In an effort to stem the flow of one inch hexagons seeping out
of the sewing room (because now I begin to find them in the bottom of my
handbag, lurking under the bed concealed amongst the shoes, in plastic snap
lock bags strewn about the place and adhering to my clothes even), I banned
myself from cutting a single extra one last weekend.
Instead I have pressed on with Big Red, who
is beginning to get ideas above her station and think she will take over the
world. (My friend Ma’am started a
hexagon quilt which has similar ambitions, only hers can’t be “leveled up” and
is growing ever larger as Ma'am struggles to find symmetry around the edges. Her quilt ended up being named La Marquee
because of tent-like proportions and she is even considering making a miniature
version for her much loved cat, leaving the papers in of course because cats
adore the rustle of the backing papers.)
For some reason when I commenced work on Big Red I thought that one unit
was more enjoyable to make than the other.
(You can see that it looks rather complicated at first glance, but is really only composed
of two units pieced together in strings.)
There is the long lozenge
and the smaller hexagon shaped, but both surrounded by the neutral shaded blocks
She looks a bit wavy here but that is because of her enormous size and the difficulty in holding her up ready for photographing.
Thinking ahead I somehow made more of the long lozenge shaped units,
which were the ones which were more time consuming and less enjoyable to make,
so now am left with “spares” which I will feel compelled to use somehow. And so it goes on, the never ending process
of using up all the various hexagons. Maybe they could go into a couple of cushions
for Big Red, only then of course there would be needed some others to complete
the project….. aaargh.
I did have some inspiration about using up all the one inch
hexagons though, rather than just randomly continuing to join them
together. I found two sets of bag
handles in my local Japanese bargain store (how I do love that shop) and I
think they could be just the thing to use when making hexagon bags, rather than
the old metal bag handles I had been thinking about.
And while we are on the subject of favourite stores I have
to recommend two unusual shops in Auckland which are well worth a look if you
have time (or live in the vicinity). The
first is The Fabric Room which until recently was located near my
apartment, in Parnell. Whenever you call in there
you will find not only the most wonderful range of luxury upholstery and
curtaining fabrics, but also (and this is the best part) a bin with natural
coloured and white linen remnants perfectly suited to embroidery and counted cross
stitch. If you are used to paying
$60-odd per metre for something to embroider on you will be thrilled to find
large sized remnants for only $10 or so, and you will be able to get several
good sized pieces from each one. If you
want a fabric for the back of a needlepoint cushion you are sure to find
something suitable too. I was sad to
hear they are moving to 715 New North Road, Kingsland. But at least that is still quite nearby.
The other shop is completely different, called Red River
Trading Company and there you can find a huge selection of wares imported from Asia. (67 Maurice Road, Panmure is where you will find them.) What took my eye to begin with
was the enormous collection of kimono and obi which come in every colour and style
you could dream up, some obviously very old and some more modern. Most are silk and some are wool, and what a
luxurious garment a silk kimono would make to lounge around in at the end of a
busy day. The enormous choice means you
are bound to find one just perfect for you and they are very reasonably priced
as well. You can find boxes full of old
pieces of silk and some of them have been lovingly darned and are worth
buying just for the artistry in the darning.
Old sewing boxes, pieces of furniture, bric a brac, pictures made up of
a few simple brush strokes, ceramics and old handbags, photos and amulets make
up some of the other wares to pore over. Life is so much richer with just a tiny bit of magical retail therapy added into the mix. Or if not retail therapy just an inspection of all the beautiful things on offer.
