This is what I have been working on today:

It's been well over 5 years since I did any weaving and I am really excited to finally be dressing my loom. I can't do it all in one sitting (standing rather), but slow and steady gets the job done. The basement is dark and dusty, but I am trying to ignore the difficulties and just enjoy the process. This is a project that I have wanted to do for over 25 years and I am finally getting the chance to do it. Yippie Skippie.
I have always been fascinated with Overshot weave, I've done several different projects using it, but not for a long time. I've always admired early American over shot coverlets and wanted to do one, so this is it.
David is working on a double bobbin boat shuttle for me, and plans to get it done soon. I think he's nice.
I am also doing a little quilting every day, and this is how Pink Ugly #1 is looking.

It's a lot of pink isn't it?

This is Emily, I have had her since I was a little girl, and she was old then. An old woman who lived across the alley from us was going into a nursing home and she took me and my younger sister into her spare bedroom and took two dolls from an old trunk and gave us each one, they had been hers when she was a little girl and she had no children or grandchildren to hand them on to. Every so often I make Emily a new dress and I just finished this one. It is a little too big since she doesn't fit the size that doll clothes patterns are made in now. Poor Emily is held together with rubber bands and paperclips since most of her inside parts are broken, but I still love her. I never played with dolls much, I always wanted to make the clothes, and used to take rags out of the rag bags in lieu of not having anything else to work with, since my mother viewed it as a waste of time and effort. Oh well, water under the bridge.
I haven't been sewing a lot the last couple of weeks. I spent a lot of time cleaning the other part of the basement and have started getting the loom ready. It is ready to start raddling and I will have a picture of that when I get there. Summer is half over and when it gets cold I can't work in that part of the basement, so my weaving time is limited, but I can't wait to get started again.

This morning I walked out onto the front porch to sit and drink my coffee and my glasses fogged over. In my sewing corner upstairs my feet freeze from the AC. There seems to be no happy medium. Today I am looking for the pattern for this:

Aren't they pretty? I have 114 blocks. This UFO is so old I can't remember when I started it. These were scrap fabrics my grandmother gave me and she has been dead for almost 35 years. I saw the pattern not too long ago somewhere, but I can't remember where, and I know that I had a specific size in mind, but can't remember that either. If I don't find it in the next couple of days I will just use EC and make another plan and print it out. It was one of those old single sheet patterns from magazines, and came in the box with the scraps. Now that I have decided it is time to finish it I don't want to wait around too long or I will get out of the mood. All of the blocks are different and I didn't repeat any of the colors. It is hand appliqued with a running stitch, the first applique that I ever did, and gave me a real taste for it. I enjoyed looking at the blocks this morning as I counted them since I couldn't remember how many I had. I found a little spot on one of them. I am surprised that there is only one, as long as they have been kicking around.
Ambrosina and Leon decided they would put a bathroom in the basement instead of moving, but it will be a while. I notice that Leon still looks at the housing ads and brochures. I think if they find the right place they will want to move, if that happens I am not moving all his junk. Three more boxes went upstairs to go to Goodwill over the weekend!

Coiled fabric bowls in three sizes. I am going to wind beads around the tops of them to add a little class. I haven't made the bowls for a long time, but i made these because I am getting tired of paper plate holders and think people might be interested in these. We'll see.
I got our new desk moved in this morning, but I haven't moved into it yet, I am still putting STUFF away. One solution is to get rid of it and some of it is ready for Goodwill, not enough yet, but I suppose every little bit helps. Only I need to get rid of a Lot of Little Bits.
I am enjoying having the bedroom all neat and tidy again and I am determined to keep it that way. When we moved to Sioux Falls we went from a three bedroom house with a formal dining room to just two rooms total, and I kept way too much stuff. I am trying to look at things with a new eye, and keep thinking: Now why did I keep THAT?

I know I haven't posted in nearly a week. The thing is when I am close to finishing a project I tend to devote myself exclusively to that project and forget about everything else.

The picture was taken in the shade this morning but I couldn't get it to be clear even adjusting the exposure. There are 3,300 hexagons in it and it took just over 12 months to complete. I haven't decided how I am going to quilt it yet so I will put it away for a while and think about it. No hurry, I am quilting Pink Ugly #1 right now anyway.
So now I am going to get back into a regular routine. I am cleaning up my bedroom, nearly done as a matter of fact. Then I will clean the sitting room and start using the treadle again. I got a lovely little desk at a rummage sale and I need to make a place for it.
We do have good news. David is going to get his hip replaced this fall. His hip is so bad he can't do much of anything, he tries so I can't complain.
I made some sunburst paper plate holders and I should have plenty for when Rose goes to another powwow. I made some bowls too and I am going to bead them. I will take a break from hexagons for a week or so!

I found my camera. It was where David and I both looked several times. Go figure. However, I am happy to have it back.

That is the back for Pink Ugly #1, which I will pin baste on Monday and start quilting. I've been mulling over the quilting pattern and I think that I will go with Bubbles. I like doing them and they are fast. I haven't done any quilting for almost 2 weeks and I am missing it..
We went yard saling yesterday and I got a really nice sewing box. I've wanted one like it ever since I can remember, and I am using it for the hexagon quilts I am working on; it's nice to have everything in one convenient and ready to hand. A place for everything.

I seem to have too much of everything. Again I am determined to get rid of some stuff. I have a set of china that I will never use again that is going to go. Ambrosina doesn't like it, and it doesn't go in her house anyway so I see no need to keep it. It doesn't free up much space, but it is a place to start.

Somehow I lost my camera. I know I brought it down from the dining room yesterday, and then got busy and forgot to post here. Today I spent the morning in the other half of the basement where my kilns are. I fired a glaze load and did some glazing on some things for next time. I started the prep work on my loom, but I didn't get very far because I had quite a bit of stuff to put away. As is always the case the first time I fire in the summer.
If I could find my camera I would show the back that I made for Pink Ugly #1.

It's not quite finished in that photo, but the completed version is on the camera that I can't find. I made the back out of the pink strips, and alternated them with machine embroidered rows of squares. These are patterns that I digitized out of clip are and other drawings that  I didn't use for what I made them for, or didn't like. I am using them like I do orphan blocks, because there is no sense in wasting them. It could almost be a reversible quilt, but I got some of the blocks upside down, and since it was the back decided not to take the time to rip them out and redo them. I probably won't baste until Monday with the busy weekend coming up.
I hope by tomorrow I will have found my camera and can take some pictures of the things that I fired this morning. I don't do it very often anymore, and I hope they turn out well. Back to sewing tomorrow!

We got home yesterday afternoon, but I was so tired I just crashed. The plus side of going to bed at 11 is that I woke up at 8 this morning and got an early start.

So this is what I got done this morning before ten-thirty. All that was left was the binding and although the quilt is huge (108x108) it didn't take me all that long to finish it. The top is the front and the bottom is the back.
The colors are washed out by the sun though and the quilting isn't very easy to see.

I did peacock feathers and I like the way that it turned out. It took me a long time to quilt being so big but I am happy with it.
While we were on the trip Rose and I talked a little about why the pphs didn't sell, and she is going to try again, as well as gave me some advice on what colors she thought would work a little better so I am going to make some more and see how they do.
There are some other things I can make that she thinks I could sell so I am going to get the basement straightened out a little so I can get to my work bench and get some things started this week. I need to fire my kiln and make room to do some other ceramics, I hope that will happen this week as well. Any way the summer is passing and I still have quite a few things that I want to accomplish before fall. I can't complain though, I love staying busy.