Why Make?

This is question that never really leaves my mind.  Why make?  Why make art?  Why make anything at all?

Because the artist cannot help herself.  The artist must make art.  And in the same way, the maker of anything -- assuming the maker is a living being, that is -- must make that thing, those things.

Deanne Fitzpatrick makes hooked rugs for the floor and the wall, but that's simply her method, her medium.  In reality, she writes in her Sunday Letters (and says on her podcasts), she is making comfort, peace, thoughtful expression -- and beauty.

Judy Martin makes hand-stitched, hand quilted pieces for the wall and elsewhere.  But again, that's simply her method, her medium.  In reality, she writes in her blogs, she is making comfort, peace, thoughtful expression -- and beauty.

Why do I make?

I make pieces with textiles: cotton and/or linen fabrics (and sometimes polyester or a bit of silk); with threads: cotton or silk (and sometimes polyester or a bit of wool); and with yarn: 99.99% of the time, wool.  Sometimes I make pictures, sometimes abstractions, and sometimes I use OPI (Other People's Instructions).  But these are simply my methods, my media.  In reality, I too am making comfort, peace, thoughtful expression -- and beauty.

As Judy wrote in her recent Journal post, as a whole, since the 1800s, people -- at least in our Western culture filled with reason and commerce and conspicuous consumption -- have divided the creation of something -- the making of things -- into whether what is produced can considered 'useful' and 'practical' -- or not.  And if its not seen as utilitarian, then it's less highly valued. She wrote, that when we make "usefulness" the most important criterion for making something, those of us who produce art simply for art's sake, begin to doubt our worth. 

I don't know any artist who hasn't had those same doubts.  I know I have -- especially when I stopped producing art for sale.  Yes, I have art for sale -- in independent shows I choose to enter, and in the collections at Andrea Hatch's Curiosity Art and Framing gallery in Red Deer, Alberta.

But I never started to make art for money.  It piles up in my small house, and so I put it on show and out for sale because...why not?  If it doesn't sell, it doesn't sell.  It's still  out there for the viewing and the enjoyment of others -- and for that, for the deep support Andrea's given me for almost 20 years now -- I am grateful.

Here's some of what I've been making lately:

I took on Deanne Fitzpatrick's "10-minutes-a-day" rug hooking Challenge for 2024.  I started it in the last week of June, when the kit I ordered for it arrived -- and finished it July 1st!  It's 6" x 17", an odd size as far as mounting it on a canvas goes, so  I'm pondering ordering one of the frames her Studio makes for just this size.  Here's "Little Yellow Flowers", designed by Deanne using the kit, on burlap -- and placing the colours just the way I wanted:

Once that was done, I decided I wanted to play with hooking letters on a plain background, to make a cushion just for me.  I chose the words based on one of Deanne's Sunday Letters -- the essay entitled "Searching for Perfect":

"As we all come to terms with the new normal we have experienced with Covid, there is a bit of a reckoning.  We all realize that things are different now.  Still sometimes we are suddenly taken aback by it all.  We have all been shocked into those new normals around us.  Those sullen moments where you think that it is just so different, are not yours alone.  

I have those moments too.  And in them I turn to my rug hooking and my writing.  I turn to creativity and joy and love and prayer and I try to deepen my relationships with those things.  Because those things are still there.  They are unchanging in the midst of great change.  We need their constancy more than ever...Because making feels right and it brings me back to myself, the self that believes in hope and joy and wonder and love..."   -- Deanne Fitzpatrick, Sunday Letters, Deanne Fitzapatrick Rug Hooking Studio, Amherst, NS, Canada, (c) 2022 - p. 52 (emphasis mine)

I call this little piece, "What Lasts" -- and here is my progress as of yesterday:

 

 I'm learning a lot making this, and the process itself soothes my soul and eases my mind.

It's been very hot in these parts for over two weeks now, so spinning has taken a bit of a back seat.  I love to do it outside, and the early morning is the only time it's been cool enough -- but any sort of yard work I want to do has often claimed priority (useful, right? Sigh...)  Still, I managed to fill a bobbin with the purple-to-pink-to-peach section of the Falklands braid (roving) I won last year in the Two Ewes Summer Spin in:

It's the finest I've ever spun, I think.  My plan is to ply it with a single from black alpaca I still have from a large assortment I was given a year or more ago -- but first I have to spin that up...soon, I hope, now that most of the yardwork I needed to do is done.

On the knitting front, I traded knitting woolly things -- like the vest for my daughter and the pullover for me -- for something in cotton.  I've had the pattern for a summer tee top -- the Vincas tee, from Berocco -- for a long time, and the cotton yarn even longer.  at last the two paired up, and earlier this week I finished the back, and cast on the front!

Photo taken just before back was finished!
Pattern: Vincas
Designer: Berocco Design Team
Yarn: Estelle "Young Touch Cotton DK"

If I plug away, I might have it finished before fall! 😆

As for cross stitch, I declared July to be "Canada Month" and have been working on reproductions of samplers originally stitched by young Canadian girls.  The first one is "Julia Amelia Hounslow (1848)", which was reproduced by The Essamplaire, out of Red Deer, Alberta.  I bought it last year for a Canada Day start -- and after that, set it aside, but this year I finished it!

It's a wee thing, only about 6 1/2" x 7 1/2" on 25-count.  I stitched it on 36-count "Cream and Sugar" by Fiber on a Whim, so it's even smaller.  And I used DMC and a bit of Soie d'Alger from my stash:

I'll make it into a little pillow for my bowl.

Julia Amelia is believed to have stitched her sampler in or around Sweetsburg in the Eastern Townships of Quebec.

My next sampler was reproduced by Kathleen Littleton of Cross-stitch Antiques, and was originally created by another Quebecer: Emeline Hotchkiss (1846).  She was from the area of Lacolle, Quebec, which is a community of about 1,000, and a major border crossing from Quebec to northern NY State.  I grew up near there, and my step-father worked at that crossing (and 2 others) as an officer for Canada Immigration back in the day (he retired in 1978 and with my mother moved west to the Okanagan of B.C.)  

This week I began that sampler, and was intrigued.  I wondered if some folks on FB -- in the public group, Chateauguay Valley Photos and Memories -- would know anything about a Hotchkiss family in Lacolle area over 100 years ago.  I posted an inquiry on the page, and wasn't disappointed!  In the comments, they sent me these treasures:

First, a newspaper item believed to be the death notice of a Mrs. Hotchkiss who very well could have been Emeline's mother:

Next, an Ancestry.com record that could show a connection to other relations, including those in the US.:

And finally, the piece de resistance -- a photo of dear Emeline's headstone.  She died at age fourteen...😢

I decided to try to contact Ms. Littleton, who reproduced the sampler, and she was delighted to have this additional information.  It's a special blessing, indeed, when something so serendipitous happens; this was a highlight of my week.

So I am diligently stitching away on the border of her sampler.  Here's my progress as of last evening:

I'm working it on 40-count Vellum from Picture This Plus, using some called-for DMC and some alternates from my stash that are close to those called for -- ones that weren't available at the LNS/art/craft shop near me.

In addition to "Julia Amelia", I had another finish this month -- a Fully Finished object, that is!  "Cake Tier" became a flat mount applied to the cover of a spiral-bound recipe journal and was mailed off to my friend P. in Westmount (a city within the city of Montreal!) for a belated birthday gift.  My eternal gratitude to Helen D of floss-tube fame (aka East Coast Crafter), whose tutorial on flat mounts was instrumental in how good it looks!

Yes, there's a bit of quilting going on too -- early-ish in the day, when my south-facing studio is still fairly cool.  I'm working on a Very Special Quilt -- which my daughter has commissioned me to make -- a gift for some good friends of hers who have a special anniversary next year.  We chose the pattern and the fabric online (Hamel's Fabrics) almost 2 years ago, because it was the pattern and colours she felt would be most suitable.  

It's the Celtic Knots Quilt kitted through Halcyon Fabrics, using their lovely blues/aquas/cream fabrics (this link to Hamel's info on it is dated June 2022 -- I told you it was a couple of years old!)

It's one of the more complex patterns I've pieced, and of course it had to be 'up-sized' from 90" x 90" to 104" x 104" for a king-sized bed...!  (It's the notion that "Mom can do anything" kicking in again! LOL!)

Anyway, I washed all the fabric (as is my habit), ironed it and labelled it with the colour number as recommended.  This is turning out to be very important, as messing up the colour order would mess up the pattern.  Here's my stack of prepped fabric:

And an example of how I labelled each fabric in the line:

Next I cut the fabrics into strips, rectangles and squares.  The strips were used for strip sets, cross cut to make pairs of squares.  I then assembled 144 (count 'em!) units composed of rectangles and those strip-set units:

Each day for the last three now I've been assembling larger units -- 10 1/2" unfinished -- in groups of five, which will go together to make the final large blocks:

Block set #1

Block set #2

Block set #3

I still have a number of sets of five to assemble, and then some sets of four blocks.  After that...I'm assuming they'll all come together with sashing to make a beautiful whole.

That's all well and good -- but the units I've cut were only for 9 large blocks of 22" (finished) each -- and I need 16 to make the size of quilt desired. So...the process will begin again with the remaining fabric (yes, Hamel's Fabrics owner and staff figured out how much extra we had to buy!) to make the remaining 7 blocks.

Once that's done, there will be an inner border, a narrow 'zinger' and a wider outer border.

Onward!

The last bit of beauty being made around here has been in my garden, which continues to delight me, even as I dead-head dandelions and other spent blossoms, prune deadwood from shrubs and aging ornamental trees, and try to keep the young cats from digging in every bare patch of dirt where seeds were once sown!

Here's just a taste...

Just some of the peonies I brought inside.

This is the first blossom for my youngest peony!

Brown-eyed Susans watching every move
in the meadow!

Poppies competing with daisies under
the big twin willow

Sweet William in pink in the east bed

Nearby, Sweet William in white

And in the aged ornamental on the front lawn,
which I pruned mightily over 2 days, a belated
bouquet of blooms!

And so, my friends, I'll close this l-o-o-o-o-ng post for now, with my usual link to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday.  As I understand it, she has a new job and is working long hours -- meaning that while she might be solving problems creatively, she's definitely been in the "utilitarian" zone.  I hope she has some time to wind down and refocus for a bit...

Stay safe, Gentle Readers, in spite of extreme heat, flooding and/or tornados. May you find beauty every day.

A bientot!

More Blue, More Gold

 "These quilts are not going to fix the war." -- Judy Martin, in her recent blog post about her one-patch quilts.

And she's right.  But in the face of helplessness, trying not to move into hopelessness, one keeps on keeping on, using one's gifts to bring comfort in light to as many cold, dark places as one can -- including preparing for the arrival of refugees from Ukraine -- and perhaps even from Russia, as so many escape there too.

In my last post I was just starting the construction of a small Double Irish Chain quilt in 2 shades of blue and a very pale shade of yellow.  The top is now finished -- measuring 42" by 60" -- and is sandwiched with a royal blue background.  I'll quilt it later today. 

Flimsy draped over a living room chair

It's all solid fabrics -- but I managed to find a scrap of a print that had the right colours and was just large enough for four cornerstones.  I only wish I'd had more of it to use in the quilt itself!

Close up of one of the corner-stones

A few days ago I happened on a YouTube tutorial from "Brita, the Questioning Quilter", who'd created a blue-and-yellow 'Magic 4-patch' (i.e. a Disappearing 4-patch with Possibilities), and decided that I needed to make a second small quilt. I didn't have much in the way of appropriate blue fabric left (I'd put most of the last of it into the backing of the Irish Chain), and I didn't want to use that insipid yellow again, so when I was in town on Thursday I stopped in at my LQS and bought 2 1/2 metres each of these:

Glorious! They read as 'solid' but each has some texture and I'm delighted with them.  At under $15 a metre, too (they came from the 'once it's gone, it's gone' section of the shop).  Once they're washed (I take no chances!) I'll start that quilt.  I've taken some notes and some screen shots so I can experiment with finding a layout that I like.  I've also saved the link to the video to re-watch if I need more info.  I may be good at free-ranging art and/or improv quilts, but pieced patterns are another matter!  😆

I figure once this second quilt is done, I'll have enough scraps and strings to start the Hearts of Hope quilt that Bonnie Hunter has designed.  Her intro was on her blog yesterday, and Part 1 of the instructions will follow next week (March 25).

Also on Thursday, the mail included my order of a special pair of hand-dyed skeins -- one blue, one yellow -- from Handmaiden/Fleece Artist yarns in Nova Scotia .  I've caked it up and cast on a colour-work cowl done in mosaic knitting -- the Dissent Cowl, designed by Carissa Browning -- on Ravelry. (I chose the knit version; there's a crocheted one too).  Ms. Browning designed this pattern to honour the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg; I feel it's just the right pattern for this beautiful Blue-Faced Leicester (BFL) sport-weight yarn, and the cause being resisted: the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine by a tyranical bully.

Once finished, the cowl will probably get tucked in with the quilts for donation to refugees.  Maybe I'll even have enough yarn for two!

And I continue to stitch!  In my last post I also mentioned Jacob De Graaf's free cross-stitch pattern .  I've been working on it a bit each day, learning as I go.  I said in that last post I was using a 'mystery fabric', and that it was a pretty fine count.  There's a double outer border of blue stitches, which I did with 2 strands of the DMC (#322) -- and I found it rather 'thick', slow going.  When I got to the two inner borders -- in yellow DMC (#444), I went with a single strand, and it's been much easier ever since!

Now, I learned to cross-stitch about 60 years ago (a few years after I learned to knit), and have never worked on anything smaller that 28-count linen or even-weave.  But lately?  Yep.  I've found that with good light I can do 32- or 36-count or whatever this 'mystery' fabric is -- using a single strand!  Whoo-hoo!

Here's the progress I've made to date:

Just starting to embroider the text.
More flowers -- in yellow and blue -- to come.

There have been some other finishes along the way too.  First, a long-languishing pair of socks:

Pattern: Desert Planet Tattooine
Designer: Heidi Nick
Yarn: Opal 4 Fach 4 ply
Started: October 1, 2015
Finished: March 10, 2022

They fit; I've worn them; they're comfortable!  And I've put the remainer of that ball into this new project: the Sock Knitter's Pullover -- designed by Merri Fromm, from knitty.com.  I'm making it all in left-over sock/fingering yarn, one strand only.  Just into my third left-over ball, I'm 3/4 through the raglan increases; here you see it when I was still using the left-overs from those socks.  (You can see more on my Ravelry project page HERE.)

And two small comfort quilts are finally finished -- destined for either the Ukrainian refugees (though not in specific colours) or for Blankets of Love (a charity that donates comfort quilts to patients in psychiatric care).  Here's the first...

"Earth & Sky" - 28" x 30" -- on the snow
in my back yard.  No specific pattern; just scraps.

"Earth & Sky" -- a glimpse of the back.

And the second:

"Easy Breezy" -- done Quilt-as-you-go
Designed by Bonnie Hunter as a 'Leaders-and-
Enders' project a couple of years ago
39" square, no borders

And the back...I ran out of red fabric for the sashing!

And so it goes.

It's International Quilting Day, and I hope to get to quilting that Double Irish Chain, but it's beautifully sunny and forecast to reach at least +10 C (about 50 F) so I want a good walk.  Freezing rain and snow are set to move in over night, with snow forecast through mid-to-late afternoon tomorrow, so...I'd best get going.  If I'm stuck inside tomorrow, I can still quilt -- and knit -- and stitch!

I'm linking this to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday, and sending her Get Well wishes, as she says she's taking a sick day today.  Hugs to her -- and hugs to you, Gentle Readers!

Remember to  care for each other and...

All is Revealed!

It's that time again: the 15 x 15 International Art Quilt Group Reveal is UP!

This year we are each working in a series based on a theme of our choosing -- a theme used in a prior year.

My chosen theme is "Time/Seasons" and I've been working my pieces out in abstract, mod/improv techniques.  Here's my latest offering:

Agnes Meets Judy in the Spring
(C) 2017

Here's a detail shot:

Agnes Meets Judy - Detail

Materials: self-dyed cotton fabric, commercial cotton and poly-cotton fabric, hand-dyed silk floss, cotton thread, 80-20 cotton/polyester batting.

Techniques: flip-and-stitch quilt-as-you-go by machine, big-stitch hand quilting.

For the story behind the title of the piece, I invite you to visit the post HERE.  Enjoy!

Linking this to WIP Wednesday on the Needle and Thread Network, because it's been a very long time since I've done that!  :-)

Have a great rest of the week...

A Page from Judy's Journal

Today on her blog, Judy Martin's post reminded me of this...

October 1987/October 2012

And this...

At Sylvan Lake - August 2009

And this...

Sometime in the late 1990s/July 23, 2016

"Think with your heart", she wrote.

Yes.

Up and Down

For the past couple of weeks the temps around here have surpassed their usual, pleasant early July pattern (mid-twenties Celsius) and soared up to 30 C or more (with humidex).  When there's been a breeze, it's been fine for being outdoors.  Work on my kitchen cabinet painting project has progressed.  All nine doors up above the counter have been finished -- and of course, what was taken down had to be put up again:

First Doors Up

Now I am working lower down, below the counter.  You can get a glimpse of before and after all at once:

What a difference between old (L) and new (R)!

*********

Most of Wednesday was too hot for this project, so I spent hours researching abstract painters for my online class, "Abstract Art for Quilters" with the wonderful Elizabeth Barton through the Academy of Quilting.   I found a gem guaranteed to inspire and buoy me up when I'm down in the doldrums, as I have been much of this summer.  Her name was Agnes Martin (1912 - 2004), born and raised in Saskatchewan, who studied and lived most of her life in the art mecca that is New Mexico.  Some of her wisdom re: art and life:

Do what you were born to do.  That is the way to be happy.

Art is the concrete representation  of our most subtle feelings.

 Music is the highest form of art.  It's completely abstract.

Although I don't believe there's any relation, her paintings remind me of the work of one of my textile art heroes, Judith (Judy) Martin of Ontario. to wit:

The Islands - Agnes Martin
72" b 72" - acrylic and graphite on canvas

paradise is what lies beyond the horizon (one)
 Judith e Martin - 2012
19" x 19" - domestic linen, acrylic paint, thread, paper

You can follow Judy Martin on her blog HERE, and from there follow links to her work.  Agnes Martin's work is still being exhibited by the Pace Gallery.  You can listen to wonderful discussions of her work as related to that of other abstract artists, and to an interview with Agnes herself on You Tube - "Agnes Martin on Not Thinking".

(NOTE: the clip is preceded by an advertisement.)

***********

Art making -- doing anything with my hands, really -- anything rhythmic and colourful -- is soothing.  It lifts me up out of the world, up out of the griefs and sorrows -- the 'slings and arrows of outrageous fortune' (Shakespeare - Hamlet) -- that conspire to keep our spirits down.  Like Agnes Martin, I'd like to train myself to stop thinking...to have "...a clear mind, so that when something comes into it, you can see it" and take it from there.

(For SAQA members, there are a couple of recent conversations underway on the  SAQA Yahoo Group about art making while living as we do in the midst of personal and global tragedy, violence and unrest...)

And that's whats off my wall today, so I might as well link this up to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday...and see what the others think (and what they're up to)!

Friday Inspiration

Even though I'll be out of the studio the better part of the next four days, I am determined to focus and 'work on the work' when I am there -- at least 3 days per week for the foreseeable future, and as often as possible, 4.

I draw inspiration once again from Judy Martin...and from one who inspires her.

When I work on a quilt, I put away all thoughts that are not helpful and channel my energies towards relaxing and becoming one with my fabrics. 

Since I work intuitively, this is absolutely important. 

I begin to see shapes in my head and think about how to cut them out of my huge palette of colors that I have hand-dyed in my basement dye studio. 

Never, ever do I think about what others expect or want or what will sell, but rather I look at my time in my studio as a process of discovery. I love being inside my brain and pushing myself to think in ever more complex ways because I know the ideas are there for the taking. 

It’s all about being focused and disciplined and making use of one’s abilities. 

And about being alone, in solitude, so one can think and feel deeply without interruption. 

I have definitely grown far closer to myself rather than to others because I see my quilt-making as my experience which has nothing to do with other people.

-- Nancy Crow

More Creative Women

I say that a bit boldly, because if you took a close look at the SAQA Benefit Auction pieces in my last post, you'll have noted they're not all created by women.  (Grin)

However, I wanted a bit of a connection between that post and this one from John Hopper about the makers involved in this enterprise founded by Ellen Dorsch of Vermont.  To my delight, I've found a location in Edmonton that's on the list of vendors of these products.  It's now on my "must see" list for my next trip up there!


And then... I wanted to draw your attention to this work by Canadian artist Judith (Judy) Martin...work I've admired before, and which continues to inspire.  Taking a page from her book, I'm compelled to resume work on the crazy quilt blocks I abandoned a year ago, worn out from trying to do one a week.

I may or may not resume that pace, but return to them I will, this fall...a perfect slow-stitching project for the winter.  I haven't lost sight of the piece for which I began to make them in the first place...and Judith's persistence has motivated me to get back at it!

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.  :-)