Closed for the Season

The Outdoor Studio, that is.

Friday morning I put away all my outdoor furniture, because by Friday afternoon, it looked like this:

We had more snow Saturday and Sunday.  Today the skies remain overcast, and there's the odd flake in the air.

To escape the grey, and the flakes (in the weather and elsewhere...), I moved into my sewdio to create a piece I've been thinking about.  I may make a larger one, but for now I experimented with the approach (abstract) in a size that's just right for the 2017 SAQA Trunk Show.

I call it "Autumn Colours", and it's based on these photos of my back yard, taken two days before the snowfall...

View of the East side of my house,
with the empty lot next door in the foreground.
Trees with coloured leaves are on my property.

View from the East side of my garage,
looking North.

The changing colours of
a Mountain Ash (Rowan)

I dug out a piece of hand-dyed "sky" fabric; sure enough, it was just the right size.  Then I went through my fabrics -- mainly batiks -- and set to work cutting strips and auditioning them on the background:

When I had the arrangement I liked, I fused the strips, sandwiched the piece and stitched it all with invisible thread.  I've always used that stuff with caution because my Husqvarna Lily 555 is Miss Fuss-pot when it comes to anything she deems is a 'fancy' thread.  This time out, though, because I was doing straight-line sewing with my walking foot, Miss F.P. cooperated beautifully.

Here's the finished piece...

Autumn Colours (C) 2016
approx. 7" W x 10" long
Hand-dyed & commercial fabrics,
fused applique, machine quilting

The paperwork's been submitted to SAQA online; all I need to do now is tack down that facing, apply a label and ship it off -- to arrive at Trunk Show HQ by mid-January.

Up next?  More embroidery on the Christmas stocking, more knitting for gifts of all kinds, and construction of the Annual Christmas Boxer Shorts...

Some of which I can do while catching up with everyone over on Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday.  This week she's returned to sewing with renewed energy -- and she too is working on a colourful abstract.  That's definitely the way to ward off the flakes!  ;-)

See you "off the wall"!  (And Happy Thanksgiving to any Canucks reading this.  May you have a blessed holiday!)

And So It Begins...

All day the forecast has been for snow -- "light snow" or "flurries" -- back and forth -- due to start this evening and continue through tomorrow.

The same tomorrow I was to leave for Calgary (2 1/2 hours' drive southwest of here) around 6 a.m...

But...

The snow has begun.  It was preceded by a day of confused weather that included rain, freezing rain and sunshine.

I squeezed in a jog mid-afternoon, and surprised myself with pace and distance. When I'll jog again is anyone's guess.

The trip to Calgary was to take the SAQA 25th Anniversary Trunk Show, Section "F" ("F" is for 'Fascination'" I call it) to the Bow River Quilters...but now...both the organizer of the meeting and I are on tenterhooks, watching Mother Nature to see what's she's going to do.

"F"ascination in Syvlan Lake, AB - Dec. 9, 2014

The Trunk is prepped and ready to go.  If I don't get to Calgary, I will have to haul it to Alix Home Hardware to put it in the next Purolator pick-up, because it's due in Dauphin, Manitoba on the 8th...and Dauphin's a Long Way from here...

Meanwhile...the learning has begun.  EB's invoice for the Master Class arrived and was duly paid.  The first lesson has arrived, been printed and set in its own special binder for reading and follow up...

Simultaneously, the 'clearing out' continues...

Another year, another Block Of the Month (BOM).  Today I assembled the first block of the third collection of BOM blocks I'd amassed from Freckles' Quilt Shop all those years ago.  This BOM is called "Zen".

However, I didn't buy much in the way of supporting fabric (fat quarters) for it, so I am tempted to call it "Scrappy Zen", because aside from the background fabric and 2 'specially purchased fat quarters, I'm using what I have to make the blocks work.   Here's the first block, an Irish Chain variation:

"Scrappy Zen" - January - 'Irish Chain' variation

The BOM is only one way to clear out...there's the scrap stash...  Today I sorted and trimmed more pieces for a couple of different charity quilts, one of which involves string piecing on paper:

(L) to (R): Short strings, long strings; 2" x 7" pieces for a specific pattern

On  the knitting front, slippers are under construction for my DD's birthday.  The bottoms are finished and the first cuff, and about 1/2 of the second cuff:

Two Cuffs and Buttons -"Little Red Riding Slippers"
from Berroco's Inca Tweed 

To continue "stash busting" I'm devoting 2 skeins of Diamond Luxury Collection 'Foot Loose' (alas discontinued)  in a lovely pearl grey --  to the making of a pair of socks - "Isabella d'Este" from Clara Parke's Knitter's Book of Socks -- as part of the Ravelry group, "Socks from Stash"'s January challenge.

Sock #1 - Picot Edge Completed - 2.25 mm needles

May you be warm and cozy this wintry night, with your favourite creative work, your favourite music, your favourite beverage, your favourite people around you...Till next time...

Getting Back to a Routine...

Sort of.

First I have one more out-of-town trip.  The good news is its an Artist's Date of a sort, as it's to a by-hand-needle-felting workshop at the MAIWA Studios on Granville Island in Vancouver -- part of the annual MAIWA Symposium.

• I'm flying on "points";
• I'm staying with family (husband's cousins); 
• I have a good friend checking in on Pookie-cat regularly;
• There is a limit of 14 for the class, a nice, intimate number -- and it's not full yet; and
• I get to play with fabric, fibre, floss for three uninterrupted days...

What's not to like?  :-)

Meanwhile, though, I have been trying to get back into some sort of sewdio schedule.  It's been a challenge.

First, I had to catch up on my correspondence.

Second, I had to keep up with my SAQA Co-Rep Stuff -- which is really ongoing.  Now that the September workshop is over, my mind has turned to SAQA's 25th Anniversary Trunk Show -- in this case, Section F, which is currently showing in B.C. but will be on its way to Alberta at the end of October.  I've been trying to line up places to show it, including two major shows -- one in April (Central Alberta Quilters' Guild) and a BIG one in June (Quilt Canada, at the University in Lethbridge, AB).  In between, the Trunk will travel to Saskatchewan, Manitoba, back to B.C. and then again to Alberta.  Phew!  I'm so grateful for my Co-Reps in B.C. and SK/MB who are sharing the load!

Third, I have minis to make...and I began a pair, one of which will go to the local gift gallery and the other, as a 'thank you' to the family with which I'm staying in Vancouver:

The working title was "Fifty Shades of Green" (grin) but during my morning jog I came up with the idea of doing a series of them across the seasons, so this will likely change.  Stay tuned!

Then there are various projects in the planning stages...and knitting (ongoing progress) for Christmas....Here's a quilting teaser...yes, OPI, in lovely, rich colours:

As I cut and pieced for the minis and the squares, I watched several episodes of The Quilt Show -- catching up before I have to renew my subscription (this week).

Definitely an ideal afternoon in my 'happy place' -- but it's a mixed blessing.

The past few weeks, for the first time since last November when I upgraded my internet speed/service, I've been able to watch programs without the glitch of constant buffering.  I suspect it has something to do with the new tower planted in a field down near Clive (about 20 km from here)...so, like I say, it's a mixed blessing.  I can enjoy a one-hour video in one hour, not three, yes, but it's taken out a chunk of a rancher's field...

Sigh.

And on that wavering note, I've got to get back to those minis!

Linking in to WIP Wednesday at the Needle and Thread Network.  Catcha later, eh?

On and Off the Wall

A good start to 2014!

As I reported Wednesday, I've been back in the sewdio part of each day for a few days now.  I say 'part of' as a way of explaining that my intentions (= 'most of') have not been (entirely) fulfilled.  I've been trying to increase my sewdio time but when one is a single person living in a Very Snowy Country, one finds that sewdio hours are eroded by the time spent either a) on the roof removing snow from inside and around various vents and/or b) shovelling out walkways and driveways -- even with the help of one's neighbour!

So.

I'm pleased to present this finished piece, which was shipped off to E in Virginia yesterday, ExpressPost, with tracking and insurance, in the fond hope that Canada/US Customs/Border Patrol won't see fit to sit on it for an undue length of time, so that it will arrive by January 31 and be part of the SAQA 25th Anniversary Trunk Show:

Tree Study III (C) 2013

For the curious, here's a detail shot of the moss/fungus "embellishment" (Lutradur (R), painted and heat distressed:

And here's the inspirational photo -- a close-up of a portion of a trunk of one of the trees in my back yard:

In other quilting...here's another peek at my 'Rhythm' piece for 15 x 15 -- the background...Well...

1. A detail of the sky/trees -- quilted:

2. And one of the trees/fields...also quilted:

I'm SO thankful for J's machine!  So far, it hasn't failed to produce!

On the Knitting Front, while I wait for my DD to confirm size for the "Elm" socks,  I'm continuing my word on the entrelac scarf I started years ago in a class at River City Yarns.  Here's what it looked like when I abandoned it, shortly after taking the class:

And here it is with a wee bit more progress made:

I know it doesn't look much different, but it is longer -- and the best news is that I've learned to 'read' my knitting in entrelac such that I know where I've left off and what I need to do to begin again.  That alone is worth the effort!  Pattern: free from Allison LoCicero at Freckles and Purls (see link in right side-bar.)

Having trekked up to the roof for the second time this week , to clear snow and ice around various vents, and having shovelled out both walks and driveway, tomorrow I'm setting in to work on the main motif for the "Rhythm" piece, and to do a bit of plain piecing with the January block of my 2014 BOM -- the second in the series of BOM kits in my stash.  I cut out the fabrics earlier this afternoon, so all I have left to do is assemble the pieces, square up, and photograph!

Meanwhile, I'm linking up to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday...and will savour the entries over the weekend.  Have a good one!

Another Beginning

Happy New Year, Gentle Readers.

I am rather late to post this, with no plans to give you a retrospective of my past year, nor a list of plans for this new one, but rather, intending to catch you up a bit, as I have been in the sewdio the better part of the last few days.

2013 ended and 2014 began well: the sewing machine I borrowed from my friend J is up and running and has performed well!  It's a Husqvarna 1250 from years past -- far heavier than mine, a sign that it has sturdy metal parts -- but still computerized.  J bought it more for its embroidery capabilities, but it has stepped into the breach to enable me to do both 'regular' and free-motion quilting with surprising ease.

The Loaner

I don't know yet how long I'll have to rely on it.  I managed to get my Lily to the Red Deer Sewing Centre on Monday morning; they've promised to call me January 8 or shortly thereafter with any news.  While I was there I had one of the clerks demonstrate the Pfaff Quilt Expression 4.2, which suits my budget and has the features I want in a machine -- plus the delightful news that Pfaff, though still an independent company, is now owned by Husqvarna, which explained why the Quilt Expression bore a faint resemblance to Husqvarna machines.   She also showed me a Janome that had too many "bits and bobs" for my liking, and came with a table I don't need.  If I do need to replace the Lily, I think I'll go with the Pfaff.

In the mail this week were treats to end the year.  From Amazon.ca came a book I'd pre-ordered: Where Women Create: Quilters from Jo Packham, the publisher of the 'Where Women Create' magazines.
This is more like a book than a magazine, though, and focuses solely on quilters, most of whose names I didn't recognize, but Tula Pink, Amy Butler, Judith Content and Katie "PM" are included.  The latter two are SAQA members whom I've had the pleasure of meeting -- art quilt "royalty" in my books!

Superior Treats!

The other treat was my "Try Me" package from Superior Threads that I ordered a few weeks ago -- and what a treat it is!!  It includes a selection of thread from all Superior's lines, plus a sampler package of sewing machine needles, a pre-wound bobbin (Bottom Line thread), a catalogue and a DVD from "Dr. Bob".  I've wanted to sample this for some time, and decided it was an investment in my work that I could no longer pass up.  I've been able to get some basic colours of Bottom Line thread at Earthly Goods in Edmonton, and in October treated myself to several spools of King Tut from Quilter's Dream -- also in Edmonton -- but I've never seen the other threads in Canada at all.

With such inspiration at hand, I had to go right to work!  I've finished my piece for the SAQA 2014 Trunk Show, save for the hand-work (label and blind hem on the back), so it will be shipped off by week's end. Based on yet another photo of a tree in my back yard, here's "Tree Study III", before it gets its wee bit of moss embellishment (painted and heat-distressed Lutradur):

Tree Study III (WIP)
7" W x 10" L

Then I began to work on my next piece for the 15 x 15 Group.  Our current theme is "Rhythm".  Not going to reveal much today...just a teaser -- the photo that inspired the piece:

're You Lookin' at ME?!

How does this reflect "Rhythm"?  Well...let's just say I'll let you chew on that for a while...

On the knitting front, finishing has begun in earnest.  Concurrently, I'm working on an entrelac scarf that I began in a class at River City Yarns at least two years ago -- maybe three -- and a new project -- "Elm" socks from Clara Parkes' The Knitter's Book of Socks -- a birthday present for my daughter.

Mark On the Body: stitching continues.  Photos from one month in will be posted shortly on the MOB Page, so check back if you're interested.

Time to head out for a breath of fresh air -- so long for now!

Oh, The Places I Go...

Detail of  "Circle Play" (C) 2010 

...if only in quilt form!

I confess I haven't been following closely the travels of my little piece, 'Circle Play', in the "C" division of the SAQA Trunk Show, "This is a Quilt!"  I know it was in Taiwan last year -- I got the greatest Facebook messages from Taiwanese who'd seen it, and that was a Major Thrill for me.  :-)

However,  I've just been reminded by cyber-colleague Ali George that the show has been touring Oceania for some time and will be on tour there until November this year, when it returns to the US.  Wow!

And the best news is that my wee piece is one of a handful that Ali's selected to feature in her floor talk as she accompanies the exhibit to various venues in her homeland, Australia.  Wow-wow-wow-wow!!

Who'd'a thunk it?!