Because It's Been Long Enough

I confess, Gentle Readers, that I've thought almost weekly about posting, but have, instead, used the time for MORE studio work -- and other things. 

So this post will be a bit of a catch up, with lots of photos.  I hope you enjoy it!

The Finishing Frenzy continues -- especially on the knitting front:

In February, I finished this jacket which, my having made it much shorter than the pattern -- due partly to my short stature and partly to insufficient yarn -- is really more of a long shrug:

Pattern: "Round Trip" (Medium Weight Yarn)
Designer: Kay Dahlquist
Yarn: NORO Silk Garden 

And here's the back...

The fact that I was working out of Knitter's Magazine, #72 from the Fall of 2003 should tell you something -- but I'm not sure what!  When I'd picked it up again, it needed only 2" more and then the cuff of the second sleeve!  It's knit in one piece and has no sewing -- except the ends -- so why it took me 16 years (give or take) to finish is anyone's guess!  Still, it fits, and will make a lovely spring jacket. My favourite colours, too!

At the same time, my "purse knitting" (also known as 'what to knit while waiting at the train crossing') was finished:

(Yet Another) Multi-directional Diagonal Scarf
Designer: Karen Baumer (free pattern on Ravelry)
Yarn: Schoeller + Stahl "Limbo Mexiko Color" #2591

It's gone to the charity tree at church, and will likely be followed in a few months by at least one more, as I have another 2 balls of this yarn in a slightly different colour-way.

My new "Purse Project" is a pair of lined mittens -- a commission from a friend from church who's worn major holes in the ones her late mother made her, because she wears them over sturdy gloves when she walks her dog!  I've had to use the mittens as a model, and in conjunction with "The World's Simplest Mittens" from Tin Can Knits, I'm doing a new pair in the grey Berroco Vintage DK yarn she chose (colour: #2107 - "Cracked Pepper").  I just cast on, on Saturday, and it's a 3" cuff to start...

Figuring out size based on the "model"

On the quilting front, the "Spectacle Quilt" is on it's way to Baby Emory back East now. Here's a photo of it, post-laundering -- just a section.  It finished at about 54" square.  Used up a batch of charm squares, some left-over backing fabric as the white background, and other left-overs for zinger and border:

You Are My Sunshine
Made for Baby Emory McGuire 

As for UFOs...I've plumbed the depths of a Quilt As You Go (QAYG) project I began when I lived in Calgary.  From the documents and pattern, I took it at the now-closed Freckles Quilt Shoppe in the winter of 2006 - 2007.  It's called "Bali Sunrise"; when I opened the box in which I'd stored it, I found the mother lode of fabulous batiks -- strips and backing squares cut, metres of uncut fabric, a bit of batting, and a dozen 6 1/2" squares done.  The pattern calls for 120!  Whether or not I'll get there is anyone's guess, but by the end of Friday afternoon, I'd prepped the backing/batting for another 20, and finished six!

Strips ready, finished blocks and prepped blocks
YUMMY!

Now that I have 18 of these, I could put them up on my design wall, but...it's preoccupied with this:

Say what?  I'ts a quilted sky/horizon/lake, with a bit of beach and beach grass in the foreground.  The sky is two layers: a light gauzy fabric I dyed turquoise (too turquoise), over which I fused a sheer fabric I painted a sky blue.  The effect is great movement, and just the right colour.  The horizon is a very thin slice of fabric left over when I dyed the sky for "Sometimes You Can Walk on Water".  The foreground fabrics are commercial ones, which after being attached to the background, will be thread painted, and then...there'll be an addition that -- if I can get it right -- will make the scene:

Table on the beach at Rochon Sands Provincial Park

I'm making it with hopes of entering it into a major Canadian competition (the one that turned down "Sometimes You Can Walk...")...but it remains to be seen.  That table has to be right...or the entire thing will flop!  Quilt design prayers appreciated!  😉

What else have I been up to?

Though I've yet to finish "New Directions 2", I have finished 4 and 5 in the series.  I've mounted them on painted stretched canvas and plan to put them in floater frames.  The buff material you see behind them in the photos is carpet -- I photographed them from above on my living room floor!

New Directions 4
Canvas: 11" x 14"
Materials: commercial cotton, hand-made
paper, blotted recycled book page,
hand-made button

ND 4 - Detail

New Directions 5
Canvas: 9" x 12"
Materials: commercial silk blend fabric,
commercial cotton, painted hand-made paper,
painted tea bag paper, glass beads

ND 5 - Detail

These are rather fun to do -- who knows how many more reside in my brain?  The plus is that they're helping me use materials I wouldn't put in landscapes!

Speaking of which, I am still enjoying the occasional cup of tea.  I've discovered a new version of Tetley's black tea -- called "BOLD" -- which I really like.  If you're not careful, the cup you brew can look like coffee -- it's that dark!

Anyway, I amassed enough bags to make a small piece in a series I'm loosely calling "Mother was a Lady", and this is the first in that series that will be constructed as the mood strikes. 

I began by layering the tea bag paper over Stitch Witchery (akin to Misty Fuse), covering the paper with white tulle, fusing the lot and quilting it down.  I then trimmed just the one side with a lace remnant I'd cut out:

Take Some Tea with Me? - unfinished

Take Some Tea... - Detail

These are photos of the unfinished piece.  I've now added blanket stitch -- by hand, using silk floss in a creamy colour -- around the edges, and embroidery and beading.  I want to mount this one on canvas too, but at the moment don't have one quite the right size.  I'll be going in to Red Deer in about 10 days and will look for one then.  Stay tuned for final photos!

Last but not least, in the spirit of MORE (the word that chose me this year), I've created MORE SPACE in my sewdio by reducing a great pile of clutter. 

I have two bookshelves along one wall of the sewdio.  One is a faux barrister's book case -- tall, with glass doors.  The other is a low case from IKEA (one of the Billy series, I think).  Just two shelves -- but with a row of boxed magazines lined up on the top.  And on top of those magazines...there were heaps of notes, drawings, recycled plastic laminate used as templates, photos, sketchbooks, other books, and miscellany put aside to be "finished some time".  Aaaargh!

When I knocked off a pile of the stuff for the umpteenth time, Saturday, I decided enough is enough!  And I got out some page protectors, a couple of binders, and a bag to hold recycling and went to work.  I ended up with two binders: one containing materials from classes on Modern Quilting (Craftsy, with Weeks Ringle), on Improv quilting (Mod Meets Improv with Elizabeth Barton) and Abstraction (Abstract-a-licious with Lyric Montgomery Kinard); and the other, chock full of inspirational photos and "patterns" I made for pieces thus far -- to be used for future reference.  Duplicates and uninspiring materials when into the paper recycling or the garbage.  Smaller photos got pasted into a sketchbook with relevant notes about the planned piece(s).

What a weight lifted!  Now I have a small sheaf of photos set aside for new work, and the rest is neatly away, where I can refer to it if I need it.

And so, Gentle Readers, now we're all caught up -- and I can get back to working on that landscape and the Challenge of the Picnic Table.

I'm belatedly linking this to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday, and wishing you a creative week ahead!

Managing More

I know...it's been almost 3 weeks since my last post, and over a month since I posted about what's happening in the sewdio.  Time to rectify that!

I'm still on a Finishing Frenzy -- trying to get Unfinished Objects done and dusted!  Most of these are knitting related, to whit:

This tiny cardigan got it's buttons and was put in the mail for a new baby cousin in SW Quebec.  It's a 12-month size, and he's just turned 5 months, so I hope he'll be able to wear it for more than five minutes!

Pattern: Little Coffee Bean Cardigan
Designer: Elizabeth Smith
Yarn: Schachenmayr Nomota 'Bravo'
-  colour #8182 (marl) - discontinued

I also finished a cardigan so old that I didn't get it into my Ravelry records.  I made it shorter than directed, simply because I made it in a slightly lighter weight, and I'm a short person.  Called "Round Trip" it's featured in Knitter's Magazine #72 -- the Fall 2003 issue!  At present I've not photographed it, but I'll tell you...it sat for years (I brought it with me when I moved here in 2008), when all it needed was a few inches and then the cuff on the second sleeve.  And at last...it's got them!

The "Spectacle Quilt" (pattern from "We All Sew") is now quilted and has it's binding on -- I chose the same yellow as the zinger because...well...truth be told, it's what I had enough of to work with!  I have to hand sew the binding onto the back.  The baby for whom this is intended (another Eastern Canada cousin) is due...momentarily.  I hope to get the news before I finish the binding so I can put his/her name on the label.

Finally, I finished a pair of finger-less mittens for The Shop, to be used as a sample whenever we get the delicious yarn they're made in:

Pattern: Holt Wrist Warmers
Designer: Libby Summers
Yarn: "Herriot" from Juniper Moon Farms
100% Alpaca....Yummy!

In the sewdio...I've been playing with more inspirations -- from Susan Lenz and Cas Holmes.

Susan wrote a blog post last month about her button collection and how she felt compelled to use more buttons in her work.  To that end, she created some rather large pieces (30" x 38" or so) and framed them.  She called the series, "Things Kept".  Now, I'm pretty gob-smacked by all of Susan's work, and she's so prolific she makes many of us look slothful, but I have to tell you, these pieces captivated me.

Though as you know from some of my earlier posts, Gentle Readers, I struggle with collage work, I've been longing to become more relaxed with this, to just dig out paper and glue and thread and floss and fabric and "stuff" and get on with it!

I also wanted to make a wee piece for the up-coming SAQA Spotlight Auction at this year's conference -- and I often take this as an opportunity to experiment with new techniques.

I began with this piece, which turned out to be too small for the Auction but just right to become a new 'mini' for (I hope) some future buyer:

New Directions 1
Materials: commercial cotton fabric,
purchased hand-made paper, silk fabric,
perle cotton, vintage button
5" W x 7" L, matted to 8" x 10"

I decided to try a second in a larger size, using more of the same materials...with a bit extra detail.  It's still on my design wall, needing a facing -- and it may end up mounted on painted stretched canvas.

New Directions 2
Same background materials, but
added - couched hand-dyed thread,
vintage buckle (some sort of plastic)
Currently, 12" W x 16" L, unfinished

With this practice under my belt, I decided it was time to return to the Auction piece, and was happy to get the size right this time:

New Directions 3
(C) 2019

Next up, I auditioned different fabrics etc. for a fourth piece, now finished except for sewing down the binding (which matches the background), but here it is, just taking shape on my cutting table:

New Directions 4 - shown in fabric audition
Materials: commercial  cotton and batik fabric;
purchased hand-made paper; blotted torn book paper;
purchased hand-made button

Photo to follow when finished!

Cas Holmes' new book, Textile Landscapes, which I may have told you I received as a birthday gift last fall, calls for practicing with layering in 'dry collage' and then, in practice, attaching layers with gel medium and/or stitch.  She does so in a remarkable, loose way.  Having created rather orderly, formal collages, I thought I'd try to loosen up a bit more.

I took a length of a synthetic sheer that I had in my stash, and applied to it layers of linen that I'd stamped and/or scribbled on (credit to Valerie Wilson and Susan Purney Mark for encouragement to do those things!).

The results are...ummm...rather mixed, to say the least.

Once a whole piece, sliced in half, trimmed

Left side, 6" square, unfinished

Right side, 6" square, unfinished

I'm undecided about these -- whether or not to add stitch or just file them "as is" in my 'samples' binder.  I think they have rather more glue between the layers (even though I diluted already-liquid gel medium with water), so any stitching would need to be by machine.  You can sort of tell I was in a 'landscape' mode when I played with this stuff, but it's not based on any particular scene.  Time will tell, but I'm thinking 'funky' landscapes aren't my style!  Still, it's good to have the inspiration (i.e. the book) to draw from, from time to time.

There was a kind of 'release' from these experiments, so I was able to return to creating pieces in a style for which I'm better known.

First, another new 'mini'.  I started by painting some tea bag paper to create a 'moon'.

I then backed some eco-dyed silk (from my friend arlee) with fusible web, on which I'd loosely traced trees from a wonderful tree stencil that I bought somewhere.  The moon and trees were fused onto the same background as "New Directions 3", and thread for quilting the trunks was auditioned:

Once the trunks and background were quilted, "snow" and "fog" were added...and the piece was ready for its mat:

January Moon (C) 2019
5" W x 7" L, matted to 8" x 10"

I've finished off this period of "MORE" with another, larger piece -- one that I've carried around in my head for a good year now.  It's based on a photo of a tree, bare of leaves, that's one of a small group on the edge of my favourite walking path around Cranna Lake in Lacombe.  It's a good thing I printed a couple of it -- because I can't find the photo to show you!  (I can, however, take another next time I'm by there, in the right season.  Sigh.)

I beavered away on this one without taking any process photos either...so here you have it:

In the Bleak Midwinter (C) 2019
Commercial cotton fabric, cotton thread,
mono-poly filament, water-colour pencils
17" W x 27" L

In the Bleak Midwinter -  Detail

And...so now I've caught you up on MORE in the studio for this year so far!   As Madeleine L'Engle wrote about writing, and which I paraphrase here...

Discipline is essential in the artist's life...but when you start to [create], don't think.

[Create.]  If you think when you're [creating], it's no good.  You have to have done your thinking just as you have to have gone through the emotion.  You get out on the other side of the emotion, and out on the other side of thinking, and you [create].

It would appear that once I 'got out on the other side of the thinking, the emotion', I could give birth to January Moon and In the Bleak Mid-winter.  Nina Marie's taken a creative day this week -- and I'm betting she's got something brewing that's on the other side of both 'the thinking' and 'the emotion'.  I'm linking to her "Off the Wall Friday" page...and leaving you wishes for a creative weekend.  

What are you birthing in your sewdio?