Too much, too little

I got out all my blues/greens for the new quilt and did the math for what I needed to extend the quilt.  I was so excited that I had 12 different fabrics and needed 48 squares, 4 of each blue.  To strip piece it, I needed one 2" strip of each color per block, or 4 strips of each fabric.  That's 8 inches and I bought a yard of each one.  I never like to run out, I want to be sure I have enough but even for me this is really too much - that's three quarters a yard of each color left over.  Hmmm, maybe I can find another quilt to make with lots of blues and greens?  I decided to next cut out the black strips. 

Are you seeing the problem? I needed 4 strips of black per block, which means 5 strips per block and one extra strip for every three blocks.  I didn't even get the five per block done and I ran out of black fabric.  I had only bought and extra quarter yard and when I added 6 extra blocks, there went that idea - I had too much of so many fabrics but too little of a crucial one.  It was 20 minutes to 5 and I knew if I didn't get that black, there would be no sleeping.  I ran like a crazed maniac over to my local store (where I had fortunately bought the black) and it was my lucky day; they still had the fabric.  And they didn't call the police when I came panting through the door, they are quilters and they understand fabric emergencies.   I needed about 1/2 yard more but I bought two yards.  I never want to run out again!

Making this quilt reminds me of life, sometimes there is too much and sometimes too little.  When you are a working Mom there is way too little time in each 24 hours.  Flash forward to a woman in a nursing home and there is way too many hours in a day.  Some women are blessed with more children than they can support; others never get to have even one.  I possess too much body fat and other people have way too little.  Even though I am more than willing to donate some of mine, you can't always redistribute the too much and the too little.

However, you can never have too much love and no quilted item is ever too little.  Too much, too little, I guess it is all about balance.  (Hmmm.....maybe I should take the too much approach to fabric and the too little approach to desserts?)

Here's to too much fabric and too little of problems!