Time to Show Off My Husband's Work

 I told DH back in maybe October, that what I really wanted for Christmas was a wall mounted quilt rack for an empty wall in our living room. I knew he wouldn't have time to make it before Christmas, and I was fine with that. 

Most of my quilts I donate, and I usually wait until I have several done before I turn them in. The thing is, once they are done, I stick them in a closet and there they sit until the closet is full and I bring them in. I never look at them after they are done, and I realized that's one of the reasons I feel like I don't get enough done. I've decided I need to be able to enjoy my work for a bit, before they get donated, thus a huge wall mounted quilt rack. He finished the rack yesterday.

Yes, it is straight, see the big level on the left side of the photo. Our ceilings are slanted with the roofline which makes everything look wonky. It's exactly the same measurement from the floor on each side, and the bars are level. 

I'm not sure how well it shows up, but the cuts for the bars are shallower as you go down so any bulk from multiple quilts hanging has someplace to go. the uprights are in studs, so the weight of the quilts shouldn't be a problem. My goal was a quilt rack large enough to hang a dozen quilts, four bars with three quilts across. I'm quite happy with how it came out. I want the finish to cure a bit more before I hang quilts on it, but when I do, I'll show it again. 

That's what DH has been up to, but I haven't been idle either! I've basted six quilts in the past few days, and I'm still working on tidying up. I came across the first design boards I made when looking through the storage room. Rather than pitch them, since I do have a big design wall now. I decided to mount them in the sewing room too. Is there really any such thing as too much design space, especially since I'm normally working on multiple quilts at once?

The black sections are my original design boards, that I used in my first sewing room. They are four foam core boards from the dollar store, wrapped with black flannel. I just duct taped the flannel to the back, then hung the boards up with 3M damage free picture hanging strips. If you are renting, this would be an option for you. I have two boards on top of each other hanging horizontally on the left, and two boards next to each other hanging vertically on the right. That's just what fit best in each location. I figure being able to keep a sample block up next to me while I'm sewing could keep me orienting things correctly on blocks that are easily confused. 

This quilt is on my big design wall right now. It's identical to a larger quilt I made a couple months ago. That one had 8" squares. this one has 6" squares. My big design wall is two sheets of foam insulation board. They come in 4x8 ft sheets, but I can't reach 8" high so I had DH cut them down to 7 feet. I wrapped Warm and Natural batting around these, and they are just leaning against the wall, so again, a renter-friendly option. We own our home, so I could permanently mount it, I just see no reason to. 

The baby quilts for a great-nephew on the way are my priority right now. I've finished quilting one, and I started quilting the second this morning. When they are both quilted, I'll machine bind them both in a day. That baby could come any time now, so I need to get these quilts done and mailed. At least the burp  rags are finished! 

I'm still not finished all the blocks for Indigo Way, and I'm as of yet undecided how I will assemble them. I like Bonnie's layout just fine, but I might not do it that way anyway. On my colorway I'm leaning toward assembling the center of the quilt her way, but doing the borders differently, and on her colorway I'm making with men's shirts, I'm leaning towards solid setting triangles and a different border. 

I've also been doing some cutting for more deadline quilts. I have four grandsons wanting new quilts this year, and I'd like to get all four cut out this month. Once they are cut, those can be at least leader/ender projects for a bit until their birthdays are getting close and they need to be the priority. I've gotten whole quilts made as leaders/enders, without them ever being the main project. I even assemble quilts with leader/enders, often just assembling two different quilts at once.