"Be Productive...Yet Calm"

 Those are the words of Lizzie Kate, one of my very favourite cross-stitch designers and now, reportedly, retired.  Regular followers of this blog might remember that in the last several months I've been working on patterns she designed, the latest being "My To Do List".  Last week, I finished this phrase:

"Listen to My Heart"...

And this week?  

Yep.

"Be Productive...Yet Calm"

Both of these reminders are apt for what's happening around me these days. 

I know that some of my Gentle Readers are in the U.S., and their world has opened up somewhat -- for better or for worse -- even as other countries struggle with the onoing pandemic.  Canada (dare I say it?) "as usual", is somewhere between a Much Better Scenario and...Horrific.  

The latter is probably personified by the dire situation in India, and even though we don't produce our own COVID-19 vaccines here (YET -- a long story), we, being Who We Are, are indeed sending aid to that country, so devastated by this virus and its variants, even as it, itself, has done research and produced some of the vaccines against it.

That said, right now my province is experiencing a Third Wave, and has retrenched into stricter regulations, which -- at last -- are being taken more seriously by Those in Law Enforcement.  

Close to home (as in, within a few blocks), a local truck stop has rebelled over the past few months.  The owner didn't want to keep open only his gas pumps and convenience store.  No.  He wanted to keep open his indoor cafe, and to allow freer movement outdoors on his patio...etc.  He didn't want to enforce mask wearing among his staff (in the kitchen, waiting tables), or among his patrons.  He enlisted support from outside sources (I won't go into this here), some of which had already faced consequences in other provinces, but travelled here to support the "resistance" here.  Sigh.  ("After all, it's just the flu!")

After several months of its patience being tried, Alberta Health Services put its foot down.  In recent weeks, the establishment in question has lost its liquor (beer & wine only) licence and it's operating licence.  Despite this, the owner kept the place open and openly publicized what he was doing.  A few days ago, the AHS had enough.  The locks were changed on the premises and the operation was technically closed.  As of today, a court order confirmed that and pre-empted a planned "protest rally" as a result -- not because Canada bans protests, but because NONE of the participants would be masked or at distance, clearly contravening current public health protocols (no contact info either -- for contact tracing) during a Global Pandemic.

It's called "entitlement" and "my freedom to operate my business trumps  your freedom to stay healthy/alive".

Today, the police showed up and the rally was pre-empted.

"Be Productive...Yet Calm"

Ah yes...thus I've tried to be -- both in the yard/garden and in the studio.

So...what have I been up to?  I'll start with the yard/garden...

My indoor seedlings continue to grow.  Depending on the weather, I've put them out into the sunshine, fresh air and wind on and off for a while now, to get them used to the idea.

I've planted leaf and Bibb lettuce in my raised beds -- and after a brief bit of rain a couple of days ago, they've started to poke through the earth, but are not yet photogenic,  Stay tuned!

I've had no luck whatsoever with the daffs and narcissi I planted on the "East Lawn" last fall...but in recent days -- whoo hoo!  Crocuses!  (Croci??)

Crocus #1!

Crocus #2!

Though #1 was allowed to fade on its own, #2 was attacked and chomped by something -- perhaps a deer (though research before I'd planted said they didn't like croci), but I'm thinking a rabbit.  As a result I've put the lot under cover at night for now...and hope for the best.

To put these tiny blooms in perspective, here's the long view on my "East Lawn":

See what I mean? 
Find the crocus!  ;-)

The other Momentous Thing I did this week was to plant a tree.  I've ordered 3 apple trees and 3 Saskatoon berry bushes from a local nursery, but they're not available just yet.  However, undaunted, I decided it was time to transplant a small spruce, which had planted itself several years ago into a large pot near my garden shed, into a spot on my "East Lawn"...

Preparing the ground to plant -- removing sod

Planted!

Planted -- side view

In the course of the digging, I found several "treasures"... 😉

There were the dandelion "trees"...

And the ephemera, including rusted metal, 
broken china and glass shards...

...and something my neighbour tells me is probably
left over from an old water pump of some sort...
it's a valve or something...

I'm just happy to have the tree planted, to have cleared the errant grass out of several flower beds, to have the lettuces showing signs of life in the raised beds...and...to continue to pray for rain.  It's been in the forecast for days but hasn't materialized to any extent.

And so...I wait, I water, and I quilt!

I've been joining rows of "Bali Sunrise" blocks (sorry, no new photos), to be sure, but...last weekend I spoke with a friend of mine from university (we were room mates in first year).  She and I were never BFFs, and for several years we lost touch -- but recently reconnected.  She's been chronically unwell for some time now, and I've decided to make her a lap quilt so, since my last post, I've undertaken a 'Disappearing 9-Patch' piece, composed mainly of long-stashed 4" squares -- the kind one could get by subscription in the years before "Charm Squares" were created -- and which I've finished off with borders of 2" squares (1.5" finished):

On the design wall: the central motif with 1 border

Now...top and bottom border and one side

As of today, I've attached the 3rd side (seen in part on the right of the photo above) and have constructed the 4th...just have to sew it on.  It's not a large piece (44" x 42") but the recipient is also a tiny person...so I am hoping it will make her a bit cozier when she puts it over her lap.

I've also been inspired to make a new art piece.  You already know the extent of my scrap stash (and if you don't, consider yourself blessed! 😉)  Inspired by an artist I very much admire -- Cindy Grisdela -- and an interview she did with art quilter and former SAQA President, Lisa Walton -- I started a new "crumbpilations"* piece -- all in greens, golds/yellows, browns, creams and a touch of dusty blue...

Under construction

Prairie on My Mind - horizontal orientation
22" W x 16" L - before quilting

Prairie on My Mind - Vertical orientation
16" W x 22" L - before quilting

I'm leaning toward the vertical orientation.  It'll be machine quilted with straight lines and less-than-obvious thread, then faced.  So...we'll see how it works out.

I have no inclination to make it larger.

And so...another few weeks have gone by.  I survived my 1st COVID-19 vaccination -- Pfizer -- and the second is booked for mid-August.  I'm not going to push; we have challenges in Canada with the supply, and I'm happy to wait my turn.

For those interested in my knitting, I've almost finished a summer tank top which, truth be told, I want to use as a layering tunic.  I've washed and blocked it, but have yet to finish it because it needs a bit of crochet around the armholes and neck, and the back has an overlap closure that's included in that.  Here it is as it dries on my bedroom floor:

Pattern: "Split Back Tank"
Designer: Allison Griffith
Yarn: Schoeller & Stahl "Micro Cable"
Colour: #08 - Dark Purple

I decided to try a pair of socks for the Ravelry group, Socks from Stash, May Challenge -- knit a pair using at least 2 different colours -- from two different skeins/balls of yarn.  My choice was to try stranded colour-work (yet again) with a new pattern.  Below is the first sock with the first pattern chart completed.  I've now completed 2 charts, the heel and the gusset, and am making my way down the foot of the first sock:

Pattern: "Funfetti"
Designer: General Hogbuffer
Yarns: assorted stash in cream, navy, burgundy and bright gold

It's an adventure...but I'm hoping that by using more stitches than usual and sizing up my needles, I might actually manage a pair of stranded-knitting socks that fit me!

What's up for the next while? Who knows!  I'm hoping for rain for the garden, time to do more quilting ("Grassy Creek has been sitting idle while I work on these other things) and knitting...and when it gets warmer and the wind dies down, I might even get to play outside with fabric and paint.

Meanwhile, the apple trees and berry bushes I've ordered should show up soon...

A gal can hope, eh?

I'm linking this up to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday, wherein this week she dips her toe into the art/not arena...I'm squarely in both camps...how about you?

Have a wonderful weekend -- stay well, stay creative, stay safe, stay productive, stay calm! 😊

Down the Rabbit Hole with Joe...

 

I spent a good part of last Saturday with Joe.  Joe Cunningham, quilt artist, that is.  Those of you who follow my ramblings likely know how much I enjoy his work and his teaching.  I own his Craftsy class -- which I can access once more because the new owners got their act together! -- and I've watched his appearances on The Quilt Show several times.  Since May, when he began to teach workshops online monthly, I've participated in nearly every one.  On Monday afternoon, when he did a live-online "chat" with Patricia Belyea of Okan Arts, I watched that too.  And as it was recorded, I watched it again yesterday afternoon as I was hand-stitching the binding on my daughter's Turning 40 quilt.

Yep.  I think he's great: funny, inspiring, interesting and with a quirky turn of mind that I find fascinating.  I don't understand how he thinks or sees the world, which he interprets in his art, but I remain intrigued -- so I've gone down the rabbit hole to try and find out more.

Which End is Up?
(C) 2020

In each workshop, Joe has us make at least one item, or sample.  Sometimes they're even useful!  😉  In September I managed to make a couple such items: a small top that will become a 'tummy time' blanket, and a cushion cover.  In August, I what I think is my favourite piece thus far -- and I've just spliced a couple of batting pieces so I can quilt it.  

On Saturday, the purpose of the workshop was to explore the work of an artist -- not necessarily in the textile medium -- and, drawing inspiration from that work, to make something using similar principles.  In this case, the artist was painter Stuart Davis.  Joe showed several examples of his work in a book, and landed on one -- entitled Cliche -- that we were to use for the workshop.  I confess, I preferred some of the other examples, but a class is a class...

So off we went!  

I'd picked two contrasting pieces of yardage from my "inheritance": a piece of deep navy and another of white.  Both have starry motifs printed on them in metallic gold.  I had no idea what I'd use them for, so they were perfect for playing in the workshop.  😊

The idea was to cut one fabric into 1 1/2" strips, and the other into random "chunks", much like we'd done in the very first workshop in May.  Then we were to reassemble the strips and chunks with one caveat: you couldn't have two strips or two chunks butting up against each other.  That lead to all sorts of adventures with angles and inset seams (or not).  Not being partial to fussing, I chose the 'slice it off' method for dealing with those!  

I didn't get the piece finished in the workshop time, but I pressed on, and worked on it again on Sunday, ending up with this:

Or maybe...this...

My design wall is 48" wide x 24" long, so you can see that this thing fills up a good bit of that space.  If you look closely, you'll see one tiny spot where the background (white) of one piece butts up against the background of another, but I don't care.  It is what it is.

And that's as far as I've got with it.  Working title?  Asteroid.  I know what I want to do to finish it, but I haven't come across the right fabric for a background to the shape.  I also know how I want to quilt it, but it'll have to wait till I find that fabric.  No matter; it was just another adventure down the rabbit hole with Joe!

I like these workshops because they've helped me loosen up a bit as an artist.  Someone who "sees" so differently, and is able to get his or her ideas across with humour and an easy-going style is someone whose teaching is hard to resist.

I find myself being more willing to experiment.  At the same time, I'm looking at my stash of materials differently, because I'm called on to play with them differently...and that has translated itself into new work.

I was particularly thrilled on Saturday when Joe and his colleague, Julie Silber, showed a quilt done decades ago by a quilter named Anna Williams.  Joe prefers to work with large chunks of fabric, and admitted that he tosses his tiny scraps but, Gentle Readers, I happen to love small bits, crumbs -- as you may well know.  Anna, apparently, loved crumbs too!

A couple of years ago I played with crumbs to create four "road-themed" pieces, the first of my "crumbpilations" series.

(L) Crossroads; (R) Take the Back Roads

(L) You Can't Get There From Here
(R) Never the Twain Shall Meet

Each of this quartet is 12" square, and is now mounted on stretched canvas and framed.  

Around that same time I made this piece for SAQA's Global Exhibit, "Season After Season"; entitled Incarnation to Resurrection: Reflections on the Colours of the Church Year, it's completely string-pieced from scraps:

That was a time of exploration, but in this chaotic COVID time, I've also found comfort in the practice of simply sewing together bits or strings of fabric, cutting and piecing and trimming -- and piecing some more.  That same comfort was what got me started quilting decades ago, when the stress of my husband's advancing illness was increasing, and two good friends who were quilting recommended it because, they opined, "knitting isn't enough".  (And they were right!)

This summer, I made two new art pieces from crumbs, and mounted them on large stretched canvases -- 12" W x 30" L.  (I have yet to pick them up from my framer.)

I've followed these with a couple of pieces that are going to be "soft" -- not on canvas, but hung with a sleeve and dowel.  

The working title of this one is "Chaos Can Be Colourful", measuring 24" W x 33" L.  I've yet to quilt it, but I expect I'll do it as I've done the others, with straight lines close together, and I expect I'll put a facing on it rather than a binding:

Another piece underway -- a glimpse of which I showed you a few days ago -- is on my design wall, blocks ready to be sewn together.  In the end it'll measure about 25" W x 20" L (before quilting):

Fence? What Fence? -- plus 2 random blocks...

Those two blocks on the right will end up somewhere else; I think the piece on the left is just the right size.  Again, it will likely be quilted with straight lines, faced, and provided with a hanging sleeve and dowel.

At the same time, I've been creating some crumb blocks that I expect will end up in a utilitarian quilt -- with sashing and borders; the stack of 8" square blocks numbers 17 right now, and there are more under construction:

In her interview/chat with Joe on Monday, Patricia Belyea noted that Joe once referred to himself as 'a quilt maker' but more recently, has begun to call himself an 'artist' or 'quilt artist'.  Thus ensued a conversation that really struck a chord with me.  

Just two days before, during the workshop, Joe and  his guest Julie Silber had had a similar bit of conversation about quilts and art.  Julie opined that "not all quilts are art; not all photographs are art -- and not all painting is art".  So...when a similar conversation happened in the Monday interview, I was excited.  Joe said his "aha" came when he realized that all of the quilts he'd made over the years were really "art projects".  That's when he also moved from copying the work of the quilters of yore that he admired, into creating quilts from his own unique and original ideas about art and the world around him.  He was particularly inspired by this quote from artist William T. Wiley:

I think art should be more and more amoral, a realm of exploration. Especially in school, if you could just get that idea across to people, it just means a whole threshold of getting into art, or the aesthetic experience, or awareness. Just give people a chance to go into it and really flesh out a lot of things and feel themselves in it. -- from Richardson, Brenda, "I Am My Own Enigma", published in Wizdum, University Art Museum, Berkeley, CA, 1971, p. 10.

I continue to chew on this thought.  Note: the word Wiley uses is not "immoral"; it's "amoral", which means 'not concerned with the morality of a thing' -- which in this context I interpret as "being completely objective", giving one the freedom to explore an idea or concept in an original way as one works it out in art, music, writing...etc.

My chaos pieces are just such an exploration, using the arrangement of shapes and colours of fabric in a way that attempts, for me, to bring order to the chaotic circumstances in which I find myself both in my small corner, and in the wider world around me.

I told you Joe had taken me down a rabbit hole!  😉  

What are you exploring in your work, as you make choices about colour and shape, quilting design, threads, embellishments and pattern?

I'll leave you with that question, and links to both WIP Wednesday over at The Needle and Thread Network and to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday.

Whatever you're creating, whatever you're pondering, Gentle Readers, thanks for stopping by -- and may you stay safe and well!  😊

I'm Still Here!

Really, I am!  😊

Each week of the last three+ since my last post, I've thought about posting...and then let that thought drift off in the wake of yard work (more mowing!), gardening (weeding, pruning suckers from shrubs), stitching in the Outdoor Studio, or piecing inside.

All in all, it's been a pretty good few weeks, one day at a time.  Some are better than others.  Sometimes I seem to waste an awful lot of time dithering about what I want to do; other times, I'm full of purpose and sail through the day.

My son's been home from hospital a month now and is doing better, thank you, now that he's on proper medication, with medical follow-up.  He's working hard to sort out his past and move forward, and when I can help, I do...but I wait to be asked.  No news is definitely good news these days!

As for "And It's Only June" -- thank you, Gentle Readers for your support and encouragement about that piece.  I've decided that if my brilliant photographer daughter can manage to get me some good photos of it (she's due to visit soon), I'll have a 'go' at entering it into a juried exhibit.  I managed to steam it to size -- it's just 36" square, the absolute minimum for the show I have in mind.  Now to get a sleeve on it and see what it looks like hanging on the wall!

And I've finished another new piece and am ready to quilt a third!  In early June I posted that taking a class with Joe Cunningham had 'loosened me up a bit' and that I'd started to play again with crumb blocks, without any clear purpose except to have a bit of fun.  Well...that play-time spawned some ideas and has resulted in these two new works.  The first is now quilted and mounted on a painted 12" W x 30" L x 1" deep stretched canvas. 

I'm considering them part of my "Crumbpilations" series, which I started in the winter of 2018.  The name comes from the fact that they're 'compilations' of 'crumbs' of fabric.  The first five -- four very colourful; one muted -- are landscape-themed, but these new ones have to do with the chaos we're living through right now.

Coping with Chaos
(C) 2020
Assorted commercial cottons
Machine pieced & quilted
12" W x 30" L

Can you spot the play on words in the title?  😉

It's a deep canvas -- 1" -- so I'm uncertain about framing it as it could be expensive and heavy...I'll check with my framer once I've got the second one finished.  Here's a shot of the quilting, which I did in straight lines with clear mono-poly thread:

In addition to these pieces, I've taken a clutch of landscape photos for future work.  We've had many thunderstorms in this unusually wet summer (unusual for us here on the Alberta prairie), and they've made for wonderful skies against the gold of the flowering canola...

The field at the end of my street.

And I've an idea for a new flower pot piece, featuring my strawberry pot, in which I've never planted strawberries!  Each year I fill it with impatiens or something like, and a trailing plant on the top.  I'm thinking it's time for a "Brown Pot" to go with the blue, red and green ones I've recreated...Don't you agree?

Bacopa (white) and impatiens (scarlet)
in a clay strawberry pot

In the midst of this I've continued to work on Bonnie Hunter's "Unity" Quilt-along piece, which I call "Star Crazy!".  Here it is on the 'design bed' in my guest room, at the end of 'clue' #4.

'Clue' #5 consists of a row of flying geese top and bottom, which turns this large square into a rectangle. 

I've now finished 'clue' #6 and am assembling those units into blocks for 'clue' #7.  There are thirty-four of these, and they're large -- 8" finished -- because they're really composed of four smaller 4-patch blocks.  Can you pick them out from the (ahem!) slightly blurry photo below?

Although my blocks are never  rarely perfect, I have to say, I'm rather proud of these pinwheel points! 😊

On the stitching front, I've finished the Toronto Sampler -- it's soaking in a bath as I type.  Next I have to press it and mount it onto metal bell pull hardware so I can wrap it and mail it to my friends in TO for their anniversary next month.  For a photo, you'll have to wait for a future post!

My July Socks from Stash socks are coming along nicely, with the first one finished and the second nearly there...

It doesn't look like much off the foot...that long, narrow leg (7" to the heel flap, including a 1" ribbing) looks like it might be tight and uncomfortable but...no! 

Look at the detail of the 'artichoke' leaves, shown here at the foot!

Pattern: "Artichoke Socks" 
Designer: Megan Humphrey
Yarn: KnitPicks Sroll Tonal
Colour-way: "Summer Blooms"

And then, of course, there's the beauty and blessing of my garden, some of which I've been able to enjoy indoors this year -- a special treat on rainy days!

My "hope" roses -- a Campfire Rose -- four on one stem!
This particular one is named for artist Bill Reid.

Just some of the peonies

Galium boreale -- a wildflower,
found growing at the foot
of one of my trees

And so, as the sun shines this afternoon, I'm off for a walk, and we'll see what comes after that.  I leave you with a link to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday.  

Until next time...may you be safe, well and creative!

Show's UP! -- And Other Things

This has been a very full week!  The catalogue for SAQA's Global Exhibit, Season After Season, arrived in my mail.

I've become shameless and showing it off, and when I think of it, all I can think is, "WOW!"

My pages!

I'm particularly thankful for my daughter, Gina Blank, who did this photography for me.

As if that weren't enough, on Wednesday morning my colleague Mary Wilton and I over-saw the hanging of our collaborative exhibit, Shamrock & Thistle: Textile Art Inspired by Ireland and Scotland, at the Lacombe Memorial Centre.  We have 18 pieces between us, and all are available for purchase (to do so, contact Maureen MacKenzie at the City of Lacombe.)

I apologize for the lack of close-ups -- my camera's battery was threatening to die at any moment, so this is a cursory overview!  Perhaps I'll go back another day and do better.  The show is up till January 30, 2019.

And of course there's been the finishing of Christmas preparations.  This is the Last Year of the Annual Xmas Boxer Shorts...The end of an era!

And the Very Long Hooded Cardigan for my daughter is also finished and -- now -- washed:

Back -- showing the hood
Pattern: Dubline from Marousa Gallagher
Yarn: Berroco Vintage (worsted)
Colour 5181 - "Black Cherry"

Front -- cabled border goes all
the way up the front and
around the hood

NOTE: This jacket sweater is buttonless; I just put the pin on the front to hold it closed for the photo!

And there was some baking...a trio of mini Bumbleberry pies for my son's freezer...

In the midst of this I did manage to fit in some studio time.  I finished "The Content of Our Waiting" -- adding some hand stitch and applying a facing.  All that remains to add is a hanging sleeve:

The Content of Our Waiting (C) 2018
11" W x 13" L
Painted paper, commercial and hand-printed fabric;
machine quilted, hand embroidered.
Inspired by the writing of Steve Bell,
the season of Advent, and the work of
both Cas Holmes and Deb Boschert

And I dug out and quilted a "Crumb-pilation" I'd created some months ago, out of neutrals, that I really wasn't sure what to do with.  Once it was quilted, I zig-zagged the edges and mounted it on a thin stretched canvas to which I'd applied slices of linen fabric.  I might still get it framed, but here's what it looks like for now:

Crumb-pilations V: Making My Way Home (C) 2018
10.5" x 10.5" mounted on 12" x 12" canvas
Machine pieced and quilted.
Yes...at first I numbered it "IV" but I've managed to fix that!

Crumb-pilations V - Detail

I'll be spending tomorrow tidying the house and packing for my trip to Edmonton on Sunday, right after church.  The toughest decision will be what book and what knitting to take!  I've pretty much decided to leave my laptop at home, so I expect to be incommunicado for a few days.  😊

Now before linking up to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday, I want to bid all of you, my Gentle Readers, wishes for joy and blessing over whatever you'll be doing through the Christmas Holiday time.  

Thank you all for continuing to read, when there are so many demands on your time.   Thanks especially for those who take time to comment on occasion.  You all inspire and encourage me to keep making.  To paraphrase Tiny Tim, "God bless [you], every one!"