Sunday, February 04, 2018

"February Puff and Blow..."

"...fill the ditches full of snow!"

That was another of my mother's favourite collection of expressions (or cliches) -- and Mother Nature certainly took February up on that here the last few days!

Ah...but I have a cozy wee house with a well-functioning furnace, and a studio full of fabric, fibre and floss, so...with no need to travel, what's not to like?

And even better, those February winds have blown away any angst I was feeling when I wrote my last post.  

With February's impending arrival, last Monday I hit the ground running and I'm only pausing to write this and share before I go back to it.

First, I prepared and mailed photos to that client for that potential commission.  Then I prepared and packaged my application for the Lacombe Art Show and Sale -- the full meal deal because there appears to be no 'Gallery' option this year, and I didn't want to skip it altogether.  This I delivered to City Hall on Thursday.

Wednesday I worked on a bit of the never-ending scarf for my charity knitting, but then headed to the sewdio to pick up the crumbs.

Crumbs?

Remember the 'crumb quilt' I started on before my last post?  This one:



Well.

I decided that looked too much like work (I was going to need at least 24 blocks to make it any size)...but I loved the idea of intersecting blocks with that bright turquoise, and figured I might just make some solo pieces with it.

By yesterday I'd finished four, each of which has yet to be quilted, but which should finish at 12" square. I think they make wild, colourful art pieces that would brighten up a room singly or in pairs or whatever.

I call them "crumbpilations" (because they're compilations of crumbs of fabric)...

(L) Intersection and (R) Take the Back Roads
(C) 2018
(L) You Can't Get There from Here 
and (R) Never the Twain Shall Meet
(C) 2018

(Click on the photos to enlarge.)

Also on Wednesday I trotted "Storm Brewing" and "December Dusk" to the framer's because...well, because I had to go to Stettler anyway.  Stettler's the home of the only nearby Wal-Mart, and while I don't shop WM much, it's a good place to go for housewares at reasonable cost when you need 'em in a hurry.

Which I did, because in the middle of working on another 'Inspired by Scotland' piece, my steam iron died.  It was a Sunbeam, my third in about 45 years...and it didn't owe me anything, but I was sad, because I really liked it.  Alas, in the midst of fusing some fabric, it made a very funny noise, let off a burning smell, and quit.  Period.

Blessedly, I found another Sunbeam and back to the studio...to finish first this:


Abbey Echoes I - (C) 2018
12" x 12" unframed
Printed on cotton and on layers of organza;
machine quilted, bound.

And then, yesterday, this:

Abbey Echoes II - (C) 2018
16" x 20" unframed
Printed on cotton and organza,
laid over purchased hand-dyed fabric,
wrapped around stretched canvas.

I'm considering auditioning the first on stretched canvas too, but that will wait till I've finished stitching down the binding.  The second will go into a floater frame if the cost won't make it hard to sell. (Ah, the things one must consider when showing in a small-city/town market!)

Both of these were inspired by photos I took at the Abbey in Melrose, Scotland last fall.  I turned these...




Into grey-scale and then into contour drawings,





...which I used to get the general outlines for the 'echoes'.

Finally, I finished off yesterday with the first of the February blocks -- again in triplicate -- of The Quilt Show's 2018 Block of the Month, designed by Edyta Sitar, which (so far) I'm making up in oddments of black, white and red -- part of my continuing effort to reduce my stash.  I just love the look of this colour combo!



And look!  Nothing sewn in backwards!  πŸ˜‰

Today...we're under an "Extreme Cold Warning" this morning -- with wind-chills as low as -40 C (or -40 F; they're equivalent at this point!), so I'm playing hookey from church (I've not shovelled yet!) and will be cutting strips for that Four-rail Fence I've been commissioned to make.

Linking this to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday...to rejoice with her that she too has broken through the January doldrums and is back at work in her studio again!

Happy Super-bowl Sunday for those who watch...

Onward and Upward!



4 comments:

Bethany Garner said...

Hi Marg...

The winds are blowing lightly, but "painful to walk in" snow like mad in our neck of the Ontario woods. Winter is here again for a few days ow, and I am driving to Massachusetts Saturday so it better be done before then.
We have much in common - I am working on a Photoshop series of Arches for new work this spring...cathedrals and Canadian Forces Base Arch...
and the Quilt Show Edita BOM as well! Fun!

Hoping you stay warm and safe... MAKE ART!
bethany

rtquilter said...

I have one question, Margaret!!! Where do you get the energy??? You are doing some very cool work there! Keep up the good workπŸ˜ŠπŸ‘πŸ»πŸ‘πŸ» I am dividing my time between the Beech Leaves quilt- quilting, and my renewed passion for watercolour. There is not enough time in a day or energy in my poor body to do everything I want to do, but at least I WANT to do it again! Thanks be to God, seriously! I had lost almost All interest for a while. Perhaps it is Mum's spirit giving me a boot in the bottom. Whatever, good to be back in the "fold"!

Judy Warner said...

Glad to see you are keeping warm, Margaret, and have lots of projects to keep you busy. Love the Scotland ones particularly. We are having an unusually warm winter here - your cold air is flowing just past us which is quite a surprise for me. No snow since mid-January but plenty of rain which bodes well for summer conditions here. :)

Linda A. Miller said...

Happy to see you are keeping busy as usual. Love the abbey pieces influenced by your travels... thanks for sharing.