Fifteen Thirteen

On February 8, 2013, I wrote my one thousandth blog post -- and celebrated ten years of blogging. An average of 100 posts a year.

I seem to have kept that up, as this is Post #1,513 -- and tomorrow marks, yes, fifteen years of writing this weblog.

I was a few months past my fiftieth birthday, with an ailing husband who was trying to get around on two artificial limbs.  Our son was about to graduate from high school, and our daughter was just a year out of university.  My mother, unbeknownst to us just yet, was in the last year of her life, as was my godmother...and my husband and mother-in-law would follow a few years later.

Blogging was in its infancy but Facebook didn't exist (launched in February 2004), nor did Flickr (March 2005), Twitter (March 2006) or Instagram (October 2010).

Ravelry was just a twinkle in the eyes of founders Casey and Jessica Forbes (till May 2007).  Back then, the inimitable Clara Parkes lead the way for yarn-crafters with Knitter's Review, with a pioneering online forum founded in 2000.  I was a member for a long time, and still enjoy KR in its newer iteration as a resource for all things woolly, including books -- all of which I own and have read!

I began the blog to share my knitting, and my original url was taken from "The Lady Who Knits on the Bus" -- a nick-name I'd earned by knitting on public transit to and from work each day.   The blog itself was then entitled "No Idle Hands"...after a book about knitting's history in the U.S. -- a thick tome which, I confess, I never got 'round to reading!

 I was very much a fledgling on the art quilt front, taking classes with the talented Anna Hergert, who lived in Calgary then, as did I, and taught at a quilt shop in Cochrane, Alberta.  And as you know, I'm still knitting...

But by 2006, several of us who'd studied with her for about three years formed small textile art group, which lasted until 2008 when distance and other demands of life conspired to scatter our members.

I'm still in touch with two members, though -- the gals I spend a long weekend 'playing' with almost every summer.  We continue to explore our crafts and have a great deal of fun at it.

Which brings me to...a way to celebrate this 15th Blog Anniversary -- my first give-away in years!

One of the aforementioned play-mates passed on to me a beautiful embroidery magazine from Australia.  Another stitching and quilting friend gave me two magazines -- one from Quilt Mania in Europe, and one from UPPERCASE here in Calgary, Alberta.

All are glorious sources of inspiration, and all are gently used...but ready to find new homes, to inspire yet another maker.

Love hand-stitch?

Inspirations Issue 93:"Birds of a Feather"

Love quilting -- especially the modern approach?

Simply Moderne Issue 11

Love making visual art with paper? Pen and ink?  Scripts and texts? Fabric and stitch? 

UPPERCASE - current issue (#35)

A week from today is Valentine's Day -- and the day I will do a random draw from all those who post a comment to this blog post.  Please Note: a comment or a "Like" on the Facebook link to this post won't do.  You have to visit the blog to make it count!  😊  (And the comments are moderated...just so ya know! No spam!)

What to say in your comment?  How about you tell me what you were up to in February 2003...or how long you've been blogging (if you do) and why you still believe in this form of social media...or a bit about your journey to your creative spirit, what inspires you.  How have you changed and grown in the last 15 years?

The Details:

1. The draw will be made by a random number generator by 10 p.m. Mountain Standard Time on Wednesday, Feb. 14.  The first person to post a comment will be number 1; the second, number 2 and so on.  
2. You need to have an e-mail address so I can contact you if you win.  I have some Gentle Readers whose comments come to me as "no-reply", but I have their address in my e-mail records.  If I don't have that and can't find you...the names will go back in and I'll try again.

I'll be linking this today to WIP Wednesday over on The Needle and Thread Network...and again on the weekend to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday...

Have a great week, and I'll be in touch!

1300!

My next Blog Anniversary -- 12 years of blogging -- is exactly a week from today.  Who'da thunk it?  Certainly, I'd not even thought of how many posts I'd make between then and now...and yet today marks my 1300th post!  That's an average of 108 posts a year...or just about one every 3 days for over a decade.

Blogging has completely satisfied my 'writer's itch', and given me both a way to share my life and work...and an abundance of new contacts, some of whom have become fast friends.  Thanks to all of you for following and reading and commenting, laughing, crying, comiserating, and sharing cyberspace with me all these years.

I began this blog as "The Lady Who Knits on the Bus", and my original URL, 'knitsonthebus.blogspot.com' will still direct you here, to a blog that began with knitting from a blogger who still has knitting in her life every day.

And...as promised, this morning I used a random number sequence generator  to pick the winners of the yarn I'm giving away in celebration of another long-time blogger, the Yarn Harlot.  Congratulations to Christina V., Rhoda F., and Rav's GeneHunter!  These Gentle Readers have been contacted by e-mail and their yarn will be sent out to them later this week.

Now it's February...and in my books, that mean's only about 6 more weeks of winter, regardless of what the groundhog has to say about it tomorrow!

Yesterday marked the deadline for the latest "Reveal" from my friends at 15 x 15.  Do drop

over to their website to see the beautiful work and varied
interpretations of the challenge theme, "Monochromatic".  Even though I'm taking a year off from the group to do my EBMC, I felt right at home with my first EBMC assignment which was...um...yep -- a monochromatic value study!

EB's e-mail with the February assignment has arrived...so stay tuned for another adventure as I work it through...

My 15 x 15 friends have also been experimenting with snow dyeing.  Many of them live where snow is a rarity, and recent aberrations in weather have found some of them out in their yards with plastic bags, scooping snow into them to keep in the freezer so they could do some snow dyeing!

I'd wondered how this would work out, as I'd only ever done snow dyeing with powdery fresh stuff.  I figured the stuff in the freezer would get hard and crystalline....just like the "old snow" that was in my yard.  Until Friday, we hadn't had fresh snow for several weeks, and what we had was now hard-packed, with an icy crust from rain and freezing rain on top of it.  I decided to dig out some and see results I'd get with it.

I was gob-smacked!

First, I needn't have piled on the amount of snow I usually use, because this hard, crystalline, icy stuff takes longer to melt than the powdery version. I ended up dumping a lot of snow because I wanted to avoid a mess.  Even though my fabric was on a rack in the bottom of the tub, the amount of snow melt would have resulted in "mud" instead of beautiful mottled colour.   Second, "old snow" has bits of leaves and twigs in it, as these close-ups of the tub of dye-on-snow show (look carefully).

     

And the results?  I was delighted with these "sunrise/sunset" cottons and muslin:

But my favourite piece is the silk:

I have nothing specific in mind for these pieces yet, but I'm glad I found the delights of dyeing with "old" snow...and now I better understand why artists in warmer climes go to the trouble of dyeing with ice or freezer-kept snow.  The results can be spectacular!

Happy February, everyone...have a lovely Sunday!

The End of Week Two

In the ongoing celebration of  my 10th anniversary as a blogger!  This past week was focused on knitters, with a couple of treats given away mid-week.  Such fun!

Now it's time to announce the winner of the Knitter's Goodie Pack:

Once again using my faithful companion, Random.org, and including all commenters from February 15 through to this morning (just before this post)... the winner is...Regina!  How lovely to be sending this package to a fellow Quebecoise (Mais oui!  Je viens de Huntingdon, QC, au sud-ouest, pres de Valleyfield et Chateauguay...)!  I will be in touch with you momentarily for votre addresse postale.  One of my Tuesday Treats winners found my congratulatory e-mail in her 'spam' folder, so do keep an eye open for it, Regina!

Stay tuned for the Finale of my celebrations -- Week Three is all about Fabric!

1,000 Posts! 10 Years!

It's a few minutes after 8 a.m. here in Central Alberta (that would be Mountain Standard Time), and it's time to start the celebration!

(Pause while I run outside to snap a couple of photos of pink cotton candy clouds against pale blue sky in the aftermath of the sunrise...)

Now...where was I?  Oh yes...The first Goodie Give-away!  "Floss" is the category, and here's how it's going to work.

Anyone who posts a comment on this blog post or on any other of my posts between the time this goes "live" and 8 a.m. MST on Friday, February 15 (that's a full week of posts) will have his/her name put in the draw for the Stitcher's Goodie Pack featured below:

This pack includes

• The pattern and thread/accessory pack for Thea Dueck's beautiful "Heirloom Memories" sampler (and/or needle roll), from The Victoria Sampler;
• The full kit (fabric, ribbon, threads, beads, charm) for the "Stargazer Lily" Spring Medley Treasured Stitching Band from Mill Hill;
• A pristine paperback copy of Shay Pendray's Inventive Needlework: Technique and Inspiration for Gold Work, Painted Canvas, and Shading -  Krause Publications, 2004; and
• A pristine hardcover copy of Cross-Stitch from a Country Garden  from McCall's Needlework and Crafts, Sedgewood Press, 1988 -- which I believe is now an out-of-print treasure.

Lest you think, "Hmmmph! I'm not interested in that traditional stitching stuff!"...remember, you might be able to pass on one of the items to someone who is...or you might want to use the beautiful threads, beads etc. in some other creative project.  It's my anniversary gift to one lucky Gentle Reader...postage included!

And yes, if you comment on more than one post between now and 8 a.m. MST next Friday, your name will be entered in the draw more than once.  :-)

And then again...there may be additional mini-surprises with the 'floss' theme through the week.  Stay tuned, and have a great Friday!

Nine Ninety Nine

Photo courtesy of FreePhotoBank

Yep.  Tomorrow is The Big "Blog-aversary" -- 1,000 posts and 10 years of blogging, all wrapped up in one sweet day!


To celebrate, there will be a give-away each week for the next three.  In keeping with my company name -- 3F Creations: Fabric, Fibre & Floss...Here's what awaits...

• Week One: 
• When?  The week of February 8-14, 2013.
• What?  Floss!  That is...stitchery stuff, for the embroiderer in you.
• Week Two:
• When?  The week of February 15-21, 2013.
• What?  Fibre!  For my yarn-loving friends, especially knitters.
• Week Three:
• When?  The week of February 22-28, 2013.
• What?  Fabric!  For my quilty friends.

Details on how to enter each draw, and photos of the goodies for each, will be posted weekly, as each one comes up.  

And...there might even be some surprise drawings in between; you just never know...

THANK YOU to all of you, Gentle Readers, who've stuck with me all these years, and those who may be new to this weblog and my ramblings.  THANK YOU to those who've blessed me with 'awards', and to those who've shared my posts on their own weblogs. THANK YOU to Blogger for an easy-to-operate platform on which to work.  And THANK YOU to the One who's given me the gift of writing and the blessing of all my cyber-friends through this weblog.

Let the celebrations begin!

A Saturday Surprise!

My cyber-friend and colleague, Wil, tagged me this morning!  You can visit her blog -- "Wil's Art" -- HERE.  Thank you, Wil!  I'm flattered!

Ah, but all fame comes with a price, doesn't it! (GRIN)  Here's what I have to do to validate my award:

The rules:
1. You must post 11 random things about yourself.
2. Answer the questions that the nominator set for you. 
3. Create 11 questions for the people you nominate
4.Choose 11 blogs with less than 200 followers and link them in your post.

So here goes...

11 Random Things About Myself:

1. Though I'm not a particularly picky eater, I don't like fish, especially salmon.
2. I love to take long walks alone around my wee hamlet.
3. For those interested in astrology, I'm a Virgo.  My birthday, September 8, is also remembered in the Church as the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Hmmm...
4. I love to read, especially cozy mysteries and memoir.
5. Between January 2011 and September 2012, I lost 22 pounds -- and I have no intention of finding them again!
6. My favourite beverages are dark-roasted black coffee, red wine, and scotch -- neat or with a wee bit of ice.
7. If I had a money tree, I would travel to the SAQA conference every year.
8. The only place I'd want to live (outside of Canada) is Scotland.
9. I have three stashes -- fabric, fibre and (embroidery) floss/kits.  I have to live another 100 years or so to use them up!
10. I've been wearing glasses since I was nine years old; can't see a foot in front of my face without 'em.
11. Aside from the aforementioned beverages, I could live on bread, cheese, peanut butter and tomato salad (tomatoes, green peppers, cucumber, celery, feta cheese, dill -- dressed with garlic/olive oil/cider vinegar/Dijon mustard.)

And here are Wil's questions for her nominees:

 1. If you could live somewhere else, where would that be?

Gosh -- I mentioned that above!  Scotland -- Mull, Skye, or the West Highlands, near the origin of my father's family (Kilsyth).

 2. What is your favorite memory?

The cruise to Alaska I took with my late husband for our 30th wedding anniversary in the summer of 2005.

 3. What do you collect?

Books, fabric, yarn, stitchery supplies.

 4. Which musician did you 'discover' the last year?

I didn't.  I've been following the same ones for years now.

 5. Is there something you would do differently? And if so, what?

If I could, I'd be more easy-going and impulsive.  As it is, the very thought of that gives me the heebee-jeebees!

 6. Who is your favorite author?

Can I have more than one?  In mystery, I've read everything by Louise Penny, Eric Wright, P.D. James and (I think) Agatha Christie.  I also enjoy much of Peter Robinson and Deborah Crombie.  In memoir, I've read and re-read Helene Hanff.

 7. Which country do you want to visit again?

Easy. Scotland.  I'm saving for a trip there for my 65th birthday (2017).

 8. What is your weakness?

I tend to over-analyze just about everything.

 9. What do you detest?

Foul language, lack of common sense, lack of common courtesy.

10. What is your favorite art tool?

A needle and thread.   My hands.

11. What is your favorite pet?

My cats.  I've owned several and currently have two -- an 11-year-old grumpy male and an 8 1/2-month old female (both neutered).

And finally...11 Blogs I enjoy...currently with fewer than 200 followers:

1. Susan Being Snippy - I met Susan in the blog-o-sphere through the Canadian website, The Needle and Thread Network.  You might check that out too!
2. Suzanna's Mostly Threads - A multifacetted fibre artist, she does wonderful things with felting.
3. "Scraphappy" at soscrappy - a young mom who lives in Florida with her busy family, and who's into tiny, tiny, tiny piecing -- something that's long fascinated me, but which I don't do well.
4. Shirley at stitches and Life, who lives in Australia, and often shows photos of the most delectable flowers while up north we're deep in snow.
5. Carolyn from Ontario -- another TNTN colleague -- who renders flowers in fabric and thread with great skill over at Arty Stuff.
6. My friend and SAQA colleague, artist Kathie Briggs, whose work with trees inspires me - at 45 Degrees North.
7. Pat at Altering Thoughts - a mixed-media artist living in the UK, who visits their great museums and galleries and shares the experience.
8. Another SAQA friend, Judy Warner at Explorations in Quilting and Life; she's inspired by her travels, resulting in pieces that are unusual and unexpected.  She's pretty busy right now, so even though I am 'tagging' her, I think she can be forgiven for not following all the "rules" of the competition...at least, not in a hurry!
9. Gillian Cooper at Crafting a Life -- another talented UK artist (Scotland this time), trying to fit her work in and around her young family.
10. Rhoda Forbes of aRt by Rhoda Forbes, including patterns, hand-dyed fabric and more!
11. Cathy Tomm from Leduc, Alberta -- long-armer and fabric dyer and agility dog owner...at Cathy Tomm Quilts.

Each is an artist in her own right...so make a cuppa and sit down to enjoy the list!

Change is A-comin'

This is Post #991...edging toward 1,000!  So...as you can see, I am making some changes to my blog.  So far haven't finalized anything, so please bear with me, Gentle Readers, as this could be a bit of a roller-coaster ride of colour, text and images over the next week.  Hang on tight!

950

Nine fifty.  Nine hundred and fifty posts.  Moving toward 1,000, and toward ten years of blogging.  I was a few months past fifty when I began...you do the math! ;-)

So, today's special -- it calls for another wee give-away!  Since I hit Post 900, I've been having fun with these...and there'll be yet another at 975 -- and a much larger sharing out of goodies for 1,000, so you have to keep reading! LOL!

I love fabric, and I love books, so once upon a time I thought I might like to make...fabric books.  In the end, I found it wasn't my cuppa...so I have this wonderful book to give to just the right owner:

The Art of Fabric Books: Innovative Ways to Use Fabric in Scrapbooks, Altered Books & More,

Published in 2005 by C&T Publishing, it's been sitting in my library, pristine and untouched

...and it's calling out for a new home!

There are six chapters on projects -- from fabric tag books to scrapbook/journals and altered books, and all sorts in between.  There's even a page entitled, "Don't Sew? And Don't Want To?" -- leading into all the techniques one needs to create books, or in books or with books and fabric -- with and without sewing.

Here's the deal: anyone who comments on this post-- and though comments remain 'moderated' I've removed the word ID requirement to make it easier to do -- between now (8 a.m. Mountain Standard Time, Saturday, December 1, 2012) and 8:00 a.m. MST on Saturday, December 8, 2012 will have his/her name put in a hat for a random draw.  Ready? Set?  GO!

840 Posts on the Wall...

at Blogger.  This one is 841...meaning 159 more to 1,000.  And 274 days to my Tenth Blog-aversary!!


Okay...so do I celebrate Post #1,000 separately from the Big Ten Years of Blogging?  Or do I stre-e-e-etch my posts out so they coincide and celebrate everything at once?

Watcha think, Gentle Readers?