Winding Up the Master Class

A Gentle Reader pointed out in a recent e-mail that I'd not revealed what EB thought of  my November piece, "Light Prevails".  Sure enough, I've been so busy with the refugee quilts and Christmas gifts, that I've not shared this with you...nor have I divulged what December brings as the Master Class 2015 winds down.

"Light Reveals", now hangs in my studio window, where it catches the light and occasionally revolves gently in the air from the furnace.   Here's what EB had to say about my effort for this piece:

I really applaud your experimental spirit!!  You had an idea...and you just went for it and followed it through.  The quilt is very different from any I've ever seen and shows great creativity - and boldness - cutting it in two!  I love the idea of the cut and the lamé - might be worthwhile experimenting with another piece with the same idea.  Perhaps another top you've made and discarded because it just did not have much oomph?  you could try doing even more cuts.

I think it was a good idea to put the stone on the bottom to add weight...you might have even had a little more weight there...because the top is quite substantial.

I do like the domed "roof" ....that finishes it off very well.  And, as you say, while I can't see how it relates to the assignment of working from a photograph (!) that really doesn't matter: you tried something new, you explored, you created and solved problems...and you had fun!

I am very pleased with this result...and yes, have had an idea for at least one more piece that hangs...and has slices take out of it and replaced with the lame.  I don't have a great deal of lame on hand, so may have to scout around for some...but that's a challenge for the new year.  I've made a sketch of this new idea, and will turn to it when I next have opportunity.

Meanwhile, EB is teaching another dyeing class at the Academy of Quilting in January...and I am giving serious thought to signing on -- not because I haven't taken classes on dyeing but because in this class she will instruct on creating 'neutrals' and also creating long-lasting dye that I don't have to recreate every time I turn around.  I'm looking forward to it!

Now...what about December?  It's the month of "examen" -- i.e. assessment.  There is not a requirement for a new piece, but there are a couple of assignments suggested...

Here, in part, is what I wrote in response to the "examen"...

·        Strengths:

o   What have I learned this year?

§  New skills:

·    Extracting the ‘main thing’ from an inspirational photo, not getting so caught up in the details (though I have learned how to do this, it still makes my brain hurt!);

·    Working in monochrome;

·    Working larger than 15” square.

§  Old skills sharpened:

·     Facing and finishing a piece – smoother and with better ‘corners’;

·     Free-motion quilting – more work to be done yet!

o   What has improved?

§  My level of confidence:

·     In my ability to increase the quality of my work;

·     In the actual quality of my work;

§  My level of willingness/openness and confidence:

·     To experiment with new techniques;

·     To move more deeply into a source of inspiration;

·     To enter work into more exhibits, especially those that are juried.*

*To this point: I entered 3 of my EB assignment pieces into SAQA's Call for Entries for "My Corner of the World: Canada" -- and will find out by Dec. 31 what the result is.  My daughter has also agreed to show with me at a booth at the Annual Art Show and Sale in Lacombe in April, 2016...

And I wrote:

·        Weaknesses:

o   Principal weakness: working with size and proportion

§  I really struggle to translate an object in the correct proportions

·         This is a particular challenge when it is a figure such as a building or a creature:

o   Example: the birds of “At the Feeder” in the February assignment on ‘Movement’.

o   Secondary weakness: extracting key elements

§  I struggle with getting caught up in background details that can be eliminated;

§  I struggle to relax and not be so literal in my work.

§  See above note about how hard this is on my brain!

"At the Feeder" before finishing

And then...she gave us an...

• Assignment:
• Revisit the ‘feeder’ but do it differently.
• Instead of whole cloth, work in fused applique (closer to usual style);
• Instead of expressing movement with thread-work, try to capture it in fabric by means of the shape and location of the birds and the feeder.
• Don’t fuss:
• About the breeds of birds; make them any colour;
• About the contents of the feeder;
• About the colour of the background; or
• About the hanger for the feeder, the trees, grass or sky.


•  Revisit the “failed” Rhythm piece.
• Cut it up and re-configure.

And I cautioned...that nothing would get done before Christmas!  ;-)

At this point I interjected a Personal Assessment, based on EB's own recent blog post about 'favourite quilts' - "The Quilts That Made Them Happy":

o   Favourites:

§  January – Value: ‘The Old Corral’ – because it was the first time I faced making a landscape using only one colour;

§  March – Line: ‘Prairie Spring’ – because I saw I could take an inspiration from an early, contemporary piece, convert it to what looks like a traditional piece, and by use of colour selection, fabrics, techniques and the quilting stitches, make it contemporary and artful again.

§  June – Layers: ‘Off the Beaten Path’ – my first experiment with stencils and layers of trees; the results pleased me no end.  This one has gone to a gallery and I hope to recreate it for an Art Show & Sale in April 2016.

§  July – Rhythm: ‘Add Some Red, She Said’ – because I learned yet again to be less literal with an idea.

§  October – Mood: ‘Becalmed’ – because it just came together so well.

This was followed by a request for evaluation of the class per se: lessons, etc.  I won't go into that here.   :-)

Suffice to say that this past year has been worth the investment -- and was a great value for the $$ expended.    I would recommend it...and hope Elizabeth will continue to provide this program for as long as she is able ...and as long as budding artists want to participate.

What's up next?

I returned this month to my 15 x 15 group and have prepared my materials for samples re: our next theme -- but likely won't work on any of that till after Christmas.  We are exhibiting more, which requires that we continue to keep our work fresh and well executed!

I've a full year ahead with pieces I want to work on -- not the least of which is the Japanese-style taupe quilt for my DS' wedding in July.

I still have my twice-a-week job at The Shop (which I love) and I continue to feel a call toward some charity work, whether it be quilting or knitting.

And...I remain a the SAQA Co-Rep (Alberta) for the Western Canada Region until...well...about a year from now...so...Onward and upward!

Meanwhile, I am glad I get to share both my work and my challenges with you, Gentle Readers... and with my colleagues over at Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday.  This week she talks about gifts for creative kids.  My "kids" (30 and 34) are already pretty creative...but if you've younger ones or grandchildren in your life...you might take note!

All for now...

P.S. Please pardon any changes in font you see.  I am too tired this evening to dig into the html and "fix" them.  Thank you for your patience!  :-)

First *REAL* Snow

Sure, we've had a couple of skiffs...but starting yesterday afternoon, it came down.  And down.  And down.  The world outside my wee home is all white.  The sun is just starting to nudge through the cloud cover, and the wind remains high and brisk.

Underneath the snow pack -- at least, on the roads -- is a layer of ice, so...I'm home, effectively snowed in.  I don't make any $$ when I'm not at work, but I figure it's worth my life to stay home and stitch.

Yesterday I worked on two projects.

First I finished the "bird-house mini" I started some time ago, before I was overtaken with the urge to make "Snowy Evening".  :-)  I've made several of these bird-house pieces in several seasons...but the winter one(s) seem to be favourites.  To satisfy Gracie's request for two winter scenes, I decided I'd better get this one done!

As I stitched, I listened/watched several videos on YouTube, mostly about making art. I particularly enjoyed revisiting episodes of "Craft in America" and the "Art City: Simplicity" film featuring Agnes Martin, Amy Adler, Joan Snyder, Richard Tuttle and others.  It dawned on me that I'd begun this piece with a certain level of "same old, same old"...but somewhere through the afternoon that feeling dropped away and I became simply, quietly, gently, a maker*.

"No One Home" - under construction 

Thus the change in my blog title, at least for a little while.

No One Home (C) 2015

No One Home - Detail

I took my EBMC piece with me into the evening.  I'd spent part of Sunday on it too -- daring to quilt the panels...then slash them part-way:

Next, I trimmed back the excess batting along the edges of the slit:

Inserting a bias strip of gold lame into the opening, I pinned it heavily and sewed down one side and then the other -- et voila!  When I held it up to the light...

It comes shining through!

To finish the piece, I bound the sides:

And added "stone" to the top and bottom...for the window was inspired (as you may recall) by those in buildings in that photo from York, UK provided by EB for this assignment.

I haven't put a sleeve on it yet, so to send photos of it to EB, I had to lay it on my design wall, first one side...

And then the other...

Light Prevails.

10" W x 37" L

When ready, I will hang it in a window.

*Why can't someone just simply...make something?  I mean, it doesn't matter if it's on paper or out of concrete, or what-have-you...it's the fact that something is made where there had been nothing before.                                                                                                                                                   -- Richard Tuttle

Linking up with WIP Wednesday on The Needle and Thread Network.  Before I go a-shovelling, I'm going to knit, just a bit...

Still Here...

I'm at the start of what I hope will be another quiet week.  I've been nursing a cold since November 6...and am still in the can't-taste-or-smell-anything stage.  Except for the days in The Shop, I've tried to lie low as much as possible.

Most of last weekend was taken up with binding the medallion quilt.  Once that was finished, i turned to knitting -- and that, mainly for Christmas...like

This cowl:

Pattern: Darn Knit Kinetic Cowl by Carly Stipe
Yarn: Berroco 'Espresso' in colour #7958 - "Pera"

And this one using the same pattern but a completely different yarn:

Yarn: Aslan Trends 'Litoral Sparkle'
in colour #1379 - "Cabernet Multi"

And these mittens, done as a commission:

Pattern - from a book of my mother's -- or maybe
her mother's -- in 'Merino Stretch' from
Schoeller + Stahl, now discontinued

Then the last of three pair of slippers for my DD's "Air B&B" guests, also in 'Merino Stretch' yarn:

Pattern: "Mountain Form Slippers"
by Tricoquelicot Designs

They actually look quite nice on the hoof... :-)

This past Friday (the 13th) I finally drummed up enough energy to get back into the studio, and by yesterday evening had finished a mini on commission:

Based on a photo of a popular trio of peaks in the Canadian Rockies, it's a Christmas gift from my client to a friend, so I'll say no more...though yes, the 'snow' is needle-felted white wool roving...

And I began to agonize over my assignment for EB's Master Class.  Here's EB's feedback about my sketches:

The first two are okay but seem a little literal and the perspectives are puzzling rather than mysterious.  Mysterious is good! Puzzling or confusing is not!

When I try the crop tools on them, they're kind of empty in the middle too.

But...let's go down to the third one...

Now you've not indicated how these would actually be placed in a quilt, but i do really like the little units you've extracted, I suggest putting these - some of them probably not all of them 0- into a specific structure i.e. not just floating around in space as they are at present.  you could arrange them in horizontal rows, vertical rows, squares overlapping, different grids, radiating out etc etc...  Be thinking focal point - keeping your greatest area of interest just off center, less interesting and more space towards the edges. I think you've found very interesting details in the photo...now to organize them!

Well. Hmmmm...

Though this was my favourite of the 3 sketches , I hardly knew what to do next.  I tried rearranging sets of windows in some sort of sampler, and it just came off looking rigid and stilted.

Then there were the bombings in Beirut and Paris...and I was distracted...but only long enough to be inspired.

I decided to focus on one window shape: the one in the top left corner.

I found some charm squares - 5" unfinished - in a variety of what resembled hand-dyes, mainly dark and sombre blues, greens and maroons, all with a good deal of grey in them.  And some, not so dark, but softer, lighter.

I found some narrow strips of black fabric from a long-abandoned project.

So...I got this idea about a stained glass window, with a curved 'stone' top and stone base (I have a good deal of wonderful fabric for this), reversible -- the dark fabrics on one side and the lighter on the other -- and in between, gold, peeking out through a crack that will be sliced through the panes...the Light getting in, no matter how hard the darkness tries to stamp it out.

So far, I've only blocked out the two panels.  

Where you see white spaces, there will be more black sashing; it's just that I didn't want to cut and place till after I hear from EB...

Having posted it off, I turned once again to knitting...and pondering...

I leave you with the words of Leonard Cohen, from his song/poem, Anthem...

Ring the bells that still can ring.

Forget your perfect offering.

There is a crack in everything;

that's how the light gets in.

Linking belatedly to Nina-Marie's Off-the-Wall Friday...and wishing you peace.

EBMC November: Photo Finish

Instructions this month:

• Choose one of three photos provided;
• Create a quilt.

The key words are "photos provided"...meaning "not taken by the artist/student".

All landscapes -- well, largely urban landscapes.

Even I, a "point-and-click" person, could have taken better photos! (Grin)  But...I know these were chosen deliberately in order to challenge the viewer to make something (better) of them.  At least, I believe that's the purpose of the exercise -- and once again I hope I'm up to it!

Here's the photo "inspiration" I selected:

York, UK, from the Bar (Roman wall)

It took me a while to distill something from this.  I began by converting it to 8-bit grey scale;

I cropped away till I had a couple of focused areas:

It was the windows that 'got to' me.

I traced out sections of windows, copied them onto 'proper' paper, enlarged the copies...and then set to free-hand sketch (all done on large paper - 18" x 24").  (I rotated some too, but decided I liked 'em better "right way 'round".)

First...a collection of the windows/buildings assembled in this version of the 'scape.  I liked adding doors that look like some of the church windows.

I then pondered the possibility of creating a triptych; hence the lines dividing this sketch into thirds:

Lastly, I decided to cover a page solely with window shapes based on those in the photo:

I rather like this last one -- a collection or sampler.  I'm thinking it could be done as a dip- or triptych, with some of the windows on the bottom falling completely off the edge...

We'll see what EB has to say, eh?

Meanwhile, I'm linking up with Nina Marie, who's back at last with her Off the Wall Friday after a couple of weeks' hiatus.  (I too missed and worried about her -- and am delighted she's back!)  Curiously, in her latest OtW post, Nina Marie contemplates the winning ways of a quilt -- made by a well-known and award-winning artist -- that appears to be...well...let's just say closely aligned with its photo inspiration.  Hmmm...Are you prepared to weigh in?  ;-)

Have a great weekend!

Tracing Trees

Earlier this week I finished the second of the minis I made as part of the Master Class theme of "Mood". 

EB agreed with us, Gentle Readers, about the 'Becalmed' piece she preferred:

Agree entirely the second one is much more interesting...one can sit on the seat and enjoy the distant view...I would make sure the white carries right through to the right hand side even though it's just a speck...and probably not quite so lumpy...sand wouldn't be I don't think, unless it was dunes and they might be much bigger.  Decide what you want to draw attention to - at present the highest value contrast is the sand and the grass...and that might not be what you intend....
very nice little image with the dominant blue green...very calm and restful.

So I created a finished piece, thus:

Becalmed (C) 2015

For my "blocked" version of the bird-feeder piece, I described my process -- tracing on laminate and auditioning fabric.  This was EB's feedback:

Thank you for showing us your process...it give you a great idea of how the finished piece would look - of course it wouldn't be so easy with a bigger piece!   As long as you get that lovely black outline all stitched on the finished piece just like it is in the middle photo on the laminate I think it will work really well.

The bird feeder makes a focal point and the little birds are active all around - put one or two above the large branch as well as below to help balance out the interest...and you could also have some seeds that have fallen and birds that like to peck up from the ground down there.  Pretty!!!  I think these little postcard vignettes will sell really well....

I'm not sure to what she's referring by "that lovely black outline"...I did stitch in the branches and stitch on the tree trunk, but no outlining in the finished piece, so we'll see what she has to say about that!

Autumn Lunch (C) 2015

I confess I have my reservations about this one.  It borders on "cute"...but then again, as I told EB when I sent it to her, I was aiming for "calm delight", so I suppose I managed it.  I auditioned petite beads for the berries on the tree but they seemed too large compared to the leaves, so I let it go.  Ditto for the idea of French knots.

I've now turned my attention to wintry minis, two of which are to go along with the 'calm' pieces to the same gallery in Ponoka.

I began by tracing trees onto paper-backed fusible web.  Having the templates drawn out on clear plastic -- off-cuts from the laminating machine at my daughter's office -- works a treat for this, as I have to do it the reverse of how I want the tree to look in the picture:

Once transferred to my chosen fabric, I had to cut these out.  The two large trunks were a piece of cake, but the evergreen took a bit more doing:

The evergreen before cutting

Close-up of cutting the bottom edge

And here's the three, sandwiched and ready for quilting, thread painting and embellishment.

Shown with photo inspirations (left)

The two large tree trunks will sport a bird house, snow, more branches and berries -- they reprise "Gone South" and/or "See You in the Spring" from a year or two ago.  The evergreen has been adapted from "Sailor Take Warning" and/or "Sailor's Delight" and will have another tree -- deciduous, bare of leaves -- next to it and some snow on its branches.

And so...to bed.  Tomorrow is a day at The Shop; work will resume in earnest to finish these Friday and/or Saturday for Monday delivery.

Meanwhile...I'm linking to WIP Wednesday over on The Needle and Thread Network.  Do drop over and see who else is there!

Restless

When I've been away from home for a while -- even a few days, a mere handful, a trio, such as this past weekend immediately followed by a full day's work at The Shop -- I find I awaken at home in a restless state.  Nowhere to go but much to do -- and where to start?

I began today with great intentions -- and hit the ground running. Literally.  Almost as soon as it was light I went out for a jog around the hamlet, my first since Friday.  My legs felt strong and I set off at a good clip in the nippy autumn morning.

Home, then, and breakfast, just in time for a Studio Art Quilt Associates Webinar: "The Life Cycle of An Exhibition".  This was a wonderful peek inside the very hard work of SAQA's largely-volunteer (16 members, only one paid person) Exhibition Committee.  Exhibiting is a primary mission for SAQA.  As a result, in the past five years, a shipping department has been developed. The organization has gone from two or three exhibits a year -- largely via the International Quilt Festival in Houston -- to double that plus over-lapping touring exhibits internationally.  In 2016 there will be 16 running concurrently -- 15 booked for museums and 13 travelling outside the U.S. (where SAQA is based), including venues in Canada, Australia, and Taiwan.  Whoa!

With that inspiration behind me, you'd think I'd travel right down the hall into the sewdio but no...I puttered.  And puttered.  Made my bed.  Tidied up.  Went for the mail.  Had a bit of lunch.

Finally I got my act together.  I contacted "my" new gallery and confirmed a date on which I'll deliver the first pieces to be shown there.  Nothing like working to a deadline to get one in gear, eh?

Then I blocked out the first of two pieces for EB on our "Mood" theme this month.  Yes...I'm still working on keeping  CALM!

I began with "Becalmed".  In her feedback, EB had this to say about it:

That's a beautiful photo which definitely shows calm with the dominant blue grey and the horizontal lines - good spotting for mood!  It will be important to dye the grey-blue fabric in three values at least for the sky, the lake and the distant horizon - they are the same color but different values...and note the gradation in the sky piece getting lighter towards the horizon.

Keep the table as it is...completely horizontal - that emphasizes calm mood...and don't omit that lovely stripe of white that sets everything off beautifully.  I don't think you need the sailboat.

And here are the two samples I sent in -- blocked out only, nothing fused or stitched:

For the first one, I used one continuous piece of hand-dyed 'crinkle' cotton for sky/water, and stretched a thin slice of hand-dyed fabric across it for the opposite shore.

Decided I didn't want the sky to crinkle, so in the second sample, I replaced it with hand-dyed silk left over from my indigo experiments in early August:

Ah...much better.  Much CALM-er...

I think the silk has a better gradation in colour with a bit of "white" near the horizon.  I will, however, think about adding a hint of grey in that horizon fabric, likely using a bit of InkTense pencil...

While I await EB's feedback, I'm going to do some more stitching, knitting, and machine quilting.

The stitching?  Mark on the Body, which is closing in on its second anniversary.

The knitting?  Casting on a third pair of slippers for my daughter's B&B guests, casting on Christmas Knitting, and working on the October Socks from Stash:

Pattern: "The Desert Planet Tatooine" by Heidi Nick
Yarn: Opal 4-fache "Le Petit Prince" (Colour 7764)

The machine quilting?  Section 1 of the Japanese Taupe Quilt...no photos to date.  :-)

Before I go, I'm linking this to WIP Wednesday over at The Needle and Thread Network.

A bientot mes amis...

Summing Up

It's been A Week.  Actually, it's been eleven days since I posted  at length...and a very full 11 days it was.

To whit:

• Sept. 22 I worked my usual Tuesday at The Shop;
• Sept. 24-26, it being "Creative Stitches" 2015 in Calgary, I filled in at The Shop;
• Sept. 27 I made two pies for our church's annual Fall Supper;

  

  Saskatoon and Rhubarb, respectively!

• Sept. 29 I worked my usual Tuesday at The Shop -- sorting and counting and putting away inventory that hadn't sold in Calgary.
• Sept. 30 I finished quilting "Edging into Spring" and sent it off to EB, who's speedy turn-around assessment took my breath away.

Plain Vanilla
September Socks from Stash
(before wash-and-block!)
Yarn: Paton's Kroy Socks
4-ply in "Winter Eclipse"

Somewhere in that time I mowed my lawns (front and back), fertilized and watered the front (fall fertilizer); planted spring-blooming bulbs by the south wall at the back (tulips, daffs and some croci); cut back some of my perennials to prep for winter; harvested my green-now-turning-red tomatoes; finished my September Socks From Stash challenge socks; cast on a comfort/healing/prayer shawl for a friend who's very ill; jogged several kilometres; sang at church; kept up my e-mail correspondence to the SAQA Western Canada Region and beyond; painted the 'person door' to my garage that had been repaired in the spring; kept MOB up to date; sent out the 20th packet for MOB II: Making My Mark; ate some, slept some, cuddled the cat some, enjoyed my roses...

So.

RE: September's Master Class submission, "Edging into Spring" (Theme: Lost Edges):

Here's a photo of the quilted-but-as-yet-unfaced piece:

Edging Toward Spring - 18.75" W x 15" L (unfinished)

I really like the trees!  (Thanks again, arlee!) but was less happy with the fact that the hitherto 'lost' edges of the hills were now (having been fused and stitched down) far less...um...lost.

And I was uncertain about the grass.  Did it need more stitching?  How to do it without its looking over-done or cliche or stilted?

E.B. came forward with her usual wonderful helpfulness:

A very nice job!  That mould and dirt dyed fabric* is so nice for the tree stems - really makes it.  

Yes you did make  the hill edges a little more distinct with the stitching.  It is hard to find a way to stitch to keep the edge very soft...what I have done in the past when I was using silk organza to create a soft effect was to take one strand of embroidery floss in as close a color as I could to the fabric and take tiny little hand stitches along the edge.  With a small piece it wouldn't take you long... (emphasis mine)

[Here she inserted example from her own work.]

Re your foreground...I like the grass...you could just have a few more clumps - very similar but a little bigger to give a sense of depth...don't make them too orderly!

Totally agree with you, you don't need leaves and buds!  There's plenty there to look at.  Nice color scheme, great sense of place....very nicely done!

*Note to arlee: please forgive her description...E.B. really thinks your fabric is pretty special!

I'm not sure I'm going to add "a few more clumps" to the grass...I'm letting it 'sit' for a while on my design wall.  Any feedback from you, my Gentle Readers, is appreciated!

Meanwhile, I've added an outer border (plain) and pieced the back for the Magic Tiles quilt...which is now about 55" x 57"...

Pieced backing hanging over the ironing board

and I cast on my October Socks (from Stash).  This month's theme: use a variegated, self-striping or hand-painted sock yarn...

Yarn: Opal 4 fache / 4-ply, "Le Petit Prince" colour#7764
Pattern: "The Desert Planet Tatooine" by  Heidi Nick

I pieced my October "Block of the Month" from my "Zen" collection which, despite all the pieces, was the easiest thus far in this series. Fewer bias edges at last!

"Jefferson City"

And... today I ordered more mats, picked up some nice, thin batting and some new landscape fabric (fat quarters)...Prep starts this weekend, and creation starts Monday...I have at least a half-dozen 'minis' to make for "my" galleries, and another as a commission.

Good thing the weather is cooling and most of the yard work is done!

This week Nina Marie asks about reading material.  For fiction, I enjoy (murder) mysteries that require me to use a few of my own "leetle grey cells" (Hercule Poirot/Agatha Christie)...and right now, I'm enjoying a trio from Simon Brett's Fethering series that features "Jude" and "Carole Seddon", as unlikely a pair of sleuthing friends-and-neighbours as you'd come across.  Not as meaty as Ruth Rendell, P.D. James, Peter Robinson, Louise Penny or Deborah Crombie, mind you, but substantive enough and good for a slightly tired, idea-addled brain that wants to enjoy its end-of-day bed-time reading.

What about you?  Do you read to inspire your creativity?  Or to take a break from it all?

I'm linking up with Nina Marie's Off-the-Wall Friday to find out more...

P.S. If you're looking for some original artwork...check out the 2015 SAQA Benefit Auction.  My piece is on the block through October 3... :-)

Edging into Autumn

September is slipping through my fingers.  It's almost Autumn...which this year officially begins on Wednesday.

Autumn...one of my favourite times of year despite the shortening days.  The air is crisp and fresh and some of the best trail runs take place because of the cooler weather.

My tomatoes are all in -- green ones in a newsprint-lined container for ripening.  My roses continue to astound me, as do the cosmos, so I'm leaving them alone for the time being.  And I still have to mow the grass at least one more time.  On the shopping list: spring bulbs, which I'll plant now with high hopes they will grace my south flower bed eight months (or so) from now.

It's a bit too cool to sit outside stitching so I'm back in the sewdio, working first on my "Lost Edges" piece.  I blocked it out on Friday using my usual technique of a foundation fabric (unbleached muslin) and lots of pins!  I wasn't about to risk fusing anything in place till I heard from EB!

While I like the piece, I was concerned it lacked a certain "spark"...

Materials: sky - indigo-dyed silk;
hills/"shrubs": assorted synthetic sheers;
background grass: "Fossil Fern", a classic
commercial cotton; foreground
grass: acid-dyed silk;
tree trunks: eco-printed fabric by arlee barr.

Detail 1

Detail 2

And here was EB's response:

I think you've done a very good job of contrasting the edges...and great fabric choices...I don't think you lack very much actually.  Perhaps some debris around the base of the trunks to "tie" them to the ground so they don't look as if they're superimposed...go back out to the area ...or ck your photo to see how the bases of trees  dovetail beautifully into the ground.  You want it to look as if these trees are just growing right up.  You might want to move the LH hand group a little to the left...allowing a view point through the gap...

I think the piece has plenty of pizzaz with that perfect mould (or whatever it was!) dyed fabric... and I love the way you have it going soft and softer...as it goes back.
don't think you need leaves...but maybe a couple of branches to tie the sides of the image to the frame....looks like a great place to go for a walk!

I grinned when I read "Perhaps some debris around the base of the trunks", because of course that will come with the stitching.  And arlee's fabric is printed with leaves...not mould! (grin) but yes, she still makes the best tree trunk fabric I've found!

So this morning I sandwiched the background, as I need to quilt it down (especially the sky) before I apply those trees...It will likely finish around 18" W by 14" L.

And what of the wrapped trees?  Just over two months in, this is how they looked on September 13:

Tree 1 - stains beginning

Tree 2 - staining too

Tree 3 - I'm wondering if'
these stains will last.

Tree 4 - least stained of all,
and I thought it was muslin!

The Christmas knitting is about to begin...as is the production of new minis for two shops, and one for a Christmas commission.

Speaking of commissions...My DD reported that her friends like the Maritime Memories pair...and this morning I picked up the medallion quilt from Sylvia Sawyer, long-arm quilter extraordinaire... Here's just a glimpse of some of the work she did...

Part of centre medallion, zinger, piano key border

Section of outer-most border (untrimmed backing on the right)

Part of inner border, zinger, piano key border

DD will select the binding fabric in a couple of weeks (Thanksgiving) and I'll bring it home to bind and wash before it goes back to her to wrap and give away.

I'm finding this balance of bed quilts and artwork healthy.  I find it satisfying to always have some of each on the go.  The bed quilt construction is rhythmic and methodical (for the most part); the artwork stretches my brain till it groans with that mix of pleasure and pain that is, I think, common to most artists.

This afternoon, I'm piecing the border for the Magic Tiles quilt I began a couple of weeks ago:

Pin carefully because this is sashed at an angle

You want the edges to be even in the end...

Linking this up belatedly to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday...hoping you have a creative week and a happy change of seasons.

Till next time...