moving along.

I spent a good deal of time in the yard this week. First I cleaned up my potting bench and surrounding area to allow our garden service people easier access to the back yard with their huge mower. Our back grass is postage stamp sized (we have more garden, patio and flower beds), but they want to use the big mower. One circle around it will get all the grass. Seriously. Up to now they’ve just been using a weed whacker. But whatever..... Anyway, I also got most of my flowers purchased so that I can begin planting and setting out all my lovely Talavera pots on the front porch area. The irises are just opening up and I plan to make a point of getting some pictures this week. Any green thumbing should fit right in with our color scheme this month!

Happy Mother’s Day!

Cathy maroon

23 comments:

  1. Your blocks all look wonderful!! I love the fish bowl on your book row. So cute!!. I like the mug. Not sure about the color, but I like it!

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  2. I like that green row of books a lot. The mix of greens is great. I think the mug should stay and I think the orange is good. I like the way it echos the orange in the fish.

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  3. The orange mug stays! Just a nice little pop of color. Love the bookshelf idea. Can't wait to see it finished. I'm just making simple crayons this year, and I haven't even started playing with green yet.

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  4. I love the RSC green book shelf idea! Can't wait to see you finish you quilt later this year. I want to do one next year.

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  5. You have the best ideas for your book shelf rows, Cathy! I love the fish and the mug, even its color. They add some whimsy on your green shelf. We are getting ready to do battle with tall grass and weeds (after being away for a week, things have gone crazy!) and I'm hoping to get to the garden store for plants this week! Have fun with your pots!

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  6. I love the way you are organizing the bookshelf Cathy. There are great titles with the green books. I think the fish bowl and the mug are perfect! Have fun with your garden!

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  7. I vote to keep the mug! And the fish and fish bowl were a cute addition too.
    Love the books. I'd like to read some of them some day. Tipsy books remind me of my bookcases of books....no cute things there...just books and dust bunnies.

    I've been enjoying working outside too. Weather is finally something other than cold and rainy.

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  8. these book shelves are so cool. Really personal and FUN
    I think the mug may be balanced in color when you see the different shelves together. A surprise element gets attention.

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  9. Oh what fun! LOVE the fish bowl. Your scraps are so bright and cheerful. Great bookshelf! I haven't tried one of those yet.

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  10. Love the bookshelves and I say keep the orange mug. Great fish bowl also.

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  11. Wonderful, different quilt. Love the fishbowl and I love orange so am a huge fan of the mug. Hugs, lj

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  12. Great bookshelves and love the fishbowl. The mug is cute too, such a fun quilt.

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  13. Wow!! You were on hyperdrive this week!! I'm with the Keep-the-Orange-Mug crew. The mug supports the "Rule of Three" in "decorating" your shelf.

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  14. Good heavens, what a lot you accomplished this week on the gardening front as well as the sewing front! Love your green bookshelf. The fish bowl is super quirky and I love the coffee mug. Please let it stay, Orange is perfect.

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  15. I love the green bookshelf "as is"! Who matches their coffee mug to the book they're currently reading?

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  16. Keep the mug. Great little pop of color. Oh geez. I've been waiting so long to be outside and finally our weather is cooperating. Was outside most of yesterday getting rid of the nasty weeds mother nature has nurtured with all the rain. We spent a ton of money at Menards...do you have Menards there? We will be replacing the fence the tree took down last year as soon as I can get those boys here at the same time.

    Happy Mother's day
    xx, Carol

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  17. I say the mug stays. I am drinking out of a orange mug on most days. "The Romantic Collection" is too funny. I love reading your bookshelves.

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  18. Oh my goodness you really got your green on this week!! Looking forward to seeing the next set of greens.

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  19. I think its appropriate that some of the books bulge a bit. Seems to me you are setting a lot of objects holding liquid on top of the books. Of course, I live with the queen of gravity, so my concerns about flying liquid objects may just reflect my own problems.

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  20. My vote is for the mug to stay (not that I know anything at all about what works in sane quilting!!). I like the green shelf of books!

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  21. Another vote for the orange mug, to balance Goldie and Curt. It will be amazing to see the whole bookcase together. Keep up the good work!

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  22. This row is amazing! I love your fish bowl with Kurt & Goldie. I say keep the mug--it's a nice pop of a different color. But with a quilt this fun, there is no wrong! Go with your gut. If your eye is going to go to it and that will bother you, cut it or change it out with a different fabric.

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  23. Love the fish bowl with Kurt and Goldie.I also like your 6" plus blocks. I should take make a few. I have so many green blocks I did other years. Kind of running out of ideas.

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