Blue, uhm, Busy Monday

I spent most of my day in the studio but did come in for a quick lunch and to do some blog reading.  I wasn't stuck, exactly, but I was tired and needed a little inspiration.  I generally begin my blog reading with some of the blogs I try to keep current with and then move on to some of their recommendations.  Today I found my way to 
So Scrappy  and am thrilled that I did.  You'll understand why in a bit, but first let's take a look at what was happening in the studio when I got almost stuck.


I started out with a plan to work on a small quilt for my sister's grandson.  She had an idea to have me make small quilts for each of her grandchildren using some of mom's stash fabrics.  Basically, I know two things: the kid whose quilt I'm working on and the kid's favorite color.  Today, I was working on Seth's quilt and his color is green.  So, I decided to make him a scrappy quilt in green.  

I played a bit last night with paper and pencil, so I sort of had an idea in my head that incorporated five inch squares and one inch squares all in green and separated with an off-white border.  Since I don't know exactly how large (or small) Maw (all of her grandkids call her Maw) wants for Seth, we're now at a standstill.  But, all in all, I think we have a great little quilt going.  I will add borders and have decided to bind it in a hunter green, which I've cut already.  The borders will begin with some of the same off-white and then, if necessary, I'll add one of the greens.

Since I'm supposed to use one of mom's fabrics, I made certain to do so.  In this case, I solved two problems--I incorporated a green from mom's stash AND I managed to use most of some of the ugliest fabric ever!  Because I know how overwhelming this fabric is, I chose to use it for the one inch squares.    It's a mostly green 70's type feathery print.  I don't know exactly how to describe it, so here are a couple of the blocks from the quilt.  

It's really appropriate because I am pretty sure Seth will remember mom as the older lady who was "confused" since he isn't old enough to have known her before Alzheimer's made life very difficult for her.

I used this fabric to make chair/bed pads for her.  They were intended to make it easier for us to move her and also to absorb liquids.  We kept one of these on her seat at all times and they were very useful.  Seth, I feel sure, will remember the pads.   In small bits, the fabric really isn't so hideous, don't you agree?

This is Seth's quilt top almost finished.  Just waiting for his Maw to decide how much more needs to be added.

Of course, while I was playing on paper, I didn't bother to do the math. I'm much better at the doodling part and, although I could have done this simple math, instead I doodled another quilt.  So while I was cutting, I cut enough to make a second green quilt.  Actually, I just cut too many of the five inch squares, but there was another goal, so as soon as I got to a stopping point with Seth's quilt, I set to work on the second one.  

It took a little longer to work out the difficult parts because in my doodling last night I doodled without worry and didn't bother with any math.  It's a simple enough little quilt, though, and didn't take that much time.  After all, I managed to get two small quilts well past the half-way mark.  In fact, both quilts need only borders before loading on the long-arm.  

The second quilt is definitely a worry-free little item.  I didn't make myself crazy about any of it, including making the hunter green lines line up with each other.  It's just a fun little baby quilt.  I've had a few other ideas now that I threw this one together.  

And that brings us back to So Scrappy, who had a really nice green and purple quilt on her blog.  It's part of a Rainbow Challenge that she's participating in and the blog entry was from a few days ago, I think.  But it just appeals to me.  So, tomorrow I'm going to play with green and purples.  In fact, I've already pulled out some purples to get me started.  I'm fairly certain that I would not have mixed the two together, but take a look at Amy's darling quilt on the right below.  The two colors work so well together.

Thanks to Amy and to the many other blog writers who inspire us when we're almost stuck.


And now what about you?  Do you blog hop every now and then, or do you follow loyally only a few blogs.  Why do you read any of the blogs?  Is it for inspiration, entertainment, or information?  Please leave your comments, I so enjoy reading your thoughts!