I'm Drinking More Tea

My friends and family know me as an inveterate coffee drinker.  One of my very favourite gifts is a package of coffee beans from some unusual independent roasterie, or a Starbucks gift card to use whenever I'm in the City.

For years I've maintained that I only drink tea when I have a cold.  I drank tea exclusively when I was in university -- until I fell in love with coffee on a trip to Italy in my early twenties.  I moved from coffee with hot milk (50-50), to coffee with regular milk and sugar, to coffee completely black, and the darker the better -- and I've seldom returned to tea.

That said, I do keep some green tea bags in the bathroom to use when I soak in a hot tub.  Green tea and Epsom salts make a very soothing hot soak after a slog mowing the lawn or shovelling the walks and driveway!

But drink it?  Not so much.

Until the last week or so.  Until I watched what Libby Williamson does with them, in the episode she recorded with The Quilt Show.  You see, she uses tea bags in her art work.  Used tea bags that is -- ones that have been steeped, dried, and carefully cut open to empty out the leaves, preferably into a compost pail.

Now, Libby had had an article about this work published in the June/July 2017 issue of Quilting Arts magazine, and I'm a subscriber, but I'll admit that what was shown therein didn't capture my attention.  It was...ummm...a bit fanciful for my taste.

But what she did on The Quilt Show -- that was something that intrigued me.  I love rough edges and layering is very much part of my landscape work.  I also love quirky pieces inspired by an unusual thought (like her piece, "Call Wendy").

On top of Libby's inspiration, I've been wrestling with my challenges to make collages; to whit, Cas Holme's latest book, Textile Landscape, which I bought with a birthday gift card a couple of months ago.

Having managed to get back into the sewdio for the "Fire Moon" piece, I hankered to do some more playing to break up the hours of Christmas knitting that's taking up most of my days right now.


A couple of weeks ago I tore apart a dusty old book -- it was falling apart already -- and painted some of the pages, using a sponge.

The book's cover is interesting too...

Actual cover 

So I made a 'contour drawing' of it in my photo program...

"Contour Drawing" of the cover

But in the end I got stuck again.  I just couldn't get a feel for how to go farther with paper.  In the process I was digging through sheers and silks and flinging fabric around trying to find something that would call to me.

I came up with a piece of rust-dyed silk charmeuse I've had for a while, and suddenly I could see IT!

There were two pieces right off the bat, and I know there'll be more.  I didn't photograph the process, but I did take some pictures of the finished pieces, each mounted on painted 10" square stretched canvas, each about 1/2" thick.  I do believe I'll have them framed but for now...

She Thought He Hung the Moon (C) 2018
Rusted silk charmeuse, recycled tea bag,
machine thread painting,
hand stitching.

She Thought... Detail of moon, stitching

Where Do I Go from Here? (C) 2018
Rusted silk charmeuse, recycled tea bag paper,
machine thread painting, hand stitching

Where Do I Go...? - Detail of moon, stitching

Yes, these tea bags are round.  I no longer have the box (I store them in a tin with a tight lid) so no idea what brand this is, but the bags hold black tea.  I also brought home a couple of roiboos tea bags (also round) that I used at The Shop, and I've also collected a few rectangular bags (black tea) for future use.

Yes, I drink the tea.  I've rediscovered the soothing nature of tea, to which I've taken to adding powdered ginger and a teaspoon of raw honey.  I don't know how long I'll keep it up, but I've just received an Air Miles coupon  for a box of Tetley Tea so...

I think there'll be more tea bag paper in future pieces.  After all, I still have more of that lovely silk charmeuse...

Stay tuned -- and thanks, Libby!  😊

Linking up with Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday -- and hoping her internet wobbles right themselves soon!

Pour yourself a cuppa and...enjoy!

Piecer Madness!

I don't know about you, Gentle Readers -- especially those of you who are art quilters -- but (as I've undoubtedly mentioned in the past) making Original Art can be exhausting for me. For most of my life I've been known as a very organized, detail-oriented, orderly person.

It would seem, however, that sometime around the age of 50, my persona took a sharp turn off the Straight and Narrow and onto a much more winding road.  I began to move away from Following ALL the Rules to listening to the beat of my Inner Artist.

But.

But what?

But for a period of time each year -- usually between projects and very often in the fall -- my brain becomes too cramped to create unique-to-me work and I find myself following Other People's Instructions (OPI).

And that's where I've found myself for the past couple of weeks -- ever since I sent "Blue Pot" off to the Alberta Society of Artists for its 100@100 fund-raiser.  (This online sale goes up in the ASA Shop on November 15 at 9 a.m.: 100 artworks -- 10" x 10" each -- for $100 each. Stay tuned!)

Yes...there is art brewing.  I've been laying out fabrics and making notes for an ASA Call for Entry, for a Sacred Threads Call for Entry and for a new series that I want to showcase in the spring. A new Artists' Co-op is opening up and I've been mulling over the terms of the application to participate in that next year.

But...at the moment I am working my way through an assortment of other projects -- mainly pieced -- and there's no stopping soon!

I got the Rectangle Quilt -- a top finished a few months ago -- quilted (long-arm quilter up the road is very good, and reasonably priced!) and bound and off to a new home -- a gift to a fellow who lives nearby and whose home recently went up in smoke due (it's suspected) to the deterioration of or a faulty join in the chimney pipe from his self-assembled wood stove.

I've had another top quilted -- a gift for a friend's birthday -- and I'm now sewing down the binding.  (No photo; she might read this!)

Both of these are around 60" W by 70" to 80" L, as is this third top, ostensibly for my bedroom, replacing at least one of my collection that's wearing out...

Here it is, getting its second-last border...

Here's the top on my bed (not quilted yet)

The fabric is -- as you can see -- wildly coloured, and it's printed with a sewing theme.  I fell in love with it over a decade ago and finally got it together.  Yes, there's a pattern -- "Summer Citrus", designed by Nellie Holmes and Christine Baker, for the Spring 2009 edition of the Canadian magazine, A Needle Pulling Thread.  I'm not sure my fabric selections were ideal for this pattern, but the resulting top is growing on me!  😉

Then there's the 2018 Block of the Month from The Quilt Show.  But...I didn't want to do either the central 'barn' motif or the applique borders.  Blessedly, there was posted an alternate central motif:

Pattern: "Twinkling Star" - Barbara Brackman #2165
Originally published under the name of Nancy Cabot in the 1930's
Above created by Barbara Black

I modified mine by choosing a solid border instead of a Saw-tooth, and using a white print for the background instead of a more solid white:

Ms. Black goes on to create another border with the applique border motifs from the original Patchwork Barn pattern, and turned the whole piece into a wall hanging -- very pretty, but not my cuppa!

Here's how mine looks once I began to surround it with sashing and the 6" (finished) blocks that form the body of the quilt:

And here's the top lying on the guest room bed.  You can see that it needs a couple more rows -- one on each side -- to make it wide enough.  Then there will be at least one solid-colour border to finish it off.

So... I am creating 18 more of the original blocks, and 4 that are different.  Here are several of those additional blocks, stacked and ready to sew into rows:

The good news about this, is that I'm really using up my red, white and black fabric scraps -- along with a bit of a dusty pink and some grey.

The bad news is...that I might run out of "darks" (red and black) by the time I get to the outer borders!

So...it's true.  You can work hard to use up your fabric scraps, but you usually end up adding to them because you have to buy more fabric to finish the project!  (The same goes for knitting and crochet stashes.  Sigh.)

This quilt is destined for my guest room...but, like the sewing-themed top (above), it'll take me a while to have them quilted.  These tops -- IMHO -- didn't lend themselves to a "quilt-in-sections" approach.  While my new machine has a wider harp, I'm still loathe to quilt a top this large here at home.

Besides the actual quilting, my other stumbling block is trying to sandwich anything this size in limited floor space.  In the summer, I can make large sandwiches in my Outdoor Studio, but at this time of year...there's just no room!  Thus these two tops will have to wait till I either can afford the long-arm again OR June rolls around and I can assemble them outdoors and quilt them myself!

What's next?  More piecer madness?

Well...Bonnie Hunter's next mystery has just been announced, so that will take some consideration.  And I still have to finish last year's -- "On Ringo Lake".  All the blocks are finished; it's just assembling the top that's needed.  And that one is very large, so it definitely will go under a long arm!

But in the thick of this, one of those Calls (the ASA) has a fast-approaching deadline, and there are Christmas gifts on the knitting needles so...

As soon as I sign off, you'll be finding me in the Sewdio.  For ongoing encouragement and inspiration, I'm linking this to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday -- and I wish you a happy weekend!

"February Puff and Blow..."

"...fill the ditches full of snow!"

That was another of my mother's favourite collection of expressions (or cliches) -- and Mother Nature certainly took February up on that here the last few days!

Ah...but I have a cozy wee house with a well-functioning furnace, and a studio full of fabric, fibre and floss, so...with no need to travel, what's not to like?

And even better, those February winds have blown away any angst I was feeling when I wrote my last post.  

With February's impending arrival, last Monday I hit the ground running and I'm only pausing to write this and share before I go back to it.

First, I prepared and mailed photos to that client for that potential commission.  Then I prepared and packaged my application for the Lacombe Art Show and Sale -- the full meal deal because there appears to be no 'Gallery' option this year, and I didn't want to skip it altogether.  This I delivered to City Hall on Thursday.

Wednesday I worked on a bit of the never-ending scarf for my charity knitting, but then headed to the sewdio to pick up the crumbs.

Crumbs?

Remember the 'crumb quilt' I started on before my last post?  This one:

Well.

I decided that looked too much like work (I was going to need at least 24 blocks to make it any size)...but I loved the idea of intersecting blocks with that bright turquoise, and figured I might just make some solo pieces with it.

By yesterday I'd finished four, each of which has yet to be quilted, but which should finish at 12" square. I think they make wild, colourful art pieces that would brighten up a room singly or in pairs or whatever.

I call them "crumbpilations" (because they're compilations of crumbs of fabric)...

(L) Intersection and (R) Take the Back Roads
(C) 2018

(L) You Can't Get There from Here 
and (R) Never the Twain Shall Meet
(C) 2018

(Click on the photos to enlarge.)

Also on Wednesday I trotted "Storm Brewing" and "December Dusk" to the framer's because...well, because I had to go to Stettler anyway.  Stettler's the home of the only nearby Wal-Mart, and while I don't shop WM much, it's a good place to go for housewares at reasonable cost when you need 'em in a hurry.

Which I did, because in the middle of working on another 'Inspired by Scotland' piece, my steam iron died.  It was a Sunbeam, my third in about 45 years...and it didn't owe me anything, but I was sad, because I really liked it.  Alas, in the midst of fusing some fabric, it made a very funny noise, let off a burning smell, and quit.  Period.

Blessedly, I found another Sunbeam and back to the studio...to finish first this:

Abbey Echoes I - (C) 2018
12" x 12" unframed
Printed on cotton and on layers of organza;
machine quilted, bound.

And then, yesterday, this:

Abbey Echoes II - (C) 2018
16" x 20" unframed
Printed on cotton and organza,
laid over purchased hand-dyed fabric,
wrapped around stretched canvas.

I'm considering auditioning the first on stretched canvas too, but that will wait till I've finished stitching down the binding.  The second will go into a floater frame if the cost won't make it hard to sell. (Ah, the things one must consider when showing in a small-city/town market!)

Both of these were inspired by photos I took at the Abbey in Melrose, Scotland last fall.  I turned these...

Into grey-scale and then into contour drawings,

...which I used to get the general outlines for the 'echoes'.

Finally, I finished off yesterday with the first of the February blocks -- again in triplicate -- of The Quilt Show's 2018 Block of the Month, designed by Edyta Sitar, which (so far) I'm making up in oddments of black, white and red -- part of my continuing effort to reduce my stash.  I just love the look of this colour combo!

And look!  Nothing sewn in backwards!  😉

Today...we're under an "Extreme Cold Warning" this morning -- with wind-chills as low as -40 C (or -40 F; they're equivalent at this point!), so I'm playing hookey from church (I've not shovelled yet!) and will be cutting strips for that Four-rail Fence I've been commissioned to make.

Linking this to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday...to rejoice with her that she too has broken through the January doldrums and is back at work in her studio again!

Happy Super-bowl Sunday for those who watch...

Onward and Upward!

Trying to...

I don't know how the FB 'quizzes' and 'name tests' are created, but this is one I decided to try tonight...it used my photos...and presented me with a "Motto for 2018". 

The odd thing is, this particular practice -- keeping 'it' simple, not over-thinking, over-analyzing, not getting lost in details, seeing every tree in the forest instead of the forest as a single entity -- this practice has plagued me most of my 65 years.

And most years, right around this time, I return to it.  "Always [I] begin again," in the way of Benedict.  

This year is no exception.  For weeks now, even as I finished gifts and readied the house for Christmas, I've been wondering how to go forward in this new year, with all I'd like to do.

The challenge?  To prioritize and fit it into weeks that seem to grow shorter every year.  Tuesdays and Thursdays are set aside for work in The Shop, music practice at church and Knit Night. 

Sunday I've managed to keep as a 'Sabbath' day most of the time, with church in the morning, followed by a walk, and a quiet afternoon of reading, stitching and/or napping, ending with a visit, every couple of weeks, with an elderly friend.

Yes, there is knitting as stitching as part of those days, as every day...but not for long, concentrated periods of time.

Then there's the periodic online work that I do as a volunteer...which has to be fit in somewhere as it is not yet time to give it up for others to do.  In some cases there are no others, so it wouldn't get done.  Perhaps it wouldn't be missed; I really have no way of knowing.  Clearly I need to give it more thought before the end of this year...if I am to simplify as I mean to.

So...how do I intend to fill the remainder of my week-days in this new year?

For one thing, I want to enable simpler living by finishing old projects, and using up fabric and yarn for things that can be given away to others who need them more than I do.   I've begun by designating Wednesdays, as much as possible, as days to focus on this work.  I started last week, and have managed to knit up a toque and finish a scarf that's been languishing in my UFO basket(s) since the fall of 2015.

Pattern: Chevron Leaf Shawl - by Patons
Yarn: Patons North America
Country Garden DK (discontinued)
- donated to the church some years ago

Today, I took up a prayer shawl begun in March 2014 and last touched in September of that year -- with only one 20-row pattern set and the edging to do!  It's one of those that starts small, and increases steadily, so when I left it there were almost 300 stitches on the needle, so each row takes more time than the last.  Still, it's a lovely, meditative design and not particularly difficult, so I've made progress, confident that it will be finished next Wednesday.

On the quilting front, I've decided to participate in The Quilt Show's 2018 Block of the Month -- using not the kit but my stash.  The quilt is made with a series of 24 small (6" finished) blocks, as well as three applique sections and a large central motif, which I may or may not do.  Three patterns for pieced blocks will be given out each month, and ideally one makes three of each of the blocks, or nine blocks per month.  Monday, I made three blocks from the first pattern.  My aim is to make the other six blocks this month in similar colours -- as far as my stash allows, knowing full well that in February I will have to hunt down different colours for the next nine.  This will make it fun -- and use up that stash as I go!

On the side, I hope to get that treadle machine I bought last year up and running with a simple 'squares' quilt, so I can practice plain, straight sewing with it as I get into the rhythm.  Maybe treadling my spinning wheel would help with that...as well as using up some of my roving...

Then there's my artwork -- and three projects under consideration this year: the Annual Lacombe Art Show and Sale (April 20 - 21); a "Scotland collaboration" with my friend and colleague, Mary Wilton, for entry into the Annual Camrose Art Walk in August; and an entry into a SAQA juried show, with an online entry deadline of May 31 (more about that later).

Design: Carol Leather

Finally, this year there's embroidery in the mix, also in an attempt to use materials stashed for far too long -- so there's a hope I will make up some small pieces from kits I've collected, as well as studying various stitches through the year as part of "Beyond TAST" (Take A Stitch Tuesday), a project under the auspices of the talented Sharon Boggon of Australia.  We begin by playing with the Running Stitch; Sharon recommended doing so by way of 'Pattern Darning' or Kogin, a Japanese embroidery technique.  I've dug out some 14- and 18-count Aida cloth, a tapestry needle, a simple pattern (courtesy of stitcher Carol Leather), and will begin a sampler in two colours.

"Keep It Simple"?  I'm not sure it's going to happen...at least not this year...but I'll put one foot in front of the other, "begin again" each day in earnest, and with God's grace, well...who knows?

Wishing you all a Happy -- and Simple! -- New Year, Gentle Readers, and linking up with WIP Wednesday over at the Needle and Thread Network.

And so to bed.

Tomorrow's another day.  😊

Binding the Ocean

At least, that's what it feels like these days...

The medallion quilt is piled up on my love seat.  I take a bit of it at a time and stitch down the binding.

As this is a special quilt, though, my usual single-fold, straight-cornered binding just wouldn't do.  This quilt has a double-fold binding (not bias), and mitred corners!

Following the instructions in my 'quilting bible' (The Quilter's Ultimate Visual Guide editted by Ellen Pahl), I calculated the length of binding I'd need for this king-sized quilt, cut the strips, attached them together using the method in the photo below...and stored the binding around my 15" square ruler till I could get time to sew it on the quilt.  :-)

This takes more fabric than a straight-across seam
but I like the look and there was plenty of fabric available!

Temporary binding storage!

Look, Ma! A mitred corner!

By Friday I had the binding sewn on, and was trimming out the excess batting, pinning as I went.  What to do at the corners?  How to get the mitres to look good on both sides and stay put?  My pins just didn't cut it.

Blessedly, I had lunch with my friend C, who is a quilter...and who had invested in some of these:

A Clover 'Wonder Clip' in action!

What a neat gizmo!  Darned expensive (about 69 cents apiece U.S. if you buy a packet of 10)...but worth the price of admission if you're going to be binding quilts.  I think we carry these in The Shop...so will check that out tomorrow and likely buy my own pack.  I have a few bed-quilts to bind in the next year or two...and they might just come in handy with art quilt facings....

Once all the pins and clips were applied, I ready to stitch.  I've finished one side and am well down the second.  Oh -- and the label has been made and applied in one corner.  All this, of course, under the watchful eye paw of my Studio Assistant, Pookie (aka Miss Pooks, among other things...)

"What?! You want to stitch on this?"

Once I get stitching, I like to put on a favourite computer video, such as Design Matters TV (DMTV) or The Quilt Show...

In fact, a recent episode of DMTV was the inspiration for the mini I made today.

One of the hosts is my former C&G tutor, Linda Kemshall.  What a grand person: artist, mother, teacher, writer -- she presents everything she does with enthusiasm, style and a touch of humour.

Anyway, a few months ago she began a project -- a daily art journal in a sketchbook.  Though several of her viewers have joined her on this adventure, I'm not one of them.  That said, I was interested to see the DMTV episode on her September entries.  The one that really caught my eye was her working out images of the 'Blood Moon' and the eclipse that occurred recently.  I'm an early-to-bed sort, so I missed it -- but saw images posted all over the Internet.

And then, on Thursday evening coming home late after work and music practice at the church (I'm in a trio), I saw it: a full, round, gorgeous Harvest moon!  I couldn't stop the car to photograph it -- and my little camera wouldn't have done it justice anyway -- so I just kept watching as it rose above the hills and trees, searing the image into my brain.

Yesterday I went back to that DMTV episode, and worked it out on fabric -- three small samples:

Cotton fabrics, freezer paper stencils,
a disposable 'tub' (recycled), a sponge
and a bottle of "deColorant" discharge paste

I'd bought a bottle of this paste a couple of years ago at a quilt show, and had played with it with less-than-satisfactory results.  Now it was time to try it again.  I used a sponge to apply it to the circles of fabric, which was easy and fast.  I let it dry all day, then removed the stencil paper and ironed the fabric squares:

Tada!

As recommended, I used extra steam and ironed the pieces from both sides, to great effect. 

I then wanted to add a bit of colour to my selected 'moon' to give it that Harvest moon golden glow.  Not having any "deColorant PLUS" (which has colour added), I decided to over-paint it.  First I used my yellow and my red InkTense (R) pencils, well blended, and then...a hint of dilute Lumiere fabric paint, the copper metallic option.

Once dry, I ironed the fabric again, and set it into a small scene.  I used a stencil to trace tree forms in a repeating pattern on fusible web (Wonder Under) and applied this to black fabric.

Oops!

In my excitement, I ironed the fusible to the "topside" (aka the 'right' side) of the fabric...not the "underside" (aka the 'wrong' side)...

But, in the end, I think it turned out rather well, as the "wrong" side of that particular black fabric has some texture to it -- just right for trees...

Harvest Moon (C) 2015

Just a bit of time now to stitch some more binding.  Tomorrow will be a work-and-knitting day in The Shop...

So I bid all 'farewell' till next time...

Addendum:  Linking this to WIP Wednesday because I don't know if I'll be able to link later...

Movin' to the Rhythm...EBMC July - Part II

Rain at last!  For the last 36 hours or so we've had torrents of it, beginning late Wednesday evening and moving with all sound and fury through the wee hours of yesterday a.m., on and off again...until sometime during last night, when it began to pour down in sheets, blown on occasion by the wind.  Rain barrels are over-flowing, and streams are running down the street.

Not to worry; no flooding. We have a sandy under-soil here, so I expect it will all eventually soak in...

Perfect weather for getting into the sewdio and tackling my "Rhythm" piece.

First, the feedback on my initial sketches, though, eh?

Initial doodles

EB thought my initial doodles were "...a great way to start and I think it would be really interesting to draw out a whole page with your rectangle idea - it's a kind of quilt pattern/plain chant hybrid!  It would be fascinating to see what happens.   You could also simply take the musical staff and see how that would work out into a design."

A full 18" x 24" of rectangle!

This morning, I took her up on her suggestion and did a full page rectangle...

Um...static, boring...and look at that vertical slice right up the centre!  Aaargh! 

  
About the drawings of rectangles, including the watercolour, she wrote:

I think you've got a lot of rhythms join on here, and a lot of variety in your shapes...even though they're all skinny rectangles!  I'd do two things...first you're always ascending - musically speaking that is, which means that your implied diagonals are all going in the same direction.  It's always good to counter the movement when it's unidirectional with something going the other way - a lot more interesting and it prevents imbalance problems.  So have a few notes coming down as well as going up!!  And I would pull the two line together so they begin to overlap which will make for a lot more excitement.  You might even have three lines...more depth, more fun!  don't limit yourself.

Rhythm in line

She particularly liked the line drawings, though, and wrote this about them:

"I can see... how you have started to be looser and also to leave more spaces and more overlap.  This is an excellent idea...do a LOT more, don't be in too much of a hurry to start sewing.  this has the nice drawn line quality of some of your earlier designs which I think is part of your style and it would be good to develop further."

I was blown away at the thought that my earlier designs had, in her opinion, a "nice drawn line quality".  I can suck on that sweet candy comment for some time...  :-)

So...I went back to lines, after listening at to "Rhapsody in Blue" three more times: once, the Leonard Bernstein version (from my last post), once a piano solo, and once Gershwin himself on the piano.

I got the sense that maybe the lines should be more waves...at least to reflect the wee section of the music I wanted to isolate and focus on, so I tried this:

What if I joined the lines?

 And then this:

What if I try curves or waves?

More curves

I followed the drawing by putting a piece of pale blue fabric up on my design wall and trying to arrange a deeper blue length of yarn on it, emulating the curves.  It ended up looking like a textile electrocardiogram...Not quite the effect I was after!

So...I went back to strips of fabric lying on the background.  At one point, after another hour or so of playing with it, I pulled on a thread and the entire piece fell to the floor.  No, it wasn't pinned.   

Sigh.  I was close to tears with frustration at this point.

"Breathe!" I told myself...and as I reassembled the bits and bobs it occurred to me that if I used fewer strips and values of blue, it might be more effective.

My first attempt was rather lop-sided and less than charming:

"Rhythm In Blues" (WIP) version 1

I kept at it...another hour went by...

"Rhythm In Blues" (WIP) version 2
Size: approx. 17" square (unfinished)

Finally something worthy of EB's consideration!  And something I can realistically assemble and quilt.  I even have an idea of how I would quilt it.

So...we shall see what EB has to say.

Meanwhile, I'm linking to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday and digging out my handwork.  The rain continues.  It's a good time for some quiet stitching and knitting while I catch up on blogs and some episodes of Design Matters TV (the Kemshalls) and The Quilt Show...

Have a great weekend!