That was the week that was

"Hexagon patchwork from about 1830 with the papers and the basting still in them." From Barbara Brackman's site at http://barbarabrackman.blogspot.com/2010/03/hexagons-again.html.

I'm not sure what happened. It was Monday, then it was Sunday, and everything in between is a frenetic blur. April on a college campus always seems to be a time for meetings, tests, defenses, weddings and other pivotal life events, both for the students and for all of us working with them. Spring arrives and life changes forever. In one week, I've watched my students repeat vows, deliver papers at a professional meeting, and prepare for the final steps in getting advanced degrees. They are moving forward in scholarship and in life simultaneously, marking the milestones. There is much more of the same ahead for the rest of the month. Emotions are running at fever pitch.

Does that mean that there are more celebratory/commemorative quilting projects afoot here? Does it ever....more on that in a later post.

The new building is nearly ready for the final walk-through before it becomes ours. After that, we will be moving collections, library resources, archives and lab equipment in all during the summer, trying to have everything in the best shape possible for a grand fall opening. It's not a theoretical move any more. Once again, I will be triaging and moving my own office, sooner rather than later. Emotions are running high on this front, too. Couldn't I have collected something less painful to move than hundreds of books? Origami, perhaps? (Answer: a resounding no.)

So, im lieu of what should have been Quilt Thursday, here's a link to a followup on hexagon quilts that Barbara Brackman has posted. It's great eye candy for a lovely Sunday. Take a moment to savor the day; I will do so, too.

Quilt Thursday: Hexagons

Barbara Brackman has a terrific post today about hexagon quilts (e.g. the Grandmother's Flower Garden pattern). She describes how unexpectedly fascinating it is to make a large work with a simple, repeating, single-shape element. Hexagons fit and nest in ways that mathematicians can explain via tiling theory far better than I can. They crop up in the natural world again and again (honeycombs, snowflakes, basalt, etc.). They can be tiled indefinitely, infinitely.

In her post, she notes the astonishing hexagon quilts made by Albert Small of Ottawa, Illinois. This is found at the Illinois State Museum Society site. Mr. Small apparently was out to create a quilt with the largest number of individual pieces. I'm dedicating today's blog to him. That's only because I will NOT be following in his footsteps; I can practically guarantee this.

Here are the ISMS pictures of Mr. Small and two of his amazing hand-pieced quilts. As they note, in the second quilt below, the individual pieces are so tiny that six of them fit under a dime.

There are over 123,000 hexagon pieces in this quilt. I am now officially an amateur. For life.  

Happy Thursday. The weekend is almost here.