The Binding is Still Due...

But the rest of the quilt is coming closer to being finished. I'm still pondering if I should mark all the crossings on the reverse with the 45°-angle positioned squares, as I have done on the front side. It just means that these spots will consist of up to 10 layers of fabric... I'm also thinking of a surprise binding; so there might be something coming for your pleasure. Hopefully.
The reverse color distribution is mere serendipity. I arranged the front tiles and later looked at the reverse. It was beyond control.

Sewing the bridges was a lot of work, and I pricked my fingers a few times, as I tried to stitch the bridges which were in the middle part. But sewing stripes of tiles would have meant to arrange the tiles already, and I preferred to be free in my choice till close to the end.

Off Topic: Paying my Old Home a Visit

Today, J and I took a walk in a part of town where I lived from 1983 thru 2003, for almost 20 years. As it is rather close to the center, it is exposed to changes more than the suburbs or villages; this former quarter of workers and fishermen, a place of factories, workshops, and poor families is becoming an attraction for night-crusers and past-noon-breakfasters. The place has become more colorful, more crowded and even a little posh since I lived there.

The chimneys of the fish factories are still there, the "Fabrik" has become a well-known concert hall. It used to be a place where machines were produced. The hammering, rocking rhythmes are still there.

Backyards of these former stores and workshops are now turned into cafés, theatres, dancing halls and kindergartens.

 The size of some houses shows that the place used to start as a village, but became residence of many whose wealth was created in the factories.

I found a mural recalling the building of the shopping mall "Mercado" which was started where a Jewish cemetary used to be. The negotiations about building it or not became an issue of international attention. The mural shows the solution: The cemetary which had been given up and sold already, had been desecrated long before, the tombstones had been turned into cement for a bunker. The compromise was to build the shopping center OVER, not on the cemetary. Under survey of Rabbis, the fundations were layed with great care. Unfortunately, even the mural about these events was desecrated by a grafito.

 

This is the back entrance of the shopping mall today. And inside in the basement, there is a memorial wall with the names of all the persons who were buried on this cemetary. Also the Mercado is different from most highly commercial shopping malls. It consist mostly of small pavillions for shops, cafés, and restaurants, much in the way they existed before the mall was built.

 Some cafés and shops in this quarter still have the whimsical character from the era before it became fashionable to live or to go out here.

And sometimes, funny things seem to happen like someone leaving a broken teapot on the pavement on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Teatime in Ottensen.

Just a Few Squares Missing

 

More squares are finished. Spread out beside the finished part. They still need to be quilted and connected. I'm not sure about the white square, front left; it came from another project. Will it fit in?

Cloth for the middle piece in the top left square: Ruusulampi

Five New Squares

 

After a time of heavy painting, there is a time of more intense quilting. Didn't find the time to do more prints; so I'm using the chicks that are still there instead. Sometimes I abandon the rules to the degree of making something completely different; if you look closely, you will find an 8-point star in the right top square. Guess the only rule is to have something like a square in the middle and a lot of 45° angles around. And to use the heaps of lovely squares that my quilter friends gave to me. Having started with such a tiny stash just a few years ago, I cannot properly reward your kindness.

Front crossing

Front crossing

reverse

Pumpkin, the color of the season, appeals to me a lot. But having started to compose the quilt, I have to keep the new squares in balance with what is finished already. The reverse strips are finished; I'm just uncertain if I should embellish the corners with the little 45°-squares, too, because the crossings bulge up to an enormous volume on these spots.
What do you think?

Reverse crossing