Yard (Again!), Yarn (Again!) and New Art!

It's a blustery day in this neck of the woods, so I thought I'd share with you my progress in the few days since my last post.

I begin each day with this routine: journal pages (in the manner of Julia Cameron, but usually 2 instead of 3); coffee; knitting; news and breakfast, and more knitting.

I mentioned in that last post that I'd decided I had to do something about my shabby collection of old dish cloths.  It was 2009 since I'd replenished the lot -- and that's far too long! 😆

I'd set aside one that was on the needles and discovered last week -- thanks to my Ravelry records! -- that I'd started it in September 2016, with left-overs from a series of 'spa sets' I'd made for Christmas 2015.  The pattern is even older -- originating as one of a series of "mystery" patterns, two per month, created for a Knit-Along for a long-forgotten Yahoo/Ravelry group.  You can tell...if you look closely...just how old this first pattern is...

The second pattern is from the same era, but it's more generic.  That said, it turned out to be reversible, which made it rather fun to knit up:

Side 1

Side 2
(or vice versa!)

I've decided to knit up one more -- a plain cloth in a purple variegated cotton -- and call it "done" for now.

Next in my routine -- around 9 a.m. or so, if it's temperate enough and sunny (as in 8 C to 10 C; that is, about 50 F) I go outside and get to work.

I knew this cycling combo of rain-wind-sun-swirling-clouds was in the forecast, so I've spent most of each morning this week moving bark chips and leaves around!  The stack of bark chips left by Mike the Tree Guy is now reduced by a bit more than half, as I've spread it thickly around what I'm loosely calling "the copse" or "the haven":

Pussy willow, honeysuckle and lilacs surrounded by bark chips.

Having finished this Wednesday, yesterday I spent my time raking the leaf mulch off some of my flower beds and transporting it to the area around my very-trimmed willow.  While I was at it, I harvested some willow rods to dry out -- with the hopes of learning to make a simple basket or two -- and pulled out marauding grass and dandelions from the flower beds.  Everything is perking up -- and these ladies greeted me in the south bed:

Tulip surprise!

I'm thrilled to see them, as I've not planted new bulbs for several years.  I'd begun to despair of ever seeing more than one lone yellow one; this year, it would seem the conditions were right -- and I have half-dozen up, and several blossoms.  I smile just thinking about it!

On the quilting front, this week I finished assembling the "Strip to Shore" top, and located enough fabric for a pieced back.  It's about 48" x 60":

Once that fabric is washed, I'll sandwich and quilt it -- probably with free-hand straight lines.  😉  First off, however, I'm going to quilt "Elvira Wears a Red Hat" for my friend E., a Red Hatter.  I got it sandwiched and pinned this afternoon:

And yes...there's been some art making going on.  I had the idea for a while, based on the view out my front window, where an old ornamental cherry grows.  I've used this tree as inspiration for other pieces.  This year, it was laden with berries that have been enjoyed by the deer and the birds throughout the fall and winter.  On one bleak morning in late March, when it seemed the snow would never stop, and we'd fallen under the new protocols demanded by COVID-19, I spied a flash of red in the tree -- and found to my delight that there was a newly-returned robin there, looking for dinner.

It inspired me to create this little piece, which went off in today's mail for the 2020 SAQA Benefit Auction:

The Thing with Wings (C) 2020
Commercial cotton, machine quilting,
thread painting, hand beading

The title refers to Emily Dickinson's poem about hope:

Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul,

And sings the tune without the words,

And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;

And sore must be the storm

That could abash the little bird

That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,

And on the strangest sea;

Yet never in extremity,

It asked a crumb of me.

Spring, the sunshine, the welcome rain, the gardening, my morning routines, the work of my hands...all of these have been nourishing "the thing with feathers that perches in [my] soul".  What's giving you hope these days?

I'm linking this to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday -- where this week, she seems to be feeding her soul by sprucing up her studio!

Here's to all those out there who are mothers or who have mothers and grandmothers and surrogate mothers whose love gives us hope.  Have a wonderful weekend!  😊

Primed and Pumped!

In my last post, I mentioned that I was going to visit with Mali Doktor, current President of the Alberta Society of Artists...and with Andrea Hatch, owner and star framer at her shop, Cabinet of Curiosities in Stettler.

Well, those meeting happened -- and left me with heart pumping, eyes shining, brain spinning in a gazillion directions about the pieces that need to be and will be made in the next several months.

First, the ASA.  Mali gave me my 'board' (resembles a canvas except that it's made out of wood) on which I'm to mount/create something "in [my] chosen medium".  It's 10" square.  The finished piece will be my contribution to a fund-raising auction event entitled "100@100".  That's me in the pink (!) with Mali in the right-hand photo.

I've never worked on a 'board' before so have to pick one up on which to practice before I make the final product.

I have it in mind to do something similar to what I've been doing on canvas -- in a much smaller size (5" x 7").  I picked up the first three finished ones from Andrea (my trusty framer and mat-cutter) yesterday.  Here's just one example:

She can produce 4 of these frames (with a bit left over) from one "stick" of moulding; the same would be true if they were 6" square.  Thus she could get two out of one "stick" if they were 12" square...and so on!  At the price she is giving me, I would be foolish to try to reproduce them myself.  What a blessing she is!!  Once I'm back from my Scottish holiday, I hope to create a good supply of these over the winter, for sale at the Lacombe Art Show in the spring (April).

Meanwhile, Bonavista Fine Art in Sylvan Lake is having its close-out sale, and I've given permission for a modest discount on my work.  Anything not sold will come back to me after September 30, when its doors are closed.

There's a bright side to that...because I've been booked by the LQS in Stettler (where I generally buy my backings and batting) to do an Artist's Talk and Trunk Show on the Saturday afternoon of a quilt retreat weekend.  Caroline, the owner of Homespun Seasons, has wanted me to do this for some time now, and seems to think that though Stettler is in the heart of what I call "Bed Quilt Central", there will be an interest in the whole process of coming up with original designs.  As for me, I look forward to any opportunity to show my work.  She wants me to include MOB I and my books...and will permit me to sell the books, given that the proceeds go to JDRF and Diabetes Canada.  So...one can only hope!

You can see I've much to think about and prepare for in the coming months...but my focus right now is getting ready to leave for the Celtic Quilt Tour to Scotland!  I fly out of Edmonton with my friend and colleague, Mary Wilton, on September 11 and will be touring there through the 28th!!

I decided that being away from the sewdio would make this the perfect time to take my Husqvarna Lily 555 in for her annual "spa treatment" at Red Deer Sewing Centre...so that will happen on my way to work at The Shop today.  That said, I just had to keep working her till bed-time last night...putting together blocks for what I'm calling "My Quilt".

I've now managed to create six rows of six blocks each. My design wall accommodates only three rows of six at a time; here's what the second set of three rows of blocks looks like:

All in all, I plan for it to be 8 blocks per row x 10 rows (i.e., 80 blocks each finishing at 8" square) -- plus borders.  I doubt that I'll try to quilt it myself, but I've had fun playing will all these brights, knowing full well the finished top will look nothing like the original pattern.  The goal is to have a fresh new quilt for my bedroom, and in that, I think I'll succeed!  😊

Continuing my Utilitarian streak, I've now finished two dishcloths from stash cotton and have cast on a third, aiming to replace my sad and sorry collection with at least a half dozen new ones.  The patterns are all mysteries from an old Ravelry KAL (2009/2010), so I never know what they look like till they're finished.  Here's the first one -- from a pattern from the middle of September 2009:

Side One

Side two

Yes, it's reversible -- and yes, it's a diamond...

or rather, diamonds within diamonds!

The yarn is Nova Four Seasons Cotton from Diamond Yarns (I'm not kidding!) in colour-way #25.

And that's all the news from the Sewdio for today.  I may squeeze in one more post before I travel; we'll see.  Meanwhile I'm linking up with WIP Wednesday over at The Needle and Thread Network, and wishing you a great rest of the week!

Catchin' Up with Photos

I've been knitting away -- and working in my yard/garden -- so haven't taken time to post. However, today is cloudy and cool, presenting the perfect opportunity to do a bit of desk-and-computer work.


First, to the pending garden -- AKA the sunny counter in my back room -- where the cherry tomatoes have been transplanted to larger pots and are growing apace!






Not to be outdone, so is the spaghetti squash, given to my by my friend, C, in exchange for a couple of the tomatoes once they are large enough. In fact, since I took this photo, the squash has developed buds that will soon want to bloom. I hope it'll hang on for another 3 weeks or so -- so that it will be warm enough to transplant it outdoors!


On the knitting front, I finished the April Mid-month washcloth -- April Showers -- and it has taken up residence in my kitchen. The May cloth, which I've just begun (this morning!) will follow suit, as I move away from disposable dishcloths. I knit this one in Bernat "Handicrafter Cotton" and really like its softness and absorbancy.


I managed to finish my Mitred Scarf in time for the Library's silent auction fund-raiser -- and I know that it sold, but not for how much. I'm a bit nervous to ask the librarian, too, as that seems...well...rather forward -- plus I don't think I really want to know if the price was low-balled! Darn it; I was certain I'd taken a photo of the finished article, but don't know where it is -- and my camera is empty. Sigh.... I guess that's all for now. Stayed tuned, though; there's more Work in Progress!

In the Pink

I've been Ravelling all week, embarrassed by my stash, and working to reduce it. In the process, I've made these two "Rollin' Baby Berets" -- so cute, doncha think? They'll be going to the Family Services in Lacombe.

Next, I joined the Monthly Dishcloth group, and produced a Pot o' Gold in time for St. Paddy's day yesterday. I'm now working on the mid-month project, awaiting 'Day 2' of the KAL pattern. There's touch of mystery to this, which makes it even more fun, as you don't really know what design you're knitting till you get close to the end of it.

Meanwhile, as I wait, the stash burning continues, with the start of the back section of Jeff's Pub Jacket for my son. I'm enjoying the Peace Fleece for this project, but changed from the 4 mm needles used for the ribbing, to 5 mm for the body. It was getting too dense, and for reasons unknown, the pattern didn't mention going up a needle size. Nothing in IK errata either. Go Figure.

I'm off to Calgary now for a day with The Applique Society. TTFN!