Finished

So finally, the piecing is over. Just a simple 1" straight border of dark red is to be added to each side and then it will be ready for its frame. I scoured my favourite junk shops with my husband after breakfast on Friday morning and drew a blank, so I'm having a square frame made up in walnut wood, with a creamy white mount inside. It all seemed surprisingly affordable until the shop rang this morning to let me know that the boy I'd dealt with had neglected to write down whether the frame was to be 36" or 36cm when I was in the shop. When I told them it was actually inches we realised he may have misquoted me substantially. However, the shop were happy to honour their original price and I've offered to meet them halfway on the extra as I don't want to constantly look at the frame and feel awful that the shop lost money on making it. 

To give you sense of scale (so far demonstrated against cats, mannequins and now, me) this is the size of it. I'm so looking forward to finally having it framed. Nina asked why have it behind glass and not just have it as a wall hanging, but while I'm fairly relaxed about seeing my quilts dragged around the house and repurposed for camp-making material, I feel much more stressy about something on the wall being handled and then hanging rumpled. It's the kind of thing where I'd be sitting chatting to people over dinner, desperately wanting only to straighten it on the wall behind them. It's just better for all of us if it's behind glass and stays where it's meant to!

I decided to commission the frame being made and then to set it in myself as I'm worrying over whether it will lie perfectly flat and taut. In some places there are 12 intersecting seams, so there's quite a bit of bulk behind the scenes and I'm currently trying to think through what will be the best way to secure it to the frame base so that it stays flat. I've considered de-bulking some areas, but worry over the fraying fibres of the Oakshott unravelling faster than I can seal them in place with clear nail varnish!

This week though, I will enjoy having it sit in the corner of our bedroom. No, we still haven't sanded, filled in or oiled the floorboards. I've temporarily wedged balls of foil down the largest holes to avoid potentially losing expensive things, such as machine feet or wedding rings down them. This seemed like a cunning plan until I realised that the vacuum cleaner sucks them straight out the moment it runs over them, so vacuuming is now a tentative business. It's amazing how quickly these things can become familiar when you live with them though - a mixture of wood and foil as flooring now looks perfectly normal! But I'm looking forward to a time when this isn't so.

Florence x