"February Puff and Blow..."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Crumbs?

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

Well.

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

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

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

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

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

(Click on the photos to enlarge.)

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

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

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

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

And then, yesterday, this:

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

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

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

Into grey-scale and then into contour drawings,

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

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

And look!  Nothing sewn in backwards!  😉

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

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

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

Onward and Upward!

Channelling BKH

I enjoy the work of Bonnie K. Hunter.  I've made two of her mystery quilts -- "Orca Bay" and "Easy Street" (though both tops remain to be quilted -- they're huge) -- and am considering making this year's offering, though 1/2 size.

Lately, though, I've been watching her Quilt Cam episodes on YouTube while I work on my next 15 x 15 challenge quilt.  As I mentioned last week, the theme this go 'round is "Roads", and I decided my piece needed a pieced background foreground.  I had a pile of green scraps of assorted values and sizes, so decided to use them for this purpose.  I ended up with a fabric that's more than three times the size I needed, and only a partial dent in the scraps.

Assorted Assembled Greens

I also ended up with an urge to merge more scraps into blocks -- to finally tackle the sack of bits and bobs I'd saved over time to use as 'piggers' at the start and stop of my regular piecing. (I was told years ago that 'piggers' was what they were called; no idea why!)

Crumbs, that's what they are, really.  Crumbs.  I knew Bonnie had written something up about how to use these tiny fabric treasures; sure enough there's a page on her blog and a link on that page to even more crumby ideas from a gal named Barb Horte. (Forgive me; I couldn't help m'self there!)  

While I pondering how best to assemble my "Roads" design, I transferred the crumbs from the zip-lock bag to a handy basket and began to piece:

Basket of crumbs, sack of assorted triangles,
crumb blocks started and ready to trim 

True to Bonnie's piecing practice, I decided to go with 'whatever' cotton thread I could find in my stash, thus saving "the good stuff" (my Superior Threads collection) for Priority Piecing.  This is a wooden spool of 50-weight 100% cotton from Coats & Clark.  I filled a bobbin with it, and am using it top and bottom for as long as it lasts -- for crumbs only, you understand!

When the spool is empty, I'll save it to send to my friend Susan Lenz, who collects them for one of her magical installations, "Stitched Spools".  :-)

This morning, besides doing up some more crumb bits (I have assembled only 2 full blocks at 3 1/2" each thus far; the rest are coming along.)  I worked out more ideas for my "Roads" piece.  Still in a 'crumby' mood, I decided that instead of using a full slice of fusible web (Wonder Under) to attach a long narrow strip of foreground fabric, I'd dig into my WU scrap bag and use up some...you guessed it!  Fusible web 'crumbs'.

Wonder Under bits on one edge of a fabric strip.

I keep these bits sealed in a zip-lock bag to keep the web "fresh" -- or at least to have it last as long as possible in this dry prairie climate.  Most of the time, I can find just the size I need and make it work; this is especially handy for my miniatures.

The "reveal" of the "Roads" theme is at the end of this month, and I'm on target to finish on time. Next up?  Sandwiching and quilting.

Meanwhile, I'm linking up to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday, where today she's wondering what's on our 'Creative Christmas' lists.  

Hmmmm....for me?  I'm all for NM's Item #5: a great creative book (or two or three).  I'm looking for gift cards for Chapters/Indigo (a Canadian 'Barnes & Noble' or 'Borders') and/or amazon.ca -- because there are some very creative books on my wish lists there, to wit:

• Connecting Design to Stitch by Sandra Meech;
• Twelve by Twelve: The International Art Quilt Challenge by Brenda Gael Smith et al;
• An Artist's Journey: Book 2 by SAQA colleague Jean Judd (I have and enjoyed Book 1 already); and
• The Magic of Shetland Lace Knitting by Elizabeth Lovick.

And there's more...non-fiction, poetry, memoir...things I wouldn't just buy for myself but also wouldn't want to just borrow from the library. (I borrow fiction; I prefer to own the other.)

How would you answer Nina Marie's question?  ;-)