Posted on by agilejack

A Little Glimpse of Green

I was scheduled to play pickleball tonight but after playing for almost five hours yesterday I decided to pull my name from the schedule. Yesterday’s play session was the BEST I’ve had in months! It was so much fun! The games were real battles and so much fun. I knew tonight couldn’t top that. Plus, I’m tired and I need some recovery time!

My coach was there and I haven’t seen him for at least a month. He just came back from out of town. He was very complimentary about my playing and told me that he thinks I’ve reached a higher rating level than I was aware of. So that was really good news. Let’s see if I can keep up that level of play!

It rained all day today. My poor dogs are so bored and need some action. The only thing that is keeping my head up is the forecast for this week.

It’s hard to believe this is actually true! I’m really looking forward to some sun and some outdoor time this weekend! I’m also looking forward to opening up all the doors and windows to let the fresh air in!

I had to make a trip to Costco tonight to pick up some of Bender’s anti-epilepsy medication and there’s so much construction around here it took a lot longer than I hoped.

I’m pretty sure I sat in that spot for a full six or seven minutes. Luckily I figured out a better way to get home so I didn’t have to wait again. (and yes… it’s time for an oil change.)

When I got home I hit my sewing room to whip up a few of my green blocks to get a feeling for how this new quilt will feel. The green blocks are basically a quarter log cabin block with a little twist. I saw a quilt on Pinterest years ago that sparked this idea. I never did find out who made it. That’s one of the problems with Pinterest.

The twist is that I’ve inserted a small strip of a bold black and white stripe with an accompanying mostly white fabric right next to it.

I love those little chicken feet! It’s a little bit of humor in these blocks!

That little bright green square in the lower right section of each of these blocks is a Brandon Mably design called Sand Dollar. It’s been out of print for some time but I have a few tiny pieces of it in my stash. I thought it would be fun to use a small piece as the starting piece for each of these blocks.

After the black and white rows, I continued on with varying strips of the green prints. And, of course, this happened.

I continued to add strips to these blocks until they measured a little more than 8 inches, then squared them up.

The color in the blocks above is much truer on my computer than the photos that follow.

And hmmm. that one in the lower right is so wonky! That’s why I love wonky quilts. Wonky is my super power!

And now it’s time to combine these blocks with the low volume black and white nine patches I made a few days ago.

My original idea was to set these blocks straight, alternating the green blocks with the white blocks.

I’m not loving these blocks set this way. I think they really need to be set on point.

It’s hard to get a real feeling for this with only four blocks. I think I’m going to like it but I’m not sure I’m going to love it.

I’m wishing I had planned a nine inch block instead of 8 inches. But since I made all those nine patches, I’m going with the original plan.

These blocks took longer to make tonight than they should have. I’ll have to get more efficient and quicker for the upcoming blocks. The good thing is that I’ll only need to make about 40 of these blocks.

I need to get moving because I have a lot of ideas going on right now!!!

47 Replies to “A Little Glimpse of Green”

  2. The green blocks are fab , you’re right, putting them on point makes them really special. I love green.
    A pickleball club has just opened here, I think I might give the taster session a go!

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  4. Love it! I was having a difficult time picturing how things were going to come together and as I scrolled down I was pleasantly surprised. What fun! I 2nd the vote for the squares on point as well!

    Anne, I was wondering if you could offer a tip on how to keep those small strips of fabric so straight. I am a beginner quilter and seem to be drawn to patterns with thin strips. I’m sure my seams would be super crooked. Thanks in advance!

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    1. You may notice that the quilts I make with narrow strips are more free form piecing where precision doesn’t matter. That’s the kind of quilt I like to make. I’m really the wrong person to advise you on how to keep those thin strips straight. Mine are terribly wonky! Sorry I’m no of help on this.

      Anne

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      1. Thanks, Anne. You could have fooled me. To my untrained eye all of your seems look nice and straight. Perhaps with all the patterns in the fabric etc. the strict straightness doesn’t matter. Looks like I have been stressing about nothing!

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  5. Loving the green blocks (I didn’t see that black & White twist coming) and I absolutely agree that on point is the way to set them – much more dynamic that way!

    What are you thinking for the border? I’m loving the green row flowers, that would be pretty cool! And of course I’m hoping you have enough of the bold black and white stripe for the binding…

    Rachel

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    1. I need to make a note of the black and white stripe selvedge while I still have it. I may have enough for the binding but need to be sure.

      I hadn’t thought about a border but now I should think about it. And I don’t have to make as many blocks that way!

      Anne

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  6. Yes to the on-point setting.

    If the 9-patches weren’t already made I’d say to put a lavender/purple square in the center of each. Might a bright yellow sashing in the on-point setting be an idea?

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    1. Interesting ideas, but I changed a few things tonight and am liking this much better.

      I’m not ready to sash an on point quilt again! I just did that and need a break from it!!!

      Anne

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  7. I’m looking forward to seeing this finished. I love the black and white with a pop of green and especially like it on point! Keep them coming!!

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  8. I’m amazed at the colorful quilts you make. I just don’t have that vision myself. This quilt is going to be spectacular and I’m also glad they are on point. I’m so impressed that you played pickleball for 5 hours. WOW!

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  14. I know what you mean about Pinterest. I saw your sneak peeks with Blk/Wht (low volume?) fabrics, and it got me thinking about my conglomeration of fabrics cut into 5×5’s. Mostly dull/murky KF fabric florals, I’m not fond of. I thought the Blk/Wht might make them appear more alive. So I went down the rabbit hole…fast forward…bought a $13 scrappy Quilt Pattern from UK Etsy, only to find it isn’t what I expected at all. I wanted a pattern using 5” HST’s. This pattern looked like 5” HST’s from the Pinterest photos, and came up that way in the search…but it ends up using cut up pieces of 5”x2.5” and 2.5” squares.

    I am new to this machine quilting idea, and wanted to ease into it… This pattern looks to be pretty easy, but definitely not what I was going for. (It’s called “Great Scrap Quilt” by Andrea Sims, incase anyone wants to look it up.) I’m sure I will use it eventually, but it makes me a little irritated.

    Good news on your Pickleball ranking!

    Capi

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    1. There are a lot of free patterns and tutorials out there. I don’t buy a lot of patterns. I bet I’ve only bought a dozen or so over the many years I’ve been quilting. But I do like to implement my own ideas. That’s the fun part for me.

      Check out Jordan Fabrics on You Tube. she has a ton of great quilt making tutorials and I learned a ton from just watching how she handles fabric, how she presses, how she cuts. I still use techniques I learned from her videos.

      Anne

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  15. The straight set looked good. Love your fabric choices! But setting them on point was a game changer! It’s going to be beautiful!!! Can’t wait to see the finished quilt.

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  18. On the straight set they looked great but on point they look fabulous!

    I wonder what you will surprise us with at the end. You make very exciting quilts and I love waiting for the ‘clincher’ at the end. Mary :))

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  20. What about using a green strip to make your 9 blocks bigger or using a recurring color in your green printed fabrics??? kinda like a binding???

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  21. Hi Anne, I LOVE your green quilt! And I agree about setting them on point, good choice! It is a fun quilt, indeed! Thanks for sharing

    Diane

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      1. I knew it would be a Toyota, but not the exact same car! I only got mine last year, because my 07 Yaris, that we got new, has a broken thingy in the rear end

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