No kidding – I already told you I am an A
ce Procrastinator!
In the current issue of “Down Under Quilts” , feb 2006, oldest and IMHO the best Aus quilting mag, I have an article on unfinished projects, which, along with stash accumulation issues cause quilters of all persuasions a great deal of angst. This Work in Progress, as I like to term some of my unfinished objects, has been under way on and off during the last 27 years. Although, to be fair, it did spend over 6 years in storage while we were in USA, and since I have been coming to Uruguay and spending more and more time here over the past 8 or 9 years, it has been quietly sitting in a basket under a coffee table in the family room. This time I brought it back with me, and I know many of you will be surprised, on several counts!
I owe it all to my old friend Heather Stewart of Launceston Tas., a one time hexagon queen from whose hands sprang bedspreads, table covers, cushions and more – including a dear little pram cover for my own offspring #2, which I still have somewhere. They were all so appropriate for the early 1900’s house she was then decorating and in whch she still lives. It was she who got me started during the hexagon craze, which reached its peak in Aus in the mid ’70’s, and accounts for the character of the fabrics in this work. The green in particular was very special at the time – the print on it includes some fine red flowers and little lady bugs – I used all the shop in Mt Isa had, and I did originally envisage it going out in to the border. But the shop was unable to get me any more, and perhaps that was just as well. So now, although the flowers have grown out to DB size, there only remain about 500 hexagon and half hexagon pieces to be covered and sewn together to build the border out to a straight edge, and they will be of the cream calico (muslin USA) Then I will find a longarm quilter to do the quilting for which I know I do not have the time and patience – unless an enthusiastic hand quilter steps forward…. I think I know the perfect eventual home for it, but will wait to see if anyone in the family puts their hand up for it… since after all this time, there’s no rush to decide anything, is there?
(thanks, Jay Townsend for the photo)