Imperfect, Unsettled, Uncertain

Perhaps its the weather; perhaps it's my age (I'll be 65 in less than 3 months); perhaps its everything going on in the world...

Whatever it is, lately I've had a daily challenge to feel anything but emotionally and mentally unsettled.  Sometimes I just wanna do what I wanna do, even if it's nothing.

It didn't start with this, but one of the frustrations of late was the discovery that my first two pieces for 15 x 15 this year weren't quite the right size.  Even blocked, they were both a tad small.  In the photo below you can see edges of "Agnes Meets Jane" that are just within the bounds of an earlier piece -- "Back to the Garden" -- that is the right size.

And here's the same sort of photo of "Winter", in which the differences are a bit more obvious...

Sigh.

It's not as if I can't make something 'to size'.  Here's my piece for the 2017 SAQA Benefit Auction, for example, with is indeed 12" square:

Vincent Meets Mod/Improv (C) 2017
12" x 12"
Available at online auction in September.

Taken together with the fact that I've not been as excited about the 2017 project in the group, as I was with earlier themed challenges, and the fact that sometimes I want to work either larger or smaller from the get-go...and...well...I've decided to step out of the group.  There are other projects that are calling to me -- ones that are unlikely to be exhibited, even.  Ones that call for a 'when it's done' time frame, and more hand-stitching.  Ones that are more utilitarian, for charity.  Ones that aren't quilting at all but knitting and/or embroidery (I've just been commissioned to make a set of pillow shams, to make a twin-bed quilt, to bind another 'apple core' bed quilt and to make a knitted shawl).

And please...I've heard the platitudes about 'you're only as old as you feel'.  I don't feel old, physically -- but some days I am very weary within myself, indeed.

In Canada -- as I was explaining to a Dutch colleague recently -- 65 is rather a milestone, whether one wants it to be or not.  One becomes eligible for a government pension -- the "Old Age Security" pension (OAS or OAP for short) -- and there are distinct changes in expenses as well as in income.  For example, in some provinces, insurance premiums for some health insurance programs (like one I'm in) are waived at 65**, and other benefits increase in scope and value.  One truly becomes a "Senior"....in tangible as well as intangible ways.

And this seems to have sent me into a bit of a rebellion -- wanting a looser time-table, saying 'no' more often to requests for 'volunteering', while simultaneously wanting to be sure I'm still needed, still have a purpose.  Just without strings, without expectations, without demands.  I want to eat what I want, drink what I want, exercise only if and when I want...instead of doing what 'They' say I should do, what is good for me.

For a rule-following, nerdy, goody-two-shoes, this is quite a turn about!

And thus...unsettling.

I hope within the next few months I'll find my footing again -- or at the very least, learn to tread on this road that's 'under construction', full of bumps and holes and blind corners.

Right now, it's time for a jog.   Happy trails!

**And on that note...I was going out the door just now when I got a call from Alberta Blue Cross about this 'milestone birthday'...forms are on the way to me to register for the changes that will take place effective October 1...!!

All is Revealed!

It's that time again: the 15 x 15 International Art Quilt Group Reveal is UP!

This year we are each working in a series based on a theme of our choosing -- a theme used in a prior year.

My chosen theme is "Time/Seasons" and I've been working my pieces out in abstract, mod/improv techniques.  Here's my latest offering:

Agnes Meets Judy in the Spring
(C) 2017

Here's a detail shot:

Agnes Meets Judy - Detail

Materials: self-dyed cotton fabric, commercial cotton and poly-cotton fabric, hand-dyed silk floss, cotton thread, 80-20 cotton/polyester batting.

Techniques: flip-and-stitch quilt-as-you-go by machine, big-stitch hand quilting.

For the story behind the title of the piece, I invite you to visit the post HERE.  Enjoy!

Linking this to WIP Wednesday on the Needle and Thread Network, because it's been a very long time since I've done that!  :-)

Have a great rest of the week...

Stamps and Strings and Other Things

I've written about this before...the idea of a break for my brain -- a 'palate cleanser', if you will -- after a spate of solid creating.  For me, this comes in the form of cutting and piecing strips, which I find very soothing -- and for which I'm very grateful that my hands are still supple enough to permit doing.

Since January, I've created a multitude of new 'pieces' including assignments for three online classes in modern/abstract/improvisational quilting, a piece for the latest 15 x 15 Group "reveal", and fifteen sixteen new miniatures for the up-coming Art Show and Sale.

Yes, sixteen.

After I finished the three 'Mug Shots', I found I had at least one more landscape tugging on my brain -- a combination of fabric, thread painting and needle-felting:

'Homeward' (2017)

I got to use the pencil roving I recently purchased at The Shop -- NORO's "Rainbow Roll" -- or at least, some of each of two of the three colour-ways I now have in my possession.  I really like the way the colours of the roving complement the horizon and the fields, along with some "mini-boucle" yarn I found when cleaning out the sewdio, and the wonderful eco-dyed silk in the foreground, purchased some time back from my dear friend and colleague, arlee barr.

So, there you have it; sixteen minis for the Show & Sale.  The new minis are finished -- for the time being.  All my pieces are priced and packaged.  All that remains to be done is to cut 10 new dowels (mostly for my 15 x 15 pieces that were either on tour in France and Taiwan for a couple of years, or for the ones that were new in 2016) and prepare price cards...

And write my talk for the Battle River Quilters' Guild in Camrose, for its meeting on April 19.

And box up supplies for my mono-printing demo at the Show on the afternoon of April 21.

Just a few things.

So...I decided yesterday to take a break, and do some piecing.

Those of you who know me from Facebook may have read that I've been Spring cleaning the sewdio.  I do this every year once my fabric storage rack is dismantled, ready to use to display my work at the Show.  This year was no exception.  The baskets that hold my fabric now look wonderful, and are ready to be re-installed on the rack once the Show is over.

However, I can't say as much for my scraps.

Just a drop in the bucket...

The above ignores completely doesn't include the other large basket-full, the packets of those cut into reliable sizes (a la Bonnie Hunter and her 'Scrap Saver System'), and the bag of 'bonus triangles' (another of Bonnie's ideas) and the basket of 'crumbs' (ditto)...

What the above represents, however, is not the pile with which I began, and from which,  yesterday afternoon and evening, I added to two pet projects:

My string blocks -- which now number 25 out of a goal of at least 48:

Stack o' String Blocks - April 9, 2017
8" square, unfinished

My 2" x 7" strips for a postage-stamp quilt:

Stack o' Stamp Strips

And my postage-stamp blocks -- of which 28 out of a hoped-for 81 are finished:

Stack o' Stamp Blocks
6 1/2" square, unfinished

Good thing these are rather addictive...because I've a long way to go!

And now for a break of a different kind.  The sun has come out for the first time in almost a week, and my lawn is calling to me for some Spring cleaning of its own.  And maybe a short jog after that.

So, Gentle Readers...I'll leave you with Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday (always a good read!) and see you later.  Have a great rest of the week!

It's UP!

The latest 15 x 15 International Group "Reveal", that is...with the last theme for the 2015/16 year: "Motion".  Enjoy it by clicking HERE!

What's that you say?  My contribution?  May I present...

Dervish! (C) 2016
Monoprint on white poly-cotton,
with hand-dyed red cotton,
machine quilted, fused appliqued.

On a Lighter Note

Gosh, I've been dragging myself around these days!  I won't go into all the reasons; the U.S. election results, the sombre marking of Remembrance Day, the grey skies...

Just let me say I've had to have pep talks with myself to get off social media and back on track with both art work and gifts for Christmas.

This morning, three new minis made their way to Gracie D's down the street.  The first two are mono-prints that build on what I learned early this year as part of the "Mono-print" challenge for the 15 x 15 Group:

Dining Alone (C) 2016

Dining Alone - Detail

Lunch Meeting - (C) 2016

Lunch Meeting - Detail

And the third was the most successful result (thus far) of my experimenting with white-on-white fabric as a 'resist' for paint -- based on an article in the October/November 2016 issue of Quilting Arts magazine: "White on White You CAN Resist!" by Joanne Sharpe.

When I saw the underlying fabric for this piece over at my LQS, I just knew I had to buy some to try, because I was sure it would look like falling snow.  My first efforts were done on a piece of it that I washed.  One sample was so bad (my painting skills, not the technique) that I threw it out.  The other rests quietly in my "Samples" binder.  And the third...well, I rather like it, and when Gracie saw it she did too.  :-)

Snowy, Snowy Night (C) 2016

Snowy, Snowy Night - Detail

The next 15 x 15 Group 'reveal' is at month-end; my piece for the theme, "Motion", is finished -- except to sew down the binding.  This one, somehow, didn't want to be finished with a facing (my preferred method these days)...it called for a bias binding with mitred corners!!  I gamely got out my copy of The Quilter's Ultimate Visual Guide  -- my 'go to' reference for bindings -- and managed to get the job done this morning.  Phew!  :-)

Next up: some quilting "television" (The Quilt Show), more Christmas knitting...and maybe a short jog.  Oh -- and I'm linking up with Nina Marie over at Off the Wall Friday, before I leave you with the musical question...

What are you doing creatively to lift your spirits today?

Three Posts -- but Not Here

This weekend I created three blog posts -- but not here.

MOB I - thigh

First, I updated Mark on the Body for July 29.  The first section of this project -- MOB I -- is now in the home stretch, and you can read about that HERE.

Second, as part of my work as a Regional Co-Rep, I updated the SAQA Western Canada Blog to showcase one of our member's latest achievements.  You can read about Diane and the Alberta Society of Artists' touring exhibit HERE.

Heaven's Gate - detail

And third, I posted my contribution to the 15 x 15 Group's latest "Reveal"; this one's on the theme of "Architecture" and required the use of a stencil somewhere in the piece.  (You'll recall from my last post the challenge that presented for me!)

You can read about my piece and see and learn about all the wonderfully unique interpretations of this theme HERE.

As we move into August, I find myself with much to do...and more of the same.  I have a hankering to start something new, and as the next 15 x 15 Group theme has already been announced, I might just make a start on that -- with Scarlett O'Hara -- tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I'm linking this up with Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday...and am going to enjoy some Sabbath time.  Have a good week!

Oh, What the Heck!

Our 15 x 15 Group has its next "reveal" at the end of this month.  The theme? "Architecture -- with a Stencil".

As you know, Gentle Readers, I've had little or no time to devote to the topic since it was announced at the end of May.  Just a wee distraction... which came to a close a couple of days ago, and from which I'm still winding down.

(Digression: Is it me, or my age (early sixties)?  I seem to find it harder and harder to disentangle emotionally from either 'highs' or 'lows' -- especially involving family and close friends, recalling sweet memories and making new ones.  I need to snap out of this so I can get some work done!)

This afternoon I thought I'd tackle the vision I had for this project, and see if I could actually finish it in a condensed period of time.   I've had something rolling around in my mind for some months now, and this theme seemed an ideal way to capture it.

My inspiration is this Taize worship piece that I've performed countless times with the trio in which I sing at church:.

The Kingdom of God is justice and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Come now, and open in us the gates of Your Kingdom.* 

*Ateliers et Presses de Taize, France 

I had this picture in my mind of gates opening onto a celestial Kingdom...and when I remembered these photos I'd taken on my visit to Stratford, Ontario in May, I had the model for my gates -- from which I thought I could make a stencil.

Ha!  It wasn't as easy as all that.

Sure, I traced the shapes I wanted, got 'em on to printer paper, enlarged 'em...and then tried to actually create a stencil.

You'd think I'd never done it before!  But I have --  or so I kept reminding myself as I wasted piece after piece of the laminate off-cuts my daughter gives me (recycling from her workplace).

I have a wee problem with perception, you see...some of which is attributed to my wonky eyesight.  I tend to transpose images...and I have trouble differentiating depth (as in trying to parallel park a car) and positive/negative space.

I knew what I wanted to be the "empty" space on the stencil -- the space in which I wanted to either paint or apply resist while I painted the background...or both -- but I couldn't for the life of me cut it out without destroying the materials and ending up with gaps.

I went online for help and I confess, it was hard to find.  There were plenty of videos and articles on how to make stencils and what tools to use to make it easy...but precious little on exactly what to cut and what to leave intact.  I finally found this one from artist Amy Pearce...and the light went on.  As a result, I managed to cobble together a passable stencil, tape it down to my work surface, put the fabric over it and apply blue glue gel resist where I wanted it to go.  (I ended up making the stencil out of paper, and for this technique; i.e., with glue, based on Enid Gjelten Weischelbaum's article, "Drawing with Glue" in the August/September 2015 issue of Quilting Arts magazine, you place your fabric on top of your traceable design):

As I was laying down the glue, I thought to myself, "Oh, what the heck if it doesn't get done in time; this is fun!"

It has to dry 24 hours (which is fine -- I work at The Shop tomorrow)...and on Wednesday, if I'm able (I have 3 appointments), I'll play with the background colours...and Friday...might be able to stitch...

Blessedly, the 15 x 15 Group have forgiven me if I miss this particular challenge...but I'd like to try to get there on time.  Our "reveals" are always so much fun, and I want to be a part of this one too.

Wish me luck -- or say a prayer -- or both (whichever appeals to you)!  See you later...

Around in Circles

While I spent the last 3 weeks going around in circles -- or so it seemed -- my colleagues in the 15 x 15 Group were putting the finishing touches on their pieces for the "Circles" theme.  Our latest works were revealed May 31 -- check them all out HERE!

Blue Plate Special  (C) 2016
15" x 15"
for the "Circles" theme

Which Came First?

The

Tea towel #2...

or the

No further comments on the above (grin) because it's a detail shot from my current WIP  for the 15 x 15 Group.  Our theme is "Circles"...and the full reveal will be at month end.  (To date, the applique is all finished, and I'm preparing to sandwich and quilt.)

Also going on inside the sewdio (because it's 27 C in the strong late afternoon sun and too hot in the Outdoor Studio) is some sashing and quilt assembly.  I have in mind to assemble 3 tops -- from those 3 sets (12 blocks each) of "Blocks of the Month" I couldn't use for the Syrian refugee quiltlets -- in case a collection gets started for the now-homeless from Fort McMurray's fires.  

This is an event of historic proportions for Canada...largest evacuation ever -- 88,000 people as of 11 a.m. today.  Temps up there hit 32.5 C today, with a nominal dew point (amount of moisture in the air) and the winds have been picking up.  Temps may cool off overnight but there's no rain in the forecast for at least a week.

Photo credit: Holly Ayearst on Twitter
copied from The Weather Network.

The aftermath...is pretty much incomprehensible right now.  So...I'm quilting, with prayers in every stitch.  I want to be ready with a little bit of comfort when the time comes...

And linking in to The Needle and Thread Network for WIP Wednesday.  Maybe some of y'all are quilting for Fort "Mac" too?

And All is Revealed...

Tea, Anyone?

As promised in my earlier post (2 weeks ago)...the latest 15 x 15 Group "reveal" has been posted!  The theme for this latest challenge was "East Meets West" and, true to form, each of us has created a unique and interesting interpretation.  You can see my piece and all the wonderful work HERE.  Enjoy!

WIPs That Work

Every once in a while (which, for some of us is not quite as often as for others!), one has a day of sewdio time that just....flows...

3" hexagon background -
English Paper Piecing

Today was one of those days pour moi.  Some time ago now, I posted about the background I was creating for my next 15 x 15 Group piece with the theme, "East Meets West".  It was a series of 3" hexagons, English paper pieced.  Until some time in the middle of last week, I was pretty certain it was going to take forever to create!  I needed to cover at least 16" square to allow for quilting and trimming, and I began to wonder...

"Japanese" print backing (stash)

But by Monday, all had come together.  First I sandwiched the quilt with a great "Japanese" background.  Then I quilted it, tone-on-tone, with straight lines top-to-bottom only.  After that, I was ready to plan and work out the foreground.

I knew I wanted tea pots.  I'd collected photos of a variety of styles, purportedly 'English', 'Chinese' and 'Japanese'.  From these I traced the shapes...and from there I planned to create them in fabric.

But...what colour?

Enter "Inspiration" in the form of Linda Kemshall, and one of her latest DMTV videos, in which she's doing a sketchbook study on the colour RED.  Aha!

Based on her suggestion that one research one's colour, I looked into the significance of red for the Chinese and the English (I couldn't find much re: the Japanese but perhaps I wasn't looking in the right places).  Regardless, RED has served as a colour associated with royalty (Imperial China), revolution (as in the rise of "Red" China) and the military -- as in the English "Red Coats" who fought (in vain) in the American Revolution.  Those same "Red Coats" played a part in Canadian history...and then there are our RCMP "Red Coats"...and red is the dominant colour on the Canadian flag...not to mention the Japanese flag... (sorry; I can't seem to draw a 'border' around that circle to clearly delineate the Japanese flag...nonetheless...

I rest my case.

Today, I auditioned three batiks (from Hamel's Fabrics' Show Special in Red Deer last year -- thank you!)...traced the tea-pot shapes I'd found...and auditioned them in place using a Teflon sheet, because the plan was to fuse each grouping and then fuse the grouping(s) to the background.  I'd not used this technique in a while so have to confess...this is the first time I really got the concept!  Who knew?!

Pieces fused together on Teflon sheet

Next I placed them on the pre-quilted background. fused them down and quilted them -- using machine applique on the raw edge and a tiny blanket stitch (1.5 long by 1.5 apart on my Husqvarna Lily 555).

Tea, Anyone? - Detail 1

Tea Anyone? - Detail 2

That's all you'll see until the 'reveal' at month-end...but that's a pretty good "hint" as to what I've created, don't you agree?  ;-)

I just love it when everything comes together...especially on a Wednesday, generally the "odd day out" in my week.  What about you?

Linking up to WIP Wednesday over at The Needle and Thread Network...

See you later!

How Far Did I Get?

Another Wednesday's rolled around.  How far did I get with last week's list?

Here's what I had left on the list as of last Wednesday's post:

• Mark on the Body (MOB): stitch for Tuesday (that would be yesterday) and Wednesday (that would be today);
• 15 x 15: make sleeves for the two pieces that have to go to France -- sooner rather than later - cut out and pressed; not sewn or attached.
• Start to blind hem the binding on L's Magic Tiles quilt.

Since then, a week of MOB stitching has happened.  I caught up last week, and find myself in the same spot again today -- having to stitch for yesterday and today.  This happens often on Tuesdays and Thursdays because my work at The Shop interrupts my stitching.  :-)

The binding on L's Magic Tiles quilt was finished...and the quilt was laundered and delivered.  :-)

'Magic Tiles' (Kathleen Bissett) in 'Red Hat' fabric

And the pieces destined for 15 x 15's Guest Exhibition at Quilt Expo en Beaujolais, France?  They're in the mail!  Here's how I prepared them for their trans-continental travel:

• Urged by Caro in France to keep it as simple as possible, I hunted down a cardboard box and cut the two sides to fit:

• Then I wrapped each piece lightly in plain white tissue paper:

• Having sandwiched the pieces between the two sheets of cardboard, I used duct tape to seal all around the edges, with special attention to the corners.  I printed off the address label on each of two sheets of paper, encased them in plastic envelopes (one with a zip-lock that can be opened) and secured one to each side with more duct tape...

...and mailed it off!  

Canada Post offered me two mailing options based on the size (although thin, it was too large to go by letter mail):  

• "Surface International" (read: 'slowly, by ground to a coastline somewhere and thence by ship' -- $40 CAD, insured but not tracked);
• and "Xpresspost International" (read: 'speedily by air' -- $70 CAD, insured and tracked -- "guaranteed" delivery in 5-7 business days).  Wanting it to get to France by March of this year, did I have much choice?!  

I leave you now to return to my quilting...with a major focus on finishing Section 1 of the Japanese Taupe Quilt intended for my son and his fiancee as a wedding gift.  Even with an extra day this month/year, July will be here before I know it!

Photo from 2014 -- this is now sandwiched and being quilted!

I have another 15 x 15 Group project under way...but this post is already long enough, Gentle Readers!  While you await the next installment, enjoy the link to WIP Wednesday over on The Needle and Thread Network...Pour yourself a cuppa and see what Canadian quilters are up to!  ;-)

P.S. For those of you who 'follow' this blog on Facebook:  I am "off" FB through Lent -- starting today (Ash Wednesday) and not returning till Palm Sunday (March 20).   This blog post will continue to link to my personal page, to the 15 x 15 page and to my business page (3 F Creations) on FB, but I will not be stopping by to view comments.  If you wish to comment on my posts during the next 40 days or so, please do so here.  And thank you for your support!  

And All is Revealed...

"Fifteen Quilts" -- aka 15 x 15 -- has posted its first "reveal" for the year!  The theme is "Mono-print"; it's intriguing to see how each of us used that technique to create something new.  For many of us it was an adventure outside the proverbial Comfort Zone...

Don't See Cardinals Much 'Round Here

You can see detail shots and the back-story on the 15 x 15 site, HERE -- and enjoy the contributions from my colleagues!

Over at Mark on the Body...you can see the update for January 29 HERE.  And thank you for your support!

Choices

I have to keep reminding myself that I'm not 25 -- or 35 -- or 45 -- or even 55 any more!

This week has been full indeed: full of extra work hours to fill in for a sick colleague.  While this gave me extra knitting time (a bit, anyway), it wreaked havoc with my studio time, my computer time (SAQA business and such), my participation in my online class -- Dyeing for Quiltmakers with EB via The Academy of Quilting -- and even my sleep.  Yesterday I was so tired that I sent an e-mail (photo attachment, short note, innocuous) to my boss that was supposed to go to my friend P in Montreal!

LIFE -- ya gotta love it!

I had to re-think my priorities.  I managed to get the laundry done Friday (washed while I was at work; dried when I got home) but dishes and dust bunnies were threatening to take over my kitchen, so...I buckled down and did my dishes (no dishwasher; old pipes, no room) and swept the kitchen (I hate doing this and always leave it till I can't stand it any more).

Then I had to decide what needed to be taken care of first in the sewdio.  My sewing machine was still set up for artwork -- YLI silk thread on top and Superior's Bottom Line in the bobbin -- so I set to and finished my 15 x 15 piece...except to hand-sew the binding and attach the label and sleeve. Below is a detail of the layered, quilted mono-printing, complete with 'snow' (spatter paint).  You'll have to wait till month-end for the full "reveal".  :-)

Quilted mono-print;
organza laid over commercial fabric,
spattered paint

After that I finished up the second mini that I got out of the samples for the above piece:

January Surprise II (C) 2016
Quilted mono-print on organza,
commercial cotton, paint

I've enjoyed these so much that I'm down to the last bits of the background fabric.  Blessedly I still had some selvedge, so was able to look it up -- and found the line is carried by my fave LQS, Caroline's Homespun Seasons, in nearby Stettler.  If she still has this in stock, I'm going to get some more!

It took two episodes of Bonnie's Quilt Cam for all of this, and I needed a break...so I went out before the sunshine disappeared and shovelled the walks and my driveway.  It felt so good to be in the fresh air and moving around that way!  We'd had a fresh dusting of snow on Friday and overnight.  How I wish my camera could catch the sparkle of the sun on that powder!

Back inside -- and next up: the "refugee quilts".  What was going on there?

I'd finished the third one Wednesday and set out batting and backing possibilities for #4 ("Off the Rails").  Navy poly-cotton for the backing (donated)...long enough but not wide enough...so I cut it up and pieced it.  The batting piece (also donated)?  The perfect length but too narrow by less than an inch on either side.  I was darned if I was going to trim the borders of the quilt so...dug out a pre-cut pack of Quilter's Dream and cut the size I needed.  Now spray-basted, it's ready to quilt...as soon as I decide what thread to use.  I have some navy for the back but...for the front?  With those colours, maybe white will do!

By this time it was evening and I was pretty much at the end of my energy.  Time for a light supper...an audio book and some knitting.

Nine hours of sleep followed -- and the spring has returned to my step; I'm ready to go again...with a new set of priorities.

Today is Sunday -- which means church...followed by a visit to my colleague in hospital.  By the time I get home it will be late afternoon...and MOB has been neglected, so there will be 'stitch-along-to-the-audio-book' again.

I'll be working in The Shop at least half of tomorrow...and all of Tuesday...and maybe some of Wednesday...and all of Thursday...so I can see that Dyeing for Quiltmakers will continue to go on without me...

That's Life!

I'm linking this up to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday, where this week she too is talking about Time Management...and her hopes for her schedule in this new year.  Good luck with that, Nina Marie! :-)

Facing & Finishing

Confession: putting the finishing touches on a project is my least favourite part of the process.   This probably accounts for why I love to knit socks.  There are no seams to sew save the wee bit of grafting at the toe, and there are very few ends to sew in -- most of the time.

However, if one is going to donate pieces to benefit auctions, put pieces on show and/or offer them for sale, one has to finish them, and do so properly and well.

Facing & Finishing - (Back) "Uphill to Mirror" (2014)
(Front) "Yellow Tree" (2015)

Next week I'm sending six of my "15 x 15" pieces to Ontario, where they'll be given to my colleague Chantal.  She will take them back to France and from there, to Maastricht, The Netherlands, for the Open European Quilt Championships competition and exhibition, which runs from October 29 through November 1, 2015.  Yes!  Our group is but one of several which have been accepted as a Guest Collection for the show!  Each of us is sending 6 to 8 pieces, so it will be a great collection of our work over the past three years.  

Then there's "Yellow Tree", my piece for the 2015 SAQA Benefit Auction, which has to be ready to go to Portland with me next week so I can deliver it to the curator of the Auction, Gale O-P.

Today I sewed down the facing and applied the sleeve to "Uphill to Mirror", the 15 x 15 piece, and started to sew down the facing on "Yellow Tree".  The sleeves for all of the 15 x 15 Group's pieces are 2" deep (finished) and mounted 1" from the top and 1" in from each side.  For each I include a tiny pleat (see photo at left) to facilitate hanging.

The sleeve for "Yellow Tree" will be similar, but made of the same fabric as the backing and facing.  I like to have them all match and blend in if possible, so they are rather...um...unobtrusive...and don't take away from the "main event", which is the front!

Speaking of finishing...I am closing in on the end of the Wedding Prayer Shawl too.   Turns out the women in our parish decided to hold a shower for our young bride...on Saturday (April 26)!
This is a good month before I'd planned to finish the shawl, and I'm not prepared to go to the Shower with a different gift...so I'm trying to finish early.  As of this writing, I'm at 23 1/2 of 25 pattern repeats...with 20 rows of garter stitch edging to follow, plus washing and blocking...!

It may or may not be 'on the needles' when presented to the bride-to-be...

At about 21 pattern repeats...

Lace detail
Pattern: "Kimono Shawl"
from
Folk Shawls by Cheryl Oberle

Blessedly I was able to do most of this handwork in the Outdoor Studio, which I opened this afternoon for the 2015 season!

Opening Day 2015 at my Outdoor Studio 

Being here makes facing and finishing so much more enjoyable -- don't you agree?

Linking this up to WIP Wednesday over at The Needle and Thread Network.  What have you been working on lately?

1300!

My next Blog Anniversary -- 12 years of blogging -- is exactly a week from today.  Who'da thunk it?  Certainly, I'd not even thought of how many posts I'd make between then and now...and yet today marks my 1300th post!  That's an average of 108 posts a year...or just about one every 3 days for over a decade.

Blogging has completely satisfied my 'writer's itch', and given me both a way to share my life and work...and an abundance of new contacts, some of whom have become fast friends.  Thanks to all of you for following and reading and commenting, laughing, crying, comiserating, and sharing cyberspace with me all these years.

I began this blog as "The Lady Who Knits on the Bus", and my original URL, 'knitsonthebus.blogspot.com' will still direct you here, to a blog that began with knitting from a blogger who still has knitting in her life every day.

And...as promised, this morning I used a random number sequence generator  to pick the winners of the yarn I'm giving away in celebration of another long-time blogger, the Yarn Harlot.  Congratulations to Christina V., Rhoda F., and Rav's GeneHunter!  These Gentle Readers have been contacted by e-mail and their yarn will be sent out to them later this week.

Now it's February...and in my books, that mean's only about 6 more weeks of winter, regardless of what the groundhog has to say about it tomorrow!

Yesterday marked the deadline for the latest "Reveal" from my friends at 15 x 15.  Do drop

over to their website to see the beautiful work and varied
interpretations of the challenge theme, "Monochromatic".  Even though I'm taking a year off from the group to do my EBMC, I felt right at home with my first EBMC assignment which was...um...yep -- a monochromatic value study!

EB's e-mail with the February assignment has arrived...so stay tuned for another adventure as I work it through...

My 15 x 15 friends have also been experimenting with snow dyeing.  Many of them live where snow is a rarity, and recent aberrations in weather have found some of them out in their yards with plastic bags, scooping snow into them to keep in the freezer so they could do some snow dyeing!

I'd wondered how this would work out, as I'd only ever done snow dyeing with powdery fresh stuff.  I figured the stuff in the freezer would get hard and crystalline....just like the "old snow" that was in my yard.  Until Friday, we hadn't had fresh snow for several weeks, and what we had was now hard-packed, with an icy crust from rain and freezing rain on top of it.  I decided to dig out some and see results I'd get with it.

I was gob-smacked!

First, I needn't have piled on the amount of snow I usually use, because this hard, crystalline, icy stuff takes longer to melt than the powdery version. I ended up dumping a lot of snow because I wanted to avoid a mess.  Even though my fabric was on a rack in the bottom of the tub, the amount of snow melt would have resulted in "mud" instead of beautiful mottled colour.   Second, "old snow" has bits of leaves and twigs in it, as these close-ups of the tub of dye-on-snow show (look carefully).

     

And the results?  I was delighted with these "sunrise/sunset" cottons and muslin:

But my favourite piece is the silk:

I have nothing specific in mind for these pieces yet, but I'm glad I found the delights of dyeing with "old" snow...and now I better understand why artists in warmer climes go to the trouble of dyeing with ice or freezer-kept snow.  The results can be spectacular!

Happy February, everyone...have a lovely Sunday!