It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

I'm beginning to feel like one of Santa's elves...beavering away at Christmas commissions and gifts.  There are some more "Stops" and some more "Starts" as I keep moving right along...

First...some "Stops"...

A sweet baby sweater for the new daughter of a cousin in Quebec, which I mentioned in my last post:

Ain't She Sweet?

Baby will be 1 month old on Monday of next week...so I hope it will fit.  It's been over 32 years since I had such a tiny person in my arms, and this looks so-o-o-o-o-o small!

Next...those shams! In this photo, they are finished, quilted, backed, flanged...and hanging -- folded from side to side -- on my design wall.  The two together, turned sideways, give the full design of a single one which means -- thank Heaven! -- they match!!

Side-by-each

On the art front, my client picked the "birdie" piece she wanted...and this went into the mail today:

Answering the Dinner Bell (C) 2017

And the SJSA blocks went into the mail to California on Friday.  I've taken some photos but with 7 blocks, and photos that only show part of the story...well...I will do something more about those pieces in the not-too-distant future.  Suffice to say it was a very special project on which to work, and I may do a bit more for the group in the spring...

There's one more 'almost stopped' Christmas gift ...but as the recipient reads this blog, I will say no more!  😉

And now for "Starts"...

On the knitting front, second socks of pairs.  And mittens -- from a pattern entitled "The World's Simplest Mittens" which, this close to Christmas I really need!  (I can't seem to find my trusty olde pattern book of family sized mitts...probably lent it out...to someone...sometime...)

And to keep me focused...Clue #2 of Bonnie Hunter's "On Ringo Lake" Mystery is fully prepped:

And I even managed to put some of the flying-geese units together...though as you can see by the remaining stacks, I have more to go!

Bottom row: finished 'geese'
Top 2 rows: more unassembled parts!

That's where everything sits for now. I'm linking this up to WIP Wednesday over on The Needle and Thread Network, and to Bonnie Hunter's MQ Link-up for Mystery Week #2.

I'll leave you with a musical memory and wish you a great rest of the week, everyone!

Meanwhile, in the Sewdio...

SAQA Western Canada's first Regional Retreat has dominated my posts for the last few weeks -- when I've managed to post at all.  The paucity of posts arose from a variety of reasons, including the demands of yard and garden, as well as a late spring head cold (for which I mainly blame the unseasonably hot weather's triggering the automatic air conditioning to cool down the innards of my new car with a blast until the pre-set temp (19.5 C) was reached.  I now keep the AC off and roll down the windows instead!)

But I have been creating in the Sewdio -- really I have!  And here are some examples -- in addition to "Agnes Meets Judy", about which I've already posted.  :-)

First, two "birdie" commissions that arose from the Lacombe Art Show & Sale near the end of April:

Gather 'Round

Par-TAY!

Next, another commission of the quilty variety, but something completely different, and just a hair outside my comfort zone: binding an "Apple Core" quilt, which means bias binding around scalloped edges.  

The quilt is one of a couple owned by my client, who inherited them after her grandmother's death...about 40 years ago.  She'd kept them in a drawer, so they are in pristine condition.  She also told me that the pieces were made from fabric originally used in home sewing projects, such as house dresses, other dresses and aprons.  The fabric is clearly 1930's type:

See the irregular edge?

Though my client and I worked together to estimate the amount of fabric she'd need to buy for the binding she wanted (1/2" visible on both the front and the back), and though we used formulae found over the Internet at the time...well...it turned out that the 1 metre she bought was more than enough!

A large puddle of home-made bias binding
next to my sewing table

The preparation of the binding -- which I did 'all-of-a-piece' using instructions from my trusty Quilter's Ultimate Visual Guide -- turned out to be the most intimidating part of the process.  Once it was finished, though, pinning it and applying it by machine -- mitred corners and all! -- was much easier than I thought it would be.

Next I had to trim the excess batting and backing, left behind by the long-armer when the top was quilted:

Then, more pinning and a few hours of quiet hand-stitching, et voila!

In addition to paying me, I'm rather hoping that my client will let me keep the trimmed backing and batting.  While the latter is rather 'poofy', the extra fabric could prove handy for backing future small projects -- especially minis!

As for that excess bias binding -- well, the client has another (slightly smaller) "Apple Core" that needs it, and "would [I] do the job?"  Sure!  After all, the tough part is behind me!

***   ***   ***

In the way of art work -- besides "Agnes Meets Judy" -- I've taken what I learned from Susan Purney Mark at the retreat and turned some samples into note cards:

I bought the blank cards eons ago, knowing someday I'd do something with them.  Now I've finished five using squares of the 'asemic writing' to which Susan introduced us as part of her 'mark-making' workshop, embellished with a touch of colour.  This week the clear plastic envelopes and labels I ordered especially for the back of each card arrived, meaning now I can go ahead and play some more with my fabric samples -- and make new ones. 

I plan to take a batch down the street to Gracie D's to offer them in her antiques/gifts/collectibles shop...and may take a few more to Different Strokes gallery in Olds when I drop in there in a couple of weeks.  I'm thinking that both Gracie and Deb might think they're a fit for their shops.

***   ***   ***

I'll leave you with "before" and "after" photos of the yard work that's kept me out of the sewdio for the past 10 days or so -- an aged rock garden that's in my front yard.  Grass had encroached more than ever this spring, and there was a great deal of winter kill of the flax and other perennial ground cover, so I decided it was time to dig that stuff out:

In the process I took out all of the rocks.  These are but a few...

Finally the bed was clean and ready for fresh planting!

And here it is...complete with topsoil to build up the "holes" left by the removal of sod, new plants -- including a few annuals (marigolds) just because, weed barrier (no more grass and dandelions etc.! -- I hope!), and fragrant bark chips...

Now that I've caught you up with my corner of the world, Gentle Readers, I'm off to the Edmonton Festival of Quilts...and linking up with Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday.

Have a great weekend!

Process to Production

Prologue: I've been thinking about this post for several days.  I wrote a bit, saved it as a draft, and thought some more.  I originally titled it, "To Market, to Market"...but as you can see, I've changed that. What follows is an up-dated version of the original...

For the past few weeks I've been spending a great deal of time -- or so it seems to me -- doing something that makes me and many -- if not all -- of my artist colleagues queasy.

That something?  "Shameless self-promotion" -- also known as "marketing".

It's tough doing it even if one is an extrovert, and I'm not; rather, I'm somewhere on the introvert spectrum: capable of speaking and singing in public, capable of "schmoozing" at an art opening, capable of enjoying a retreat or conference with friends, capable of enjoying time with family...but requiring a day or two or three in solitude thereafter simply to recharge my batteries.

So going out into the community with posters and postcards to advertise the forthcoming opening of my first installation is pretty tiring.  Blessedly Maureen, the person at the City who is coordinating the event, has no trouble with such things, and is doing a stellar job for me in Lacombe and Red Deer and beyond...leaving me with far less of it to do than I expected -- much to my relief.

But Maureen's not my art agent (grin).  I don't have one of those.  So...when I discovered a new gallery in Sylvan Lake -- a town about an hour from here -- on a visit in late August...I had to speak up, to engage the gallery owner in a chat about my work, to arrange to show it to her...and then to prepare it for exhibit there.

Though still on a consignment basis, for the first time my work will be hanging in a gallery that features predominately paintings.  There is work in other media there -- glass, sculpture, metal -- and fine craft such as pottery and jewellry -- but mostly paintings.  Mostly what people in this part of the world think of when they hear the word "art".  I am thrilled at the prospect of being shown on the same walls...and hoping that will give people a different way to define 'art'.

This means that this week I was attaching wires to the backs of my pieces mounted on stretched canvas...

And writing up a 'descriptive inventory' that included the sort of things I generally put on a label on the back of my quilts: materials and techniques.

I couldn't help but notice that my materials list was much more than "acrylic on canvas" or "water colour on canvas" or "mixed media".   Hmmmm.

The pieces have now been delivered, and the consignment agreement signed, with an official start date of September 24.  Once Denise, the gallery owner, figures out how many she has room for, and hangs them, I'll go and pick up the rest.    Then...we shall see.

Meanwhile, I continue to work on assembling MOB for hanging (a month from today!) , as well as my latest piece for the 15 x 15 Group...

Sneak Peek at a Detail...

And several projects for gifts; first, for the two new babies in my life....

Christmas Stocking Under Construction

Soon to be a "Blankie"

A terrible "selfie" of me in a cloche recently finished, a commission...

When did my neck get old?!

There's another hat (commission) on the needles as we speak, and plans are underway for the Annual Christmas Boxer Shorts, as well as a variety of knitted gifts for friends and family...

What am I doing sitting here typing?!  Time for breakfast and the sewdio!

P.S. I'm linking late into Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday.  Thanks for reading!

Still Here...

I'm at the start of what I hope will be another quiet week.  I've been nursing a cold since November 6...and am still in the can't-taste-or-smell-anything stage.  Except for the days in The Shop, I've tried to lie low as much as possible.

Most of last weekend was taken up with binding the medallion quilt.  Once that was finished, i turned to knitting -- and that, mainly for Christmas...like

This cowl:

Pattern: Darn Knit Kinetic Cowl by Carly Stipe
Yarn: Berroco 'Espresso' in colour #7958 - "Pera"

And this one using the same pattern but a completely different yarn:

Yarn: Aslan Trends 'Litoral Sparkle'
in colour #1379 - "Cabernet Multi"

And these mittens, done as a commission:

Pattern - from a book of my mother's -- or maybe
her mother's -- in 'Merino Stretch' from
Schoeller + Stahl, now discontinued

Then the last of three pair of slippers for my DD's "Air B&B" guests, also in 'Merino Stretch' yarn:

Pattern: "Mountain Form Slippers"
by Tricoquelicot Designs

They actually look quite nice on the hoof... :-)

This past Friday (the 13th) I finally drummed up enough energy to get back into the studio, and by yesterday evening had finished a mini on commission:

Based on a photo of a popular trio of peaks in the Canadian Rockies, it's a Christmas gift from my client to a friend, so I'll say no more...though yes, the 'snow' is needle-felted white wool roving...

And I began to agonize over my assignment for EB's Master Class.  Here's EB's feedback about my sketches:

The first two are okay but seem a little literal and the perspectives are puzzling rather than mysterious.  Mysterious is good! Puzzling or confusing is not!

When I try the crop tools on them, they're kind of empty in the middle too.

But...let's go down to the third one...

Now you've not indicated how these would actually be placed in a quilt, but i do really like the little units you've extracted, I suggest putting these - some of them probably not all of them 0- into a specific structure i.e. not just floating around in space as they are at present.  you could arrange them in horizontal rows, vertical rows, squares overlapping, different grids, radiating out etc etc...  Be thinking focal point - keeping your greatest area of interest just off center, less interesting and more space towards the edges. I think you've found very interesting details in the photo...now to organize them!

Well. Hmmmm...

Though this was my favourite of the 3 sketches , I hardly knew what to do next.  I tried rearranging sets of windows in some sort of sampler, and it just came off looking rigid and stilted.

Then there were the bombings in Beirut and Paris...and I was distracted...but only long enough to be inspired.

I decided to focus on one window shape: the one in the top left corner.

I found some charm squares - 5" unfinished - in a variety of what resembled hand-dyes, mainly dark and sombre blues, greens and maroons, all with a good deal of grey in them.  And some, not so dark, but softer, lighter.

I found some narrow strips of black fabric from a long-abandoned project.

So...I got this idea about a stained glass window, with a curved 'stone' top and stone base (I have a good deal of wonderful fabric for this), reversible -- the dark fabrics on one side and the lighter on the other -- and in between, gold, peeking out through a crack that will be sliced through the panes...the Light getting in, no matter how hard the darkness tries to stamp it out.

So far, I've only blocked out the two panels.  

Where you see white spaces, there will be more black sashing; it's just that I didn't want to cut and place till after I hear from EB...

Having posted it off, I turned once again to knitting...and pondering...

I leave you with the words of Leonard Cohen, from his song/poem, Anthem...

Ring the bells that still can ring.

Forget your perfect offering.

There is a crack in everything;

that's how the light gets in.

Linking belatedly to Nina-Marie's Off-the-Wall Friday...and wishing you peace.