Six of a Dozen Assorted

That's a phrase my mother used to use when she meant to say, "A whole lot of this or that".  I think she got it from her mother.  Regardless of its origin, it's a useful phrase to describe what I've been working on for the past few weeks.

Spring seems a long time ago...

The garden's been put to bed for the winter, the garden furniture is under wraps or in storage in my shed, and the Outdoor Studio is closed for another year.  Sigh.  Just in the nick of time, too!  No sooner did I get the winter tires put on my car (this past Thursday) than we got a snowstorm!  Though the roads and walks are dry and pretty much bare in these parts, the temps have been cold enough that the snow is staying put on the grassy bits.  I guess that means winter is here -- official dates be-darned!

With the weather reminding me that Christmas is just over two months away, I'm busy making gifts.  In fact, one has been finished and given to my sister -- as an early birthday (November) and Christmas gift.  I didn't set out to make Bonnie Hunter's "Unity" pattern for my sister specifically, but on a visit here this summer she admired it, so...I gave it to her on Thanksgiving Sunday (October 11).  She was thrilled!  "It's bee-yoo-tee-ful!" she kept saying, warming the cockles of my heart.  Here it is, residing in its new home:

"Star Crazy!"
(Bonnie K. Hunter's "Unity" Sew-in-Place project) 

She's actually rather fortunate to have received it so early, because Miss Pookie wanted me to keep it for her to sleep on.  Sewing on the binding was considered an interruption!

"You woke me up to do what?"

My daughter's "Turning 40" quilt is now the priority.  I'm taking the "Boundaries" pattern -- designed by Tamarinis -- from 50" x 60" to...85" x 100"!  Here it is on my "design bed" (aka the guest bed, which is a twin-extra-long); it needs to fit her queen-sized bed (though not covering the pillows).  

Long enough...but not yet wide enough...

Because of the colours she selected, I'm calling it "Chocolate Cherries and Salted Caramel".  😊

The Birthday In Question is in mid-January;  I hope to have it finished and quilted well before then.  That said, I have no idea if it will be delivered in person -- at Christmas -- or by Canada Post.  Edmonton, where both my kids live, is currently on watch due to the current Covid numbers there...so we shall see.  Both my daughter and I are hoping to have pieces in and to volunteer at the "Under $100 Art Market" in Lacombe at the end of November, though -- so that's the delivery date I'll aim for!

There are knitted gifts under construction too, of course.  One pair of socks has been finished...

Pattern: "A Nice Ribbed Sock" 
Designer: Glenna C.
Yarn: Ancient Arts "Reinvent" in "Calico Cat"

Another is under construction...

Pattern: Caffe Mocha
Designer: Northern Light
Yarn: Ancient Arts Reinvent in "Maine Coon Kali"

And then there are tiny socks for pending babies -- beginning with my friend Claire's grand-nephew, expected in early December here in Alberta...

Pattern: Baby Socks - River City Yarns (no link)
Yarn: Your guess is as good as mine!
Size: 0-3 months

Pattern: Basic Baby Socks
Designer: Katherine Foster
Yarn: maybe left-over Regia?
Size: 3-6 months

I want to make a third pair, in a 6-12 month size, in some left-over Patons Cotton Stretch, for spring/summer.  😊

The final finished gift (thus far) is a cowl for my friend Peg in Montreal; it's the second of these I've made (the first was for me) and I've another planned for my neighbour, Edna.

Pattern: Bonjour Hi
Designer: Espace Tricot
Yarns: Gathering Yarn (limited edition) Merino Sock Italian
and Gathering Yarn "One Shot" kid mohair/silk/merino

Back in early August, I mentioned that I was beginning an embroidered Christmas gift for my neighbour John (married to the above-mentioned Edna).  He's my go-to handy man and is always willing to share with me what he knows, or to help me with something I'm not strong or tall enough to do on my own.  The pattern is "Man Cave", designed by Peter Underhill from the UK -- part of his "Cats Rule" line.  It's all cross-stitch, which in and of itself isn't difficult, but it's chock-a-block full of colour, and very densely covered with designs!  I find I have to dedicate at least an hour a day to it if I'm going to get it finished in time for the holiday!  

Here it was as of yesterday evening:

Under construction: "Man Cave"
from Peter Underhill

As for my recent "inheritance" -- I have managed to give at least some of it away.  Two quilting friends and the local sewing/quilting group have helped themselves.  I had high hopes for a third quilting friend, because she belongs to a guild, but the guild, she reports, are okay for fabric right now as Covid has definitely curtailed their activities.

This leaves me with tubs of fabric...and a sense that I definitely have too much "stuff"!  With the winter looking to be rather long and cold this year, and with a sizeable inventory for the Art Show already in place, I've decided to keep on making small quilts to give away to local charities, and I'm going to try to deal with some UFOs.  There's the Covid Strip-Along throw to bind; the 2019 Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt -- "Frolic!" -- to finish (I'm in the middle of piecing the set-in triangles); and a small-sized version of Bonnie's 2020  "Leader and Ender" challenge to assemble.  I'm doing that one in 4 1/2" squares, quilt as you go, so as to use up not only scrap fabric but also scrap batting.  (There'll be photos in another post.)

In addition to the L&E quiltlet, there I have  a few other small tops to sandwich and quilt for charity, most of which come from doing class samples over a few years -- and for which fabric from the 'inheritance' will come in very handy.  

But some of this fabric is more suited to garments than quilts -- or even art quilts -- and I rather like it.  there are two pieces -- small florals on backgrounds of navy or blue-green -- in what I'm calling "cotton lawn" because it's light-weight and still washable (like cotton).  I've decided to have a go at making a couple of tunic tops with these, which I can layer in cold weather or wear on their own in warm.  I was blessed to find a free (!) pattern for one that looks terrific: the Athina Top, which can be made as a tunic or shorter. I may make one of each length -- we'll see how far the yardage goes!

It would seem I've had a terrible case of  'start-itis' in the past month and a half; perhaps that's true.  But it's also true that if I have some sort of purposeful work to do with my hands, I tend to stay in a better frame of mind -- and given the pandemic cloud under which many other crazy things are happening in the world, I really need that right now!  

I find that for me, it's not enough to "stay postitive" or "think positive" or "reframe".  I need a definite routine, yes; I also need a reason to do what I'm doing -- somewhere for it to go, to be shared -- in a very physical sense.  Even making my art work requires a purpose; I can't make it just to stack it up in a closet. 

I know; I know.  I could open an online shop and go into production...but at what added cost for shipping and shipping supplies etc.  No...that's just not where my heart is at this stage in my life.  I'm ready for the up-coming Under $100 Art Market; if I sell most of the pieces on offer, I've ideas for more to be ready for the hoped-for Encore! Art Show & Sale in April 2021.  I have two "Covid-inspired" pieces in for framing that will be new at that show.  I have pieces on display at a couple of local gift shops and at a small public library.  My SAQA Benefit Auction piece found a new home during the Auction -- and raised more for SAQA than any of my pieces have done in the past.  I am content with these things.  

And so it goes...and so it goes.  For now I am staying relatively sane and content...though still far too easily rattled, irritated and prone to impatience.  Without daily Morning Prayer from the dear Dean of Canterbury Cathedral, I suspect I'd be in a far worse state; starting my day with yarn, faith practice and good coffee before moving into the studio is all part of what's supporting me right now.

I'll leave you now, Gentle Readers, to get back to some work on "Man Cave"...linking up with Nina Marie's Off the wall Friday, wishing you a good rest of the weekend and a peaceful week ahead.

A Feast of First Fruits

Lammas Day, or "Loaf -mass" day is a holiday on the Christian liturgical calendar that's still observed in some countries north of the equator -- traditionally on August 1.  It marks the blessing of the 'First Fruits' of the harvest, particularly where wheat and other bread-making grains are grown.  "Lammas-tide", when the wheat harvest begins, is the name for the days between the Summer Solstice in June and the Autumn Equinox in September -- in other words, now.  

Traditionally, a loaf of bread, sometimes nested in a basket with flowers, is brought to church on that day to mark the blessing, and it is then often broken and used as the bread in the celebration of the Eucharist.

I don't eat as much bread as I used to, but when I do, I like to make it myself (I have a bread-maker because I've never been able to master the art of kneading) and I love it fresh and warm, or toasted, with a bit of butter and home-made jam.

In the last ten days or so, the rhubarb (several cups chopped and frozen; some baked into coffee cake, some stewed and eaten with yogourt) has been joined by a harvest of Saskatoon berries (12 cups in the freezer, 3 cups given to a neighbour, and an unmeasured amount eaten fresh), and this morning I just picked my third colander-full of raspberries, with more ripening on the canes.

My 'First Fruits' -- raspberries and rhubarb

I've enjoyed them fresh, in a bowl with a bit of milk and sugar, over yogourt or ice cream...and just now I've "jammed" four jars, each holding a cup or so of my favourite simple jam: berries, sugar and lemon juice.  Something tells me there's bread in my near future... 😉

The rest of my garden continues prolific as well.  Though the peonies have finished blooming, the hollyhock -- mine is white -- is just coming into its own, and there are wee pearls of cherry tomatoes starting on my seed-started plants.  

My daughter visited a couple of weeks ago; she has an app on her phone that identifies flora -- some of the time, at least! -- and found the name of this one for me.  It came with my house and there's this batch of it at the corner of the peony bed as well as a larger quantity of it competing for space now with my raspberries.  I've always found it very pretty, but it's a spreader, and has to be reigned in regularly!

"Cluster Bell Flower"

I have a long, curving flower bed on the southwest corner of my property.  Again, it came with the house, but over the almost dozen years I've been here, I've added to and subtracted from it regularly to make it mine.  The photo below is just a sampling of what's in that bed.

White yarrow, purple sage, deep pink shrub roses,
marigolds just under the rose bush,
 and orange agapanthus just beyond that.

Weather-wise it's been darned hot -- what I call "the cat days of summer".  Because my studio is hot much of the day right now, I've been dividing my time according to shade and breeze distribution.  I start out on my front stoop, in the shade of the north side of the house, and move to the back as the sun permits.

When there's just the right amount of shade from the trees above, and just the right hint of a breeze, Miss Pookie likes to sit near me on the bench in the Outdoor Studio.  Ah...to have a cat's life!  

I've been focused on hand-work.  The Toronto sampler is finished and now trimmed to size and pinned for hemming so I can attach the bellpull hardware.  Meanwhile, I've begun a cross-stitch entitled "Man Cave", for my neighbour John for Christmas.  John's not really the gardner in the family -- his wife is -- but he has a collection of sheds filled with all manner of supplies for car maintenance, home maintenance and garden maintenance.  One of these -- his newest -- is a mini-barn, a brilliant red (as it should be) with white trim.  I've been trying to persuade him to let me hang a barn quilt on the windowless wall that faces my side of the barn, but he's not been keen.  Perhaps he'll hang this inside, over his work bench.  Whaddya think?  😉

Designer: Peter Underhill
Source: Heritage Crafts

I have another piece to do up for his wife, Edna, of course, which I hope will suit their bedroom or living room.  It's "Spring in the Air" from Just Nan -- very feminine, very flowery, very pretty.  I've had it -- fully kitted up -- for several years, including the lovely silk threads (!), and am really looking forward to doing it up for her.

In keeping with Christmas-in-the-heat-of-summer, I've started a pair of socks for my nephew in a black-and-white marl from Patons.  I'm using the same pattern as I did a few months ago for another Xmas gift -- simple, mindless knitting which I do in the early morning over coffee, breakfast and the news, or while waiting at the train crossing.

Pattern: A Nice Ribbed Sock 
Designer: Glenna C.

 

I finally got back into the sewdio (indoors) early this morning (around 6 a.m.) because it was cool and breezy enough, and the sun had yet to climb very high.  I continued my work on "Star Crazy";  I've finished and attached one 8-block side border (the block is shown here), and have two of the next 8 finished.  

I've also assembled 27 little blocks in Bonnie Hunter's current Leader/Ender Challenge, which she calls "Easy Breezy".  This is the first of these challenges I've ever done, and I've only attempted it because I have such a stash of the right size squares and rectangles (all from scraps) to make a lot of 4" (finished) blocks.  These will go with my charm squares to make more tummy time quilts for the Stepping Stones program in Lacombe.  Turns out, though, that each 36" square blankie will need 81 (!) blocks -- 1/2 piece, 1/2 charm squares (and one odd one!)  Or maybe just 32 of them -- and borders!  No never mind, I'll make the blocks as I go; they're darned satisfying to do -- no templates, no half- or quarter-square triangles, no flying geese.  Just straight-up squares and rectangles (see this photo from Bonnie's instructions), bringing order to continued chaos.  😊

As for new work...I've been puttering with respect to the second piece about 'chaos' using the 'crumb-pilations' technique.  Early this morning I finally made a decision about quilting and how to mount it on the painted stretched canvas.   I'm aiming to start work on that part tomorrow a.m., if the morning is cool enough.  My daughter photographed And It's Only June: Reflections on  2020; I've now got the results in a Drop Box file, awaiting my review.

And so it goes.  August 5th brings another hair cut (hooray!!) -- it'll be seven weeks since my last one.  August 8th brings another of Joe Cunningham's online workshops -- this one, on how he uses just two colours to create a quilt -- and the 15th brings (I hope!) a road trip to a quilt shop, a mobile yarn shop, and perhaps an outdoor art show, with a gal pal.  

The 17th brings a day trip to Calgary for a dental check-up (delayed since May due to COVID).  Both Calgary and Edmonton have now mandated masks to be worn in indoor public places, like shopping malls, so I will go equipped.  My dentist's office is in a professional building connected to a large indoor mall, and it's not far from a strip mall with a Chapter's/Starbucks outlet -- my favourite books and coffee all in one place!  When I go to The Big City, a stop there is a must, and I won't mind in the least wearing a mask so I can enjoy it at my leisure before heading north again to my little piece of heaven on the rolling prairie.

Old barn at the home of my long-arm quilter
and her DH --
near the eastern shore of Buffalo Lake, Alberta

That wide sky continues to nourish my soul, which in turn "feed[s] my inner artist" -- which is Nina Marie's topic this week over at Off the Wall Friday.  I leave you with a wish for you to be nourished, inspired, encouraged, safe and well as the summer travels on through August to whatever waits in the fall.

Take care -- and come back soon!