Rainy Re-Org!

 At last it's raining!  Here on the rolling prairie of central Alberta, we last had rain more than 2 weeks ago, and I was scraping the bottom of my rain barrels, trying to care for my perennial flower beds and my recently-planted veggies.  Today, I'm delighted to see the rain -- and to spend my day in my jammies, catching up on correspondence and sorting out stuff.

Yes...stuff.  Useful stuff, but stuff nonetheless. 

C. and me, Sept. 1969

Those of you who've been following me here for a bit will remember that one of my great losses in 2020 was my best friend from high school, a woman only 6 days older than I who -- as far as was known -- was in good health.  No, it wasn't COVID; it was her heart.  I still miss her.  We shared embroidery in common, and cross-stitch, and she introduced me to quilting -- and then invited me to join her at an exhibit of art quilting students, which changed my life.

Her daughter has been sorting out her sewing and craft supplies in the last few months, and got in touch with me about something I might like.  Last week a box arrived -- full of stitchy goodness: fabric, thread, a couple of kits, some patterns and a few magazines.  Treasure Trove!

Stitching Treasures!

Then came the question: where to store it so I could use it?!  

The first thing I did was sort the fabric.  I pressed the linens and took the thread count of any that weren't labelled.

But...my embroidery fabric had already filled one drawer in my  studio and spilled into another.  Uh-oh!

This morning I was up early and ready to SORT!  Coffee in hand, I opened that oh-so-full drawer.  In it I found not only the fabric, but...of course!  There were several kitted projects I'd decided I wanted to do...eventually.  (It's part of my live-until-I'm-250 plan, remember? 😉)  

I emptied the drawer completely and started from scratch.  Once I had of my fabrics out in full view, I realized there were some things I no longer wanted or would use -- so all of that has been bagged up and will go to the local charity shop.  Then I returned all the fabric to the drawer -- stacked by thread count.  There was room to add in my recent legacy -- lovely! All is well in the drawers of fabric.

But then...there's the flosses -- mainly DMC but also some embroidery wool (not tapestry wool) and over-dyed floss (Weeks Dye Works and Gentle Arts in particular).  

Oy vey!

On the left in the above photo is the Very Thick blue binder in which I'm currently storing my floss -- mainly DMC.  Yes, I have other threads (mainly silks and perle cottons) but those are stored elsewhere -- hanging in packets on a pegboard, or in little balls (the perle cotton) in recycled cardboard egg cartons.  

And the pages in the binder -- recycled from the days when people kept computer discs in the plastic pockets -- are starting to fall apart.  They're made of thin plastic, and many (most?) are starting to crack and split in this dry climate.  

Before the existence of the binder -- about 25 or 30 years ago -- I used to keep cotton floss on bobbins in a box.  When my interest in cross stitch went on hiatus -- C. had just introduced me to quilting, for starters! -- that box was given to my daughter, who was on a 'friendship bracelet' kick and used all the floss to braid and/or weave those things for herself and her friends.  I never missed it.  

At this stage in my life, though, I'm not running out to invest in that sort of fussy system again.  I have some "Floss-Away" bags somewhere, left from when I bought them to store embroidery silks, so I'm hoping I can locate them without too much trouble.  I might be able to store my skeins of thread in them in numerical order, and put 'em on rings.  Then I'll re-arrange an existing bit of peg-board...

Ahhhh, yes...the domino effect of re-organizing...!  Good thing more rain is in the forecast...😉

Before the Treasure Trove landed and the rain hit, I'd been busy enjoying my yard and garden.  Spring arrived in full force and my ornamental fruit trees have been buzzing with bees, putting on a show!

When not mowing the grass (!), it's been delightful to stitch out in the fresh air, surrounded by glorious natural sounds of birds and bees -- and the colour of the blossoms against the blue of the sky.

As a result, I've had some Finished Objects and some Finally Finished ones too!

A week ago I mailed a parcel off to Brenda and Laura, creators of the Brenda and the Serial Starter FlossTube -- the Just Nan pair of projects I'd been making for them, so that "Marching Orders" can "march on"!  These I'd finally finished with some trepidation -- there was a bit of a learning curve, and those of you Gentle Readers who know me, know that "I don't do fiddly!"  

Laura's was finished as a tiny needlebook -- about 3" square!!

Front

Back

Under the flap

Inside -- with a tiny pocket
and batting for needles

What to do with Brenda's, which originated as a sampler, because she's also known as "The Sampler Stitcher"?

With a deep breath, and a close following of the YouTube tutorial by the wonderful Vonna Pfeiffer (aka "Twisted Stitcher"), I made my very first 'flat fold'!

Flat-fold front

Flat fold lining and backing

View from the side

I used MistyFuse and liquid gel medium as glue, and mat board as the foundation, covered with fabric.  I interfaced the stitched piece, and laced it to a piece of the mat board. I padded the a second piece of board with a thin piece of scrap cotton batting, lined it with some of the purple fabric, and glued those two pieces together.  Then there were two pieces of mat board -- both covered in fabric -- glued together.  There's a little piece of red fabric hem-binding (left from the days when I sewed garments) that is fixed in between front and back so it will stand up.

"There!  That wasn't so hard, was it?" 

I might use that technique again, if I have call for it.  Meanwhile, I just forge ahead with current projects.

I've finished another stitched piece that needs to go to Montreal, and I don't want to ship it framed, so I may lace it to mat board and let the recipient frame it in her own taste and timing (it's a birthday gift for a friend who loves to cook and bake).  At 7" square before borders, I think it's too big for a flat fold, and I've nothing in fabric that would suit its going into a quilted frame:

"House of Cooking" 
Designer: Nikyscreations

Kind of folksy, but I like it, and I think she will too.

In other finishing news:  I joined in on a "Hap KAL" (Knit ALong) with the Ravelry group operated by The Woolly Thistle yarn shop.  I love woolly wool, and have been blessed to have some sourced directly from Scotland (on my trips!) and some from sheep raised and sheared here in Alberta.  A hap is a large shawl originating in northern Scotland and the Shetland Isles, often knit in garter stitch, centre first, and bordered in lace -- often using the "auld shale" (or 'old shell') pattern.  I started one on 2007 from yarn I brought back from Scotland that year, using a pattern in the book entitled Shawls and Scarves: The Best of Knitter's Magazine -- and finished it in 2019. (It didn't take 12 years to knit! It sat languishing for some years before I picked it up and finished it).  It's full-sized and perfect for coziness in Canadian winters!

Shetland Shawl - Designer: Sidna Farley
Yarn: Harris Tweed Textiles Shetland 4-ply

This latest go 'round, I knit a "half hap" -- and an asymmetrical one at that -- using the Hemu pattern from Joanna Ignatius.  I started it with the others in the KAL, and was letting it sit (again)...when I got word that my dear cousin James, with whom I'd had dinner in 2017 in our hotel in Portree, Isle of Skye, near his home, had died.  I was very fond of him (2017 was our third in-person encounter) and corresponded with him regularly.  I decided to finish the hap in his honour and memory.  His funeral was this past week (I've not brought myself to watch the taping yet)...I'm tearing up just writing this.  But the wee hap is finished, and just needs blocking:

Hemu half hap
Designer: Joanna Ignatius
Yarn: Heirloom Fingering BWM (Black Welsh Mountain)
 from the Alberta Yarn Project (black),
Luddite Yarn's Hill & Down Fingering (grey), 
and J.C. Rennie Supersoft 4-ply ('Amethyst')
purchased in Scotland

Close-up of the Auld Shale patterned border
(Not the same as 'Feather & Fan')

Last but not least, I've finished the "Hearts of Hope" quilt top...the third in the blue-and-golden yellow series.  I've found pale blue poly-cotton in my fabric stash for the backing (part of my 'other' inheritance, from my friend J., who also died in 2020 at the age of 89), but have yet to sandwich and quilt it.  It measures about 55" square, so will make a nice little comfort quilt.

Pattern: Hearts of Hope -- Bonnie Hunter

And that's pretty much "it" from this corner of the world at the moment.  No new art work to show you (ideas continue to percolate), but I'll be sending "Incarnation to Resurrection" off to the US later this week, preparatory to its being part of the Sacred Threads 2022 exhibit, in the "Spirituality" section.

I've missed the June 3 link-up over on Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday...maybe I'll catch up to it later this week.  In any event, if you've been reading, thanks so much for coming along on my latest adventures.  Whatever the season, whatever the weather, I hope this finds you well, safe and creative this week! 😊

Because It's Been Long Enough

I confess, Gentle Readers, that I've thought almost weekly about posting, but have, instead, used the time for MORE studio work -- and other things. 

So this post will be a bit of a catch up, with lots of photos.  I hope you enjoy it!

The Finishing Frenzy continues -- especially on the knitting front:

In February, I finished this jacket which, my having made it much shorter than the pattern -- due partly to my short stature and partly to insufficient yarn -- is really more of a long shrug:

Pattern: "Round Trip" (Medium Weight Yarn)
Designer: Kay Dahlquist
Yarn: NORO Silk Garden 

And here's the back...

The fact that I was working out of Knitter's Magazine, #72 from the Fall of 2003 should tell you something -- but I'm not sure what!  When I'd picked it up again, it needed only 2" more and then the cuff of the second sleeve!  It's knit in one piece and has no sewing -- except the ends -- so why it took me 16 years (give or take) to finish is anyone's guess!  Still, it fits, and will make a lovely spring jacket. My favourite colours, too!

At the same time, my "purse knitting" (also known as 'what to knit while waiting at the train crossing') was finished:

(Yet Another) Multi-directional Diagonal Scarf
Designer: Karen Baumer (free pattern on Ravelry)
Yarn: Schoeller + Stahl "Limbo Mexiko Color" #2591

It's gone to the charity tree at church, and will likely be followed in a few months by at least one more, as I have another 2 balls of this yarn in a slightly different colour-way.

My new "Purse Project" is a pair of lined mittens -- a commission from a friend from church who's worn major holes in the ones her late mother made her, because she wears them over sturdy gloves when she walks her dog!  I've had to use the mittens as a model, and in conjunction with "The World's Simplest Mittens" from Tin Can Knits, I'm doing a new pair in the grey Berroco Vintage DK yarn she chose (colour: #2107 - "Cracked Pepper").  I just cast on, on Saturday, and it's a 3" cuff to start...

Figuring out size based on the "model"

On the quilting front, the "Spectacle Quilt" is on it's way to Baby Emory back East now. Here's a photo of it, post-laundering -- just a section.  It finished at about 54" square.  Used up a batch of charm squares, some left-over backing fabric as the white background, and other left-overs for zinger and border:

You Are My Sunshine
Made for Baby Emory McGuire 

As for UFOs...I've plumbed the depths of a Quilt As You Go (QAYG) project I began when I lived in Calgary.  From the documents and pattern, I took it at the now-closed Freckles Quilt Shoppe in the winter of 2006 - 2007.  It's called "Bali Sunrise"; when I opened the box in which I'd stored it, I found the mother lode of fabulous batiks -- strips and backing squares cut, metres of uncut fabric, a bit of batting, and a dozen 6 1/2" squares done.  The pattern calls for 120!  Whether or not I'll get there is anyone's guess, but by the end of Friday afternoon, I'd prepped the backing/batting for another 20, and finished six!

Strips ready, finished blocks and prepped blocks
YUMMY!

Now that I have 18 of these, I could put them up on my design wall, but...it's preoccupied with this:

Say what?  I'ts a quilted sky/horizon/lake, with a bit of beach and beach grass in the foreground.  The sky is two layers: a light gauzy fabric I dyed turquoise (too turquoise), over which I fused a sheer fabric I painted a sky blue.  The effect is great movement, and just the right colour.  The horizon is a very thin slice of fabric left over when I dyed the sky for "Sometimes You Can Walk on Water".  The foreground fabrics are commercial ones, which after being attached to the background, will be thread painted, and then...there'll be an addition that -- if I can get it right -- will make the scene:

Table on the beach at Rochon Sands Provincial Park

I'm making it with hopes of entering it into a major Canadian competition (the one that turned down "Sometimes You Can Walk...")...but it remains to be seen.  That table has to be right...or the entire thing will flop!  Quilt design prayers appreciated!  😉

What else have I been up to?

Though I've yet to finish "New Directions 2", I have finished 4 and 5 in the series.  I've mounted them on painted stretched canvas and plan to put them in floater frames.  The buff material you see behind them in the photos is carpet -- I photographed them from above on my living room floor!

New Directions 4
Canvas: 11" x 14"
Materials: commercial cotton, hand-made
paper, blotted recycled book page,
hand-made button

ND 4 - Detail

New Directions 5
Canvas: 9" x 12"
Materials: commercial silk blend fabric,
commercial cotton, painted hand-made paper,
painted tea bag paper, glass beads

ND 5 - Detail

These are rather fun to do -- who knows how many more reside in my brain?  The plus is that they're helping me use materials I wouldn't put in landscapes!

Speaking of which, I am still enjoying the occasional cup of tea.  I've discovered a new version of Tetley's black tea -- called "BOLD" -- which I really like.  If you're not careful, the cup you brew can look like coffee -- it's that dark!

Anyway, I amassed enough bags to make a small piece in a series I'm loosely calling "Mother was a Lady", and this is the first in that series that will be constructed as the mood strikes. 

I began by layering the tea bag paper over Stitch Witchery (akin to Misty Fuse), covering the paper with white tulle, fusing the lot and quilting it down.  I then trimmed just the one side with a lace remnant I'd cut out:

Take Some Tea with Me? - unfinished

Take Some Tea... - Detail

These are photos of the unfinished piece.  I've now added blanket stitch -- by hand, using silk floss in a creamy colour -- around the edges, and embroidery and beading.  I want to mount this one on canvas too, but at the moment don't have one quite the right size.  I'll be going in to Red Deer in about 10 days and will look for one then.  Stay tuned for final photos!

Last but not least, in the spirit of MORE (the word that chose me this year), I've created MORE SPACE in my sewdio by reducing a great pile of clutter. 

I have two bookshelves along one wall of the sewdio.  One is a faux barrister's book case -- tall, with glass doors.  The other is a low case from IKEA (one of the Billy series, I think).  Just two shelves -- but with a row of boxed magazines lined up on the top.  And on top of those magazines...there were heaps of notes, drawings, recycled plastic laminate used as templates, photos, sketchbooks, other books, and miscellany put aside to be "finished some time".  Aaaargh!

When I knocked off a pile of the stuff for the umpteenth time, Saturday, I decided enough is enough!  And I got out some page protectors, a couple of binders, and a bag to hold recycling and went to work.  I ended up with two binders: one containing materials from classes on Modern Quilting (Craftsy, with Weeks Ringle), on Improv quilting (Mod Meets Improv with Elizabeth Barton) and Abstraction (Abstract-a-licious with Lyric Montgomery Kinard); and the other, chock full of inspirational photos and "patterns" I made for pieces thus far -- to be used for future reference.  Duplicates and uninspiring materials when into the paper recycling or the garbage.  Smaller photos got pasted into a sketchbook with relevant notes about the planned piece(s).

What a weight lifted!  Now I have a small sheaf of photos set aside for new work, and the rest is neatly away, where I can refer to it if I need it.

And so, Gentle Readers, now we're all caught up -- and I can get back to working on that landscape and the Challenge of the Picnic Table.

I'm belatedly linking this to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday, and wishing you a creative week ahead!

And Now...the End is Near...

No, I'm not referring to my view of the world now that Mr. T. is ruling the U.S....that's a topic for another time and place.  ;-)

I'm referring to the status of several of my projects.  In other words, I'm on a finishing frenzy!  Yep; this week I've been working on facings, labels and sleeves.

Two pieces are now completely finished...

On the way to the finish line!

Another six have sleeves awaiting attachment -- and two of those need their facings (long in place) sewn down before that can happen.

Thus...much work to do yet to get them show-ready -- and by that I mean for possible touring with my 15 x 15 Group, or at the Lacombe Art Show and Sale at which I hope to have a booth again in April.

Still...there has been time for a little bit of play -- to whit, some snow dyeing with my friend and SAQA colleague, Mary Wilton.  She'd not snow dyed before, so a couple of weeks ago she spent the day here with me, doing exactly that.  The snow was still a bit powdery for my liking, but beggars can't be choosers when it comes to weather, and as it was a fair day, with slightly warmer temps (minus teens rather than minus thirties Celsius), we worked with what we had.

I did two tubs -- one with blues/reds and one with blues/yellows.  I was aiming for skies and fields.

Perhaps we could have left the batches longer, but Mary had a time limit (getting home before it got too dark as the highway conditions were tricky), so we left them for only about 5 hours.  For my part, the results I got were mixed.  The blues/reds turned out like this:

Fabric: heavy-weight cotton

Fabric: a scrap of medium-weight cotton

Fabric: a poly-cotton blend

Fabric: white-on-white quilting cotton

Fabric: bleached muslin

Fabric: more of the same medium-weight cotton
(as above)

There were also three small pieces of poly cotton blend that came out such pale shades of blue that I couldn't photograph them well, but they'll make lovely skies for "minis".  :-)

As for the blues/yellows...the results were so mixed that this past weekend I "snoverdyed" them!

There's been no fresh snowfall since Mary's visit.  Instead, there's been a warming trend with day-time melts and night-time freezes, so the snow is now "older" and more crystalline.  I still left the tub for only about 5 hours, but I like these results much better:

Fabric: heavy-weight cotton

Fabric: medium-weight cotton

Fabric: bleached muslin

There was a fourth piece -- medium-weight cotton -- which I'd deliberately folded for the first snow-dye, and which I decided to leave folded for 'snoverdyeing'.

Medium-weight cotton, folded for dyeing

I'm not partial to fabric manipulation as a rule, but in this case I threw caution to the wind...and have to admit I rather like it.  I will probably cut it up and stitch on it as I can't (at this point) envision it in a landscape...but one never knows, does one?!

More play is on the way as my Academy of Quilting class with Elizabeth Barton starts Friday...and I've purchased yet another Craftsy class -- "Inspired Modern Quilts" with Elizabeth Hartman -- to give me a foundation for designing them, using some concrete "patterns" (more like guidelines for fabric selection, quantity and placement).  I've plenty of fabric so hope I'll find the right stuff without having to do much (if any) shopping.  If I get the samples made, I'll have some nice pieces to give as gifts...

And knitting continues: one pair of Harry Potter House Socks half-finished, and these also under construction...

Yarn: Paton's Kroy Socks 4-ply
 from my stash
Pattern: "Yin Yang Kitty Ankle Socks"
by Geena Garcia (free on Ravelry)
modified to be made top-down, using
the "Rose City Rollers" pattern
by Mara Catherine Bryner
(also free on Ravelry)

Yes; the pattern calls for the second sock to have its colours reversed... ;-)

Now...it's time for some exercise, but before I go I'll link this up to WIP Wednesday over at The Needle and Thread Network -- and wish you all a great afternoon!

Another Beginning

Happy New Year, Gentle Readers.

I am rather late to post this, with no plans to give you a retrospective of my past year, nor a list of plans for this new one, but rather, intending to catch you up a bit, as I have been in the sewdio the better part of the last few days.

2013 ended and 2014 began well: the sewing machine I borrowed from my friend J is up and running and has performed well!  It's a Husqvarna 1250 from years past -- far heavier than mine, a sign that it has sturdy metal parts -- but still computerized.  J bought it more for its embroidery capabilities, but it has stepped into the breach to enable me to do both 'regular' and free-motion quilting with surprising ease.

The Loaner

I don't know yet how long I'll have to rely on it.  I managed to get my Lily to the Red Deer Sewing Centre on Monday morning; they've promised to call me January 8 or shortly thereafter with any news.  While I was there I had one of the clerks demonstrate the Pfaff Quilt Expression 4.2, which suits my budget and has the features I want in a machine -- plus the delightful news that Pfaff, though still an independent company, is now owned by Husqvarna, which explained why the Quilt Expression bore a faint resemblance to Husqvarna machines.   She also showed me a Janome that had too many "bits and bobs" for my liking, and came with a table I don't need.  If I do need to replace the Lily, I think I'll go with the Pfaff.

In the mail this week were treats to end the year.  From Amazon.ca came a book I'd pre-ordered: Where Women Create: Quilters from Jo Packham, the publisher of the 'Where Women Create' magazines.
This is more like a book than a magazine, though, and focuses solely on quilters, most of whose names I didn't recognize, but Tula Pink, Amy Butler, Judith Content and Katie "PM" are included.  The latter two are SAQA members whom I've had the pleasure of meeting -- art quilt "royalty" in my books!

Superior Treats!

The other treat was my "Try Me" package from Superior Threads that I ordered a few weeks ago -- and what a treat it is!!  It includes a selection of thread from all Superior's lines, plus a sampler package of sewing machine needles, a pre-wound bobbin (Bottom Line thread), a catalogue and a DVD from "Dr. Bob".  I've wanted to sample this for some time, and decided it was an investment in my work that I could no longer pass up.  I've been able to get some basic colours of Bottom Line thread at Earthly Goods in Edmonton, and in October treated myself to several spools of King Tut from Quilter's Dream -- also in Edmonton -- but I've never seen the other threads in Canada at all.

With such inspiration at hand, I had to go right to work!  I've finished my piece for the SAQA 2014 Trunk Show, save for the hand-work (label and blind hem on the back), so it will be shipped off by week's end. Based on yet another photo of a tree in my back yard, here's "Tree Study III", before it gets its wee bit of moss embellishment (painted and heat-distressed Lutradur):

Tree Study III (WIP)
7" W x 10" L

Then I began to work on my next piece for the 15 x 15 Group.  Our current theme is "Rhythm".  Not going to reveal much today...just a teaser -- the photo that inspired the piece:

're You Lookin' at ME?!

How does this reflect "Rhythm"?  Well...let's just say I'll let you chew on that for a while...

On the knitting front, finishing has begun in earnest.  Concurrently, I'm working on an entrelac scarf that I began in a class at River City Yarns at least two years ago -- maybe three -- and a new project -- "Elm" socks from Clara Parkes' The Knitter's Book of Socks -- a birthday present for my daughter.

Mark On the Body: stitching continues.  Photos from one month in will be posted shortly on the MOB Page, so check back if you're interested.

Time to head out for a breath of fresh air -- so long for now!