Racing Towards the Finish Line

 I don't know about you, but when I get close to finishing something, all I want to do is focus on that one project until I cross the finish line with it.  Sometimes there's a deadline involved -- and sometimes not.

In my last post, I'd finished a number of things and was close to finishing others.  Over the last three weeks**, I've made more progress, so I decided it was time to share.

**By the by, how did we arrive at December already?!

As of yesterday (when it was still November), I'd finished the 'Caribou Mountains Hat' for my neighbour's wife, using the same yarn (Diamond Luxury Baby Alpaca Aran) in a different colour:

My friend Joyce in the UK has received her cozy cashmere chemo caps and is wearing them with pleasure, as she reports it's quite chilly there now.

I'm almost finished the first of the 'Woodpile Socks' for my friend Brenda, as I'm nearing the end of the toe decreases -- and will be finished with that today:

The Pinwheel Strings quilt top got quilted and bound -- and now lives in its new home with a neighbour:

I started and finished cowls -- one each for two friends of mine.  Here's one of them, modelled by the lovely 4 litre ice cream pail... 😉

Pattern: Simple, Yet Effective Cowl
Designer: Tin Can Knits
Yarn: Heidi's by Hand Trail Merino Worsted - Skein 1

Here's the other, lying beautifully flat on my coffee table.  I just love the texture in this one!

Pattern: Simple Simon Cowl
Designer: Hanna Illuzzi
Yarn: Heidi's by Hand Trail Merino Worsted - Skein 2

And I finished a tiny cross-stitch sampler that will also be given away -- probably matted for framing or putting on a stand:

Pattern: free from Colorado Cross-stitcher 
Floss: all DMC floss - 2 strands over 2 threads
Fabric: a scrap of 28-count even-weave fabric

I also finished a little gift for some dear friends in Ontario, who moved to a new home there about a year ago.  They're Jewish, and their 48th anniversary this year happens to fall on the first night of Hanukkah, so I finished this little pillow for them.  They called the other evening to say it had arrived safely and they were delighted to find a spot in their living room for it:

Pattern: one of two "Jewish Pillows"
Designer: Mani di Donma
Floss: All DMC - 2 strands over 2 threads
Fabric: 32-count Weeks Dye Works 'Wild Flax'

I think all of us could use a bit of shalom in our lives just now, don't you agree?

What's left to finish?  Well, aside from those "Woodpile" socks, I'm still plugging away at "Nevermore" from Lila's Studio -- and very focused now, because I'm on the last border.  

Less than 1/2 the last border to finish!

Close-up of the bottom border

I panicked briefly as I began this last bit, because I'd finished the called-for colour ("Lagoon" from Gentle Arts Sampler Threads) and couldn't get any more quickly.  I found the right match in my stash -- "Chesapeake" from Weeks Dye Works -- but it was getting low too!  What to do?!  Blessedly, my LNS -- Cabinet of Curiosities in Stettler, Alberta (yes, it's related to "my" gallery, Curiosity Art & Framing in Red Deer) -- had two skeins of DMC 500 that is a great match.  I bought 'em both!  Now to get it finished, pressed and laced to mat board so I can mail it off to my nephew and his new bride in B.C.  They can frame it themselves, to suit their (ahem!) unique taste.

On the quilting front, a few weeks back a friend gave me a small bag of scraps, so I decided to challenge myself to use the limited quantity therein, and the limited palate, to create something to give back to her.  Et voila!  I managed a "Funky Logs" table runner:

I used my own stash for the backing, batting and binding; otherwise, the blocks were made from only what she gave me.  I presented it to her yesterday, knowing she's a 'matchy matchy' sort of quilter; she was rather amused -- and I hope she'll find a place for it!

I've finished making all the hexagons for the One Block Wonder quilt top, but have set it aside for the moment as my brain's not yet ready to tackle designing that finished top.  The other challenge with design right now is...lack of a design surface.

The 'design bed' -- the long twin bed in my guest room -- is currently difficult to access because of the number of items that have had to be stored away in there to protect them from The Kittens.  And the photo above showing the table runner on my studio's design wall?  That was the last item to be put on there before Sylvie Kitten (the black-and-white feisty one) lept up on it.  I'd caught her trying this more than once but one day, when I wasn't in the house, she brought it down completely!!  I'm now pondering how to refurbish it and remount it.  (It's a slab of blue foam insulation covered by Thermolam, and is a good 20 years old.)

This means that currently most of my 'designing' is being done on my cutting table or my ironing board.  To that end, I've turned my attention to using up more stash in a new quilt top to give away.

I'd bought a kit of nineteen-thirties reproduction fabric back-in-the day -- again, probably almost 20 years ago.  It was intended to become an English paper-pieced project -- some sort of Grandmother's Flower Garden or something.  Anyway, a while back I decided I'd never make that.  I even gave the hexies and the pattern to the local charity thrift shop -- but I kept the fabric.  

This past week I found just the right pattern for it -- "Add It Up", a free pattern from "Quilts & More" that I found on AllPeopleQuilt.com.  It's been a wonderfully soothing pattern to work on -- even with a typo in it that called for 89 background (white) squares -- when it turned out to be 189!  

Here are a couple of progress photos:

At the top: background rectangles.
Centre tray: print rectangles, Block 'A' units.
Bottom tray: Block 'B' units

On the cutting table:
more Block 'B' units ready to assemble

I don't have enough of the fabric to make the wide borders for the top, but have found some options in my stash that will suit; I'll pick one when the time comes.  Meanwhile, I have the rhythm of the nine-patches to thank for a certain amount of peace of mind this week.

Order out of chaos: that's my on-going mantra!  

Yes, there is art work I could mention. I've got pieces in an online gallery hosted by Artists in Canada, and invite you to visit between now and December 10 for the current group show and sale, entitled "Regional Differences".  I also have holiday-themed items showing in the Curiosity Art & Framing gallery in Red Deer -- and I invite you to visit the gallery in person or check out my offerings HERE.

But Advent has arrived, a time in my faith practice for reflection and prayer, even as I might join in on the trend to knit or stitch or otherwise make something material each day from now through Christmas.There is much to ponder and pray about: for comfort, for peace (far and near), for sanity, for civility, for generosity, for understanding, for caring -- for hope.

I leave you with those prayers for your own homes, families and friends.  Until next time...a bientot!

Tricky Questions...

First, a bit of back story: for those with whom I've not shared this, in 2020 I was named the Featured Artist for the local Art Show and Sale -- the first textile artist so named in its over twenty-year history. COVID = show post-poned to 2021, along with my appearance as Featured Artist.

My creative mojo went into hybernation for several months and when it woke up, it took me in a very new direction, involving a lot of piecing and working with scraps in a very improvisational way -- a far cry from the landscapes for which I'm known in that marketplace -- and I've made several new pieces that I want to exhibit at this year's show.

This year's show. It's due to open in two months (May 28 and 29) -- God willing and the provincial government permits it, given the state of our COVID case numbers, even with the ongoing vaccination roll-out. I continue to live in hope!

The result? I've been having an argument with my Voices. You know -- the ones someone once referred to as "The Committee". So I went looking for some thoughts from people who may have had the same argument.

Coping with Chaos
(c) 2020

Two arguments, really.

The first is: to face or not to face? I usually face my work, but this

Chaos Series, composed of crumbs and strings and has multiple seams -- plus I've chosen to quilt the pieces with straight lines in "invisible"

thread and have finished the edges with a regular zig-zag stitch.

Two of the pieces are mounted on stretched canvas and framed (I shared these some time back); three more are "soft" pieces with sleeves and dowels -- and one isn't even sandwiched and quilted ("Frayed", meant to be seen from both sides). I think the rougher edges add to each piece but worry that not finishing them with more than zig-zag stitching might be seen as...I don't know...Lazy? Tacky? Unprofessional? Sigh.

The second question is: how to price? I usually work pretty small,

and have -- to date -- calculated my prices using a "square inch" method common among my Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) colleagues. In recent years I've managed to gradually increase my prices, as my work

and my skills have strengthened. Two pieces entered into shows, which I had formally appraised, have affirmed this is a good price point.

But these pieces -- especially the soft ones -- are larger than most I've made before, and with their improvisational style, quite different. They all range between 675 and 840 square inches.

Some of you have heard me call my locale "Bed Quilt Central" -- referring to the fact that as recently as my last show (2019), I've had soft pieces referred to as "blankets" or "cushion covers". I'm wondering how to price this new series, given that to the ininformed eye, they might look like stiff, flat crib quilts -- whether in the end I face them or not.

The Voices insisted that I *face* the soft pieces, and told me that there's NO WAY anyone would pay THAT price for any of them.

I went looking for thoughts and advice and blessedly, I found some!

First, from the SAQA Members Only group on Facebook. SAQA has been a boon to my work for over a decade, and its members didn't let me down now. They listened, they didn't judge -- most of them have had similar experiences -- and they offered food for thought.

On the subject of facings, their advice can be summed up thus: "Whenever possible, use a facing (or a binding)". These finishes give a more polished look to a piece, especially when it's hanging free and not mounted on a canvas. Other finishes include trimming with cord or satin stitch or even paint -- none of which I'm particularly good at! I felt that a binding however narrow, would put too formal a 'frame' around these pieces, so...facing it would be!

As for the subject of pricing, I received a great deal of encouragement to stick to my usual format ($ per square inch). One colleague suggested that even in doing so, I might consider using this year's show as simply an opportunity to exhibit my new work, and not worry about selling any of it. Another asked whether or not selling the work was a main focus -- which is a different way of expressing the same thought. (Truth be told, I sell my work because I live in a small house, and it piles up! 😆) And there was the reminder that I needed to remember my market place, which was what was giving me pause in the first place.

Enter the ArtistsInCanada Art group on Facebook, to which I also belong. Most of the artists are painters, but there are practitioners in other genres too, including textiles. Yesterday, a painter who'd been out of circulation for twenty years was returning to painting and opining, "...times have changed!", asked "How do other artists price their work?"

What ensued was an interesting and most helpful discussion -- from artists who exhibit to sell, sell what they exhibit, work on commissions, make installations...all over Canada. Aside from the Canadian setting (which, it must be noted, is different from that of the UK, Europe, Asia, Oceania, and the U.S.), much of what they said has been discussed at length among my international SAQA colleagues as well.

• There was mention of the quality of the work: "not all 8" x 10" paintings are created equal".
• There was one who did a spreadsheet for materials per square inch plus time spent.
• It was pointed out "Consumers aren't interested in what we have to say" -- rather, they're interested in what the work says to them; and..."not all art is saleable";
• There was some philosophizing about the nature of art versus art as a commodity;
• There was the reminder that as an artist improves in skill and develops a following, a reputation, she or he can sell work at higher prices because the work will be viewed as worth more;
• There was the admonition to "Never reduce your prices" -- which I read as "never under-value your work" -- and the story many of us have heard about reputable artists in a rough patch, selling less work, deciding to raise prices -- and, lo and behold! -- sold more work than she had for years!
• And many of them reported pricing per square inch or square centimetre -- but admitted that doing so requires "scaling" to suit not only the marketplace but also the size of the work. Therein lay my dilemma!

Enter group founder Paul Constable with a link to a blog article he'd written about pricing work. (Paul is a landscape painter from Saskatoon, SK.) In it, he compares pricing per square inch -- length times width -- to pricing per linear inch -- length plus width. Two sides only, not the full perimeter of a piece.

I decided to try the linear inch method on for size (pun intended! 😉) -- and I feel more comfortable with it for my larger work. In a market where something pieced and quilted will still be seen by many as an item for a bed and not a wall, the linear method produces a price that I can live with -- because for me, it doesn't under-value my work. The process of not "scaling" a price per square inch -- reducing it, say, from $1.00 to $0.75 or less -- was challenging my "Voices". The linear inch method for my larger pieces keeps the price per inch consistent -- while apparently more palatable not only to me but, perhaps, to a potential customer.

The next challenge? Finding out whether or not a "blanket" for the wall has the power to speak to the viewer. Hmmmm...

Rhythm In Blues (c) 2021
34" W x 24" L
Assorted cotton and synthetic fabrics,
machine pieced and quilted.  Faced.
Hanging sleeve/dowel.

Rhythm In Blues - quilting detail

Order Out of Chaos* (c) 2020
21.5" W x 31" L
Assorted cotton fabrics,
machine pieced and quilted.  Faced.
Hanging sleeve/dowel.
*aka "Chaos Can Be Colourful"

Order Out of Chaos - quilting detail

And on that note...I'll bid you "adieu" for now. I have yet one more piece to quilt (and face!) and a great number of hanging sleeves to attach!

For those missing the knitting etc., there'll be a later post about that because there are some finishes to show. However, for now I'll leave you with this link to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday -- wherein she's posted a reminder that's timely, and as often is the case, is somewhat related to my "tricky questions". Have a great rest of the weekend everyone!