Finishes, Starts and Ideas

There's a lot goin' on 'round here.  Mother Nature hasn't been able to make up her mind about allowing us to have Spring this year, which my tulips, my budding trees, the returning birds and my schedule have found rather chaotic.

As if the outside world weren't chaotic enough! 😆

I've been fighting back attempting to stay calm with routines -- roughly reflected in the title of my April 1 post. Knit, quilt, stitch, repeat.  To that, when possible, I've added "walk".  It's helping -- somewhat!

As a result...I've managed to get a few things finished, a few started, a few under construction and a couple of new ideas.

In my last post you saw my finished blue-and-gold quilt for Ukrainian refugees.  It -- and three other lap/comfort quilts -- were delivered to the local Blankets of Love rep a couple of weeks ago.  Now I'm roaring ahead on "Hearts of Hope" -- Bonnie Hunter's contribution to Ukraine support.  All of the pattern parts are posted now, and I've seen some finishes online.  I'm not there yet -- but I'm getting close.  Though not a difficult pattern, it's rather labour intensive, but I've been working on it every-other-day or so, and have 4 rows completed, with the blocks of the fifth waiting to be sewn together, and those of the sixth under construction (there are 7 rows plus borders).

"Hearts of Hope" - what a single row looks like

I have to say I've really enjoyed this pattern and will probably make it again with different colours -- or completely scrappy!

Aside from my little embroidery piece honouring Ukraine -- which now hangs outside my back door -- I've finished some other pieces, and am gearing up to start a couple of new ones.

This one -- "Crowning Glory" from The Victoria Sampler -- is now at my framers for a special mat to be cut.  I've asked her to mat it, then back it with foam core, so I can simply mount it on a stand once a year as an Easter Season Stitch.  

It's a pattern that I acquired a good 12 years ago; now it's available as a PDF.  I had some trouble with it (to put it mildly).  The fabric frayed tremendously in the midst of one of the pattern features...  Take a look at the pattern on the website, and see if you can figure out what I did differently.  😉😆  

I also finished this one -- "Schoolgirl Basics" from Just Nan, started one summer (2018?  2019? -- I can't remember).  It's very pretty, and when I'd done it up, I wondered why I waited so long to finish it!

"Schoolgirl Basics"

It's also at the frame shop. I want her to frame it as a companion piece for this Just Nan pattern I did in 2005 ("Summer Night"), that currently hangs in my bedroom.  The mat and frame styles have changed, of course, but she thinks she can get something close to this:

"Summer Night"

And speaking of finishes re: Just Nan designs -- I've finished the stitching for the first of a pair of pieces entitled "Marching Orders".  This first one is going to become a needlebook for one of my favourite "floss-tubers".  Here it is just out of the frame.  There's a red hat charm to be sewn on, but I may leave that till I'm close to a "Final Finish".

"Marching Orders"
Needlebook

And...I happily finished Jeannette Douglas' "Mini Bouquet" for April: "Be Well" -- shown first here in situ...

And here's a close-up

I played with the reds on this one, so it's a bit brighter than "called for" -- I just think it's delightful!  And the next installment comes out on Sunday!

I have three pieces under construction: "What Remains is Love" from Blackbird Designs, which is a memorial for my husband and is stitched only from time to time; "Stitcher's Prayer" from Kathy Barrick, a pattern I've had for ages (it was published in 2001!!); and a third on which I'm making great progress -- but won't show any links or photos, as it's a gift for one of my friends who occasionally reads this blog.  Sorry...

Of course, there are 'starts' in my future now: "Marching Orders" as a line sampler is top of mind, along with the May 'mini bouquet' from Jeannette.  

In the sampler/cross-stitch world, apparently there's a group that celebrates stitching in the month of May with "Stitch Maynia".  There was a Facebook page...but it's evolved and I can't find it for 2022.  Nonetheless, the Floss Tube world is all a-buzz with this year's projects and plans.  The general idea is that you start something new every day during May!!  Whoa!  

But wait -- you don't have to!  As with so much today, there are no hard-and-fast rules about that.  Just start one new thing, or one a week or one for Mother's Day and another for Victoria Day (or Memorial Day in the US) or...or...well, you get the idea.

So I'll have the two starts mentioned (which I'd have started anyway), and...I've a stack of options for another start.  I'm thinking of Mother's Day because of this red-stitch sampler:

"Ruth Gibb, 1882"
Designed by Hands Across the Sea Samplers

 
I bought mine through my favourite LNS, Traditional Stitches, located on the west edge of Calgary.  

Margaret Gibb
ca 1910

It was the name that got to me: Ruth Gibb.  My maternal grandmother was Margaret Gibb, and she named my mother Margaret Ruth.  Mom always went by 'Ruth' -- and my DH and I named our daughter Gina Ruth (she uses 'Gina').  I think it only fitting that I do this as a "Mother's Day Start" then, eh?

Of course...that's lead to another 'rabbit hole' -- finding out more about the Gibb family, emmigrants from Barrow-in-Furness, England, in the late 1800s.  And seeing if I could find a Scottish sampler created by someone in my father's family, which originated in Kilsyth (Stirlingshire).  My GGGrandfather and his bride came to SW Quebec in 1826 to join his two half-brothers.  My Scots cousin (on Skye now) said he didn't know of any, and that may be true -- I'm not sure how many of the farmers' daughters went to school in those days (where many samplers were taught). 

That said, I had the delightful honour of a Zoom chat with Nicola Parkman of Hands Across the Sea (HATS), and she's encouraged me to select some examples of Scottish samplers, including ones from Stirlingshire (there are some distinctive features in those), and design my own.  Needless to say, photos are being collected and ideas are percolating!!

On the art quilt front, my little piece, "January Picnic" is up for bid at the SAQA Spotlight Auction, which opens today and runs online at HandBid, through May 7.  (Bidding opens at 3 p.m. Eastern/1 p.m. Mountain).  My piece is on "Table 1", which will be the first to close on that date (4 p.m. Eastern, 2 p.m. Mountain). Every piece starts at $20 USD.  Shipping is $30 USD for up to 5 pieces.  Each is matted and backed, so it will present beautifully when you receive it.

And...several pieces are in at the framer's, including my latest piece, faced and mounted on 16" x 12" stretched canvas:

In the Tall Grass (c) 2022
Rusted cotton fabric, machine quilted

It's actually rather "good" that my art-making has taken a back seat to knitting, stitching and charity quilting.  The pieces are stacking up at the frame shop due to supply issues including the acquisition of the particular mouldings used for my work -- that black 'floater' frame I like so much -- so I don't know how long the process will take.  As I'm showing in the shop's gallery, I do have some work on exhibit -- as it were -- but there'll be no local art show/sale again this year (I'd be there right now if there were!).  Thus my framer can take her time getting them framed -- and I can save up the $$ for when it's all finished!

As for new ideas...well, aside from designing a Scottish sampler (and maybe an English one too!), I've at least two art quilting 'experiments' brewing.  One is the quilting of an almost-all-white string/improv piece that I thought at first might be a background, but now think might stand on its own.  The other is some sort of improv work with a selection of "prairie greens" I've gathered over time.  It includes some sunprinting I've done, some hand-dyeing, and some lovely stretchy velvet bits (6" square) dyed by my friend arlee barr -- and which I've finally mounted on stabilizer so I can  use them!

In addition to continuing my making, over the next while I'll be attending the SAQA Conference -- brought to us again online this year, from a team in Florida (where the in-person plans were cancelled due to...you know).  So while I'm 'travelling' to "St. Petersburg" via Zoom...I'll leave you with wishes for a great weekend, and a link to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday.  Nina-Marie isn't there right now though; she's also travelling. Check out the link to learn where!

Everything All At Once

Have you ever wished you had several sets of hands, feet and eyes -- and maybe even a couple of brains -- so you could tackle all you wanted to do, everything -- at once?  

That's been the feeling under which I've been operating for almost two weeks now: a sense that I've got to finish these socks!  And I've got to make these art pieces!  And I've got to finish these quilt tops! And I've got to start new ones!  And I've got to finish this sweater -- formerly a UFO!  And I've got to go to town for supplies!  And I've got to go for a walk!  And...and...and..

I've had to remind myself, per the new cross-stitch piece in my hoop:

"I am only one, but I am one.  I cannot do everything, but I can do something."

It's a design from Lizzie*Kate, created in 2017, and I've had the kit for a while.  She's one of my favourite designers, but has now retired, so I treasure the few patterns I have in my collection.   It was inspired by a project she'd taken on to supply stoves to homes in Guatemala, where women had been killed or injured seriously by cooking over open fires inside their homes.

When I think of the piles of scraps I want to turn into tummy time quilts and small throws for the new moms in the Stepping Stones program, or the art pieces I want to make for SAQA's two annual auctions or...or...or...I am reminded by this phrase that I can, indeed do something -- but having only one pair of hands, one pair of feet and one brain, I'll have to be content to do one thing at a time!

I mix it up a bit, but in the last week I've found myself heading to the sewdio with my morning coffee for a spate of cutting, piecing and/or designing -- before breakfast, before checking the weather, before turning on the computer.  And while I'm doing one thing -- quilting -- during that time, I'm not working on only one project! 😄

It's paying off!

First, I've managed to design, create, finish and mail off two art pieces -- the first landscapes in almost a year!

After the memorial service for my cousin near the end of last month, I knew I wanted to make something for his widow, something pretty, something that would (I hoped) bring comfort and peace.  Inspired by something else altogether, I was looking through my drapery/upholstery fabric and found several light, thin drapery samples that reminded me of landscapes.  Their home is on the northeast coast of New Brunswick; I looked up the location, and found a photo of a nearby beach, which gave me inspiration for this matted mini:

"Find a Quiet Spot"  (c) 2021

The same piece of fabric -- the pieces are long and narrow -- provided just what I needed to make a piece the same size for SAQA's 2021 Spotlight Auction.  The fabric tends to fray easily.  When putting together my matted piece, I stay-stitched all around the sides before mounting it.  However, I wasn't sure simple straight stitching would hold up well for a trip in the mail -- unmatted! -- so I closely zig-zagged the edges.  I'll confess I'm not all that great at zig-zagging edges...but SAQA insisted on having a photo that showed them, so here it is:

"Spring Run-off"  (c) 2021

And here's what I hope it will look like once it's placed in a mat, hiding both the edges and my signature... 😊

Whole-cloth recycled drapery fabric,
machine quilted, thread-painted.

Having exhausted my artistic output for the moment (!), I turned back to piecing, using up my ever-multiplying scraps...

First I returned to Bonnie Hunter's mysteries and "Frolicked" around "Grassy Creek" most of this week.  Checking my blog posts, I see that the last time I mentioned them at all was a month ago, when I was working on Clue #6 of "Grassy Creek" -- making a gazillion string-pieced blocks. I've finished them now -- forty of them for the size of quilt I want -- and have started adding little "wings" to each end, as per the pattern.  This process is a bit finicky, so after completing ten of these, I decided I needed a break.

Clue #7 -- the "reveal" -- has been out for a while now; I wanted to see what the main block would look like in the fabrics I'd selected.  As of this morning, I've completed five of them, with a sixth under construction.  

I have to say I really like these!

As for "Frolic!" -- I'm proud to say that at last I'm about to attach the fourth arrow-head border.  Then the top will be finished!!  (That said, it's so large that I can't photograph it in the house.  Not sure that doing so in the snow is a good idea, though; I'll think about it!)

"Frolic!" from Bonnie Hunter -- 
the fourth border and corner-stones...

As if that weren't enough...I started a new top! 

My friend A. and I have been motivating each other this winter, as both of us are on a quest to finish UFOs and use up our stashes and scraps.  To that end, she referred this pattern with me -- Traffic Jam, designed by Pat Sloan.  If you purchase the pattern, you get information for several sizes -- but you can get the simple blocks-and-borders pattern gratis -- and make as many blocks as you want, change up the borders and/or sashing, whatever.  

That's the route I've chosen: nine blocks, finishing at 12", plus sashing and borders to end up at 56" square.  It calls for 2.5" squares and, thanks to Bonnie H. and her "Scrap User's System", lo and behold, I had a collection already cut from assorted project left-overs!  I found yardage of a lovely neutral in my "inheritance" fabric and was off to the races!  I started this...Tuesday?  And have 7 of my nine blocks made. 

Pinned to my design wall -- in layers!

I used up all the light/medium squares I had, and most of the dark ones, so I'll have to get at my scrap bin to make more -- especially if I decide I want the scrappy border per the pattern.  Depending on what I do about borders, it should finish at about 56" square, which I can quilt myself, and which will be added to my charity collection for later this year.

As for knitting...You may recall that I made several pair of baby socks in November and December.  Well!  The grandma of one of the babes advised me that Big Brother -- a toddler of about two years of age -- would like a pair too, please!  Colour requests?  Blue, pink and white.  Hmmmm....I tracked down some deep pink, navy and a bit of off-white, and put them together thus:

Pattern: Plain Jeanne Socks (used for sizing)
Designer: Audrey Lavoie
Yarn: assorted left-overs

The colour sequence was suggested to me by a friend online -- one of the moderators of the Socks from Stash group on Ravelry.  She calls is "1-2-3" -- 1 row of Colour A, 2 of Colour B, 3 of Colour A, and repeat.  Because I had a request for a third colour, I simply adapted it, and it turned out!  There are ends to sew in, of course, but with so few rows between colours, you can carry them up at the back and then later, along the foot, so there aren't as many ends as you might think.

As I finished those I recalled that cousins of mine in Quebec told me at Xmas that they were expecting another grandchild in 2021.  I checked and sure enough!  Any day now -- and it's supposedly a girl.  

So...I'm now about 1/2-way into the body of a very cute baby cardigan which I'm making in the largest size (1 year) because this Baby #4 for the parents in question, and grandma tells me "all of [their] babies start off big and grow quickly!"

As for the pullover I mentioned in my last post, I'm well along on the first sleeve, headed toward the arm-hole shaping.  And I've finished my first sock for the February challenge in the Socks from Stash group, and am about 1/2-way down the leg of the second:

 Unlike the ones from December, these ones fit, they're comfy, and I like the colour-way -- so they are keepers!

Well, now, Gentle Readers...you're all caught up on the whirlwind in my cozy corner of the Alberta prairie.  I've been holding family and friends in Texas in my heart because while we up here can handle a Polar Vortex, they've had a terrible time handling temps a fraction as cold, and snow a fraction as deep.  I hope their power and water are restored soon, and that the Powers That Be will take a page from Canada's winter management playbook -- or maybe just from Minnesota, the Dakotas and other mid-western states -- and make reparations so this won't happen again!

How are the rest of you staying safe and warm, if it's wintry where you are?  Nina Marie is planning a trip to a museum to see some artwork.  Museums and art galleries in these parts are closed in this province, as we grapple with bringing our COVID case numbers down -- and that's happening slowly but surely.

Still, she asks readers to share their favourite are museums/galleries.  Two of mine are in Edmonton: the Art Gallery of Alberta and the Royal Alberta Museum.  Alas, both are indeed closed for the moment, so I'm not planning a trip up the highway any time soon!  "Virtual exhibits" -- and my collection of coffee-table art books -- will have to suffice for the time being.

Before I head out for my afternoon walk I'll leave you with the link to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday, where you share plans for your next real-life museum/gallery visit, however far off in the future it may be.  Stay well, stay safe, and stay cozy!

Bedding and Beading

My artistic mojo has been a bit so-so since my last post.  I've been feeling compelled to plug away at the "Frolic!" mystery that Bonnie Hunter introduced in November.  I wanted to get it to a point where I had all the "moving" parts and could assemble it a bit at a time.

Why?  Because it's an elephantine-sized quilt.  How does one eat an elephant?  One bite at a time!  So...I've been trying to put the "meal" together in order to do that!

Those who follow this blog might recall that at the beginning of this month I'd come down with a serious case of "start-itis".  It has abated somewhat...because I've been working at what I started.  With respect to "Frolic!", here's where I am:

Clue 6 - DONE!

Clue 7 - DONE!

Clue 8 - All pieces cut!

Now...see that row-and-a-bit of squares?  Those have now been put into 4-patches with the blue-and-aqua Half-Square Triangles (HSTs) from the top photo (Clue 6)...and these from Clue 1:

And those four-patches PLUS the rest of Clue 6 are -- as of this post -- being assembled into 25 quilt blocks, each of which should finish at 12" square.

Considering that some of my art pieces for sale are each 12" square, well!  For me, those are BIG blocks!  For the record, I have five (5) assembled (no photos yet).

In other "bedding" news...I've cobbled together the last few rows of blocks for the centre of my postage stamp quilt, and hope to put the entire top together over the course of the next month...or so.

But there are other commitments...

And that brings me to "beading".

In my last post, I asked for feedback about beading both the 'sample' and the second piece.  Each of them were inspired by photos taken of trees in my yard in December, when we had a lovely bout of hoarefrost.

The general consensus was"BEAD!" -- both pieces.

So on Saturday, I did.  The first piece (shown here without the beads) was really my 'sample' and...sure enough, it finished too small (by fractions of inches) to be submitted to the SAQA Spotlight Auction fund-raiser.  BUT not so small that I can't have a mat cut for it and offer it for sale as a 'mini' at the Lacombe Art Show & Sale in April!

I love it when that happens!  😊




The second piece was larger -- mainly because the piece of hand-dyed fabric I had for the background was larger to start with -- so I beaded it too...and now it has been submitted to SAQA for the fund-raiser:

When I Look Up: December
Hand-dyed cotton, ink-jet printed from a tracing;
machine quilted, painted, hand-beaded.
Size: 6" x 8" -- to be matted
with a 4" x 6" opening

My dear friend who bought my piece entitled When I Look Up in the Spring has said she'll be bidding. Much as I'd love her to win it, I hope there's healthy competition!  😉

In other 'art' news...I got a chance to photograph the six remaining pieces from the "Inspired by Scotland" collection, currently hanging at the Alix Public Library and yes, available for purchase.  The librarian has to hang them up high based on the configuration of the space, but they still attract attention.  Look up.  Look 'wa-a-a-ay up!

Abbey Echoes I

(L) - Mended Wall: Stirling Castle
(R) View from Eilean Donan: Loch Duich

(L) Impressions of Portree
(Centre) Blossoms: Gardens at Clan Donald House
(R) Loch View: Inverness to Eilean Donan

And...this week our County Councillor called to tell me that someone from The County News would be in touch with me in March about my being chosen as "Featured Artist" for the Lacombe "Encore!" Art Show and Sale in April.

On the knitting front, where the "startitis" really hit...I've been dyeing yarn!  Some months ago, in a bag of yarn donated to The Shop, there were batches of unusual skeins of 100% wool -- 2-ply! from two different (and very long-ago) makers -- Munrospun "Morning Haze" in a natural colour (sorry, no photo) and Patons...

There was very little difference between the two.  Both were 100% wool.  Both were 2-ply.  And both were put up in skeins of long "sub-skeins", 28 grams each.  BUT the "Munrospun had been dyed an ugly old gold.

Y'all know I prefer magentas, blues, purples, hot pinks, teals...jewel tones.  So...what to do?  Dig out the dye!

A number of years ago now (maybe 8 or 10?)  I bought some acid dyes from the original owner of Pam's Woolly Shop of Stony Plain, Alberta -- now retired (her shop was bought by a long-time employee and is now known as Jo's Yarn Garden.  If you're in the area you might check it out!)

I bought it at a retreat where Pam had a 'pop-up' shop...and at a discount because it was 'old stock' even then.

Old wool yarn.  Old dye powder.  What did I have to lose?  Nothing...and everything...

So I dyed the entire batch -- 4 skinny skeins of 28 grams each (112 grams total) -- a Crimson...

The results?  The colour is deep, rich and glorious! Even over that ugly gold!

So...I sampled from partial skeins (about 10 - 11 grams each) of the natural-coloured Patons 2-ply fingering

:

Preparing the sample dye stock: Scarlet, Golden Yellow,
Warm Yellow and Turquoise

Four samples in four dye-baths...
in ONE pot of simmering water

As you can probably surmise by now, this is a process that requires heat.  I have done it in second-hand pots never used for food, on my kitchen stove.  I wear a mask to prepare the dye powder and water intial mix, but after that, all is well.  I use tongs to lift and stir -- never used for food.  And I can put this on heat and go about my day, checking in from time to time.  This is ACID Dyeing...and I use vinegar as my acid.  I dye till the dye bath is clear or almost so...and neutralize with baking soda -- testing with Ph strips I bought at the local pharmacy.  In the summer I would "sun dye" because the heat of the sun would work beautifully...but there are no excuses for not dyeing at -35 C outside...when you have a cozy kitchen and the right equipment!

What will I do with the results, you might ask.  I have long wanted to recreate one of the 'percentage system' pullovers designed by the inimitable Elizabeth Zimmerman, so...from her book Knitting Around I have chosen her "Seamless Yolk Sweater" -- see her chapters two and three.  I have enough skeins of the "natural" Patons to make the body, and plenty of the dyed yarn for the coloured yoke, from which I have selected Scarlet, Golden Yellow, Turquoise, some of the natural...and I have some black (natural from another supplier) if I need it.

I've cast on 316 stitches in the natural colour on a 2.75 mm x 32" (24 cm) circular needle...and have managed almost 1" of 2:2 ribbing.  This will be a Long, Slow Project.  Sort of like running a marathon, without the blisters and the sweat!  😉

I think that's enough news for now...so I will leave you with a wish for a lovely week -- no matter the creative journey you're on -- and with a link to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday.

Just think!  Next weekend at this time we'll be watching for ground hogs and their predictions for those in wintry climes...  Hugs to you all and have a great week!

Branching Out

In my last post, I hinted that I'd be returning to the studio this week to begin new art work -- and I've done just that.  😊

Those of you who've followed my work for some time will know how fond I am of the sky and the trees in this part of Alberta.  A couple of years ago I did a piece entitled When I Look Up in the Spring, which was bought by my dear friend Jenny from a SAQA Benefit Auction:

When I Look Up in the Spring (C) 2018

Ever since then, I've wanted to make something else like this...because I keep looking up at the trees around here, tiny top branches silhouetted against the sky.

Like this one (from my last post):

Then there's this one:

Well now...hmmmmmm...

I began with the second photo, sampling with a piece of synthetic fabric that I hand-dyed. Polyester or poly-cottons (this was an old sheet so I suspect it was the latter) dye much lighter than 100% cottons do.

I decided to trace the branches out on Sulky Tear-away interfacing (light, thin), sandwich it and quilt it -- using free-motion, and Superior Thread's King Tut -- colour #979 ("Obsidian") in the needle.  I used a light-weight white backing, with Superior's "So Fine" in the bobbin.

NOTE: The tear-away worked very well...but tearing it away from tiny branches is a bit of a pain!

I was happy with the thread painting...but how to create the hoare frost??  I had 3 choices: two different threads...and paint:

In the end -- as you can probably tell -- I chose the paint (Seta Color 'Opaque' in a lovely opalescent or pearly white).

Lest you wonder, I auditioned the thread with hand-stitching.  For one thing, I don't do bobbin work because I find working upside-down unsettling -- and the thread on the left (YLI's "Candlelight" metallic yarn in "Rainbow") was too thick to go in the top (needle).  The thread in the centre (Sulky Metallic 142-7021) could have done so...but it was too thin to give the effect I wanted.   Using a very fine brush, the paint worked out very well!

Here's how the piece looks with a bit of a "frame" around it:

I've auditioned some very tiny beads -- Mill Hill's Petite Glass Beads -- in a browny-red (colour #42012) to create the berries for the full effect of the photo.

Then I wondered...what if I combined the branches from the second photo with a deeper blue sky (sort of like in the top photo)?

Why not just trace out that top photo and interpret it?   Well...I'm impatient, and the tracing takes work!  😉  Plus I think that top photo would look better as a larger piece and I haven't the fabric on hand for the sky; I'd have to dye it...or see if I could find something commercially that would work.

So I did this -- BUT instead of tracing the design onto tear-away stabilizer (tearing it away was no picnic the first time 'round!), I printed it out directly onto my fabric, using the 'freezer paper method' and my HP inkjet printer.  I stitched it this time with the same thread BUT I used 'regular' stitches with my Pfaff Performance 5.2, which has a built-in walking foot:

And yes...I like it.  Here it is..."framed"...with some "regular-sized" Mill Hill glass beads just resting on the surface for the moment...

Now...the question for you, gentle readers is...to bead or not to bead?

NOTE: the first piece will have beads.  That's a done deal.  But the second piece?  Should it be beaded too?  Or should there simply be hoare frost?

Let me know what you think by leaving a comment...recognizing full well that I'll do what the piece wants, one way or the other!

NOTE TOO: Finished size of each piece is 4" x 6" inside the mat -- matted to 6" x 8" by the folks in charge of the SAQA 2020 Spotlight Auction...or by me...whichever one goes and whichever one stays...

And in other news...this week I've...

• Finished the socks commissioned for a gift;
• Signed the contract with the City of Lacombe for "Featured Artist" at the Art Show & Sale in April; and
• Switched out my art exhibit at the Alix Public Library -- installing the six remaining pieces from "Inspired by Scotland".

Dear Nina-Marie is in what she describes as "a mess" this week...so be sure to stop by Off the Wall Friday and give her some love.  I'm linking there now...and wish you all a good week!

(We're in the Deep Freeze up here... minus twenties with wind chills near the minus forties -- and that's Celsius! -- so stay safe, stay cozy, keep calm and craft on!)

Caught Up

Like many of my colleagues, friends and relatives, I've been caught up by the impending and then the actual transition of power in the U.S.  Nowadays it's not far from my thoughts, my journal entries, my online time.

As part of a music team at my church, there's a contemporary song we sing often, and the lyrics seem particularly right for this time in history -- especially, in my view, from one friend to another across the (currently) longest undefended border in the world.  It's called the "Servant Song"...

Brother, sister let me serve you.
Let me be as Christ to you.
Pray that I might have the grace
To let you be my servant, too.

We are pilgrims on a journey.
We are brothers on the road.
We are here to help each other
Walk the mile and bear the load.

I will hold the Christ-light for you
In the night time of your fear.
I will hold my hand out to you;
Speak the peace you long to hear.

I will weep when you are weeping.
When you laugh, I’ll laugh with you.
I will share your joy and sorrow
Till we’ve seen this journey through.

When we sing to God in heaven,
We shall find such harmony
Born of all we’ve known together
Of Christ’s love and agony.

Brother, sister let me serve you.
Let me be as Christ to you.
Pray that I might have the grace
To let you be my servant, too.

Richard Gillard of New Zealand - 1976-77 (emphasis mine)

I have vowed on Facebook and on my blog to try my best to be a light, a provider of thoughtful response/opinion, and a purveyor of "real" news and/or facts in light of the propensity nowadays for the opposite of those things.

And I have promised myself, if no-one else, that I will continue to make art, not (to the best of my ability) antagonism.

To that end, for the past couple of weeks (yes; it's really been that long since my last post!) I've ploughed ahead with various projects.

I entered this piece into the SAQA Spotlight Auction, which will take place at the conference in Lincoln, NE at the end of April and into early May:

Winter Walk: Astotin Lake (C) 2017

Look familiar?  It should! (GRIN)  It's the sample I made inspired by my daughter's wonderful photograph of herself doing exactly that -- walking out over the ice on Astotin Lake toward Elk Island (NE of Edmonton, Alberta).  

And it's the basis for this piece which is now finished but for sleeve, label and final photography:

Sometimes You Can Walk on Water (C) 2017
Approx. 42" W x 36" L

And...the basis for my latest piece for the 15 x 15 International Group, as we begin our 2017 year, focusing on working in a series.  

This is just a teaser...but you might 'get' where I'm going with this.  I have the facing to sew down and the sleeve to put in place -- and then final photos and write-up for the 15 x 15 website.  The full "Reveal" will be at the end of this month -- so stay tuned!

Yes...I am exploring two things concurrently (or maybe three, depending on how you look at it): abstraction, improvisational quilting and modern quilting.  To whit: 

• I've purchased a Craftsy.com class entitled "Designing Modern Quilts", taught by Weeks Ringle -- to which I've listened several times and have even done the assignments (which she refers to as 'explorations', which I like very much!);
• I've signed up for a class called "Mod Meets Improv" with one of my favourite teachers, Elizabeth Barton, over at The Academy of Quilting.  This starts January 27 online.  (Sorry; this class had a limited number of spaces and registration is now closed.  If you are interested in future offerings, sign up for e-mail notifications from the Academy HERE.); and 
• I've signed on for "Abstract-a-licious" a class on abstraction from my SAQA colleague, Lyric Montgomery Kinard, which begins in mid-February.  (Note: I met Lyric at the SAQA conference in Portland in 2015; she strode across the lobby to greet me, hand outstretched to shake mine, and said, "I'm Lyric".  Thunderstruck, it was all I could do to squeak out "I know" as I took her hand, my head nodding like some sort of dazed bobble-head doll.)

All of this is in aid of a larger purpose (or two): to expand my artistic repertoire and to enable me to make my DD a wonderful Modern Quilt for her next Big Birthday (a few fast-flying years away).  That would be the same DD whose photography has provided the head shot for Mark on the Body, has complemented my pieces at several of the annual Art Shows and Sales in Lacombe, and has inspired more than one piece of my work, including those mentioned above...

(C) Gina R. Blank, 2017.

So as I link up with Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday...I leave you with these thoughts...

 

The first, from the Apostle Paul -- for the days/weeks/months/years ahead:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails.... And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.  (1 Corinthians 13: 4-8, 13, New International Version)

The second, quoted recently by the wonderful Ms. Meryl Streep, from her colleague and friend, the late Carrie Fisher: 

Take your broken heart; make it into art.

The third, those lovely servant song words, sung by the composer:

Have a great rest of the weekend, everyone!