Sometimes It's Good Just to Walk Away for Awhile

The weather has been fantastic the past few days. We have actually had highs of 15C with completely blue skies! I even went out this afternoon and did some gardening. Well, not real gardening. I just cut down some of last year's Black-Eyed Susans. I had left them for the seed pods. The chickadees love those things. But now all that dead growth is competing with my crocuses. I was only able to spend about an hour out there before I couldn't stand up any more. It's not easy to garden from a wheelchair, but if I spend a few minutes at a time I think I will be able to make the garden look really nice this year.

I have also spent a lot of time driving my scooter to the mall. This weather has made me feel free!! The only thing that has suffered is my quilting. I am still working on the 'Rubber Duckie' quilt. It was supposed to measure 40" X 40", but I decided I wanted it to be a bit longer, so I made two more rows of duckies. But then it seemed to long, so I only used one of the rows to complete the top. I wanted to sandwich and quilt it yesterday, but when I checked my backing fabric, I realized that it was only 40inch wide. Since when are they making this stuff so narrow? I thought I would have lots, but the top is 40 inches wide, the backing didn't fit. Then I spread the batting out and discovered that I didn't have enough of that either. I pieced a small piece into one corner and I think it will be okay. Then I thought about the binding. I didn't have a piece of fabric large enough to cut the binding from, so I cut up a lot of strips from the fabric I used in the top and sewed it together. By then I was tired and didn't want to think about the backing that needed to be sewn. I just left everything in a big pile on my cutting table and walked away.

But sometimes that's the best thing to do. Just walk away for awhile until inspiration strikes once more. When I got up this morning, Oscar was sleeping soundly on the pile on my cutting table. He seemed kind of miffed that I woke him up to take this photo.

Hey Oscar, what did you do with the head of that duckie?

Oscar had obviously given his complete approval to the Rubber Duckie quilt. I was once again inspired! So I set to work on piecing the backing. I used the five blocks that were left over from the front of the quilt. I pieced them the long way and sewed them into the backing. Now it is big enough! Thanks Oscar, for believing in me!

Mimi decided to give it her nod of approval too.

How can I go wrong with all these furry little helpers?