I Thought It Was Only Two Weeks...

 But aaack!  It's been almost a month since my last post!  

How'd that happen?

Actually, I know how.  I've been caught up in a market, a coupla mysteries and Xmas making, that's how!

First, about the Market: the Second (Annual?) Lacombe Under $100 Art Market was to be in person in a huge ballroom space in downtown Lacombe, with all the art and fine craft put out on display in advance -- no booths.  It was to be held over November 26 and 27, from late afternoon into the evening on the Thursday and from 10 a.m. to late afternoon on the Friday.  Strict traffic control.  Masks mandatory. Entrance at one end; exit at the other.  Hand sanitizer everywhere.

And on November 24th the province's COVID report was abysmal, and stricter health measures came into force.  So...the market was cancelled.  Cue the weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth.  

And then...Lacombe Regional Tourism came to the rescue!  On Dec. 1 we got word we could join the Town of Bentley's Online Christmas Market and Craft Sale...and so several of us did.

"Mug Shots I"

I filled out my online application, attached photos of seven small artworks, and e-mailed it off.  Then I posted the link to the market (which didn't have our contributions yet) on my FB pages -- and was promptly contacted by a friend in Calgary.  She was interested in one of the pieces. Details please!  

"Mug Shots I" was one of four in a series -- all of which I'd listed in my application for the Market.

Here's where it got a bit tricky.  The deal with the Market was that it was a local event, so the pieces had to be picked up or delivered within a week of purchase -- and mailing/shipping was not on.

Meanwhile, my friend had expressed an interest in the other 3 pieces and yes, please, she wanted all four of them!

Well!  I dashed off an e-mail to the coordinator, pulled the 4 pieces from my submission, sent an invoice and was paid by e-transfer, then boxed them up and sent them off to Calgary.   It happened so fast it's a wonder my head isn't still spinning!

Meanwhile, the other three pieces are still available in the online Market...till December 19, when it closes.  I'd post the link, but most of you, Gentle Readers, don't live within driving distance...so...sorry!

Also meanwhile, Bonnie Hunter's 2020 Mystery has begun -- on the day after U.S. Thanksgiving, per usual.  This year it's entitled "Grassy Creek" and is inspired by the landscape around Bonnie's cabin and retreat house in Virginia.  (Full info HERE.)  

I decided it would be a good opportunity to use up some of my recent "inheritance" and if all goes well, I'll give the resulting quilt to the daughter of my benefactor, as she doesn't quilt or knit or any of that sort of thing.  I've decided, too, to make it about 2/3 the estimated finished size, so I can manage to quilt it myself.

That said, I haven't yet finished the 2019 Mystery, "Frolic!"  I'm at the stage of assembly, and have the first half put together now.  In order to ensure I get t the second half assembled correctly, I've actually laid the components on top of  those in the first half, and so far it's working well.  I've got the "kitty corner" blocks plus the next row of three all together with sashing; I've assembled the next row of five, and laid them out, ready to join up with those.  Onward!

First half of "Frolic!" laid out with the corner against the wall.

To ensure I don't get too far behind on "Grassy Creek", I've been constructing the units required as "leaders and enders" to the "Frolic!" project.  So far I've finished Clue 1 (except for trimming) and I've completed three sets of units for Clue 2.  Clue 3 came out today, so I'd best get a bit of a move on!

Clue 1 units all in a row!

Clue 2 units under construction

I have a terrible habit of reversing things, meaning that I can often assemble the sections of these sorts of units backwards, so they don't match up when I come to put the entire unit together.  The only remedy is to take my time and to put a pin in the side of the section down which I'm going to sew.  Saves me a lot of 'reverse sewing'!

Concurrently, I've managed to finish all but one of my hand-made Christmas gifts now -- and that last one requires only a dozen rounds of knitting, before it's washed, blocked and wrapped.  All the ones for out of town have been mailed!

The last of the knits was a pair of  "reading mitts" for my nephew's lady-love.  It's the first time I've made something for her, and I've never met her, so I can only hope she likes them:

Pattern: Susie Roger's Reading Mitts 
Designer (you guessed it!): Susie Rogers
Yarn: KnitPicks "City Tweed DK" from my stash
Colour-way: "Romance" -- fitting, don't you think? 😉

I made them a bit longer than the pattern called for, so they're really more like "reading gauntlets".  I think that adds an extra measure of elegance to them, don't you?

This week I took "Man Cave" to the framer.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo taken once it was finished -- after all the ##@@!!** outlining was done.  I guess I was just eager to get it out of the house!   I should have it back next week, and will try to remember to photograph it, framed and in its glory!

All that finishing has given me time not only to work on the mysteries but also to play with art work.

December 3-5 I "went" to Houston -- to the Virtual Internatonal Quilt Festival!  I don't think I'll ever go to the in person version of this huge event -- too big, too many people! -- but to do so online, well!  I checked out the instructors and speakers and found that for less than $100 CAD I could enjoy several -- taught by stars in the art quilting world and elsewhere, and so I did.

I signed up for a short class with Katie Pasquini Masopust, a lecture from Cindy Grisdela and one from Susie Monday, and the Mixed Media Forum with several surface design practitioners -- and enjoyed the Friday evening 'keynote' from my friend, Jenny Lyon.  

Katie PM's topic was "Composition with Line", and included a bit of colour theory as well.  Now, I've studied both of these things before -- more than once -- but she was using them as a way to "jump-start your creativity".  When you're stuck, just start playing.  While she spoke she worked on samples using 12" square backgrounds that she'd constructed in log-cabin formation -- in monochromatic colours. She showed a horizontal orientation of lines, a vanishing perspective, radiating lines and spirals.  She illustrated a symmetrical and an asymmetrical orientation -- all this in 90 minutes, with questions.

In advance I found a pdf handout was provided and thought I actually needed to prepare.  I found out later that that wasn't really necessary, but by then I'd cut 4 twelve-inch square pieces of muslin, and applied fusible web to several shades of two complementary colours: yellow and purple.  So...while she talked I started cutting strips and laying them out in a horizontal orientation.  By the end of her talk, I realized I didn't like it much, and added vertical strips to make a grid (one of the compositions not really referenced in the talk but on the hand-out).  After the session ended, I put it up on the design wall and decided it needed something more.  I found a lovely piece of fabric -- mainly purple -- that I'd purchased some years ago, just as inspiration.  I put one on top of the other and there they sit for now:

Playing with Katie PM

My thought: to quilt the small piece and the background separately, and apply one to the other, and prepare for hanging.

Cindy Grisdela is another artist I've never met, but I "know" her online from SAQA; we're colleagues and acquaintances on Facebook.  In my never-ending quest to "loosen up" enough to move more into abstraction, her work is a shining light. She had no hand-out for her 50-minute lecture, but I took notes and these are the things that struck a chord with me (some of which you and I have heard before from her and from others, but which bear repeating):

• Ask "what if?"
• Use multiples of three;
• Use coping strips (I have);
• Slice if needed;
• Be willing to give [a piece] time;
• Listen to your instincts.

Thanks, Cindy.  😊

The two-hour "Mixed Media Forum" on the Friday was jam-packed and moved along quickly.  There were topics I noted but for which I have very little interest (using shibori when ice/snow dyeing; soy wax batik -- or any kind of batik; I'll buy mine already done, thanks!; playing with Tyvek and/or Angelina fibre; monoprinting with stamps and stencils).  That said, I learned a tidbit from pretty much every speaker.

The one of the five whose work really intrigued me was Esterita Austin and her work with paint and layers of sheers -- mainly organza.  I'm not a talented painter, but I think I could cotton on to this looser, freer style that's a bit like the water-colour technique I learned years ago from my friend and former teacher, Sharon Lynn Williams of Calgary, Alberta (some of you NetFlix fans might know of her son, actor Evan Williams...who has a romantic Xmas movie out just now... 😉).  I think I'm going to play with Esterita's technique for landscapes...in a very impressionistic sort of way...

The last session I took was with Susie Monday, a long-time artist with whom I've only recently become acquainted through SAQA.  On the Saturday, she gave a lecture on "The Sensory Alphabet" -- taken from her work with Susan Marcus and Dr. Cynthia Herbert in the book, The Missing Alphabet: A Parent's Guide to Raising Creative Kids.  Alas, this came too late for me...but my DH and I had two very creative kids -- now 40 and 35 respectively. I've shared and written about my daughter's work as a photographer, how she shares her work with me for textile art pieces I've made inspired by her photos.  My son is an actor, a comedian, a self-taught musician and a video-game programmer/designer.

Me?  The one with the powerful left brain, who has a science degree (in nursing), and worked for decades in the business of number-crunching, credit/collections and financial planning?  Late to the party, I continue to explore the other side of me...the more free-form, creative side.  

Susie gave me (us) some things to think about, questions to ask ourselves:

• What do you notice when you walk into a room (enter a space in nature)?
• What do yTou remember from childhood -- favourite activities?
• What sparked your impulse to create?
• You feed your imagination with observation; take time to sit/imagine/dream/hope.
• Pay attention!
• Honour both the process and the product.

She walked us throught that 'sensory alphabet'.  She asked us to play, to explore various media*.  A process, she said, is "a particular way of thinking" that "turns imagination into creation".  Oh...there is much to mine from that rich vein.  Thank you, Susie!

And so...I continue to explore and play.  I've been constructing "Fence? What Fence?" and have discovered that four rows of five blocks isn't quite right:

So there will be a fifth row and...perhaps...something else to take it from "somewhat utilitarian" to "art".  Stay tuned...

In addition, tomorrow morning (10 a.m. Mountain Time) I'm "going to" another Quilt Freedom Workshop, (online) entitled "Motifs in Motion", with the wonderful Joe Cunningham -- the seventh in his series.  Yesterday, I was delighted to catch -- quite by surprise -- his live stream 'trunk show' and interview through Handi-quilter (he uses one of their machines in his work), but tomorrow (Dec. 12), he'll be in his own studio.  Joe takes his inspiration from vintage/antique quilts, and puts his own spin on them, which completely enthralls me.

And so...it goes.  Making, giving, learning.  Hoping that in that giving there is comfort. And hope.  And maybe joy.

Blessings to you all for the week ahead, Gentle Readers.  

Especially right now, blessings to those who are celebrating Hanukkah...and those who observe Advent, waiting for the Incarnation.  My husband was Jewish, as is most of his family.  We celebrated both holidays...because Jesus, being a Jew (not a Christian) did so too.  

Back in the day, it was called "The Feast of the Dedication" or the "Feast of the Macabees" -- referring to the dedication of the new temple, restoring the one reconsecrated in 165 B.C. by Judas Maccabeus, after it had been desecrated by Antiochus and his followers in 168 B.C.  

My creche at the lighting of the first candle last night,
 celebrated by Mary, Joseph and a shepherd, 
all of whom -- to my knowledge -- were Jews who so observed that Feast,
 which we now call Hanukkah...
even as there were other mysteries about to happen...

I leave you with a link to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday and wish you a quiet, safe, healthy, creative, loving weekend. 

May the Light bring you Life and Joy in these challenging times!

*Note: The singular is "medium"; the plural is "media".  "Mediums" is not a word. 😉

This Just Might Work!

Since my last post, I've been working pretty steadily on my latest commission -- interpreting an art quilt as a bed quilt.  (I'm calling the project "wall-to-bed" as an easy way to summarize it!)

The art piece looks like this:

I spent the first few hours of the project working out grids and measurements, trying to figure out how to convert a "random" grid (one of the types suggested in Katie PM's Artful Log Cabin Quilts) into something 700% larger than the original printed on 8.5 x 11 paper.

Katie talks about enlargements as great as 400%, which could be done at a copy shop.  I checked out options online (my nearest shop is at Staples in Red Deer, an hour's drive from here) -- and decided to go with her "enlarge one block at a time" option.  Here's a glimpse at my sketchbook -- just a couple of the pages of drawings and calculations, with the grid and what I'm using now to make the piece "work":

The page with the bright yellow sticky notes indicates for each section, how many actual blocks I have to make, and what size.  The "sky" piece takes 4 rows of 4 blocks, 7" square (unfinished).  The next row (a bit of sky with bush) will take 1 row of 3 blocks, 9.25" square, also unfinished. 

Just above that sheet, you'll see a separate sheet with lines and text.  That's my time tracking sheet, saved years ago from artist Jean Judd, whom I met at my first SAQA conference in Denver, CO, in 2011.  (I've not heard of or from her in some time...but I think of her often and hope all is well with her.  If any of you Gentle Readers have news, please share!)  This is the first time I've actually used her worksheet to track my process; we'll see how that turns out in the end!

I thought I was on the right track...till I got into the first set of blocks -- for that large chunk of sky in the upper right of the above photo.  Researching types of log cabin blocks, I knew that making them rectangular could be done...but I just couldn't get my head around it.  I knew, though, that I could  'square up' wonky blocks -- so that's the route I've chosen.

As of this afternoon -- after a delightful sew day, wherein my friend and newbie quilter, Gwendy, joined me for stitching, lunch out and conversation -- I've finished the blocks for that sky section:

Next step: sew them together, and then move on to sky/bush, then soil, then grass -- all along the same part of the original piece.  I am leaving the trees/sky bit till later!

I know the lights and darks aren't an exact interpretation, but remember, this is an "artful log cabin bed quilt" being made by interpreting an art quilt that was created based on a photo...

Yes; I think this is going to work.

Whatever happens, I am sure to learn a great deal along the way -- and I owe a debt of gratitued to Katie Pasquini Masopust and her amazing technique.

Tomorrow?  A bit of a rest as I attend our Parish's outdoor service at a local ranch -- celebrating 100 years of that ranch's existence -- and follow up with a spate of gardening at my sister's cottage.

As Nina Marie opines in her latest Off the Wall Friday (to which I'm linking)..sometimes a rest is required!

Monday is CANADA DAY here...A national holiday, this year celebrating 152 years since Confederation.  Our nation is growing and maturing, recognizing flaws from its past and working to make them right.  And yet again, we've been voted #1 as a place/country in which to live.  See?  Weather isn't everything!  Winter can be bearable if the folks around you are terrific!  😉

So... Happy Canada Day to my Canadian readers, and Happy July 4 to our friends to the south.  Our hearts are with you...for so very many reasons, these days!  😉

Have a great rest of the weekend -- have a great rest of the week!

And thanks for stopping by.  More on the Wall-to-Bed Project as time permits....

Enough is as Good as a Feast...and a Commission

I've been home from Quebec almost a week now, and am still trying to get back into my usual routines! 

The trip was five days of jam-packed visiting sandwiched between two full days of travel, so it was very full indeed.  I stayed with my friend since university days, Peg, and coerced convinced her to travel with me from the city to my hometown, to do cemetery visits, family visiting and to sit through a long graduation ceremony at my former high school.  She bore all of this with good grace, even going so far as to say that she didn't mind doing the driving as she needed the practice!  This was true, at least in part, as she doesn't need to use her car to get around the area in which she lives -- Westmount and central Montreal.  She's located so centrally, in fact, that she shops for groceries in the European fashion -- almost daily -- and has at her finger tips shops that purvey wide varieties of fruit, veggies, meats, fish, seafood, coffees, spices, cheeses, wines...Quite indulgent for a gal who now dwells in a tiny rural hamlet with a limited-selection central store, a beer-focused liquor store and 43 km. to the closest urban population!

Our drive out of the city was surprisingly easy, considering it's the height of Construction Season in Canada -- and Montreal is no exception!

We landed in my hometown of Huntingdon just in time for lunch.  We found a new venue in a building that had housed a general store as I was growing up.  It's now a restaurant run as a Co-operative that (as I understand it) provides work and skills for folks (mainly young) who've been down and out and are now coming into new life with purpose.  The chicken burger was recommended, so both Peg and I indulged!

Bon appetit, bien sur!

After lunch Peg and I lost  found our way out to the country.  Misdirected slightly by one of the good folk at the restaurant, we ended up at our last-planned destination first: Hillside Cemetery and the Rennie Church (yes, named after my ancestors, who gave the land for both):

Note their dates.  He was 14 years older than his wife;
she died the same year as their infant son -- perhaps
in child birth.  Tough times.

Rennie United Church, Hinchinbrooke, QC

Most of my family is buried at Hillside, including my father, his siblings, my grandparents, great-grandparents, my great-great grandparents -- and my husband.

Somebody's recently had the GGG's marker cleaned because it -- a tall, white obelisk -- was pristine:

G-g-gran Margaret Gillies, wife of
Alexander Rennie...
"A native of Kilsyth, Scotland"

I can't say as much for my father and Howard (DH)...who've both collected  patches of lichen since my last visit (2013).  This is due in large part to a) the fact that both are next to each other in the shade of a beautiful red maple, and b) their inscriptions face the prevailing elements: wind, rain, snow...as do most of the markers in that cemetery!

Lichen growing on the top and base,
and around some of the lettering!

I'll have to attend to that soon!

From there we went to Les Jardins de Glenelm, the enterprise in organic market gardening founded by my young cousin Sarah and her DH, Ian.  Sarah was off at a meeting -- with their little ones in tow! -- but Ian showed us around and we spent a happy couple of hours in the poly-tunnels and environs, inspecting their radishes, kohlrabi, carrots, lettuces and tomatoes.  They've opted to specialize in particular varieties of these for salad fixings, but also have strawberries, zucchini and have plans for Saskatoons (Ian grew up in Saskatoon).

I found art inspirations in the grasses, leaves and flowering plants all around the place:

Peg was particularly interested because she is a "foodie", collecting cook books the way I collect books on fabric, fibre and floss.  She's also an avid gardener, and knows much more about plants (including their various names) than do I.  Here's what she's created in the gravelly patches of land around the apartment building's back alley where she lives in the city -- with the blessing of her landlord, by the way:

She's not daunted by the squirrel that's gone after her attempts at Brussels sprouts, and nipped off cone flowers and other plants down to the nub.  She persists -- and has created a colourful green space out of the most unwelcoming soil!

***   ***   ***   ***   ***

The main purpose of my visit was to present bursaries (in memory of my father and his sister, both teachers) to two students at the 2019 Graduation Ceremonies at my former high school.  I go back every few years to do this in person, and have done so since the bursaries were endowed in 2003.  This year was special because it was 50 years ago that I graduated, valedictorian of my class.  I really enjoyed meeting the two recipients of the bursaries and talking with them about their post-secondary education plans and dreams -- and briefly chatting with the 2019 valedictorian about the same.  All are exceptional young people, and I only hope and pray their lives will be filled with blessings, contentment, and good health as they go forward.

Me, flanked by Graeme and Julia, this year's
recipients of Rennie Memorial Bursaries

***   ***   ***   ***

The Commission came the day after I arrived, when Peg and I went to lunch with an old friend of mine, now living in an assisted-living apartment very close to Peg.  My friend Jane had written me in May, saying she wanted me to make her a 'bed cover' of one of my art pieces.  "This is business", she wrote, and she was prepared to pay me.

Sigh.

I wrote back to explain that I'd be happy to make her a bed quilt, but that I don't design those -- I use either traditional patterns or patterns created more recently by someone else.  I sent her some photos of examples of my work in various formats (soft or on canvas and framed), sizes and at a variety of prices.

Jane was adamant.  She replied that she liked two of the examples in particular, and she wanted a bed cover, not a quilt.

I phoned her.  I explained that the only "bed cover" I could make would be a quilt because it had to have both a front and a back -- even if I left out any batting.  I agreed to have lunch when I got to Montreal, and promised to bring one of the examples she liked -- one I thought would best translate to the bed -- so we could talk more about it.

And that's what transpired.  In the end, Jane agreed to a bed quilt -- batting and all -- and to my price, which would include the cost of my long-arm quilter as I don't quilt pieces that are that large (72" x 86" desired size).  I showed her this piece, and explained how I thought it could be redesigned to suit a bed, assuring her that the bed quilt wouldn't be any thicker than the art piece:

Trio (C) 2012
17" W x 25" L
Hand-dyed fabric, commercial fabric,
recycled fabric, distressed painted paper;
hand-stitching, machine quilting.

Yep.  I've been challenged to convert this piece into a bed quilt.  How the heck -- ??!

I have a plan.  😊  I shared it with Jane, and she has approved -- because while the construction should be sturdy enough to serve on the bed, the composition needs to be artful.  (Did I mention that Jane studied Art at Hunter College in NYC and became an art teacher?  And that she still practices her water colour -- portraiture and still life?)

Hmmm...yes!  I have the very thing.  My daughter gave me this book for Christmas 2018:

Katie PM's approach is just the ticket -- though I'm pretty sure she never planned the technique to be used for a large utilitarian piece!

One of the examples shown in the book was created from a photo of a landscape.  My "Trio" piece was similarly inspired, but I'm going to use the piece itself as the basis for this project.

I've begun by re-reading Katie's book, watching her segment on the technique on The Quilt Show, and selecting the 'random grid' option to use to create the blocks.  I've made a grid on an 8" x 10" print out of the photo of the piece, as well as on a clear plastic sheet (made from laminate off-cuts recycled from my daughter's office laminating machine) the size of the art piece.

Next up: enlarge each section of the grid, one block at a time -- because there's no way a copy shop is going to up-size the grid from 8" x 10" (or even 17" x 25") to 72" x 86"!  That's what's on tap for today...plus sorting through my existing landscape fabric for blues, greys, browns and greens.

I feel compelled to mention that this commission has scuttled any plans I had for dabbling with painting cheese cloth or mucking about with burning sheers this summer.

I'm definitely under a deadline!

• First, I want Jane to be able to enjoy the quilt when the days turn cold in the fall;
• Second, her birthday is in late October.  Even though she's paying me to do this, it would be nice for her to have it on time for her birthday.
• Third, she told me at our visit that this next birthday would be a Big Birthday.  I mentioned she was an "old" friend.  Yes; she is elderly.  I knew she was in her nineties, and figured she meant "95".  No.  99!  Big indeed!!

So...enough for the moment!  I've got to get back to the sewdio!

I'll leave you with a link to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday.  This week she's celebrated a Big Birthday on her Blog. Do drop by to check out her celebration!

I've Got Rhythm

Scott Joplin

George Gershwin

Or...maybe not!  That's the theme for the EB Master Class this month: "rhythm".  Achieved by repetition, among other things.  BUT there's a catch!  EB wants us to work with syncopated rhythm: rhythm that's just slightly off-beat.  Think Scott Joplin, think George Gershwin, think jazz, even think Bach and Beethoven (sometimes)...

Now, I enjoy all of the above, musically, but...in art?

Turns out there are many artists who've employed syncopation in their work...and this includes quilters.

Think about bargello quilts, for example.

Photo via Craftsy.com

Or the work of Nancy Crow (specifically "Contructions #82: Breaking Control" - scroll down), Katie Pasquini Masopust (scroll down for Syncopation) or Liz Berg:

Syncopation -  Liz Berg

And remember that piece I worked on last year that was a "Convergence" quilt -- based on the work of Ricky Tims?

Um-hum.  Like that.

I tried a few doodles in a small sketchbook, just to get the flow going.

Stiff. Formal. Constrained.  Ugh!

But there was something about the staggered rectangles...that got me thinking about lines.  Dancing lines, like in a scene from Disney's Fantasia...

I got to thinking about Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue.  I downloaded it from iTunes into my iPod, and I listened.  And listened.  And listened...

And began to draw...LARGE piece of paper, Sharpie (R) marker...

I turned the lines into rectangles (as if pieces of fabric).  There were two attempts at this on the one sheet of paper:

And then I tried it in colour -- smaller size, water colour paper, water colour paint and pencils:

It has the makings of a very "modern" quilt... but...we'll see what EB has to say first, won't we?

And as I wait...I'll work on other projects (like the 2nd coat of primer on the kitchen walls)...and link to WIP Wednesday on The Needle and Thread Network.  

As you catch up with what other Canadian needlers are doing, grab a cuppa and have a listen (it's 16-17 minutes long) to Leonard Bernstein playing and conducting Gershwin's...you guessed it:

Hope you're staying cool (we're not!) and have some rain (we don't!)...

In any event, be well!

Later...eh?