Prepped and Coping

Over the last day or two, our weather has cooled and we've had much needed rain.  Today's morning showers, swirling grey clouds and stiff breezes makes it look like Mother Nature is practicing for September, a mere 10 days away.

With cooler weather and the sense that autumn's creeping in comes a renewed Sense of Purpose and a determination to Get Things Done that I welcome after a summer of strained emotions coupled with uncertainty about Where I Go From Here.

Yesterday was mostly about prep:

The garden-fresh beans my sis gave me on Sunday were prepped for blanching and freezing:

I prepped my luncheon omelette:

And I prepped my materials for another series of miniatures at the request of one of "my" galleries -- Different Strokes in Olds -- which re-opens in September after a summer of renovations and roadwork:

Foundations prepped

Sketchbook, inspirational photos, fabrics...

I prepped my "10 x 10: The Unknown Artist" silent auction piece -- now it's ready to hang at the Preview which is Wednesday evening, September 24, at the Lacombe Memorial Centre:

Special thanks to Susan Lenz who is a framer as well as a textile artist, and who gave great advice recently about this sort of hanging paraphernalia on the SAQA Yahoo Group.  :-)

I also did more work on the Japanese Taupe Quilt.  Not liking all the blank space of plain blocks, I auditioned strip-pieced-and-plain four-patches instead:

A. -  Five plain blocks in the centre -- see?

B. - Auditioning 4-patches -- see?

Today?  "Prep" became "WIPs" or "Almost Finished":

This mini is almost there -- but I ran out of the colour of thread I need to create some motion in the sky:

Mini #1 - "There's One in Every Crowd"

This one just needs stitching of the evergreen, and trimming:

Mini #2 - "Sailor's Delight" - WIP

And the Japanese Taupe Quilt is coming together -- because I'm coping!  I discovered my math on the 4-patches was a tad "out", so...instead of starting over, I added narrow coping strips to the blocks and will incorporate them thus:

JTQ - Pieced Section #1 - Rows 1 & 2 (of 5) on design wall

Tomorrow?  I work at the shop, so the studio will have to wait till Friday.  Meanwhile, I'm linking up to WIP Wednesday on The Needle and Thread Network -- let's see what others are up to, shall we?  :-)

P.S.  

• Finished this as a shop sample -- the Bollard Shrug from Berroco, in Weekend Chunky yarn:

Bollard Shrug - Self Portrait!

• SAQA colleague and cyber-friend Susan Lenz (she of the hanging apparatus tutorial) was in Portland, OR, this past weekend for the "Quilt! Knit! Stitch!" show, and saw my piece in the "Coming Up Roses" exhibit.  She had her husband, Steve, photograph her with my piece...see below (used with permission).  I'm thrilled to bits!

So lovely when someone known to you actually recognizes your work!