Another Year...Another Festive Season...

 Within 2 months of marking 21 years of blog posts, and 10 days from Christmas, and 2 weeks to the end of another year, I'm pondering.

For several years now, I've chosen a "word of the year" -- but not, Gentle Readers, for 2023. I'm rather glad of that, because I've no idea what it could have been.  Chaos?  Coping?  Comfort?  Giving?  Exploring?  Planting?  Grieving?  Aching?  Learning?  Celebrating?  Joy?  Sorrow?  Friendship?  Love?  Marvelling?  Family?  

I still have no idea -- and so will probably defer selecting such a "word" for 2024 as well.  (Though I reserve the right to change my mind! 😉😄😆)

Instead, I'm going to "keep on keepin' on" as long as the Good Lord lets me.  To that end, I'm pleased to tell you that I Survived November (the bleakest month in my year, each and every year) and am Moving Toward the Light.

Last week, Sylvie kitten helped me celebrate 
the Light of Hanukkah

Now, those of you who are familiar with the stories of Jesus might recall that he had some close friends (not his disciples) -- Mary, Martha and their brother Lazarus.  They lived in Bethany, a suburb (you  might say) of Jerusalem, and he'd often stop there on the way to the Big City.  Sometimes he'd sleep over, but pretty much always, he'd join them for a meal and some good conversation.

Mary was inclined to sit at his feet and listen, which aggravated her (probably older) sister Martha, the DO-er.  Martha was the one preparing the meal, setting the table, making sure all was comfy for their guest.  

Well, folks, I'm a "Martha".  I don't entertain much any more (being rather introverted, I like it that way), but I'm still a DO-er, and a Maker and a Planner.  Without Marthas, in my view, no one would have a stocked larder, or clean clothes (or any clothes, for that matter!)  No one would be fed -- human or animal.  No one would get anywhere on time, with a packed lunch or money to buy one.  

I always have a grocery/supply list at the ready for my next trip to town.  And yes, my Christmas cards have all been sent -- except the ones to people who live here in the area, and they'll go out this week.

In my last post, I was busy making gifts -- but they've long been completed, mailed and (so I'm told by the recipients) received and put under trees -- or opened immediately, as was intended.  

Yep, I'm a Martha.  I don't sit without something in my hands on which to work.  It's how I feel safe, how I sort out my thoughts and make sense of the world around me.  Making keeps me calm.

As of this post, I'm still making gifts -- but of a different sort.  I got word recently that there are several families of Ukrainian refugees arriving in the Edmonton area this winter.  I connected with the person who advised this and am putting together a box to send off to her early next week.

The box will contain four quilt tops -- one twin-sized and 3 throw-sized; five hand-knit wool hats; one hand-knit wool cowl; and a couple of pairs (or maybe 3) of handknit wool blend or acrylic mittens.  My contact has a resource who will sandwich and quilt the tops.

In that stack of tops are the following -- from the top -- "Butter Churn" (from an "Addicted to Scraps" column by Bonnie Hunter earlier this year); "Triple Treat" (Bonnie Hunter's "Leader/Ender Challenge" #11); "Add It Up" (the latest one finished -- from "All People Quilt/Wendy Barker Paul - Quilts and More"); and "Rhododendron Trail" (Bonnie Hunter's Mystery 2021).

For those who are curious, here's what the "Add It Up" top looked like when I finished it:

It was fun to do -- but it's time to move on!  This week I started a new scrap quilt: "Scrap Happy Star Buster" from Pat Sloan.  I've made six blocks thus far (I need thirty for the top) and none of them match except for some of the background fabric.  It's how I roll these days!

Six on the ironing board!

And here's a close up of what a block looks like:

I've developed a winter routine that goes something like this:  knit in the morning; quilt from noon to 3 or so; somewhere in there go for a walk (maybe two) or shovel snow; stitch in the late afternoon/evening.

In addition to five hats and a cowl that will go in the care package, I've been knitting mittens (all from stash yarn).  I finished this pair for an adult:

Patten: The World's Simplest Mittens
Designer: Tincan Knits
Yarn: Emu Superwash Double Knit in colour 1112

And am on the thumb of the first mitten of a pair for a child:

I'd like to make a third pair before I mail the box this coming week, but that just might not happen.  Ah, well.  I'll keep on with them and mail any additional pair separately.

You migh be wondering what I do to "relax".  For Marthas, this sort of creativity is relaxing!  

In the summer, of course, in addition to the 'chores' of yard work (raking, mowing, planting, weeding, watering) there's just the sheer pleasure of being outside.  Ditto for the winter work of shovelling.  There are long walks and filling the bird feeders.  There's cuddling the kittens and making sure they don't destroy the fabric, fibre and floss!

And there's stitching.  Up till a couple of weeks ago, as my earlier posts have shown, even my stitching was to give away.  But now that those pieces are finished, I'm stitching just for fun, just for me.

I've dug into my WIPs (Works In Progress, for the uninitiated), and pulled out the "Stitcher's Prayer" from Kathy Barrick, which started me down the stitching rabbit hole again a few years ago.  I'd done only one motif.  Now I've done one-and-a-half! LOL!  So no photos till it gets a bit farther along.  (It's an old pattern (2001) so may not be readily available except for the Carriage House Samplings website.)

I also took out the "Autumn Bird" from Blackbird Designs, a pattern lent to me by a good friend.  She owns all three in the series.  I finished "Summer Bird" with my own take on the bird (I turned it into a red-winged blackbird, which is common in the summer in these parts), so this autumnal brown bird is the second in the series, and I'm stitching all three on the same piece of fabric:

I'm enjoying this one so much that it's been hard to put down -- but I managed to make time for a new start:  "No Winter Lasts Forever" from Silver Creek Samplers.  Here's my small beginning, on 28-count "Pewter" from Picture this Plus, with an assortment of floss from my stash:

I have another "Winter" WIP on which to work, and others, including "Keziah Campbell", which is nearing a 'finish', and as my family and friends are replete with stitching (for the moment, at least!) I'm going to focus on these in the coming months.

To that end, I finally "fully finished" a couple of small pillows that seem to suit the festive season, and have put them in my large glass bowl on the buffet:

"Summer Bower"
from Modern Folk Embroidery

"Chubby Bird" from
Jeannette Douglas Designs

With the new kittens around, this is as close to decorating for Christmas as I'll get this year!

And so, on that note, Gentle Readers, I want to wish you all blessings for the Season, and health, happiness, peace and creativity for the New Year.

Onward!  A bientot!

Moving Right Along...

 May is slipping through my fingers, and I can't seem to hold onto it.  That's probably a Good Thing, though, because it's been three weeks of very dry, very cold, sometimes snowy and at least one (good) day -- yesterday -- rainy.  Just enough to frustrate the 'Gardener' in me and delight the 'Stitcher'.  Sheesh!

So...what have I been doing while waiting for Spring to actually arrive?

Outdoors...

I've managed to baby a few tulips into blooming.  I've planted some seeds in my raised beds -- ones that don't mind the cold (lettuce, mixed greens, dill, zucchini, carrots) -- and some in those two 'wildflower islands' I talked about last year.  Under the big willow I transplanted daisies and yarrow -- and they survived the winter!  I also planted some narcissus (deer don't like 'em) -- and they're coming up.   No blooms, yet, but no matter.  I'm just glad they made it!  

I've removed the burlap from my baby apple trees and they're putting out leaves.  The Parkland looks like it might even produce some blossoms, and where there are apple blossoms, can apples be far behind?

I set up a mini green-house over the herbs (thyme and oregano) and greens, to protect them from both the cold and the deer, and they seem to be happy.  I think I'll get another one of these to protect my carrots when they start to come up.  😊

The wee Sasaktoon bushes are leafing out, and show signs of growth and spread, which is another Good Thing.

I've mowed the East Lawn and might get to the West Side tomorrow -- if it warms up and stops blowing!  

Indoors...

There's  much more going on.  Lemme see...where did I leave you a couple or three weeks ago?!

1. "Hearts of Hope" -- well now!  All seven rows of seven blocks are together, and I've begun to add borders.  

The inner border is "the called for" -- 1" finished -- but not the next one.  I didn't have enough blue to make strings for a cross-cut pieced border.  What I do have is 98 half-square triangle (HST) blocks that I constructed when I was trimming the yellow heart shapes.  I dug out one of my last suitable (i.e. large enough) pieces of "blue" fabric -- geometric blue-and-white -- cut squares to match et voila!  A border is born!  I'll put the same on the other sides -- with solid royal blue cornerstones to make it "pop".  It should probably still have another border to make it large enough; I'll cross that bridge when I come to it! 😉

2. Cross stitch continues to hold me in its thrall.  In fact, it's taken hold so firmly that I was inspired to create a few project bags to accomodate it.  

Now then.  Those of you who know me, know that I "don't do fiddly" -- or at least, I do it only under protest, and then I don't do it well.  On the other hand, I had these linens and "samples" that needed homes...weren't being used...shouldn't end up in the landfill.  And I wanted nicer packages for my stitching projects.  

What to do?  Suck it up and make project bags!!

I started simple: take an old linen 'hand towel', an old linen napkin, a bit of batting, some ribbon and a button.  Hearken back to six years of Home Ec and what you know about Putting Things Together...et voila!

Finished Project 'Envelope'

Damask lining -- a recycled napkin

What's in the pockets?

I liked it so much, I thought I'd try my hand with two more.  

First...(drum roll, please!) one with a zipper!  Note: I've not put a zipper in anything for decades -- since I left garment sewing behind to follow the siren song of quilting.  And I'd certainly not tried out the zipper foot on my current sewing machine -- bought a mere 3 1/2 years ago!  But I had this odd piece of "art" created in a Craftsy class with my favourite teacher, Joe (the Quilter) Cunningham.    I don't even have a photo of it from when I made it in that class -- but it's composed of two colours: deep purple and knock-your-eye-out yellow.  It wasn't going anywhere...till it became THIS:

Front - with 14" zipper

Back

And then...there's this one.  Another envelope.  It's composed from a piece I'd made out of four 'Drunkard's Path' blocks, constructed in an in-person class in another lifetime, long ago, with fabric choices that make me ask myself, "What WAS I thinking?!"  As a square piece (4 blocks, joined with sashing) it was an abject failure.  I didn't even want it as a table topper, for pity's sake!

But...folded and quilted and stitched into a 'project envelope'?  It has new life, new purpose!

I didn't put pockets in it, but that's okay.  It's large enough to accommodate a "mini bag" inside.  So far I've not assigned a project to it, but there will come a day...

 Meanwhile, the purple one travelled with me this past weekend to Edmonton, and handily housed my "House of Cooking" cross-stitch piece, the zip-lock bag of floss, my scissors, my magnetic board, folding stand and magnets to hold the pattern, the pattern itself (of course!), the project in a 7" hoop (it could have accommodated a 9" one) and my clip-on magnifying glass.  What's not to like?!

I've made good progress on that piece (sorry, no photo -- birthday gift for a friend who's an Occasional Reader of this blog!)...and on others since my last post.

On May 1 I made a tiny start on Jeannette Douglas' mini-bouquet for the month, having added to the horizontal border between the first and second rows:

I've not got back to it since, being preoccupied with "House of Cooking" -- and with the other May start: Ruth Gibb (1866) from Hands Across the Sea Samplers. I started it on Mother's Day because -- you may recall -- "Gibb" was my mother's mother's maiden name.  It's a pretty piece and an easy stitch -- if you can get the border right!  (Yes, I did.  I paid attention to the note that points out the replicated 'error' in that border, made by Ruth at age 11.)  I've set it aside for a bit ("House", remember?) but will definitely stitch it again on June 8, my mother Ruth's birthday (she'd be 106 this year)...

When I got home from Edmonton, I returned to "Marching Orders: the Sampler" -- because Brenda and Laura were at it again in their latest YouTube video.  I really want to get this done this month, so I can do the 'finishing' -- one as a needle book and one as a 'flat fold' -- and send them off.  I'm definitely making progress, and at this point am approaching the last 1/3 of the sampler.  What you see below is my "start" -- but as of this writing I've completed that entire section that you see in the centre, and I'm moving on!

Flat fold?  "What's a flat fold?" you might ask.  Well...it's a way of mounting something so you can stand it up.  I've been watching a variety of tutorials (once again, thanks to YouTube!) and there are a few ways to approach this, but they all end up with the same result.  I'm thinking that because (as you know) "I don't do fiddly!" 😉 -- I'm going to have to make a sample before risking this precious embroidered piece.  I have mat board.  I have glue.  I have mat and liquid gel medium (artist's ModPodge).  Stay tuned!

On the artistic front...

Part of my time in the past few weeks was taken up with the wonderful SAQA Conference, an annual event organized by SAQA and a 'local' committee -- this year, working out of St. Petersburg, Florida.  It was to have been in person, but changed to 100% virtual at the last moment -- and so many more of us were able to attend.

Now, Gentle Readers, I've mentioned before how I'm prone to Zoom Fatigue -- as I know many of you are, too.  But this was so very well done!  It was stretched out over 10 days, with many sessions recorded, so that if there were concurrent ones you could go back and watch them later, and  you didn't have to be up at 2 a.m. to watch everything in real time (depending on your time zone). 

I skipped several sessions to work in the yard and take a break, but always enjoyed the ones I did "on schedule".  The "Coffee and Cocktails" (with a nod to time zones!) were delightful (if too short!) break out sessions.  There were meet-ups organized for special interests -- and I took in one on working with rusted fabric (which I love to do), that was great fun.

I've gone back to watch at least one keynote over again, and here's the best part -- I have until the end of July to re-watch any of the recorded sessions that I want.  Lovely!

During the sessions I worked on my knitting or hand-stitch as I listened and made notes.

I met new people and connected with old friends -- and extracted promises from many that it would be "next year in Toronto" -- in person -- for all of us!

My wee SAQA Auction piece sold...and I was outbid on the ones I wanted, but that's okay.  That was a fun thing too.

And yes!  Like all good conferences, there were goodie bags!  Mine arrived in the mail yesterday...

I'm still trying to figure out how the organizers knew that one of my fave colours is fuschia, and that I wouldn't want an art piece featuring a fish, and that I can't afford a subscription to art quilt quarterly, let alone a single issue!   WOW!  I am over the moon with it and of course...it's the perfect size for another (wait for it!) Project Bag!  😉😆

Perfect!

To end this "All SAQA, all the time" segment...well...there's another fund-raiser coming in the fall: the Annual Benefit Auction.  I've donated almost annually since 2008 and have had all but 3 of my contributions (thus far) find new homes -- and bring funds into SAQA for promoting the art quilt and its exhibits.  

The last couple of years (as you know) I've been low on art-making mojo.  My 2021 contribution (made a bit earlier) didn't sell, and it's back here at home.  I had no fresh ideas for 2022...but as you might recall, I had this stack of green fabrics...and a vague idea:

One thing a conference with like-minded colleagues will do, is provide energy and motivation.  After the conference ended, I went into the studio and made this:

Prairie Spring II - 12" x 12"
Assorted self-dyed and commercial fabric
Machine pieced and quilted, faced; hanging sleeve.

Prairie Spring II - detail

It's a miniature reprise of a line study I did years ago in Elizabeth Barton's Master Class; this time it was made with more improvisational piecing and plainer stitching.  It's on its way to the auction (which starts online in September -- stay tuned!!), and I hope it finds a new home.

Of course, through all of this there's been knitting.  It's how I begin each day: coffee, Morning Pages (journal), knitting to the news.  

I'm attempting Socks from Stash (yet again) and making a bit more headway, as I'm on the foot of the first sock.  Here's the start, but of course I'm 'way past that now:

Pattern: "Grandma's Socks"
Designer: Amanda Bourke

I finished the "Dissent for Ukraine" cowl -- using the 'Dissent Cowl' pattern from Carissa Browning on Ravelry, and the yarn combo (fundraiser) from Fleece Artist in Nova Scotia.  It's very cozy and even though these aren't colours I usually wear, I just might keep it:

From the front, lining folded inside

From the side

On my rather short neck!

The gals over at The Woolly Thistle (I watch their YouTube podcast) just had to start a 'hap KAL' -- and being of Scots descent, I just had to join in!  

What's a 'hap'?!  Well, 'hap' as a verb is Scots Gaelic for warmth -- and "a hap" (as a noun) is a large shawl -- square (to be folded) or triangular, with a lace border, often featuring a "shell" or "auld shale" striped pattern.

I made a one-colour hap some years ago, using a pattern designed by Sidna Farley for Knitter's Magazine -- and it's been a faithful companion, especially on frosty winter mornings:

Yarn: Harris Tweed Textiles Shetland 4-ply'
Colour-way: #14 (Brown -- but it has red overtones)

My new hap is the Hemu, and has a main colour and a striped border.  Though the pattern calls for four colours -- a main one and three others -- I've decided to use only three, two of which are yarns from sheep raised here in Alberta, and one from a yarn shop in Edinburgh, made by a company with my family name (Rennie).  

My progress is slow, but I'm nearly finished the main body of my chosen pattern.  Again, the photo shows the early days; I'm much farther along now.

And then...there are a couple of new starts.  I made a "Millie" pullover some time back, and decided I wanted a spring/summer version, so cast this on a couple of weeks ago.  I'm now well along the increases for the raglan sleeves:

The yarn is a colourful (!) synthetic -- Silky Look DK from Sirdar -- that I bought eons ago, in Calgary, in another life.  Even though I'm moving away from synthetics, I hung onto this one for the colours -- and it's finally found its perfect project!

And just today, watching the Woolly Thistle YouTube, and seeing them talk about a new unspun yarn in their shop, I got to thinking about the Noro Rainbow Rolls I'd bought back when The Crafty Lady had her brick-and-mortar store.  I got them for needle-felting but, truth be told, there's far more yarn there than I could ever use for the occasional art piece.  I've thought about spinning with it (and I might, yet) but...today I found a pattern for a simple shawl with it, and cast on.  So far, so good, so stay tuned for photos!

It's all designed to keep me sane in these challenging times -- and so far, so good.

I'll close with my usual connection to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday, and wish everyone a great weekend.  Here in Canada it's the "May Long" -- i.e., the Victoria Day Weekend -- a time to relax, plant gardens (weather permitting), have family gatherings (pandemics permitting) and so forth.

Whatever you're up to in the next few days, stay safe, be well, and take time to stitch!

What? Two Weeks in a Row?

 Yes, Gentle Readers, a rare post only a week (or so) after the last one.  But next Friday is Good Friday...and then there's Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday (and my Jewish family marks Passover/Pesach starting Friday evening)...

So even though I'm going to be celebrating much of that all on my own, it will be a busy and thoughtful time.  I'm a lay minister in my local Anglican parish (that's Episcopalian for my US friends), and as our 1/2-time priest will be at his other parish on Easter Sunday, it's my turn to take Morning Prayer -- from selecting the hymns to writing the homily to preparing the Order of Service to...well, you get the idea.  

Plus I have a couple of days Out of the House before all that comes together.  Monday I travel to Calgary to see my dear dentist and my favourite dental hygeinist. She's retiring in the fall, which means that after Monday, I'll be looking for a new dental team -- closer to home (Calgary is 2 1/2 hours' drive southwest of here!).  Wednesday I have more "doctoring" -- my family doc (who's worried about my blood pressure) and my eye doc (who's worried about the fact my long-distance vision is improving.  Go figure!)  

Also on Wednesday I'm meeting up with a local rep for Blankets of Love, which is currently moving from its usual focus (comfort quilts for mental health patients) to supplying comfort quilts for expected Ukrainian refugees.***

I have 2 blue-and-yellow/gold quilts and 2 other small quilts for her to use for this purpose.  You saw the finished Double Irish Chain in my last post, and photos of the start of the Disappearing/Magic 4-patch.  The latter is now also finished, to whit:

Disappearing 4-Patch

Pieced back

Most of the back was pieced from the yardage that was left from making the top.  However, there was at least one other unrelated yellow fabric, and -- as you can see -- some assorted blue-and-white (with a hint of yellow) prints.  The binding was pieced too.  My top piecing wasn't 100% bang on (it was block-by-block BUT 'row-by-row'...not so easy!); still, it works and it will make someone comfy.  I quilted it in my typical linear fashion, in squares.

Now that those 2 pieces are finished there are scraps (of course!) -- strings -- and so I've started to work on a THIRD comfort quilt for Ukrainian refugees, using Bonnie Hunter's Hearts of Hope string-pieced quilt -- Part 3 (after the intro) of which was posted yesterday.   I've a way to go on this one, but the scraps I've collected thus far haven't disappointed, and I'm almost at 90 (of nearly 100) blue string-pieced blocks (almost 60 shown in the photo below):

Knitting and cross-stitch continue too.

On the knitting front, I'm slowly making progress on my April socks...

Pattern: Cornflower Socks
Designer: Karen Scott
Yarn: ONline Linie 3 Supersocke 100 in "Violet"

It's not a hard pattern (well, I've been knitting for over 60 years), but it is a dense one, which means a) it's all "k1tbl" -- through the back loop; b) the cables are 2-stitch cables, every other round; and c) there are 16 stitches per pattern repeat -- 16 sts per needle over 4 needles -- and 1 full repeat is 20 rounds.

So...I've finished the first 20 rounds on the first sock, and figure I have 1 more set of 20 plus...maybe 1/2 set (10 rounds) to get to the length I want before the heel.  

These will be finished, because I like the yarn and pattern too much to not finish them -- but for the end of April?! Well, your guess is as good as mine.  Too much quilting to do, and other knits (like the "Dissent Cowl", which I'm calling "Dissenting for Ukraine"...

The photo shows it from the top down; it's a 'mosaic' knit.  The top of the collar is a 'polka-dot' pattern (there's a mistake in mine; you might be able to see it. I decided to leave it alone.) Then there's a narrow band in a different pattern, followed by a "bib" -- an increase of stitches is involved -- identified where my hand is in the lower left.  (I've done several more rounds of this since this photo was taken.)

As mentioned in my last post, the yarn is beautiful Blue-Faced Leicester (BFL) in a 'sport' weight (almost a fingering, in my estimation) from Handmaiden/Fleece Artist yarns, based in Nova Scotia.

The cross-stitch continues in rotation.  I've made some progress on the April "bouquet" from Jeannette Douglas, and on the little needlebook from Just Nan.  I'm also working on "House of Cooking" for my friend who has a June birthday...but I've taken no photos. Sorry!

And Mother Nature is taunting us here in this part of the Canadian prairie.  Some days we're at 20 C (68 F) and some days (like today) it's 8 C (nearly 50 F) but with the roaring wind, it "feels like 3 C" -- 37 F.  Sigh... 

At this time yesterday I was outside stitching on the new bench that I assembled for my Outdoor Studio:

Yes, that's the same bench on which I photographed the finished 'Disappearing 4-patch' (above).  But today?!  Yeah! "Feels like 3 C (37 F). 

Oh well...

Tomorrow's another day.  It's forecast to be rather chilly (indeed, much the same for the rest of the week).  It's Sunday, Palm Sunday (for those who observe it, as I do).  I'll be off  to church 'in town'; afterwards, I hope to spend some more time stitching...maybe knitting...maybe...maybe -- for a change -- I'll let whatever happens, happen.

***I've just found out from that dear lady -- the Blankets of Love rep I'm supposed to meet up with -- that her DH has tested +ve for That Which Shall Not Be Named, and she "has the sniffles" though her test was negative.  That means...no actual meet-up.  Nope.  It means a drop off at her doorstep and a wave from across the street.  And prayers for their speedy recovery.

This news shouldn't put a taint on the rest of this day, but it has.  It's so bluddy tiresome.  So tedious.  So everlastingly frustrating.  Even the simplest acts of outreach and caring are overshadowed, tainted and taunted by that damned virus.

Sorry.  Time to close this down, link with Nina-Marie over at Off the Wall Friday, and try to keep in mind the Rules of the Road she's posted this week, ones I read long ago when I first read Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way.

Wherever this week takes you, dear readers...whether it's to a Passover Seder or to the observance of Good Friday, the Easter Vigil and Easter Day or...to somewhere completely different...may you find less frustration, more holy peace and joy, and more creativity in the journey.

All for now. May you be blessed.

Knit, Quilt, Stitch, Repeat...

 While I await Mother Nature's realization that it's Spring in this part of the world, this is pretty much the rhythm of my days:

• Up in the morning, journalling (2-3 pages almost every day), with coffee -- hot and black.
• On to the computer for the weather, the news (less of this nowadays) and something to listen to while I knit on one of an assortment of projects.  Right now these include:

• 
  A "Dissent Cowl" in bright blue and yellow Blue-Faced Leicester (BFL) light-weight (almost fingering) -- in recognition of the courage of the Ukrainian people, who have dissented against Russia's unprovoked invastion.  In my last post I'd barely cast on, but now I've finished 2 of the three sections of this top-down cowl, and am making my way through the "bib" section.  It's mosaic knitting, which I love, and there is a rhythm to it, but my-oh-my!  It requires concentration!  
  
• My "Sock-Knitter's Pullover" -- using left-over balls of sock yarns, mainly in blues and purples, with some pinks.  I've split for the sleeves now, and am on the mindless knit of the body, which is a straight 13" or 14" -- before a 2" ribbing at the bottom.  So far, this project has consumed 3 1/2 left-over balls of sock yarn, each weighing about 40 grams.  I have a basketful to go...and probably more, once I get to the sleeves! and...
• As of this morning, I'm trying yet again to awaken my sock-knitting mojo.  I cast on for the April Challenge in Ravelry's Socks from Stash group.  This month's theme is "Birds, bees, flowers, trees..." -- in other words, anything to do with nature.  I've chosen the "Cornflower Socks" pattern by Karen Scott and a ball of ONline Linie 3 Supersocke 100 in an intense purple colour -- no surprises there, eh?!  😉  
  

Breakfast over, I get dressed (if I'm not already) and move into the sewing studio. where the focus continues to be on comfort quilts for Ukrainian refugees.  The Blankets of Love program has taken a pause from its usual focus, and is now joining the effort in this.  I've a local rep, with whom I've been in touch; now I have a deadline to meet!  I'm going to be in town April 13 for a couple of appointments; she's agreed to meet up with me and take whatever I can give her in the way of finished quilts.  

I'm going to include the two small ones I showed in my last post, simply because a child might need one that size, and I've finished the first of my blue-and-yellow ones -- the Double Irish Chain.  No longer draped over the chair -- it's been sandwiched, quilted, bound and washed!  It measures 41" x 60" and will be a fine lap- or comfort-sized piece.  You can see that my Sewing Studio Supervisor has inspected the binding and approves... 😉

Yesterday I finished assembling the "Disappearing 4-Patch" that I mentioned last time too.  Brita, the "Questioning Quilter", offered an infinitesimal number of options for arranging the blocks.

You start by making wide strip sets -- a 5 1/2" strip of each of two colours, cut on WOF (Width Of Fabric) and sewn together.  You cross-cut these at 5 1/2" and assemble simple four-patch blocks.  Here's my stack of 36, each squaring up at 10 1/2":

Then...you 'slice and dice' at equal distances around the seams:

And you re-arrange the pieces (9 per block) in a manner "pleasing to you".  I took Brita's advice and made 18 yellow "flowers" and 18 blue "flowers" -- each of these blocks ends up 9 1/2" square.  You take 4 of these units and arrange them, again, in a way that catches your eye.  I liked this arrangement -- shown on my design wall:

Then, when you've made units of four blocks each, you arrange these into the top -- with 3 rows of 3 large blocks each.  This is when  you discover even more secondary patterns...and try to keep your eyes from crossing!  😆  Below: four large blocks -- two by two -- on my design wall.  See what I mean?!

In the end the piece got too large for my design wall and ended up on the "design bed" in my guest room.  It's fully assembled now; my next task is to piece the backing out of the remaining fabric and go from there.  I decided the appearance of a border (see the left side and bottom, above) was sufficient; I won't add another border.  Before quilting, it measures 55" x 55".

I'm also ready to do something a bit more straight-forward, so I've been collecting the instructions that Bonnie Hunter's been posting for her "Hearts of Hope" string quilt; I think I'll have enough blue, yellow and neutral scraps to make a go of that one too.

Speaking of Bonnie, while I had my extra sewing surface out -- I use it when I need something to handle the weight of a piece for quilting and/or sewing binding -- I decided to buckle down and finish the binding of the "On Ringo Lake" mystery quilt I finished a couple of years ago.  It was quilted by my trusty long-armer, Sylvia of Woodwind Long-arm Quilting, sometime in 2020 when lock-down had eased a bit...

It's a big one -- here it is on my back stoop; you're seeing about 1/2 of the full length:

Here's a detail of the piecing and quilting:

I've given away most of the Bonnie Hunter mystery quilts I've made -- first to the victims of fire in Fort McMurray a number of years ago; then to family and friends -- but I always wanted to keep this one.  It's "ginormous" -- and rather big for my little bed -- but I love it!  (For the curious, the rug is an acrylic latch-hooked sampler made by my step-father decades ago -- one of only two I have left.  The other is for a little child's room, and is in a blanket box for safe-keeping.)

By mid-afternoon, I'm usually ready for some fresh air, and take time out for a walk -- weather permitting.  Sometimes the brisk winds make this a challenge, but I'm persistent!

Home again, I turn to my stitching.  Since my last post, I finished the little piece that called for peace in Ukraine.  I had a little bit of that blue-and-yellow print (see the cornerstones in the Double Irish Chain) so I made a quilted border for it, and a little hanging sleeve.  There are no plans for it just at the moment...I may just hang it somewhere in my house to remind me to keep praying for peace:

It's done on a piece of "mystery fabric" with a fine count, and except for the two outer blue borders, I used 1 strand over 2 stitches.

In other stitching -- well!  I'm still well and truly down that rabbit hole!  I've been "binge-watching" Carol (Saltbox Stitcher), and have nearly caught up past episodes there.  I recently discovered "Two Tall Stitchers" (Jenquilter and her mother, Carol -- not the Saltbox Stitcher), whose focus is both stitching and quilting, and their stitching is a bit more contemporary.  And of course, there's my very favourite pair: Brenda and the Serial Starter.  I enjoy the banter between the pairs -- Jen and her mother, and Brenda and Laura (the Serial Starter).  Carol (Saltbox) is solo, but she's about a year older than I am, and somehow, despite clear differences in our origins and geographic locations, we seem to see eye-to-eye on many subjects.  

All of them have had me researching projects...and my wish list at Traditional Stitches is growing.  I think I'll have to ask my family for gift cards or specific items from there for my birthday and Xmas for the next while! 

That said, I've already ordered a few things. For the first time ever, I pre-ordered a kit from the Nashville Needlework Market -- "Fred's Ewe-nifying Question" from Silver Creek Samplers arrived last week.  It's going to be a fun stitch for the summer months.

I've also received the pattern, "House of Cooking", and some of the accompanying floss (I had the fabric) -- and I've started it, as I'm giving it to a 'foodie' friend for her June birthday.  From my own stash, having just watched a "floss tube" from Kathy Barrick and her daughter, I dug out a long-ago Barrick design -- "Stitcher's Prayer" -- and made a small start.  I'd tucked it away eons ago -- the pattern was published in 2001!! -- with the floss; blessedly, I had a piece of linen just the right size to go with!

I've been working fairly steadily on gifts for Brenda and Laura -- starting with a needlebook for Laura.  It's a standing joke that Brenda is always giving Laura "Marching Orders".  Lo and behold I found a pair of kits in my stash -- designed by Just Nan, from her 'Red Hat Stitcher' series -- with that as the title!  I'm now nearly finished the cover of the little needlebook.  What you see below will be folded, and there's a wee embroidered flap to be stitched before I can do that, and then assemble the piece.  The "Order" in question is "Where a Red Hat and Carry a Silver Needle" -- and there'll be a little red hat charm attached in the space you see on the front of the book, under the first part of that phrase:

Brenda will get a different version of the same piece.  She refers to herself as 'the Sampler Stitcher' so I am inclined to make hers into a small pillow, which will be easier to ship than something in a frame.

And then there's the Mini Bouquet series by dear Jeannette Douglas!  I mentioned the March motif a few weeks ago, just before it was published -- and of course I've finished it:

March Tulips -- in situ

March Tulips - close up

The April pattern is out today, it being April 1, so I've saved and printed it to make a start later this afternoon.

And there's got to be at least one more start this month -- for spring and for Easter.  Again, culling my stash, I found "Crowning Glory", a pattern I purchased when on a stitching retreat held by Thea Dueck in Victoria almost 14 years ago.  It came with beads and one of the special threads; I've managed to find a piece of fabric as well as the metallic (Kreinik) thread and DMC floss and perle cottons to make it up.  It includes some hemstitch and hardanger, and probably won't be anywhere near being finished in time for Easter, but as Mary Poppins reportedly opined once in a long-ago film, "Once begun is half-done!"

Once again, my artist friends, I am relying on OPI (Other People's Instructions) to keep me busy and productive.  I did some dabbling recently with tea-bag papers and canvases (one for painting, one for needle-point or pin-stitching)...there will be photos eventually, but for now, these pieces are percolating.

In these continually chaotic times, I find the pull to create beauty, to find rhythm in pattern and colour, to find solace in spring sunshine (wind or no wind) -- and to make some small contribution to the comfort of others -- is what keeps me sane.  I'm a 'thinker', often (usually?) an 'over-thinker' -- and have been all my life.  My mother warned me about it when I was in my early teens.  It's a way of being that I cannot change about myself, but I can mitigate its impact on my health by turning to the work of my hands, and so I go on this way, as I'm called to go.

That said, in the Art Front -- there is News!  The Art in the Park residency sponsored by Parks Canada in Glacier National Park near Revelstoke, British Columbia -- for which I was selected in 2020, and which has been cancelled 2 years running -- IS ON THIS YEAR!  I'll be there for 5 days in July...and am over the moon that I am still well and fit enough to participate.  So yes, Gentle Readers, there will be more Original Art-making in the coming months, and I will post about it here.

Right now, the sunshine and blue sky is calling me, and it's time to close this epistle and get some fresh air.  I leave you with a link to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday -- and her exploration of the work of artist Michael James.

Until next time, may you be well, may you be creative, may you bring light to your little corner of the world.  Have a great week! 😊