Prep, Prep, Prep

 It's a bit unusual for me to post at the start of a week, rather than on the weekend, but needs must these days, as I've been very busy getting ready for the Next Big Thing.

The First Big Thing was the opening of the first venue of the Art in the Park 2022 Artists' Exhibit, which ran for a month at the Revelstoke Visual Arts Centre in Revelstoke, B.C.  The show ended April 2 and all of the artists are waiting to see where it's going next.  This was the first of three Big Things in my life that were postponed in 2020.

There'll be a Third Big Thing happening at the end of this month, when I travel to Toronto for the 2023 SAQA Conference -- also postponed from 2020.  

This happens every year but this one -- THIS one is very special, for a couple of reasons:

1. It's the first IN PERSON conference since 2019; and 
2. It's the FIRST IN PERSON CONFERENCE OUTSIDE THE USA.  (Note: Oceania Region -- Australia and New Zealand -- hosted it in 2021 -- but online only.  They deserve kudos for being the First SAQA Conference Hosted Outside the USA, though.  Well done!)

But the Second -- or Next Big Thing -- for me is the First In-Person Lacombe Art Show & Sale since 2019 -- and the first time that a Featured Artist has been one who works in textiles.  Yep; that would be me -- and many of you Gentle Readers know, from my emotional roller-coaster ride on this train since COVID hit -- how special this is for me!

The last while has been full of preparations.  

First came the interviews.  A few weeks ago, I had a phone interview with Mark Weber of the Lacombe Express -- a small, free paper delivered in hard copy around the small city of Lacombe, Alberta, but also found online.  The article was finally printed in the April 6th issue, which you can read HERE (use the right-hand arrow to turn the page; it's the 2nd page in.)  An acquaintance of mine from church brought me a hard copy clipping, which will be put in a page protector for Posterity!  😉

The second was a video interview with Christina and Todd from the City of Lacombe.  It's now on YouTube and you can see it HERE.  

Second -- preparing the hanging apparatus for the 'soft' pieces; that is, ones not on stretched canvas and/or framed.   I had several sleeves that needed to be attached, so I did that...and then...

I had to buy some dowelling...

Then I used my reciprocating saw to cut the lengths to fit the pieces:

Then I had to drill the ends to attach eye hooks for hanging.

Here are several pieces, "all dowelled up"

I also went to Curiosity Art & Framing in Red Deer to pick up my framed pieces.  The timing is perfect!  The shop/gallery is moving closer into the centre of the city in May, so I'll have all my pieces for the show and store any unsold ones until after the move.  A word of thanks is due to Andrea, the owner and a dear friend -- and her team -- because they posted the video interview on my Artist's Page on their website, and they created a QR code that links to my page on their site, so people can see what I have showing with them (well...once the Lacombe Show is over...)  You can see that code here on this blog -- in the left side bar.

Here are the framed pieces...in my kitchen...waiting to be packed into the car...

Today's job was paperwork -- ensuring there's a price tag for each and every piece!  There were many new ones to create because...well...it's been 4 years since the last show.  That's all done now, and my Show Inventory is fully up-to-date.

So...have I been doing anything else?

Well...I finished the second pair of socks for my friend and client, DH, and they'll go in the mail to here tomorrow:

Pair #1

Pair #2

Yes, they're both from the same pattern -- "Simplicity" by Janel Laidman, from her book, The Eclectic Sole.  I'm always fascinated by the difference a yarn selection makes in the interpretation of a pattern!

I finished a second hat for charity (no photo).  

I finished 64 units for the "Triple Treat" scrap quilt that I'm making for charity as well -- this one, in brown tones with pops of colour.  The blocks require four units each, so there'll be 16 blocks, finishing at 12" each in the quilt, and the quilt will be four rows of four blocks, plus borders.  Here are the first 8 blocks (not sewn into rows yet):

Yes, the photo is slanted.  I was standing at an angle!

And I finished my red sampler, "Ruth Gibb 1882".  I'll have it framed -- eventually!

Pattern source: Hands Across the Sea
-- a reproduction sampler

I'm still plugging away at "Here be Dragons" -- just about finished the bottom of the wide border -- and finished a little square piece from Jeannette Douglas Designs, but more about that will have to wait for another day.

With all that hard work...well, it was time for a break, so to celebrate, a friend and I went to Camrose on Saturday to fondle fibre at the Rose City Fibre Festival.  We ran into yarny friends and had a wonderful time.  Of course, it goes without saying that each of us came home with some goodies.  Here are mine:

Jacob (breed) single-ply in "Lilac" (NOT dyed)
Hill & Down Fingering
from Kalea the Luddite

A blend of
80% Camrose Alpaca
and 20% Prairie Wool
DK/Sport weight from
Gormalou's Fibre Den

and...

A small merino batt from
Nomad Fibreworks 
in the "Meringues" colour-way

Yes, I want to do more spinning this summer!

And so...it goes!

Tomorrow, I begin to dismantle my fabric rack in the studio, in preparation for taking it to the show as part of the hanging apparatus.  Each fabric-full basket on the rack will come off and (eventually) be sorted and refolded -- and maybe culled -- before it's all put back together after the show.  While it's down, there will be vacuuming of carpet and other assorted Spring Cleaning in the studio.

I've left this post too late to link to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday -- and by her next post, I'll be in Lacombe enjoying this latest Big Thing.  All for now, Gentle Readers -- and wherever you are, whatever you're up to, have a blessed week.  There's Life in the Making!

P.S. In answer to a reader's question about how my pieces hang on the wall:

Re: your question: I don't attach wires at all.  I hang the pieces on gridded racks using 'S' hooks.  If a piece is sold, I instruct the purchaser to put tiny nails -- ones with a bit of a 'head' on them -- into their wall at the position of each eye hook -- and the piece simply hangs on the nails.  The piece then looks like it's hung invisibly on the wall.  This is because the dowels/rods extend beyond the sleeves to the very edge of the piece, and the eye hooks extend just a tiny bit beyond that. (You can see this if you look closely at the photo above, with the caption, "All dowelled up". 😊)

Prepping for Show

For the past few days, I've been getting pieces ready for exhibit.

June 14 I'll be spending the day at the Cabinet of Curiosities Gallery in Stettler as part of the annual Art Walk.  The local quilt guild show will be on at the same time -- over at the Royal Canadian Legion -- so if you're in the area, you might want to make a day of it.  The forecast includes showers, so bring your brolly!

I have 3 pieces to add to my collection for the Art Walk -- the two that had returned from Quilt Expo in Beaujolais, France:

Tree Study I  (C) 2013

and

To Everything There is a Season (C) 2013

And the one I just finished.

All three needed dowels, which I include when someone buys a piece.  I prepare them to fit the width of the piece, and fit them with eye hooks for hanging, as this system works well both on the display rack I'll be using, and when someone is hanging them up at home:

I use the hammer and wee nail to put a hole in each end of the dowel, and the pincers to help me screw in the eye hooks.  Works a treat!

The next show prep: packing Mackintosh's Garden for its trip to Houston, Texas (from where it will travel to Portland, Oregon, for the "Quilt! Knit! Stitch!" show in August.

I had a brief moment of panic when I read in the instructions that the hanging sleeve was not only to be 4" finished (mine was) but also be equal to the width of the quilt! Say what?!  Generally sleeves are finished within an inch or so of each side edge, which mine was.

I turned to my SAQA colleagues for advice and had a variety of responses.  Apparently the International Quilt Festival has a habit of asking for extra-long sleeves, but many had submitted them with the more usual "indentation" from each side and had no problem.  With less than a month to get the piece delivered, and with a border to cross...I decided to leave it as is.

One hurdle down.

Then one of my SAQA colleagues (unsolicited) went after me about how to wrap the quilt.  I know that acid-free tissue is recommended for storage purposes, but this person seemed insistent that it be used for short-term mailing as well.

Hmmm.  I had bought new white tissue (made from recycled paper) that is likely not entirely acid-free (buffered or un-buffered...that's a whole 'nother discussion!).  I live in the boonies, remember?  And there was no time to go searching in Calgary or Edmonton for acid-free tissue, let alone mail order it from somewhere.  She offered to mail me some (from her home a few thousand kilometres from here)...I thanked her and assured her all was well.  After all, I'd sent my two pieces to France the same way and they'd fared well...

I began by "de-hairing" the piece, which looked clean to the naked eye but, because I live with two cats...

Hair removed from the back

Hair removed from the front

See what I mean?

Then I wrapped it gently in the aforementioned white tissue, first by folding it in thirds (tissue between the folds), and in thirds again (ditto), and then tucking in the ends and placing it in the box, with the entry information etc. as required:

First layer of wrapping

I covered the entire thing (down the sides too) with small-sized bubble wrap, closed the box, sealed it up and addressed it.  Then I went online to Canada Post for advanced Customs Documentation, which I'll take with me to the Post Office...

Address information distorted for blog post.  :-)

On that same SAQA Yahoo group, there was some discussion last week about labels, as one of my colleagues had had her piece stolen.  I apply my labels thus:

1. Print the label by hand or on printable fabric with my inkjet printer, following instructions to set the ink;
2. Apply fusible web to the back of the label.
3. Tuck the label into the bottom corner (generally, on my right when the back is facing me);
4. Sew the label right into the side and bottom seams, and hand-sew around the other two sides.

Personal information altered for blog post  :-)

The only way to remove that label is to cut it out of the quilt, damaging it altogether...which would destroy the piece and render it worthless.  So far, this has worked well; none of my pieces has been stolen...then again, maybe I'm not well-enough known for my pieces to be valuable enough to steal! LOL!

Now...off to the Post Office!

Tested...

And found working.  Phew!  A load off my mind.

Today I tested my display rack for the upcoming Lacombe Art Exhibit and Sale and found out that:

• It stands up as steadily on vinyl flooring as it does on carpet;
• The fabric panels I've cut (6 in a dark steel blue-grey) fit;
• The gromet maker I own works on this fabric so I can create a gromet-and-tie system to mount the fabric on the frame; and
• The lamps I've borrowed function well and don't tip over the frame when they're mounted!

Nobody Here But Us

I've also finished 3 pieces -- bound and sleeved -- and am ready to think about mounting 2 of the smaller ones on black foam-core.  And I've got several post-cards and ATCs (Artists' Trading Cards) under construction for visitors who might want to purchase something small.

And the Crystal Clear Bags packaging arrived yesterday.  It's beautiful!

All this means that I am working my way down my check-list for the Exhibit, that I'm actually making some headway, and that the anxiety attack I had yesterday morning before I got into my studio to "just DO it" was just a waste of time.  No more!  I'm on my way!