Who stole all the chocolate?

So I'm on a Zoom call, and DH is texting me that he can't find certain things at the grocery store. What??? I NEED Easter chocolate. He always asks me to text him what I need from the grocery store. Yep --- we both go to the store, I buy the things I like, and he buys the boring stuff. The last couple of times I went, I have been tempted by all the Easter chocolate. Not that I needed it, but I thought I'd like some Easter chocolate when he asked me what I wanted. Just because!

Well, there was no Easter chocolate. How could that be? So I went to the mall in the afternoon as I had a couple of errands there, and I could NOT find any Easter chocolate. Nothing. What the heck is going on? I could find Easter CANDY, but I didn't want candy. 

I admit that I almost caved, and I stood in front of the bins at Bulk Barn (I know -- hygiene) and looked at various candies. Then I decided that I could have one bad food habit of eating lots of chocolate, but I did NOT need to restart eating candy. So I walked out! Yeah me!! I felt rather proud of myself for that! 

Fortunately, someone had given me a chocolate Easter bunny earlier this week, so I can indulge later today. 

My Easter bunny

Yikes, someone interpreted my bizarre plane dream as I am the plane and the weird stuff the planes were carrying was my projects. So I'm OK with that, but I wasn't happy with the fact that one of the planes fell out of the sky! That's a bad thing! So yes --- I am the first to admit that I'm overcommitted at the moment and trying very hard to get back on track. I don't want to drop anything as it all needs to be done. So slow and steady, and if a deadline or two gets missed, it gets missed. What's the worse that can happen? No one will die, so I'm not going to sweat it. 

I think the next month will be bad and then things will get better. I know -- I know -- I always say that, and the next isn't any better. But I'm going to get responsible and NOT commit to things. Besides, it will be the summer, and I'm NOT teaching much during the summer. There are a handful of classes, and nothing more will get booked. I won't know what to do with myself. I see a lot of napping in the gazebo!

I'm happy to report that everything got done for the classes yesterday and is mainly done for today, our UFO club. It's nice to know that there are NO mad rush jobs for later today, although I need to get back to the long arm. 

One of the classes that happened this weekend was Wanderer's Wife by Jen Kingwell. It used to be called Gypsy Wife, but that terminology is no longer politically correct. There are ten sections, and we've started to sew the quilt together, so I thought I'd share some photos. All I can say is that our group has done a fantastic job picking colors, and they all look so much better than the original. 

Wanderers Wife booklet

No offense to Jen, but the quilt on the cover is not appealing. YET -- there is undoubtedly some attractiveness since many of us wanted to make it. I know I started many years ago, and I got through one or two blocks and then put it aside. I was trying to replicate the colors/style of the original, and it wasn't making me happy. So this time, I went with something totally different, and I'm thrilled. 

My version of Wanderers Wife

Now isn't that amazing?? It looks like a night sky with twinkling stars. I cannot take credit for the colorway as I had seen someone else do this, and I loved it. I think I mentioned that before. 

Anyway -- we have three blocks left to sew together and the remaining three sections. Then we can have our big reveal in June! OH --- that's how much I have left to sew -- the group just got their new assignment this week, so they are not quite as far ahead as I am. Well, not that I am aware of, and I don't want to know!

So here are a few of the other quilts. I picked these from our Facebook group and only chose the ones where the first three sections were together. 

Here are several with light backgrounds. I love that EVERYONE chose a background that didn't compete with their blocks. WOW!!!!! 

I love the low-volume busy prints for the background, as they provide lots of interest but do not distract from the main blocks. 

It has a creamy-colored background, but it shows off those blocks very nicely, and look at how one or two blocks (the pinwheels) blend into the background. Love that!

This is a unique colorway -- brown, but it looks rich, and the blocks pop off the background! 

Brights -- you can't go wrong with brights! 

Coral and green -- an unusual colorway, but it's very striking! I love how the background of some of those small square and square blocks disappear into the background, so the diamonds are sparkling! 

Oh my -- black and white. What can I say -- it's gorgeous, and look how the backgrounds of some of the small blocks fade into the white. YES!! And I'm intrigued by those black-on-white strips through part of the quilt. 

Let's look at some of the dark backgrounds. These blocks are BRIGHT, and they look amazing against that blue background. 

This is fabulous with the busy black prints, and I think the colored fabrics are Kaffe Fassett. 

And here's a version with purple and green. A classic color combination that you can't go wrong with!! I love it. I will have to get them to post a close-up of the background strips they chose. 

And here's one using Kaffe's fabric with BLACK or dark blue as the background. WOW!!! 

Another very dark background, but with bright blocks -- looks like grey, yellow, and orange/red. 

Those are amazing!! I'm not sure how many we'll have for show and tell in June, but they will all be unique and look so different from the original. Can you tell me what it is about that original that has drawn us all in? The need to make it better? The intrigue of not having a good pattern to work from? 

I can say that I'll be very sad when the class is over. We've had such great fun getting to know each other, and well, I'm going to miss the groups over the summer!

But don't forget that there is the Virtual Retreat for one weekend each month, so that will be a virtual way to stay in touch! The dates for this month are Saturday, April 30 (6 - 9 PM) and all day Sunday (May 1). 

On that note, I'm off to walk the girls because then it's UFO Club this morning, and the afternoon is "mine."

Have a super day, and I hope the Easter Bunny brought goodies to your house!

Ciao!!!

Mad about MATH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I like puzzles. Doesn't matter what kind of puzzle - word puzzles, logic puzzles, jigsaw puzzles - anything that requires some tinkering and figuring - I'm in!!!    Someone called me a PROBLEM SOLVER the other day!!!   I guess in a way I am - I do like to see if I can work out solutions to stuff - I get that from my Dad.

Part of being a problem solver is also being an optimist - I am a glass half full person and that has caused me no end of grief with the half empty people. Throughout my entire life I've had issues with that!!!!   Well - the trick is to just keep on doing what I do best - solve more puzzles.

The other day, I was acquired some fabric from someone who was downsizing. I bought a kit, a piece of yardage and a bundle of "scraps".   It was all Christmas flannel. Now the question - what to do with this? All the fabric was from the same line.

Soooooooooooooo - this is what I did.   Because I am helping someone downsize by buying stuff from them, I feel GUILTY to just put this in my stash so I feel compelled to deal with it IMMEDIATELY.

There were some strips that were prewashed - so I cut them up into 48 - seven inch squares

From the unwashed stuff  - there is a panel that is the equivalent of 24 squares. The rest of the unwashed strips will yeild 48 - 7 inch squares.

I need a few more squares, so am going to cut up the border fabric into more squares. One of these pieces I will keep for one of the bindings. 

This is the yardage piece and should be enough for the backing of the smaller of the two quilts I am going to make

I had a piece of snowman flannel which was slated for a backing of what????   No idea - so it will be used to back the other quilt. Hopefully there will be enough left over to make the second binding that I need

A few leftover pieces were sewn and cut  into 5 inch squares for TWO more scrappy Christmas flannel quilts.  Most of this I have cut from either my Christmas flannels and I did have a LOT of  Christmas flannels given to me a while back. I have NO scraps of Christmas flannel left. I still need a few more squares to make these quilts the appropriate size so I may have to dig a little deeper to find a bit more.  

You will have to stay tuned to see what they all look like when they are done. I am tempted to just sew those first two tops together today and I may do that. But I was able to get TWO decent sized quilts from all those strips, yardage and bundle. Nothing was left over - except my scrap bin is full.

Scrap bin - full. 

Do not ask me why I love taking bits and pieces and making something. I just do. That is me.


Now I had to look for something this morning and guess what I found - that little bucket with the half square triangles. So I have it out on the cutting mat and I will try and get the rest of that group trimmed today.

Half square triangles to be trimmed

I NEED to get used to the new computer so I can start posting the blog from there. I have had to reboot my computer TWICE this morning. I think there is a problem with the card reader.  Sometimes when I insert the card to download pictures the computer freezes and I have to reboot to get it working.

Oh look - the Easter Bunny arrived in our house.  I heard through the grapevine that the Easter Bunny was given strict instructions - NO chocolate (well maybe just a bit) and NOT too many eggs.    Hmmmm - I am not sure if the Easter Bunny listened.

But I see eggs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On that note - I am out of here.


Have a great day!!!!!!!!!!!


Ciao!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!