Life is Good

Indeed!  And moving right along these days.  It's been a full and rich time around here for the last couple of weeks -- on all fronts!

The baby socks are *all* finished.  I played "yarn chicken" with the Patons stretch from the first pair -- managed a 3rd sock but not a fourth, so will send along the extra one "in case one gets lost".  With that, I cast on a second full pair out of a cotton-wool-nylon blend (no 'stretch' feature), and finished those today. 

Pattern: "Baby Socks"
Designer: Kate Atherly
Free pattern on Ravelry
Yarn: Meilenweit "Cotton Fondo"
Colour #6507

Pattern: Baby Socks
Designer: Kate Atherly
Yarn: Patons Stretch 
in the "Kelp" colour-way

Both pair need to be washed, and then will go into the mail on Tuesday (Monday is a holiday here in Alberta).  And yes, the ends have been sewn in on both pair now! 

The Art in the Park 2022 pieces have all been shipped to the Revelstoke Visual Arts Centre in B.C.  Canada Post Tracking says a Notice was left -- for pick up (2 boxes) on Feb. 14 -- so I can only hope they've been picked up and are safely at their destination!  (If you want to see what the pieces look like, check my post from January 28. 😊)

Or...you could just check out the "Up-coming Exhibits" page from the Gallery itself...where you'll find THIS!!!

"Meadow Impressions" is in the upper left corner!!!

As if that weren't enough...I had a phone meeting with Christina, who's in charge of the Lacombe Art Show & Sale this year.  All is in readiness, as I sent her several photos for publicity, as well as an outline of my Artist's Talk for the Show.  She's been under the weather (hence the phone meeting instead of in person) but we hope to meet soon to do a short publicity video too.

All of this activity had me thinking that maybe I really am an artist -- still -- so I bit the bullet and took out a 1-year 'Basic Membership' in Artists in Canada -- you can see my slot HERE.

As for more utilitarian quilting...I finished the comfort quilt for my neighbour in hospital:

And I finally finished the flimsy of "Rhododendron Trail" -- Bonnie Hunter's 2021 Mystery quilt.  I made it 3/4 size (or so) and it's still a twin-sized 70" x 85"!  

For the outer border, I made a decision: I was not going to use a template in the centre of each border, to allow the "geese" to change direction.  That was okay but...I ran out of geese -- so the decision became irrelevant! LOL!  I got the long sides done -- but on the shorter top and bottom I had to "cope" and add orphan blocks from who-knows-where -- just ones that had suitable colours.  It's okay.  It looks fine and I'm happy with it, and that's all that matters!  It'll go to my local favourite long-armer later this spring, when I find enough backing fabric and $$ to pay for her work!

With one finished bed quilt top, it's time to clear out more stash with another -- so I'm working on Bonnie's "Triple Treat" -- the "leaders and enders" project for 2022-23.  Each 'block' is made up of 4 smaller blocks, so I made test blocks this week (the dark brown in the corners is all the same fabric; it's the photo that's wonky):

I've lots of 4-patch supplies; it's finding fabrics for the larger sections in the corners that is a bit of a challenge -- but I'm working on it!  Each group of 4 smaller units makes a 12" finished block, so I should be able to make a throw-sized quilt without too much problem,     quilting it myself...and it will be to give away.

In stitchy news...not a lot I can show.  I'm working on another birthday gift for a friend; it's tiny, so I'm almost half-finished.  I decided to follow Sarah of 'Sarah's Stitchy Spot' on FlossTube, and designated Thursdays as 'red sampler' days, so I can finish "Ruth Gibb" and move on to others I want to do.  And this week, the chart and Roxy Floss Co. floss arrived from Evertote.ca so that I can start a new piece for my son's 38th birthday in June:

Pattern: "Here Be Dragons"
Designer: Jakob DeGraaf of Modern Folk Embroidery

My son's a long-time dragon afficionado (even has a tattoo of one on one arm) so...I'm hoping he'll like this!  The fabric is from my stash -- a 28-count white Lugana.  I got enough floss to do 2-over-2, but will change to 1-over-2 if I don't like the look.  It's a pretty good-sized stitch...so I'm starting now!

That's all the news that's fit to print -- for now.  I'll leave you with wishes for a happy, cozy, stitchy, quilty, knitty, artsy weekend -- and with the usual link to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday where, this week, she has multiple projects on the go too!  Proof positive that creative action keeps us young, imaginative, and vital!

Blessings, everyone -- all for now!