Is it Spring Yet?

 In my last post, I reported that I had "Spring Startitis" and wanted to start all the things -- especially knitting.  I was soooo optimistic that Spring was just around the corner, but Mother Nature's been fickle in this part of  Canada.  We long for rain as we're in a drought here, but aside from an over-night drop of sleet and wet snow Tuesday night, we've had only empty skies and, especially in the last few days, cold, bitter winds that sucked up all the moisture and made fools of us for thinking the sunshine was warm.  Hah!

The dry air has wreaked havoc on my skin.  I've been struggling with an extensive bout of eczema that my doctor thinks is a combination of the drought and stress.  I'm slathering myself with unscented lotions, and have a prescription for a steroid cream to apply sparingly to the most seriously-irritated areas.

Sigh.

This has affected my mood, leaving me "dumpy, frumpy, and grumpy" -- the phrase I used to describe myself when I saw the doc earlier this week.  Otherwise I'm fine -- but if this continues beyond another month, I'm thinking I'll have to go back and see if he has any better ideas.

To add insult to injury, last week I had a major security threat on my laptop, and had to have Windows techs clean it up.  I ended up purchasing Symantec security soft-ware, having learning that an anti-virus program isn't enough protection from the nefarious souls out there with too much time on their hands, who spend their days dreaming up ways to complicate the lives of others.  Symantec was the company we used in the financial services offices in which I worked for over a decade, so I'm hoping the $$$ I spent on that will be worth it.  It's a 5-year plan, so over time, it really works out to be not that costly -- and MUCH better than an invasion of cyber-idiots.

Meanwhile, distraction is the name of the game!  I'm listening to an abundance of calming music available on YouTube (I can minimize the window and not watch the screen) and on the radio (classical on CBC), and have turned to my most repetitive activities: knitting and cross-stitch.

First, the stitching.  This week I had the satisfaction of finishing the piece I'm doing for my friends' 50th Wedding Anniversary, which is next month!

"Arabesque"
Designed by The Wishing Thorn

Beading close-up #1

Beading close-up #2

Beading close-up #3

Beading close-up #4

This is really a very small piece, as I stitched it on 36-count "Grey" from Weeks Dye works, using a combination of 1 strand over 2 threads and 2 strands over two.  That was really unintentional, but when I'd discovered I'd done so, I decided not to frog it and just work the pattern so that it was balanced.  My friends don't stitch; they won't care -- if they even notice!  (The flosses were the called-for DMC plus 1 Caron Waterlilies floss -- the variegated sections you see in the photos.)

As they live in another province, my plan is to lace the piece to acid-free mat board, and let them frame it to suit their decor.  I think it's beautifully exotic, and really hope they like it!

I've also made significant progress on my #JacobSleeperSAL ("Jacob Sleeper Stitch-ALong") piece.  The SAL was organized by Carmen of the "Cardamen Pins" YouTube podcast, to encourage those who love Jacob's Modern Folk Embroidery designs to stitch one of his lesser-known or earlier pieces.

As I mentioned in my last post, I selected a piece that was a free pattern -- a section from one of Jacob's annual SALs from a few years ago: "Light a Single Candle".  I've been using it as a weekend stitch, and am now approaching the bottom border:

The remaining word is 'darkness' -- and then there is a lovely border that echoes the one at the top.  I'm using a piece of unlabelled scrap linen and working 2 strands of floss over 2 of linen.  I began with some leftover unlabelled red cotton floss, and when it ran out, I found some DMC 815 that works perfectly.  I've just enough of that to finish the piece.  I could make it into a little pillow, but I think I'll find a small frame for it instead.

Discouraged about Spring's 'non-arrival', I've not done much on the "Buttercup Alphabet" piece from The Victoria Sampler; more on that when I get back to it.  Even though it suits the "Something Floral" (my #18 from WIPGO that was called for April), I've just not been inclined to work on it of late.

The other WIPGO number this month was 21 -- and for me that could be a plethora of things that are "under 50% complete".  I've focused on the hap I'm making for the Woolly Thistle's Shawl KAL (Knit ALong).  I finished the central piece and have moved on to the first part of the lace border:

Centre: Heirloom Fingering - Black Welsh
Mountain - Innisfail, Alberta
Border #1 - Gotland/BFL Lamb Fingering,
Riverside Farms, B.C.

Close-up of the first border colour

There are 93 rows (!) of lace border, which I've decided to divide up so I can use four colours.  In my last post, I'd shown you only three neutrals: the black, the grey and a natural cream...

BUT on April 6 I went with some friends to the Rose City Fibre Festival in Camrose, Alberta, and came home with another yarn from Riverside Farms: this time a glorious skein of North Country Cheviot/BFL, hand-dyed with cochineal!  Yum!

So now I have a plan to inject a pop of this colour between bands of the natural cream, which in turn will be banded by the grey, and -- I hope -- ended off by more black on the outer edge.

In other knitting, I've finished the first of two mittens for a neighbour (except the thumb), and have completed the ribbing of the second.  

Pattern: "The World's Simplest Mittens"
Designer: Tin Can Knits
Yarn: Schoeller & Stahl "Limbo Mexiko" in
colour #2586 - Mango

And I've finished two more chemo caps for my UK friend -- something a bit lighter to wear if needed, before the heat of summer arrives:

Pattern: "Eyelet Rolled Brim Hat"
Designer: JoAnne Turcotte, from 
Knitting for Peace 
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden, colour #415 - "Rainbow"

Pattern: The Martine Hat
Designer: Lisa R. Myers
Yarn: Queensland Collection
Uluru 'Rainbow' in colour #1010 -
"Waratah Bouquet"

They're packaged up and will be mailed off to her later this afternoon.  😊

There's been "Happy Mail" in the last few weeks too -- which adds to my supply of Delightful Distractions:

First, the two braids of spinning fibre I won last September in the "Summer Spin-in" from Two Ewes Fiber Adventures arrived at last!  (Sorry, no photos as of now, but as I spin it up...stay tuned.)  One is 100% Falkland; the other, 100% alpaca.  Both are hand-painted in shades of magenta through peach through light grey to dark grey.

I decided that I want to marl one of them and simply two-ply the other.  At the Rose City Fibre Festival I found a reasonably-priced package of natural off-white alpaca roving -- 100 grams -- so I'm set to give that a try through this year's Summer Spin-in:

Next, I received the goodies I bought for stitching, with some of my annual tax refund.  The first is a pattern, fabric and hand-dyed floss that I planned for when Jacob of Modern Folk Embroidery introduced "A Quilter's Dream" as a new pattern several months ago:

Pattern from Modern Folk Embroidery
Fabric: Roxy Floss - 40-count "Porcelain"
Floss: Roxy Floss "Pippy" (red) and
"Greater Porpoise" (blue-grey)

The second is the pattern, floss and hardware for a scissors holder that Jeannette Douglas has designed to be kitted with Roxy Floss.  Those of you who've followed me for a while may remember that I used to do office work for Jeannette when I lived in Calgary, and consider her a dear friend as well as one of my favourite designers.  For this project, she selected small motifs from a larger sampler reproduction.  When Caroline of Evertote showed this new kit on one of her floss-tubes, I fell head over heels.  I have a piece of fabric that's perfect for this tiny thing, too.  (NOTE: in the photo, the scissors displayed are my own; they don't come with the kit!)

The last bit of "Happy Mail" is adding to my 'Dreaming of Shetland' collection.  Some weeks back now, Misa Hay of Shetland Wool Week and Shetland Knitting Tours fame, offered back-issues of the Shetland Wool Week annuals at fifty percent off!!!  I decided to take a look, and see if -- after converting the British Pound to Canadian dollars and figuring in shipping -- I could afford one.  Yes!  That discount was large enough -- and the Brit's flat-rate shipping for certain items, like books, of a certain size and weight -- meant that I paid less overall than what the book at full price (before shipping) would have cost!

So...now I am savouring Wool Week Journal #3 with it's patterns, articles of the isles, history, geography, recipes and gorgeous photography.  

And...to add to that same collection, along with my friend Anne, I've registered for a class on knitting Shetland lace -- which will take up the day at the Prairie Fibre Festival down the road in Lacombe, in mid-September.

Ahhhhhh...

I've not done any quilt piecing for over a week, but now have well over 60 "Four Patch Fun" blocks finished, and another 3 prepped.  I also finished the April blocks for the Block-of-the-Month project from A Quilting Life:

As I think I've mentioned before, there are options for an 8" finished block and a 16" one.  I've chosen the 8" finished block -- but decided to make two per month.  I'm using up Thimbleberries fabrics, and have plenty of that background neutral, I'm sure, to get through the rest of the year.  The outer star border colour is currently dominated by red star points but that may change as time goes by.  These are fun, and require a certain accuracy which, despite 30 years of quilting, I still struggle with.  That said, this designer's patterns, like those of Bonnie Hunter, make my piecing look great! 😆

On the art front, my Artist's Talk at the "Craft and Care" exhibit in Red Deer's Viewpoint Gallery went very well; it was an enjoyable evening.  I began by talking a bit about my start as an art quilter, and showed four of my landscape pieces, made between 2012 and 2022 -- moving from "pretty" to "statement" work.  Of the three pieces I have in the exhibit, of particular interest to the viewers seemed to be my piece, "And It's Only June", a wholecloth done on raw tussah silk from MAIWA in Vancouver.  

The show comes down April 26th -- how the time has flown since it went up in mid-February...

April 26 and 27th are the dates, too, for this year's Lacombe Encore! Art Show and Sale.  I'll be taking it in as part of the viewing audience this year for the first time in over a decade.  

I confess...I've been thinking for some time now of just letting go of the original work -- or, at least, the pressure I've been feeling to keep trying to make original art work when my heart just isn't in it.

I've let go of my Quilting Arts magazine subscription, and will pick up an issue here or there only if I think there's enough in it to interest me.  I've finished my term on the SAQA committee on which I served for 3 years.  I've not found the SAQA Journal to be all that interesting (for me) for over a year now -- and this year's online SAQA Seminar (for members) held little fascination for me.  Ditto for the topics at the 2024 conference, which is currently going on -- also online, because it's being hosted by the UK, Europe and the Middle East Region.  I just felt my money would be better spent elsewhere.

Even the SAQA Members Only Facebook group is holding less of my interest.  Blessedly I am friends -- in person and across cyber-space -- with several of them, and I don't think that will end if I retire from the organization.  

I'll never stop making -- with fabric, fibre, floss, yarn, and in my yard and garden, where I'm "making" a meadow.   

The only thing that gives me pause, Gentle Readers, is the thought that after taking years to acknowledge that I was an artist, will 'retiring' from making original work mean that I no longer am?  Or -- worse to contemplate -- that I never really was?

That's a rather pitiful note on which to leave you, though, so cheer up!  I'm linking to Nina-Marie's wonderful Off the Wall Friday blog, where this week she reports on a "Sewing and Quilt Expo" she recently attended.  

Her post brings up thoughts of my trip to Red Deer in early May to see the Central Alberta Quilt Show, and later, in June to go to Quilt Canada, being held in Edmonton this year.  There I'll be taking in a lecture by Lucie Heins, a curator at the Royal Alberta Museum, and author of Alberta Quilters and Their Quilts, a beautiful history book that I purchased when it was first published (I might take mine and ask her to sign it!)

Those events are so full of colour and life, good ideas, new fabrics and notions, fabulous displays by those creative with fabric, thread and stitch -- and so rich with connections to friends old and new.

Maybe being an "artist" will be whatever I decide it is.

A bientot!

Rollin' Right Along

 Several years ago, author, speaker and podcaster Gretchen Rubin opined, "The days are long but the years are short."  She was right then, and that thought still rings true -- at least for many of us.  When I was in my teens, my mother told me, "After [age] 21, time simply disappears."  She was right, too.

Outside observers -- at least in the culture in which I live -- would look at all that I've been experiencing in the last six or seven weeks and comment, "You've been busy!"  And I suppose that's one way to look at it.

I've decided, however, that I'm going to drop the word "busy" from my vocabulary.  "Busy" and it's close relative, "productive", have nearly undone me as I've gotten older -- and particularly since I entered my 8th decade last fall.

Instead, I've decided to define what occupies my time as -- quite simply -- living.  Some days the pace is faster; some days there are several other people involved.  Other days...not so much.  Each day has a flavour and tenor of its own.  

I've discovered that looking at my life in this fashion keeps me from dwelling in the past, keeps me from wallowing in self-pity and regret, and brings me much more peace and contentment.  It might even help me have live longer -- and heaven knows, my stash(es) need that to happen!

Enough philosophizing! What have you been up to, girl?!

Lots!  

When I last posted, I was in the middle of the first in-person Lacome Encore! Art Show and Sale since 2019.  It was a terrific weekend.  I loved telling others about my work -- and did my best to grin and bear it when someone referred to it as a "nice little hobby".  There will always be folks who just don't 'get it'! I sold enough to buy a bit of art from other artists there, and went home exhausted but happy.

Less than two weeks later, I was on a plane to Toronto for the 2023 SAQA Conference -- again, the first in person since 2019, and the first in perosn conference held outside the US.  It was another whirlwind -- meeting up with old friends, making new ones, taking in the excellent speakers and visiting both the Textile Museum of Canada and the "Colour with a 'U'" SAQA Canada exhibit at the Campbell House Museum -- both within walking distance of our hotel downtown.

I do confess, it's been a very long time since I've seen that much pavement all in one place! 😉😆

I won't overload you with photos, but here are a few.  This first trio were part of the Textile Museum exhibit, "Refuse", created by artist Padina Bondar.  I was completely fascinated with this work, the textures and the sculptural nature of it took my breath away.

Knitted lace -- from recycled black
garbage bags.
Artist: Padina Bondar

Material samples - 2019-2021
Artist: Padina Bondar

Cosmic Waste Dress (2021)
Artist: Padina Bondar

After the Textile Museum, my friend Bethany and others all trooped over to Campbell House Museum to see "Colour with a 'U'" -- an all Canadian SAQA member exhibit that was created originally to open at the Toronto conference -- when it was supposed to be held, in 2020.  Since then, it was in lock-down for a while and then, as venues opened up, it toured parts of Canada.  Alas, it made it no farther west that Saskatchewan, so I wasn't able to see it out here.  That's why it was so good to be able to be in TO to see it at last -- in this, its final venue before being retired.  

It's up till June 5 if you haven't seen it yet and are able to get to TO to do so!  And if you simply can't get there...here's a video slideshow of the full exhibit, from the SAQA website. 😊

I did get a few photos, but it was a very busy and somewhat crowded venue at the time.  Here are a few favourites:

Three Artists -- Three Amigas! 

Left to right above: my friend and intrepid room-mate at the conference, artist Bethany Garner; our friend and artist of reknown, Mary Pal (watch for her episode this weekend on The Quilt Show with Ricky Tims and Alex Anderson!); and me.  

Behind us: celebrated author and Canadian icon, Margaret Atwood, done in Mary's unique style with cheescloth, fabric and thread.

Typically Canadian, here are a few examples from this diverse exhibit:

36 Million Stories: The Fabric of US (2019)
Artist: Linda Finley, Bear Cove, Nova Scotia

Green to Make My Heart Sing (2019)
Susan Selby, Navin, Manitoba

Cold Magic (2020)
Janet Harper, Vancouver, B.C.

Rue de Buade #2 - 2014
Heather Dubreuil, Hudson, Quebec

The Urgent Colours of a Summer Garden - 2019
Wilma Brock, Surrey, B.C.

 

The Here and Elsewhere Bee - 2017
Andrea Tsang Jackson, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Through My Eyes - 2019
Michele Craigen, Weyburn, Saskatchewan

As to speakers, the highlights for me were Dorothy Caldwell -- the keynote speaker first thing Friday morning; Lindsay Olson, one of the 'break-out' speakers on Friday afternoon; Lorraine Roy -- the keynote speaker first thing Saturday morning; and my friend, Susan Lenz -- the keynote on Sunday morning.  All the speakers provided inspiration and food for thought, but these four stood out for me.

After the conference ended early Sunday afternoon, I was driven out to Don Mills, and spent a very hectic day and a half with my old university friend, Karen, her husband Brad and their family.  It was their daughter's birthday on Monday, so the family -- said daughter, her hubby, their two little ones; her older brother and his wife and two little ones -- all gathered at K&B's home on Sunday evening for dinner and celebration.  It was a swirl of activity, noise, good food, conversation, excitement, Lego, dogs etc....and then at 8 p.m., it was all over, and the three of us left -- K, B and me -- had a quiet drink and went to bed! Monday, Karen and I had lunch with a friend of hers; then K napped while I stitched and Brad worked in his upstairs office.

Tuesday a.m. found me on a full flight home -- and I was glad to be on my own again to process all of the activity of the last week.

What made this easier was that I could channel energy in to yard work.  The weather had warmed up and there was plenty to do.  

Now all is planted, and when it's not too smokey -- due to a record number of wild fires in the northwest part of the province as well as in BC -- I can sit outside and stitch, while I listen to the bees humming in the blossoms of my ornamental fruit trees.

I've been able to trim some deadwood, and have added more wildflower seed to my meadow garden beds, in addition to planting fresh annuals in my decorative planters.

The outdoor studio is open for "business" -- but I can't burn the deadwood (yet) due to the province-wide fire ban.  I certainly don't want to tempt Fate by even trying!

Instead, Miss Pookie and I sit and stitch, and watch Flosstubes on my laptop! 

The other Outdoor Adventure (of sorts) that will be happening around here in the next week or so is the replacement of the shingles on the roof of both my house and my garage.  The existing ones are twenty years old or more, and are curling badly (especially on the garage), so it's time.  The packets were delivered on Wednesday afternoon, and await installation, depending on the schedule of the crews (there are 6 crews working for this company) and the weather:

Shingle packages on the garage

Shingle packages on the house

It will be a blessing to have this done!

Before the smoke hit in earnest, and before the roofers run their truck over my 'meadow', I managed yesterday to harvest some of my dandelion crop, for the first batch of jelly this year:

I managed to cull 6 cups of petals from the first picking.

Here's Batch #1 from the first 3 cups of 
dandelion "tea"

Here's Batch #2 from the next 3 cups of
dandelion "tea" - the 'remnant' on the right
will be eaten first!

I got 6 cups of 'tea' from the 6 cups of petals, but as I was boiling jars and lids in my largest pot, I could make only 3 cups of 'tea' into jam/jelly at the same time.  The first batch was made last evening (May 19) and the second, early this morning (May 20).  I let the second boil more aggressively so it was finished more quickly and is a darker colour and more jelly than jam -- but still delicious!

*************************

On the stitching front, I've been marking "Maynia" this year with a selection of five WIPs, each of which I've been working on for five days at one go.

My first one was "Here Be Dragons" from Modern Folk Embroidery -- and I've made terrific progress!

The second piece is one I started in on the plane flying out to Toront; it's for a friend's birthday next month.  In the five-day focus period set aside for this one, I got very close to a finish.  It's the second in the "Kitchen Counter" series from Hands On Design, and is called "Take Whisks".  (Yes, my friend loves to bake!)

The third in the 5 x 5 project was the "Summer" Bird from a trio of "Loose Feathers" from Black Bird Designs.  I'd started it almost a year ago, when my friend Annette lent me the patterns for all three.  Last evening, I came up with a Friday Finish!

As I reported to fellow-stitchers on a couple of FB groups, it's not perfect.  I've no idea where I erred in the spacing but I've decided to leave it alone -- I rather like it this way!  I used a 32-count Antique White Belfast linen from Zweigart, and most of the called-for DMC cotton floss, substituting colours to transform the bird from a brown one to a red-winged blackbird, as we see lots of them in these parts in the summer.  

The "Autumn" bird is designed to butt up right next to the right border of this one, and that's fine as I have enough fabric for all three of them to be in one piece.  I'm not going to change up the colours of the wee brown bird in that one, though, as it rather suits the autumn theme, and looks like a sparrow, which are ubiquitous all year 'round here.

Next up is my work on the Spanish sampler, "Bernarda Bellon" from The Wishing Thorn but I'm taking 3 days off to start a piece in honour of the "May Long" weekend, which is this weekend in Canada.  It's really the Victoria Day weekend, remembering Queen Victoria, but in these parts it's often called simply "May Long".  

For the occasion, I've dug out the first in a trio by Just Nan, called "Barnabee's Quest".  I've had these patterns -- and the accompanying beads and charms -- for years.  It was released in 2001 (!) and can probably be found only on the secondary market now.   As bees are "in vogue" and very much need to be supported nowadays, I thought this would be a great way to celebrate the weekend Canadians look at as the start of summer -- even if our schools don't let out until the end of June.  

I'm going to do each piece on its own, on three small scraps of fabric -- two of which are the same fabric and one of which is a bit of an oddball, but should work just fine.  They're roughly 32 count or finer, so each will be quite tiny; I'll probably make them into a set of little pillows.

********************

And then there's quilting.  I've returned to work on more scrap quilts.  With the wildfires causing so many evacuations and lost homes, I am hoping to get a few tops done so that they'll be ready to quilt and send off if or when they're needed.

In the week after I got home from the conference, I finished my "Triple Treat"-- a Bonnie Hunter pattern -- in browns.  It's a throw size, made that way by wide side borders.  It used up all the bits and bobs of fabrics in the colour theme, so I couldn't really make it any larger!  I've got a stack of purples, reds and pinks set aside to make a second one in those colours.

Meanwhile, I've started a batch of "Butter Churn" blocks -- based on Bonnie's pattern from her "Addicted to Scraps" column in the March/April 2023 issue of Quiltmaker Magazine.  I was determined to get a pattern that would use up my collection of "bricks" and 3" or 3 1/2" squares that I'd cut and packaged from Bonnie's Scrap User's System -- and this one fills the bill.  Here are some of the blocks on my design wall.  Each one will finish at 6" in the quilt, so you can see I have some distance to go before I have enough for a throw-sized quilt -- or even a lap-sized one! 

But never fear; I have plenty of scraps that will work!

And speaking of quilting, last weekend my friend C and I went to the first Central Alberta Quilters' Guild Show since 2019.  What a treat!  It was in the new hall at Westerner Park in Red Deer -- and it was huge!  There was lots to see and lots of great vendors, but the best part was the surprise and delight of meeting up with quilters I'd not seen in years.  It was Old Home Week at its best!

Here were a few of the pieces that caught my eye:

"Fabric Scissors Only"
Maker: Karen Yetter
The 'Tamarack' jacket pattern, 
with personal modifications!

"No Beard, No Way"
Maker: Thelma Mellafont
Pattern from "Fabriculous"

"Ewe Are Loved"
Maker: Diane Andrews
Pattern: One Sisters Designs

One of a trio from Patti Morris, this one was a collaboration.
"Festival of Trees Quilt"
Makers: Care Group, Central AB Quilters
Designers: French Braid (background) by Karen Montgomery,
Applique (foreground) by Patti Morris

There was a section devoted to the "150 Canadian Women" quilts -- mostly red and white -- made to honour 150 Canadian women in our history, inspired by Canada's 150th anniversary as a confederation (2017).  This one was my favourite:

And last but not least, this one got my vote for "Viewer's Choice".  I loved the use of colour and the placement of the fabrics.  The border is particularly appropriate and striking.  I just loved everything about this quilt!

"Luminaria"
Maker: Elizabeth Russell
Design/Pattern: taken from 
Quilters' Colors Club by Christine E. Barnes

As if we weren't already worn out from all the quilty goodness, this year the quilt show coincided with "Fibre Potpourri", a quilting retreat up at Red Deer Polytechnic, hosted (in turn) by the Calgary Guild of Needle & Fibre Arts or the Edmonton Needlework Guild.  And yes, of course there were vendors!   So C. and I drove up to the campus and checked it out.  First, one of the vendors -- and a teacher at the event -- was a long-time friend of C's, so there were hugs all 'round. She was selling off out-of-print magazines, patterns and kits at deep discounts.  I got a Lizzie Kate for my collection, plus a Winter 2004 issue of  Sampler & Antique Needlework magazine.  C stocked up on many more!

The next booth was the purview of my former silk ribbon embroidery teacher and a dear friend, Betty Caskey of Olds, AB.  More hugs, and more yummies to see!  And then there was a new vendor to both of us -- Embroidery Marketplace.  Gold!  We both got fabric and threads.  

Here's my collection of goodies:

The 'white' fabric is really a print -- 32-count 'Vintage Smoky White' Belfast linen from Zweigart.  The 'green' one looks more grey in some lights -- and it's a hand-dyed piece: 32-count 'Valor' from Picture This Plus.  The 'fancy' flosses were three that I have nearly run out of and thought would be good to have on hand for future projects.  And then...one can't have too many tapestry needles in one's favourite sizes (mine are 24 and 26).

And that, Gentle Readers, is what's been feeding the fires of my heart and soul since my last post.  Every day brings something to do, to learn, to delight in -- whether indoors or out -- and as long as I have the work of my hands, my mind rests more easily, my sleep is deeper, and my tendencies to ruminate, over-think, and/or relive the past in grief and pain are kept at bay.

I like myself better this way, and I hope you will too.

Now, as I usually do, I'm closing with a link to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday, and a wish to you for safe, contented, creative days until we meet again.  A bientot!

Grumpy

And perhaps also Dopey and Sleepy.

Today is my first full day home since Friday.  The days in between have been full and rich with work, friends, travel and good food...but short on quiet time, exercise, and -- to some extent -- sleep.   In other words, I've been operating outside my routine and though I have a long list of 'to do's' for today, I can already tell that very few of them will be crossed off that list by this evening.

For example, I wanted to rake the front lawn today so I could apply "Turf Builder" -- with a view to restoring some of the damage done by last year's dew worms.  However, it's far too windy, so that will have to wait.

I have a mini and some fabric post cards to finish for the Lacombe Show, though, and those will probably get done:

That one you see on the bottom?  I finished it on Saturday morning...

Blue Moon (C) 2016

And realized that while at the Central Alberta Quilters' Guild show that afternoon, I'd need to track down at least one more piece of dark blue fabric that would take deColorant well, if I were going to make any more "moon" pieces.  I did find it, as well as a couple meters of wonderful batik for landscapes (Hamel's Fabrics, a long-time favourite), and some fat quarters (yarn-dyed from A Threaded Needle) and single meter cuts ('regular' cotton, in the Japanese taupes from Quilter's Dream, Vancouver) for the Japanese Taupe Quilt (aka the JTQ or the Wedding Quilt).  The Superior Threads distributor (Cotton Mill Threadworks) was there, too, so I bought another spool of King Tut (in whites) and several packs of needles -- 90/14 for 'regular' use and 60/8 for tiny, fine work.

My friend C and I had a great time at the show, especially enjoying demos (she went to one on rulers for Dresden designs, while I went to one on working with kimono silks), and the wonderful work of my friend, Annette Johnstone of Red Deer who was the Featured Artist for this 25th Anniversary edition of the show.  I didn't take photos of her collection this year -- you'll have to take my word that each piece is fabulous! -- but here she is with one of her needle-turned, hand-quilted beauties, when it won Best Of Show in 2014.  (I think it's title is "Friends of Baltimore", but don't quote me on that!)

So...while I go off and work on the last of my minis and cards, how about you pour a cuppa and enjoy a few of the photos I did take...mainly SAQA members (there are 4 of us in Central Alberta and 3 of us had pieces in this show), and a few others that really caught my eye.

First, a collection from Patti Morris, SAQA JAM (Juried Artist Member) and former SAQA Western Canada Co-Rep (Alberta):

Blue Heron for Mom

Alberta Turbines

Alberta Dinosaurs Rock!

Lazy M Sweat Lodge

As you can probably tell, Patti is known for her large, colourful pieces -- but not all are pictorial.  She enjoys creating abstract too:

City from the Air

Red, White, Black and Dots

And these from Wendy Greber, a SAQA Artist Member:

Galaxy - juried into the
National Juried Show,
Quilt Canada, 2015

Love of Fall

"Z" is for Zebra - Pattern by Susan Filer

Wendy and me, side-by-side
(L) Edging into Spring (mine)
(R) Alberta Trees #2 (Wendy)

Then there are a few special ones I had to photograph...the first being from a multi-talented needle-woman and crafter, Mary Vanson of Red Deer, to whom I was recently introduced.  She does delightful figurative work, as well as piecing:

Once Upon a Summer

Goodie and Peter: 1910

And these pieces, incorporating vintage fabric and/or linens...

Stitches of My Heritage
Shirley Cullum
includes hand-embroidered dresser scarves
from her mother and grandmother,
as well as vintage fabric from her mother-in-law

Then and Now
Candace Cullum

Vintage Love
Terry Rowland
A Battenburg table-topper
used at her daughter's wedding and
lovingly preserved in a quilt

Linking up to WIP Wednesday over at The Needle and Thread Network...and hope you enjoy the rest of your week!