Early Morning Playtime

 Every morning is the same routine...I get up, grab a glass of water, and sip it while watching the local weather on mute. Then it’s a quick scroll through emails and social media. By the time that’s done, my husband has left for work and it’s time to start chores. But yesterday, before I even finished my online check in or he headed out, I had an epiphany. Remember those Wheel/Dresden blocks from Monday’s blog post? The reason I’ve struggled to work them into a quilt is that they have too much color for my taste...it’s the background fabric! So, I cut them off!

At first, I thought the white fabric with black dots would be the perfect match for the wheels...and it is! But as a proud fabric hoarder, I know my stash is basically a treasure chest of possibilities. Time to unleash some of those options and see what magic happens.

This Lakehouse Drygoods print just about sent my little ole heart into a tap dance. I think it plays well with these blocks, but I’m not sure these wheels are worthy of such a treasure, so it’s time to rummage through the stash and see if I can find a not so treasured fabric.

A large pale yellow dot by Poppy Cotton also brought a smile to my face but it doesn’t have the same pizzazz as the previous print. Maybe I could use this and add some patchwork or solid colors in the sashing and borders to make up for what it’s lacking.

Sitting on the cold tile floor for about an hour, I dug through the scrap bins searching for the perfect fabrics to match the wheels. In the process, I came across some squares I had cut years ago when I planned start a scrap saver system. That plan was abandoned after about three days of nonstop cutting. And now, guess what? At the start of this year, I again started cutting all my newly produced scraps into usable sizes for a scrap saver system. I’ll share my progress another time.

It didn’t take long to realize the sashing plan was a dud and that patchwork sashing might look better or the Lakehouse Drygoods print.  Sigh… I was officially done playing with these blocks. There’s a quilt on the frame begging for attention and other UFOs that don’t demand this much attention. Plus, my poor tooshie was freezing from sitting on the tile floor, and all I really wanted was my morning cup of decaf.

Things didn’t turn out the way I had planned in my mind, but I made a little progress after many years of it being a UFO, and that makes me happy. So, back in the box it goes until another great idea comes along. As I sit here looking at this picture, I realized I didn’t add the big yellow dot to the box. I think I’ll keep the black dots in there too, just in case I change my mind again. 

Later this afternoon, the squares I found will be sorted by size and color and stored in my new scrap saver system and then it's back to quilting the Iris quilt.  

With my morning cup of decaf, I decided to have some fun with ChatGPT. I’ve seen quilters using it to whip up pictures and ads, so I figured, why not?  I sent it pictures of me, my dog and an applique quilt block.  I mentioned my sewing room’s white furniture and bright colors, then requested denim overalls and a red gingham shirt.  And I even gave it a link to my blog so it could see my style.

It worked its magic in about one minute.

I must say, I adore the gorgeous thick hair and eyebrows it gave me, plus I look about 15 years younger and considerably slimmer. However, I'm baffled by the random signs everywhere, the jar of salsa on the windowsill, and apparently, every quilter’s must have quilting notions are a mound of soil and filthy garden gloves on the desk! HAHA!  

And when I zoomed in to look at the detail, I noticed something strange about my finger.  What in the world is that?!  EWW!   Obviously, AI still has a lot to learn.  It was fun but I think I'll stick to real photos.

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