 I'm so happy to finally share my last mosaic project, the beaded wall! The whole purpose for this wall section was to use up lots of the leftover bits from the big wall. I had stacks of cups and containers full of mosaic bits and this was the perfect project for them.  Here you can see that the beaded section is right next to The Great Wall in my longarm room. There's something really cool about knowing that these are hidden in the basement and I'm pretty much the only person who sees it. This is my last mosaic. It's been a fun 4+ years diversion but it was time to get all the mess out of my basement and to get back to doing my glass work. You cannot believe the mess that mosaic art makes and how much space it takes up. It's much worse than a huge fabric collection.I needed to get all of that stuff out of my house. It was starting to dampen my creativity. You can see all of the mosaic projects and more photos of this wall in the Mosaics Gallery. So after getting the mosaic grouted last week and giving it a few days to finish off gassing, I spent the weekend cleaning the basement.  As I'm writing this post it's Sunday evening about 8:30 and I am exhausted. I cleaned and cleaned and culled and culled. It was brutal but I'm happy to have some clean and empty shelves in the basement. One of the curses of having space is that you can always keep things "because I might need it some day". The next thing you know you basically have a space full of garbage. Some of the gems that I found there are:
- wallpapering supplies that I haven't used in 20 years - a bag of PVC elbows left over from making ice dyeing screens - about 40 plastic containers with lids that Chris used to use for his painting business that he stopped doing about 2 years ago - homemade jam dated 2012! and loads of dust bunnies. I have to deep clean the basement once a year because we have a wood stove down there so even the floor gets mopped. I didn't even have the energy to carry these bags to the truck so I had to tell Chris that I had some "gifts" for him by the basement door. As you can imagine, he was incredibly grateful. Now that the dangerous products are away from the longarm I can start quilting again this week. I'm working on the second Blockade veterans quilt from the symmetry fabrics so I might put those on first for a quick win. I also have 2 quilt tops from Mom and the cat quilt will be done soon. At least that's the plan! yes it does sound like you needed to do some cleaning out! love how the wall turned out - can you imagine the surprise on someone's face if you ever put the house up for sale and they walked down to the basement to look it over flip on the lights and presto - designs on the wall
Mindy
5/4/2020 10:46:32 am
Those walls are beyond awesome! I do all of my quilting in an unfinished basement. After two years of looking at grey walls, I had a neighbor paint them white for me. What a difference!! I spend at least half of my day, if not more, down there. I do tole painting and ended up painting a large, leafy tree on the wall that my sewing machine faces -- it makes me happy!
Kristin F
5/4/2020 11:17:44 am
The beaded wall looks great. Congrats on the finish. 5/4/2020 11:29:19 am
Your mosaic walls are so glamorous! A clean basement is a miracle that might never happen at my house.
Claire
5/4/2020 11:36:23 am
Love the two walls. Is the fish wall done too?
Mrs. Plum
5/4/2020 11:54:56 am
Congratulations on finishing your beautiful wall AND cleaning your basement! Monumental achievements! 5/4/2020 12:25:17 pm
Congratulations on finishing the walls and cleaning it all up. You will be so happy to just quilt along in your space.
patty
5/4/2020 12:25:24 pm
The beaded wall turned out awesome! Getting all that cleaning done has to feel good even though you were exhausted. It was like the day I cleaned out the fabric storage room and cut fabric and cleaned all day. Exhausting, but it makes me smile every time I go into that room and see that wall of shelves all cleaned up. Now the opposite wall - well, let's just say it needs some cleaning up! Seems like cleaning and straightening up is never done!
Debbie Bailey
5/4/2020 08:42:16 pm
Wow...I love the beaded mosaic.I feel your pain...I have been spring cleaning though not in my sewing spaces. I am exhausted but the end is in sight...then it will be time to just do regular cleaning...it never ends. Happy you can get back to quilting! I don't leave many comments, but I have been following you while you've been working on the mosaic beads. What grand fun it must be to walk down to your space and be greeted by those walls! So incredibly fun. And I think it's cool that it's like a hidden gem; no one sees it but you.
Susan Ulrich
5/5/2020 09:45:38 am
LOVE your mosaic walls! I've followed you and your walls for quite a while now. I've loved your updates and can only imagine how great it feels to have them totally finished! And cleaned up even!! Congrats Vicki, it's beautiful! I hope you show your walls in pictures some times.
Doris Miller
5/5/2020 09:58:28 am
Wow! I looked through the mosaic gallery and am just blown away. I just finished a small mini mosaic quilt and said no more. What a great work of art.
Carmen N
5/5/2020 10:15:52 am
You are one talented artist! I did look through your gallery of mosaic accomplishments again. Not only are the designs individual works of art but when they all come together on the wall it is a cinder block canvas that is truly amazing! I'm glad you stuck with it. What a sense of accomplishment! Beautiful! 5/5/2020 11:16:53 am
Hey Vicki........your beaded wall is wonderful! Puts a smile on my face every time you share it with all of us. Nice to see a glimpse of both mosaic walls completed together. Nicely done. Congrats on the cleaning out of the basement...always good to get those sorts of jobs checked off the to do list. Now you can get on with the stitching again.
Bambi Mayer
5/6/2020 03:35:30 am
Congratulations on your big finish!! I've enjoyed watching your journey around your basement walls these last few years and it is just beautiful!
Laceflower
5/6/2020 11:29:35 am
Late to the party, those finished mosaics must make you smile every time you enter that area, spectacular. Aw a cleaned studio, I've just got one too and I didn't realize how it was weighing me down till it was decluttered.
Mary Anne
5/15/2020 10:48:31 am
You would think, wouldn't you, that with all this at home thing going on that I would be able to keep up with commenting on your blog....obviously such is not the case. So...catching up in a sporadic way now....and wanted to give you kudos on your finished basement. It looks amazing! So much more joyful than being down in a dull space. Basement owners everywhere must envy you! Comments are closed.
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I'm Vicki Welsh and I've been making things as long as I can remember. I used to be a garment maker but transitioned to quilts about 20 years ago. Currently I'm into fabric dyeing, quilting, Zentangle, fabric postcards, fused glass and mosaic. I document my adventures here. Categories
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