August = Abundance

It's been a very full three weeks since I last wrote you, Gentle Readers.  Shortly after that post, my raspberry bushes exploded with berries and I've been picking and making and picking and making ever since!

The first pick (at left) was the day after I posted, and it's been a steady stream of eating, preserving, baking and sharing.  I've made thirteen jars of jam -- the last 9 shown at right, below -- and this morning I'll be making at least 4 more.  

I've also made two "bumbleberry" crumbles: raspberries, rhubarb, blueberries and apple.  One, 9" x 13", I took to church to share at coffee hour after the service (another gal brought vanilla ice cream -- perfection!)  The other, 9" x 9", is in my sister's cottage freezer to share with the family tomorrow, as my kids will be visiting from Edmonton!  Hooray!

And I made a batch of 18 raspberry muffins, some being eaten (by me), some shared with neighbours, and some -- yes -- still in the freezer.

I've been enjoying my own leaf lettuce and watching carefully to see if my (currently) tiny zucchini will get a wee bit bigger.  Right now they're only finger-sized, and I'd really rather them resemble a small cucumber than a gherkin!

On the textile making front, I've managed to finish the "purple to peach" bobbin of handspun yarn I was working on in my last post and am making headway on a spindle of black alpaca/wool roving.  Here's what it looked like after a spinning session Thursday morning:

Once I get the bobbin full -- and I'm almost there -- I'll ply it with the purple-to-peach for what I hope will be a lovely marl.

I continue to enjoy making hooked mats, and finished the little "text" one I showed in my last post.  It's now a little cushion, shown here in my Outdoor Studio:

I'm not sure I really like hooking letters/text, but I certainly learned a great deal from that experiment!

I followed that by creating a landscape based on a view on the walking route I take regularly around this wee hamlet.  I call it "Tree Island" (for obvious reasons), and will have it framed and probably hung in the Gallery at Curiosity Art & Framing in Red Deer.  I finished it earlier this week, but it has to be blocked and hemmed before I take it for a frame:

"Tree Island" - 12 1/2" x 14 1/2" before blocking

You might be able to see where my scroll frame is -- yes; it's outside, on my fibre freezer, which has become a favourite place for me to do this work.  Here's a better photo of the set-up:

Studio on the Back Stoop!

It doesn't mean I won't hook indoors; I just really like the way this worked!

On the knitting front, I've finished a sock and am half-way up the front piece of the Vincas tee I'm making for myself, but sorry -- no new photos of these projects at the moment.  I want to finish the tee by the end of this month, as in September I'll have to get back to the "Presto Vesto" in order to finish it for my daughter for Xmas.

And yes, there is still quilting.  The July heat wave disappeared after the first week of this month, and we've had cooler weather and some rain.  One day was perfect for staying inside to quilt, so I finished assembling the blocks of a throw I'm calling the Rectangle Pinwheel, and I got the borders on.  As of this writing, it's sandwiched but needs to be pin-basted and quilted so I can get it to my friend in Red Deer, who'll be taking it to a quilt shop south near Calgary, where it will join others and be given to those who lost everything in the Jasper Park fires. 

(Photo at left: all that remains of the Anglcian Parish church of St. Mary and St. George, Jasper, Alberta, July 2024.)

I'd like to get a second one done, but don't know if I'll be fast enough.  The Airdrie shop wants them by the end of September.

"Rectangle Pinwheel"
Block Pattern: Pinker n Punkin Designs
Approx 57" x 62" before quilting
Made completely from stash

Although I set aside the Celtic Block quilt construction, I'll be getting back to it later this fall.  I've done all the block units now and am ready to begin assembly of the blocks themselves.  Each one takes four units, and will measure 22" (finished).  Once I've got the first 9 assembled, I'll go back and repeat the process with the remaining fabric, as I need another seven of these large blocks in order to make the quilt the right size!

I also delayed working on the 2024 BOM from "A Quilting Life", but this week managed to put together the blocks for July.  I'm making the smaller block (8" finished) so am making two of these for each month:

I think I'm finally making a dent in the Thimbleberries left-overs I've had for years (left from two kitted quilts, long finished and given away) -- but I'd best not speak too loudly, as we all know how scraps of whatever size breed in the night!!

And yes...there's still stitching!

Having finished the wee Canadian sampler, Julia Amelia Hounslow, I've backed it and am ready to stuff it and turn it into a little pillow -- so it's in a stack of three or four, waiting for that to happen!

And, as mentioned in my last post, I started a second Canadian sampler -- Emiline Hotchkiss, Lacolle, 1846. I worked steadily on it until the end of July, making good progress -- but alas, no photo!  Stay tuned; it will return in Sampler September!

I decided that this month I'd work on "floral" WIPs (Works In Progress), and began by spending the first week on Kathy Barrick's "Wildflowers", which I began...over a year ago.  Here's my progress as of August 2, when I began to work on it again:

I've now finished filling in that flower on the lower left, all the leaves, and the stems, and have moved to put in another blossom on the upper right -- near the star.  I know; I know.  I should be better and taking photos, but I'd rather be stiching!

This week I'm working on finishing the border around a WIP from 2022 -- Jeannette Douglas' "Vintage Blooms" (a series of free motifs, no longer available as such).  

Here's what the last of the bouquets looked like before I stopped stitching:

Shown: November & December 'blooms'
with inner horizontal border above

And here's the outer border I'm talking about.  I began it in December 2021, before the first "blooms" pattern was released, so I could set the scene.  I'm using DMC 712 for the border, two threads over two, on 28-count Platinum Cashel linen from Zweigart:

I finished the bouquets all on the same piece of fabric, and the borders in between them.  I'd done the outer border across the top and down the left side -- so all I had to do was the bottom border and up the right side.  Well!  As of last evening, that bottom border is done and yes, I'm travelling up the right side with a hope and a prayer that it will match at the top when it's finished! LOL!  Photo next post!

I expect to finish this border in the next few days, and then will either go back to Kathy Barrick's "Wildflowers" (above) or perhaps another floral I've had forever and began to work on this spring: "Buttercup Alphabet" by Cathy Jean of The Victoria Sampler.  I got it, I think, in 2008, when I went on a retreat Thea Dueck hosted at her home studio in Victoria, B.C.  It's pretty, and small, so I should get on it!  If I spend 7 sessions on it, I'll likely be finished -- or close to it!

I think that's all the news I have to share for now, Gentle Readers, so I'll wish you blessings and lots of time for creating, until we meet again.  I'll leave you with my usual link to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday (it's so good to know she's back at her quilting frame!) and send you out with a floral photo or two from my garden...

A bientot!

Yellow daylily - July 29,2024

Red-orange daylily, July 29, 2024

Poppies & daisies in the wildflower bed,
July 2024

Pink double impatiens in the planter,
August 5, 2024