R.O.Y.G.B.I.V.
July 23, 2012 In case you're like me and made it to adulthood without knowing what that means (it's true ... my daughter enlightened me when she was in Grade 2) it stands for the colors of the rainbow in order.
Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Purple
(Let me clarify that I DID learn the colors of the rainbow in school, just without the acronym.)
In this amazing new book by Amanda Jean and Cheryl, they recommend sorting fabric scraps by color.
Well, smack me up side the head with that one! LOL! Why on earth didn't I think of that?! (Amanda Jean, thanks for letting me share this information!) It SEEMS so obvious to me now ...
They also suggest asking a friend to help sort unruly scrap collections.
Well, I wasn't prepared to lose a friendship over my scraps (even my quilting friends would probably rather have a root canal than deal with that monster!)
HOWEVER, since I spent a combined 18 months pregnant and a total of 60 hours in labour, and have lost COUNTLESS hours of sleep that I will never.get.back, I figure MY DAUGHTERS OWE ME!!! So I dumped my scrap bin into the middle of the floor, gave them 7 bins and let them go at it.
And then I fed them water and stale bread when they were done. ;)
But most importantly, look what I have now!
(Am I the only one who is totally disturbed that pink is not in the rainbow?)
It feels so good looking at my "organized" scraps! I can actually see potential here.
And inspiration.
Just like Amanda Jean & Cheryl said I would.
But this trick is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to all the really amazing information in their book. They go much farther than just sorting scraps by color. You really need to get "Sunday Morning Quilts".
Just sayin'.
Reader Comments (19)
Shame on you, Kristyne!
You forgot to feed them Gruel as well;-)
Take care,
Carole
I am waiting for my birthday for this book! About 3 weeks,so I am intensly interested in what you are writing,maybe I can get a head start!!! What if the pieces are larger than scraps, like 1/2yard or so? Loving that you are doing this book review, they are really onto something!!
You know I peeked at this book so many times on amazon, this morning in fact, along with 2 or 3 others, thinking will I won't I ???????
Maybe if I feed the family on stale bread & water for a week I could justify it :)....what'dya think. It sure is a tempting book
Lol Karen x
I did wonder who this Roy fella was??? ;)
Bet the pink bin was huge!!!!
V x
And now we all waiting to see what you'll make out of this scraps ... I think now YOU own your daughters a quilt:-) Hildy
er, I too, was an adult before I heard ROYGBIV, and it aggravates the fire out of me that Pink is skipped over (because there are two "blues"?). WHY? Where does it go then?
I filed my pink fabric after my violets, but it could just as easily precede the reds. :)
Brilliant! But what about my obsession with fabric lines? Do I sort fabric lines or colors??? What's a girl to do?! I bet your little ones didn't mind playing in your fabric scraps...I know I wouldn't mind one little bit! :)
I didn't know the acronym for the colors of the rainbow until last year when I was watching Sesame Street with my granddaughter!! I must have been sick that day in 2nd grade. :-)
I was just arguing with myself over how many scraps do I really have to save? I started cutting some into certain sized squares and left some in strips. My friend wonders why I have to save everything....Thanks! Now I have a reason since I have been eyeing both of the books you featured (Sunday and Joanna's) and resisting the urge.
This is the first time I had heard the acronym for the rainbow colors, cute! Love what you did with the scraps. Would like to get you input on how you quilt a panel. My daughter wanted me to make a wall hanging out of a Vintage Christmas panel by Barb Tourtillotte. She didn't want the quilt you can make just a small wall one with only two borders. The panel is 23 x 19 then a two inch and 3.5 inch borders. I am at a loss on how to quilt it. Any suggestions?????
Can you send your daughters to my house? I've got a whole mess of scraps that need to be sorted and trimmed to some kind of usable size!! I love your colors. In fact, you've inspired me to get soft, shabby chic colors lately and I'm working on quilt tops using them now. I do love them.
um... I will work for bread and water too to get my hands on those scraps! LOL... such a great idea for this... I got one of those cubes with cloth drawers (4 x 3) and crammed it into my sewing room at the end of my sewing table so that I could do the big sort... and yes it is sad that pink isn't in the ROYGBIV... so let's make it ROYGBIVP K? I just have a hard time trying to figure out how to keep collections together... I hate breaking up a family, you know? But with scraps... I guess I just need to keep doing the scrap cubes and let the little fellas get used to being on their own.... you keep showing such great books that I gotta have! Thanks for the fun reviews! Big Hug!
Loved reading this post. You are so funny! I bet your daughters loved sorting the scraps. Am I right? My kids are required to sort for me once in awhile. They pretend to grumble about it, but then have a running commentary on all of the fabric and whether they like it or not...or if it's weird. It's entertaining!
P.S. Pink should totally be in the rainbow.
P.P.S. Your scraps are Sooooooo pretty!
I think that plaid deserves a place on the rainbow, too. And you know, Diana Vreeland was famous for saying that pink is the navy blue of India, so does this mean that you can throw the pinks into the blue bin? LOL
such prettiness!
and I agree with the above comment, plaid should get its own spot too.
Could I borrow your daughters for a few days? Just send them to Nebraska for a bit! Have to go order the book!
I was trying so hard to resist buying this book - had to justify yet another quilting book- but you just pushed me over the edge and my order is in at the book depository!
I'm going to tell the other half you made me do it...!!! You don't mind do you???
I have the book so...can I borrow your daughters? ;p I promise to take them for ice cream! ;p
This book looks awesome I understand when you have scraps of fabric instead of throwing them away. I was recently listening to the green stitch podcast she said that you could use the scraps to make pet pillows if they were to small to quilt with. I can't wait to see your scrap quilt.