Simply Squares

Why are you seeing photos of a quilt that you thought was finished way back in May?  Well, it is a long story.  When I finished the Celebrate quilt, I updated my spreadsheet to mark the finish date, but I also tried to add a column to figure out the average amount of time each quilt takes.  It didn't work out - since there are estimates of dates and ranges in there.  Then, I tried to sort the spreadsheet, but used the wrong range, so the sort was all wrong.  I didn't save the spreadsheet and just quit.  I didn't remember that I hadn't saved the updates.

Anyway, yesterday, I was looking at the spreadsheet to see how I was doing, what I wanted to work on, and I noticed that the Celebrate and Simply Squares quilt did not have finish dates on them.  I looked on the blog for the finish date for Simply Squares, and all I found was a note that I was working on the binding in May.  No quilt reveal!  I know the weather was bad and I wasn't able to get a good picture, but we've had good weather days since then!

I decided to remedy the situation by providing a belated quilt reveal.  I took the quilt along for our daily walk.

Which photo do you like the best? I added a poll in the sidebar for fun.  Please leave a comment to let me know what appealed to you about the photo(s). This will help me take better photos of other quilts.

Weaving

At our weaving class, I continued to work on the abandoned piece. A previous student had abandoned it, so I could just play without guilt. I added some gold because I thought the gold would make the red and black look Christmasy, but it made it look African, so I went with the African theme and added random amounts of other colors.(The color is off in the picture - that is red, not orange).   I started making random patterns, but since this was supposed to be my training piece, I forced myself to get practice on following patterns.  Instead of winding bobbins, I tried to use up bobbins other students had left, although I did add other colors as it pleased me. I really like this piece, it was fun to play with it.  I might add some other colors and use it as a table runner or wall hanging.

But it is time to start my official piece.  When we went this time, she had a denim rug on display, and I have decided to use denim instead of my original chosen material.  I have lots of jeans which I acquired when I made a jeans quilt, and this will reduce some of the stash in my house as well.

After our class, we walked around some more in downtown Columbus.  Both my sister and I used to work downtown, and we both really miss the walking we did there.  And they have added more walking paths, with fountains, benches, planters, piped in jazz music, with the new Scioto Mile, so it is very pleasant to walk and hang out downtown. We saw many people jogging, many with their dogs.

Quilt Wall

Ever since I saw my first picture of a wall covered with small quilts, I have wanted a quilt wall.  I don't have big walls in my house - since I have small rooms and a lot of windows, but I designated a wall in the dining room as my quilt wall.  I made and exchanged lots of small quilts, that I have plenty for a wall.  I bought some sticky product by 3M to attach the quilts to the wall, as recommended by another blogger.  I must have bought the wrong kind, because my quilts kept falling off the wall, even little ones like ATCs.

I then went out and bought applique pins, because another blogger uses them for her design wall, but that seemed too hard for me too. I don't have the strength to push them in the wall, and using a hammer would require coordination to hold the pin and the quilt.

Then when I went to Michaels to buy the scrapbooking paper for a gift, they had this big bulletin board on sale.  I wanted to have the board up for the gathering, so I quickly added some fabric to it. It needs some help tucking the fabric in the frame, but now I have a quilt wall! At some point I will paint the frame. I made the three big quilts on the right side, the rest are exchanges.

I am really happy with it. I like that I can quickly change the stuff on the wall, and add notes, etc.

Next Project

Now that I have finished the Celebrate quilt, I am free to work on another one.  I am trying very hard not to start a new project, and stay focused on completing some old ones.  I have many projects in the works, and several kits that are ready to start.  There are several quiltalongs and other available projects that are distracting me, but I think I will be able to finish some current projects without starting anything new.

I don't have a leader and ender project ready, and there are a couple of projects that sound interesting to me - the warm/cool quilt, and the leggo quilt.  Both would work great, but it does feel like I would be starting a new project. I have fabric that would work wonderfully for the cool part of the warm/cool quilt, but they are designated for another quilt.  I'll have to think about whether I want to repurpose them, since that would also involve finding some warm fabrics as well. I might just go with the leggo quilt to start, since I can use up the leftover scraps.

I think for now, I will work on quilts that don't require the sewing machine.  I am handquilting the moldy crackers quilt.  (yes this is an old picture, there has been more progress made during the year).  This way I can have projects move forward, and after a while, I will start cutting the strips for the leggo quilt.

The other issue I have is to take my time and not rush through the current quilts so I can get on to new ones.It is so much fun to start a new project!

Downtown

When we went to the weaving class, we spent some time walking around Columbus and taking pictures.  There were many great shots, but I decided to try to narrow down one to share. Because of the river and the green space, many of the shots look like they were taken at a park instead of the middle of a city.   I really like this photo because it shows the beauty of the city, and the construction shows that it is still growing and thriving.

Rivals

We went to the airport yesterday, but unfortunately, we weren't there to see any Rivals. The world traveling daughter has gone overseas to study for her masters degree. In another country. In another continent.  Which means she will not be back to do her laundry and she doesn't plan to come back for her vacations.  She will be at Exeter University in the UK. I am really proud of her, and glad she is able to take advantage of opportunities that were almost unheard of in my day. But the house seems empty and she will be missed.

Weaving

My sister invited me to learn weaving with her at the Cultural Arts Center. We could choose our own projects. I decided to practice on a piece someone else had abandoned before starting my own. I am having fun just putting random designs and random colors on it.

The teacher has to divide her attention amongst all the students (the five in our class, and the others continuing students who show up whenever they want), so we learn by watching her help others. Here the teacher on left, is helping a student front load the threads on the loom.  The room is full of looms - maybe 40+ all packed together.  I'll have to get a photo of all of them sometime.