Stitch, Stitch, Stitch...and Some News

In last week's post, I showed you the start of a new landscape, concerned about creating the table as shown in this photo:

This was a fussy bit of work that took a couple of hours.  First I traced the table onto tracing paper; then I put it in my scanner/copier and doubled its size.  Next, I traced it onto a piece of laminate off-cut, so I could turn it to the reverse and trace that onto Wonder Under fusible web.  I didn't do that last tracing as a whole table; rather, I traced it in bits and pieces, because I needed to have some of the fabric show the "sunny side" of the table and the rest, the "shadow side".

Once I cut out all the pieces, I "fused" them onto a Teflon pressing sheet so I could assemble the table as a unit before pressing it onto the landscape itself.

Once it was on the landscape, it looked like this:

If you look closely, you'll see that since my last post, I also added some texture to the sand and grass using machine stitching and a narrow slice of cheese cloth (at the water's edge).  Some grey needs to be added to that cheese cloth but first...

Hand-stitching on the grass for more texture:

The bit in the photo above was only the start of the stitch.  As of this writing I'm now about 1/2-way across the grassy section, covering it with seed stitch in a hand-dyed 3-strand embroidery floss (JP 8 - "Spring Leaves") from Valdani that I confess I've had for so long, I no longer remember where I got it!  I'm very pleased with the effect, as well as with the table and the machine stitching I did to accent it:

So...it's coming along, and I'm aiming to have it finished well ahead of the entry deadline for which I'm aiming: April 24.

I'd better have it finished well before that date -- because (and this is the news) once again I've been juried into the Lacombe Art Show & Sale!  Whoo hoo! 

This news also means I have a chance of recouping some of the costs of framing that I just picked up.  😉  And don't these look lovely in their frames?

Fire Moon  (c) 2018

She Thought He Hung the Moon - (c) 2019

Where do I Go from Here? - (c) 2019

As I picked these up, I dropped off two from the "New Directions" series that I showed in my last post.  There'll be at least two more to frame before the Art Show begins.  Maybe more, if I can get that stitching done!

All of this is keeping me sane, in the wake of the deaths of two special people in my life: one of my late husband's cousins in California, and a fellow with whom I sang at church, who died of Type 1 Diabetes -- a cause which most of you by now know is very close to my heart.  The two of us who sang while Dwight picked his guitar so beautifully, will be leading the music worship at his funeral on Friday.

Studio work, beautifully soothing YouTube broadcasts from Kate at Last Homely House East of the Sea, hand-stitch, knitting and long, quiet walks (now that we have both sunshine and above 0 C temps)...all of these bring comfort and balance to my days.

As does Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday to which I'm linking -- belatedly yet again! 

Wishing you all a lovely week...and leaving you with this sneak peek at this year's Art Show, with featured artist, Donna Spencer.  (note: she is special to me not just because I simply love her work, but also because she's the one who bought "Sometimes You Can Walk on Water" for her daughter  AND because she's done another simply wonderful and lovely thing for me:

She suggested to the Lacombe Arts folks that I be asked to be Feature Artist in 2020!!  Well...they took her up on it, and I said "Yes!" (when I found my voice).  So...the next year brings many good things from that blessing, and I am deeply grateful to Donna, Maureen and all the Lacombe Arts community for this honour.

Until November Second....

If you visit Lacombe, you can take in Prairie Puzzles, an exhibit of bed quilts, home decor, art quilts and wearable quilting by five skilled Lacombe stitchers.  The historic Flatiron Building, home of the Lacombe & District Historical Society and the Lacombe Interpretive Centre, is strategically located at the intersection of 50 Avenue (aka Highway 12 or The Main Drag) and 50th Street, and is open Tuesdays through Saturdays, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. (closed for lunch from noon to 1 p.m.).  Admission is free.


I had the opportunity to attend the opening of this exhibit, where I met one of the artists -- Briony Goddard, a talented quilter, embroiderer and beader.  In fact, at present it's her beading for which she's best known -- and it is Metis beading at that!  Below is a short video with Briony about this work:

While the work of the other quilters in the exhibit is lovely -- and Helen Brooks' hand-quilting was particularly superb -- Briony's contributions demonstrates a facility in both traditional and original design.  She and I connected early in the evening and spent over an hour sharing experiences, information, discussing the exhibit and our respective artistic practices.

If you go to the show, look for Briony's beautiful paper piecing, her original circular hangings and her tiny crazy quilted, heavily beaded postcard.

Wormhole Trip - Paper pieced
(C) Briony Goddard, 2013

And if you admire fine hand-quilting, you'll enjoy the work of Helen Brooks, such as this work on a miniature Dresden Plate hanging:

The exhibit is hung just inside the foyer of the Flatiron Building, and photographs are permitted.  Each piece is colourful and demonstrates the variety of work done by these women, all members of the Central Alberta Quilters' Guild and all residents of Lacombe and area.  It's a rich collection of colour and style, and for those in this part of Alberta (and there are many) unfamiliar with original quilt design, it's both a gentle introduction to the art quilt and a fitting tribute to the tradition of quilting for hearth and home.

Finicky Finishing for a Friday

Having had my fun with my first big give-away this morning, I turned my hand to "Tree Line".  I finished the beading yesterday afternoon; here it is, trimmed and on the design wall.

And a couple of detail shots:

Beading on the top left 

Quilting in the grass and trees

Hmmm.  Somehow, it needed a binding rather than an envelope.  A very narrow binding -- to finish it but not detract.  Hmmm...

I turned to an article from American Quilter magazine, the Winter 2006 edition, which was part of a treasure trove of old quilting magazines I bought at my local thrift shop a few months back.  In it is an article by Marci Baker, entitled "A Slim Finish: Narrow Bindings for Miniatures and Small Projects".  I decided on a 1/8" (!) mitred binding in a 'wood grain' fabric from my stash.  (I bought the balance of a bolt of this stuff a few years ago and have had multiple uses for it. I have no idea what I'll do when I run out of it!)

Ms. Baker's directions and the accompanying photos were clear and well done, so even though I'm not fond of fiddly, finicky work, I got the binding on with a minimum of fuss:

After using the usual 1/4" seam, I had to trim and grade the seam allowances down by at least 50% to enable me to roll the binding (1.25" wide, folded in half before applying) over to the back side to stitch down.  Using a tip from Ann Petersen, my Craftsy tutor for "Quilting Big Projects on a Small Machine", I then took my fine, small scissors and trimmed the batting around the corners to further reduce the bulk.

My task this afternoon is to hand-stitch the binding to the back.  As I work, I'm listening to CBC 2 'Shift'...and taking inspiration from Judith Martin, who earlier today wrote THIS...and I'm linking up with Nina-Marie and the gang for Off the Wall Friday.

Blessings for a peaceful start to your weekend, too.  :-)

1001: A Stitch Odyssey*

* With apologies to Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke!  I think I'm a bit giddy with all this anniversary stuff!

This post isn't extra-terrestrial in the least; it's simply about what's moved off the (design) wall and onto my desk.

 

"Tree Line"'s been quilted and is now in the beading stage -- with those beads auditioned (above) to give the impression of leaves. What you see in the photo are loose beads, some clustering more than they will in the final piece, and some less.  It's slow going, but I think I'm managing the look I want.  The piece was very flat until I introduced the beads, and I'm still concerned that the brown grassy area is a bit on the flat side, so some hand-stitching may follow...

Meanwhile, I get to enjoy this slow, meditative process while listening to music (my fave -- classical -- on CBC Radio 2) and/or pod-casts (after the classical programs give way to 'pop' later this afternoon)...and then tonight, Bonnie Hunter has promised Quilt Cam!

And I'm doing a bit of blog reading as I link up to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday.

What?  You don't stitch and read at the same time?  ;-)

Don't forget, comments on any and all posts this week render you eligible for the first anniversary Goodie Pack drawing on Friday, Feb. 15...Click HERE for details.

Sampling Continues

Yes, I picked the layout I liked best, and I began to stitch.

Sulky (R) Colour #4034

First I fused the sky, earth and grass to a foundation fabric (light muslin).  Then I attached the strip of recycled  sweater, using Sulky Blendables 100% cotton thread in "Soft Blacks", using a zig-zag stitch, my stippling foot and the feed dogs up.

Sulky (R) Colour #4011

Sulky (R) Colour #4019

Next I added some thread painting between the hills and grasses, first with Sulky Blendables 100% cotton thread in "Milk Chocolate" and "Forest Floor".

Then I sandwiched the piece and fused the tree trunks, tot-stitching them down with a straight stitch, feed dogs down now, leaving a rough edge.  I stitched the first two with "Soft Blacks" but didn't like the harshness of it against the fabric.  Looking again in my stash I found a hand-dyed cotton thread that I bought several years ago from -- I think -- Stef Francis.  It bears no label, and I couldn't find it on her website, so I'm not sure she even makes it now (if she ever did).  Sigh...

The good news is that I've hardly made a dent in the spool, so I'll have enough of it for the larger assessment piece if all I use it for is stitching down the tree trunks.  :-)


Wanting to add some texture to the grasses (the brown section is grass that has died down), I debated: machine or hand or combination?

Above you see a section of the grasses free-motioned with a jerky stitch that I thought would give an interesting texture.  It was tiring to do on this small piece, so I can't imaging doing it on a larger one (I'm working on a domestic machine).  I kept reminding myself, "it's just a sample" and went on to play with hand-stitching.

First I tried adding some seed stitch to the already-quilted green area.  The dense machine quilting had made the piece relatively inflexible, so it was a bit tough to get the sharp needle to go through it.  I was using wonderful over-dyed cotton embroidery floss -- 2 strands -- "Celadon" from Weeks Dye Works -- a gift from my friend Jeannette Douglas when I went on a stitching cruise with her in 2009.

I like the way this makes the green grassy area look less stiff; somehow the hand stitching gives it life.  However, I liked this bit even better -- the hand stitching alone.

Here's an example of both, side by side.  I'm liking the hand-stitching alone more and more. (The brown is stitched in Gentle Art Thread's "Wood Rose", another gift from Jeannette.)

I thought about adding bits of painted fusible web to the trees for bark texture, but have yet to try it.  arlee's wonderful hand-dyed fabric is so effective that I'm not sure it needs anything else.  However, to be on the 'safe' side, I might just do it...just to see; just to answer the "what if?" :-)

"It's Just a Sample"

I've been working on Activities 4 and 5 of my C&G program (Module 7) this week -- experimenting with stitches for the edges of fused shapes, thinking about thread weight and colour, work by hand or by machine...etc.  Having chosen to go with the second composition, I began to put it together.

First, I fused down the shapes.  Then I began to stitch.  Assignment 4 requires that we use blanket stitch, and that we first explore what our machine can do in this area.  Here's my wee sample from my Husqvarna Lily:

I find I'm partial to the default stitch length (0.4), but slightly larger width -- a 3.0 or 3.5 instead of the default (2.0).

So...then, what colour of thread?  I wanted to keep it subtle, but didn't have enough of the right colour to match the shapes I was going to stitch down (the rectangles -- a turquoise would have matched)...so I went with what I had that matched the background instead: a deep pink Gutermann 100% polyester from my stash (the shops around here sell a lot of Gutermann.  I've been a fan of both Mettler Silk Finish and Sulky (poly, metallic, and "Blendables"), but can't always get them at my LQ Shops.)  The weight isn't marked on the spool, but I think from the look of it, it's 40 or 50 wt.  Here's my sample with satin stitch around the rectangles, FMQ to highlight the leaves on the right, and FMQ leaves in a motif at the bottom.

The next stitch to play with?  Blanket stitch.  First I tried it around the negative bottle shape (left rectangle), again in the Gutermann pink, and it essentially disappeared into the background.  It was also tricky to do a negative shape by machine.  I decided I'd try hand-stitching around the edge of the other bottle:

For this I decided to continue to match the background colour, and found some hand-dyed floss from Gentle Art threads in my stash, in the colour 'Pomegranate', left over from some long-ago project.  I found this worked quite nicely to give it definition without being 'in your face', so to speak.  

Next, the quilting.  At first I was loathe to do much -- afraid of detracting from the motifs.  I began, however, with free-motion in curvy lines to echo the leaves on the right border.  Getting into the process, I hit on the idea to use the rectangles as a quilting shape, so created what I call 'random rectangles' over most of the rest of the background -- dense from the top most of the way down, but sparser as I drew closer to the quilted leaf designs on the bottom.

Then what?  Those little leaf shapes look very bland now!  I decided to experiment with my red InkTense pencil, and this is how it turned out:

Now they look very red, don't they?  I have no purple, but there is a blue pencil in the set, so I think I'm going to gather my nerve and over-colour, just to see what happens.  It might even be terrific!  And if not...well, as teacher Anna Hergert so often says, "It's just a sample".  :-)

The Fall Classes are Up

at Joggles!.. And this is the one with which I'm smitten. I've collected some grand sheers over time, and yes, have used them to cover post-cards or to alter the background of a piece, but this class will inspire and instruct me on different, more multi-dimensional uses of sheer fabric. Nowadays, this is what I look for in a class -- something to stretch me beyond what I already know/do.

Whatever your taste, though, there's a grand selection in the fall line-up, including several dolls, and some particularly useful opportunities to develop thread and/or silk ribbon embroidery and dyeing skills. Enjoy!