Christmas is Coming!

Part I: How'd that happen?!

I know; I know.  It happens on the same day every year.  It's just that with every passing year, the months seem to evaporate more quickly.  Here it is November 25, over 3 weeks since my last post -- and I was going to try to post more often.  Ah well.

It's not as if I've been idle all that time!  A full ten days was spent at home because we got a Bag of Nasty Mix from Mother Nature: rain, followed by freezing rain, followed by snow.  And not once, but twice!  The roads were turned into snow-covered skating rinks and the County's sanders and ploughs couldn't keep up.  As I write, we're experiencing milder-than-usual temperatures, and much of the snow has melted.  The main streets and highways are in good shape -- bare and dry -- but the side streets here in my wee hamlet are treacherous with ice, making going for my usual walks an interesting adventure, to say the least!

So while the weather remains top of mind in conversations at church, in the Post Office and at the Shop, I've tried to focus elsewhere.

This week my daughter came to drop off her artwork for the Under $100 Art Market that happened in Lacombe on Thursday evening and Friday.

She had a good market with her photography, selling a large framed print, a good-sized photo-on-canvas, a matted print and at least a dozen of her lovely photo-cards (with envelopes).

Autumn at Cranna - SOLD!

Me?  I didn't fare quite so well.  After the initial excitement of selling one of my matted minis early on the Thursday evening, well...the other nine were admired but ended up coming home with me.  Ah well.  As artists we must live in hope, eh?

While she was here, Gina took several shots of the piece I want to enter into "Colour with a 'U'", and I expect she'll have them off her camera (a real one, with lenses, and a timer, used with a tri-pod -- the whole nine yards!  😉) and in the e-mail to me in the next day or two.

We had a lovely afternoon!

I've also been working to finish the last two bed quilts for the Syrian family that arrived -- as far as I know -- in Toronto on Tuesday.  They were to fly to Edmonton on Wednesday to be met by a contingent from the five churches (including mine).  I spent several of the 'iced-in' days finishing the sashing on the second string quilt, while my long-arm quilter, Sylvia, did a beautiful job of the one top that wasn't "Quilt As You Go".  I picked it up last week and finished the binding on it yesterday.

A QAYG quilt is simple to create, and ideal if you don't have the space to quilt a throw-sized (or larger) top on your own sewing machine -- but it is a tad time-consuming, because each section must be attached together using sashing.  It can be machine-done on front and back, but I don't care for the look of a machine stitch line on the front sashing, so I choose to hand-stitch the sashing on the back.

The photo below shows my 8" blocks, and a stack of sashing arranged in pairs.  The front sash is cut to 8" long, and is 1" wide.  The back sash is 8" long and 1 3/4" wide, but has been folded over and pressed in half.

You layer the top sashing, the edge of a block and the back sashing -- with the raw edges aligned -- and sew them by machine.  Then you press the top sashing toward the edge, layer it with the next block in the row, and sew that by machine.  Once that's done, you turn the pair over, and press the back sashing from the first block toward the second.  You pin that down and hand stitch it.  This is done until all the rows are created.

Rows of blocks in various stages of assembly
on my "design bed".  😉

Then you use the same technique to attach the rows together, and finish off with binding in your usual fashion.  I've never added borders to these quilts, but you could -- layering and quilting them first and joining them with a "zinger" (narrow sashing) in the same way.  Here's the second string quilt -- intended for a 10-year-old girl, and measuring about 50" x 65".

Altogether now!

And here's her mom's quilt, beautifully quilted by Sylvia, my long-arm quilter.  

She even donated the batting for the project!

"Chain Rail Fence" - 63" x 72"

Quilting detail

Between the Wall-to-Bed Project and these three quilts, 

I think I've had my fill of piecing for a while!  

Part II: It shouldn't be this hard!!

Now it's time to begin the Christmas Knitting in earnest -- and this year it's been 'one step forward; two steps back'!  First, about socks...

The Shop carries 'Reinvent', a yarn composed of 'everything but the kitchen sink' -- and I was able to purchase two skeins from the "Meow" and "Woof" collections:

"Border Collie"

and

  

"Maine Coon Kali"

My son has two Tuxedo cats, so I cast on the Border Collie using my favourite 2.75 mm needles, and 72 stitches -- my usual for his feet.  AAAARGH!!  The first sock came out 'way too big:

Sock for an Abominable Snowman
who's part zebra... 😆

Clearly an adjustment was needed!  I didn't change my needles but I did reduce to 64 stitches, and the result was much better:

More like a Tuxedo Cat! 😌

I frogged (rip it, rip it, rip it) the Abominable Zebra sock and knit it over again with 64 stitches, finishing it up on Saturday.  I've washed the pair now...and they're still rather light-weight and could be a bit large.  We'll see.  For Gina's, in the "Maine Coon Kali" colourway (honouring her aged 'Princess'), I'm dropping to a 2.5 mm needle and 60 stitches.  Fingers crossed!

In other knitting...I am making fingerless mittens for my neighbours this year, and chose "How Quiet Mitts", designed by Helen Stewart.  I'm using a yummy yarn -- "Finn" from Universal Yarns -- that was a shop sample passed on to me by my employer.  It's a Merino wool/Acrylic/Alpaca blend that is very soft and rather drapey, but it's proving to be lovely for this pattern.  And it's in this delicious colour:

Universal Yarns "Finn"
Colour #107 - "Jam"

Here's my sad story about this project:

I made one mitt and let the project sit for weeks and weeks while doing other things.  When I returned to it...I'd forgotten how to do the increases for the pattern on the back of the hand...Here's what I wrote about this on my Ravelry Projects page:

I’m finishing the second mitten of this pair -- having started it four times!!! First, I cast on the wrong number of sts (32 instead of 36).  Then I discovered I wasn’t doing the “m1r” correctly and had a pucker -- and it took me three (count ‘em!) tries to figure this out. Sigh.

I don’t know why the second mitten was so difficult, save to say that after I finished the first one, I tucked the project away for several weeks (I said I started it in October, but it could have been earlier) as I was busy with other things.

Now that I’ve figured it out, the “mantra” for the increases is becoming lodged in my brain and I should be able to make another pair easily. (I want to use the same pattern for my neighbour’s husband, using a grey DK.) Let’s hope!

Here's the first mitten, waiting for it's ends to be sewn in.  Note: it's hard to take a photo single-handed! 😣

Surely to goodness it will be all downhill sledding from here -- and all will be finished and wrapped in time for the holiday.   After Christmas...yes, there will be new art in the sewdio!

I'll leave you with a link (late as usual!!) to Nina Marie's "Off the Wall Friday" -- and another to WIP Wednesday over at The Needle and Thread Network -- as well as a wish to all my American readers for a Happy Thanksgiving.  

"...whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world." -- Max Ehrmann, Desiderata, 1927.

Onward

I begin with thanks to the Gentle Readers who thought my sample for "Colour With a 'U'" was...well, much better than I think it is!  As I mentioned in my last post, it looks better in the photo than it does in person.  The composition just isn't right, and so, despite your kind words, this piece won't be going anywhere soon!

That said, I learned several things from the exercise, and still have ideas about how I might want to express the theme -- just not that way!  Instead, I've selected a piece I made a bit less than a year ago now, that I think will fill the bill.  My Daughter the Photographer is coming for a short visit in a few weeks, and I'll have it ready for her to photograph then. 

She's coming because she's putting some of her work in the Under $100 Art Market, sponsored by the City of Lacombe to raise art awareness and some more funds for the Arts Endowment Fund.  This event runs the evening of November 21 and all the next day, in concert with the Light Up the Night Festival.  It's the first time the arts community has done such a sale, and we're hoping it works out well for all concerned.  I too am participating -- I'll have 10 minis in the sale, and will be working the cash register the evening of the 21st.  It's a delight to be showing my work in the same place as my daughter -- something we've not done for several years.  And I hope our pieces sell well and make lovely Christmas gifts!

While I'm allowing new ideas to percolate (I continue to take photos of the almost-winter countryside, with new work in mind), I'm steadily working on those quilts I mentioned for the family of Syrian refugees our church is co-sponsoring.  This -- as I know I've mentioned -- is a trio: mother, teen-aged son and ten-year-old daughter -- who are coming to join the family that's already here.  I've finished a 60" square string quilt-as-you-go throw for the boy:

Peeking out from under that one, you'll catch a glimpse of the top I've put together for the mother of the group.  It finished at 63" x 72" and so has gone to my favourite long-arm quilter to be quilted:

The pattern is straight out of my imagination -- born of the fact that I failed miserably at following the pattern I was going to use.  I blew it on not just one but two counts: I didn't check fabric amounts before assigning the colours to "A", "B" and "C"; and when I decided to "just do it", I then mis-read the pattern and sewed 16 strip pairs, 1 1/2" wide, Width Of Fabric (WOF) -- using the wrong colour combination!  Aaaaargh!  I hate it when that happens!  😕

What's a quilter to do?!  I took the lemons I had and made lemonade!

Now I'm working on the last of the trio -- another string QAYG -- using 8" blocks this time, to finish at 48" x 64" for a throw for the little girl.  As of this writing I have 2 rows finished.  Here they are on my design wall.  (Once I've finished 3 rows, they'll move to my "design bed" in the guest room! 😉)

In addition, of course, I am mindful that the Holiday Season is fast approaching.  I've got a pair of finger-less mittens started -- this is what I'm making J & E, my neighbours, this year, for all they do for me year 'round -- and a pair of socks started for my son.  Yes, it's Christmas Socks for each of my kids this year.

As I write, my church's Annual Bake Sale, Tea & Bazaar has wound up.  I made 4 dozen oatmeal-raisin cookies for the Giant Cookie Sale section, plus a few knitted items which I do hope managed to sell.  One of my favourites was this lovely cowl which, if it didn't sell, I just might keep...

It's made from Debbie Bliss' "Alpaca Silk Aran" yarn (alas, now discontinued)...mmmmm.....soft and drapey!  It's very deep, but can unbutton to allow one part to lie flat -- per the pattern (Gothic Lace Cowl from Tin Can Knits).

And so it goes.

Economically, things in These Parts are tough these days.  I've had my part-time hours cut back in what should be The Shop's busiest time of year (it's a yarn shop, after all!).  One of the galleries in which I was showing has closed, and I picked up my art work yesterday.  Another -- several hours' drive north -- has had my work for 16 months without a sale.  The owner decided she had to surrender all artwork done "by out of town artists".  "No one is buying art right now," she explained to me on the 'phone earlier this week.  The four pieces came home yesterday.

I continue to live in hope; continue to share what I can with those in need...and with those who might buy; continue to make 'pretty' things that bring me joy and soul-satisfaction.  And maybe, just maybe can be shared with you, Gentle Readers.

Linking up (on time!!) with Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday...and wishing you a weekend of hope, joy and creativity -- wherever you are.

(Praying for safety for those affected by the fires in California and the flooding in SW Quebec and Ontario.)

Dissolving January

January is melting away here...or so it seems.  The weather has been mild...with forecasts up to 7 C today (that would be in the forties Fahrenheit) -- distinctly balmy for this part of Alberta in January! And...once again, a month that started yesterday, full of promise, is winding down today. Go figure!

I'm thankful that this week my priorities agreed to the line-up in which I'd put them!  Well...maybe not the laundry and the dishes -- they're so demanding, aren't they?! -- but everything else.  :-)  And I am thankful that I am back to my regular 2 days a week at The Shop -- and no more  I love the work, but...!

My 15 x 15 piece for the "Mono-print" theme is finished and photographed -- you'll get to see the "Reveal" HERE at month-end.  :-)

And -- blessedly! -- all six "refugee" quilts are quilted.  Five of the six are completely finished, while the sixth needs it's binding sewn down on the back.  My aim is to have them all finished and washed, to be delivered to the church on Sunday.

Split 9-patch and "Off the Rails" - finished!

"Chunky Churn Dash (Bonnie Hunter) sandwiched
-- before quilting and attaching binding -- now done!

And...my daughter's wrap skirt is growing...only a few more inches to completion!

"Carnaby" skirt by Nikol Lohr in Sirdar's "Harrap Tweed"
- now even wider than when the photo was taken!

As for EB's Dyeing for Quiltmakers...Lesson 3 was posted last week and I printed it off, discovering that I'd done many of the exercises before, when I took my City and Guilds...So I filed the notes for future reference, and let the class carry on without me on for one more week.  Lesson 4 will be posted tomorrow...and we shall see.

I'm linking up to WIP Wednesday over at The Needle and Thread Network...Have a great day!  :-)

Tidings of Comfort and Joy

Thank you all, Gentle Readers, who took the time to comment on my last blog post, in which I displayed a soupcon of insecurity, having lost five "followers" in one fell swoop last week.  I haven't had this many comments on a single post in a very long time -- perhaps never.  I could feel the love and support, and I appreciate every bit of it.  Resolved: to "Be Margaret" (in the words of Happiness Guru, Gretchen Rubin - the first of her "Twelve Commandments" for happiness, in fact)...for it's probably the one thing I can do that no-one else can!  :-)

And so here we are...two sleeps before Christmas Day.  The makings of the sourdough dinner rolls are in the bread-maker; soon a batch of pastry will be made and turned into my version of Bumbleberry Pie.

The third refugee quilt top is finished...   (The white 'thing' you see in the photo below is the edge of my sewing table, as the top is on my design wall, immediately to the left of the table.)

"Simply Scraps" - pattern by Judy Turner
from Successful Scrap Quilts,
Martingale & Co., 2002

...and I am well on the way to finishing a fourth.  I decided I wanted to make this one a 'Rail Fence', using 2" squares and creating 5" blocks.  I'm laying them out in 8 rows of 6 blocks, and then will add borders.  The fabrics (a loaves-and-fishes-style miracle in my sewdio or perhaps simply evidence of an outrageous stash!) continue to be wild and improbable...leading me to give this one a title: "Off the Rails"!

"Off the Rails" initial fabric audition on the design wall

I'm thinking the refugee recipient(s) will undoubtedly be cozy under these cuddle quilts...but able to nap?  Highly unlikely!  (grin)

On the knitting front, the Project-That-Cannot-Be-Named is finished, as are the mittens for my son:

Pattern: "Simple Finger-less Mitts" - from Tinksdarkerside on Ravelry
Yarn: Berocco Boboli Lace, Colour #4395 - "Tree Swing"

And I am madly working on a matching neck-warmer.  Due to the light spin on this yarn, I threw out the idea of replicating the Trestle Neck Warmer that I made for my nephew, and am going with a simpler ribbed cowl --  "Just Try It!" by Susan Ashcroft (also on Ravelry).  With only 4 rows done, and signs of some sort of tendonitis flaring in my left shoulder/elbow and hand (hot packs and liniment being judiciously applied, along with the occasional analgesic)...my son might just find an IOU for this under the tree instead!

Speaking of trees...the wee table-topper is up, and survived a day alone with Miss Pooks while I went to work yesterday.  I'm so proud of her!

Tree 2015
Quilt: Log Cabin, ca 1978; machine-pieced
by my Aunt Alice Rennie (1907 - 2002)
and hand-quilted by her friends

I don't expect to have time to post again before The Day, so, Gentle Readers, whoever and wherever you are, I send you my thanks for your faithful following of these pages and your kind comments...and I wish you and yours all the joy and peace this blessed season brings.  Merry Christmas!

Until later...I'm linking up with The Needle and Thread Network's WIP Wednesday -- and to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday and leave you with a wee bit o' merry music, courtesy of the Irish Rovers...

O tidings of Comfort and Joy,

Comfort and Joy...

O tidings of Comfort and Joy!

Prep, Prep, Prep...

It's the week before Christmas and all through the sewdio...

Suffice to say I have no elves to assist!  Miss Pooks loves to supervise, but she's not a big help otherwise.

 Now that the Master Class is over (for all intents and purposes), I'v turned my attention to Christmas gifts and the next in line of the quilts for refugees, who seem to be arriving faster than we expected.

But it's Christmas...and so...

I've made fudge...

The same recipe every year...for 55 years or more...

And Cranberry Casserole Bread...

A legacy from my mother.  Seems that now, in our family, my sweet sis and I are the only ones who like it...

But I've invited J&E, my next-door  neighbours, here for some one evening next week...with coffee or cocoa or whatever.  Me? I like it best Christmas Morning with eggnog (no rum) or orange juice and coffee, dark and rich...

The chicken's in the freezer awaiting the kids.  I'll make a stuffing and gravy if the bird obliges.  There will, before that, be rolls made (maybe sourdough this year).  My DD is bringing salad or wine or maybe both...and there will be mixed veg and for dessert, pie (likely Bumbleberry -- rhubarb/Saskatoon berry/apple)...and the above-mentioned fudge.

The tree isn't up yet, but the stable is out...and the shepherds...

And so it begins

For me, this is the most important part of Christmas...because it is what it's all about, Charlie Brown...

And being who I am, I cannot get around that, no matter how much The Culture would have me do so...

And so I continue to work on Christmas gifts for those who mean the most to me...

The Annual Christmas Boxer Shorts are finished...

Fabric bought in Portland, OR in May..
Map of Tokyo, Japan!  

And for the same #1 son:

Marty's Finger-less mittens (WIP)

Meanwhile...still in progress (or to come!) -- the mittens you see above, and another project That Cannot Be Mentioned (because my DD reads this blog), and a neck-warmer to match the mittens (not even cast on yet...)

And gifts of comfort for those I haven't met (yet)...that is, more Syrian refugees...with Granny Square blocks courtesy of local donations at The Shop by volunteers for Blankets for Canada.  All I've had to do is join them together...which, for this "I don't crochet" knitter has been a challenge indeed!  ;-)

A 20-square lap quilt, 1/2 done
Each square is 8" x 8"
I have another 40 squares to join
after these are finished

"Simply Scraps" - 4 of 8 rows finished*

Bonnie Hunter mentioned today that she has a Quilt Cam starting in about 1/2 hour from now...so I will be back in the sewdio, assembling the other half...

*P.S.: Lest you think this work doesn't have anything to do with my artwork...

• First...look at the colour play...a wonderful experience; and 
• Second...the piecing...my skill in this area improves with every block created, with every row stitched together, and with every series of rows combines into a whole piece.  

Just sayin'!  :-)

"Simply Scraps" - prep for 2nd half

And an up-date on The Tree-Wrap Experiment...now just past 5 months out...This was taken Sunday, late afternoon -- Dec. 13, 2015:

Wrapped Trees - December 13, 2015 (5 months, 3 days out)

Aren't they beautiful?  I can't get enough of these trees!  Needless to say, when I have to begin to work on a mono-print technique for my next 15 x 15 piece...

Trees will figure prominently!

Linking up now to WIP Wednesday on The Needle and Thread Network.  Get yourself a cuppa and join me, won't you?

Till next time...blessings!

WIPs Beyond Wednesday

Yesterday I had lunch with M, one of my SAQA colleagues who lives fairly close by.  We had a lovely lunch, followed by a visit to Gracie D's Antiques, so M could see where some of my minis were displayed, awaiting new homes with happy purchasers.

Just as we came out of Gracie's, the first few snow-flakes began to fall.  By the time she dropped me at the Post Office -- so I could mail some Christmas gifts -- the snow was intensifying, and within minutes of my reaching home (on foot), it was really coming down...and so it continued late into the evening.

A perfect opportunity to stay in the sewdio.

What follows is a sample of what I've worked on this week:

1.  I put together the last block of the last of three full "Block-of-the-Month" quilts I found in a drawer late in 2012.  I've done one set per year since...and now each can be set/sashed, sandwiched and quilted.

"Zen" BOM - December
"Aunt Nancy's Favourite"

2.  I finished the first crib-throw quilt top for refugees that are expected to arrive in the next few weeks. Here it is, spread out on my kitchen floor:

Pattern: "Chunky Churn Dash" from Bonnie Hunter
All fabrics from stash - approx 42" W x 62" L

3. I finished and mailed these mittens and neck-warmer to my nephew in B.C. (he doesn't read this blog):

Now I'm making a similar set for my son (he doesn't read this blog either.  :-)  )

My nephew has a fiance...I mailed her gift along with his.

4. And last night I finished the second Chunky Churn Dash crib/throw:

The reason you can see only part of it here is because it's hanging on my design wall, and the bottom is obscured in part by my sewing table!  It finished at about 42" W x 60" L.

I still have a stack of fabric that's suitable (no florals, no animals, no discernible "images" on it) so I dug out my copy of Successful Scrap Quilts from Simple Rectangles by Judy Turner and Margaret Wolfe and will turn to that for the next one.

Friday I hope to get to Homespun Seasons in Stettler -- my LQS of choice -- for batting...and the quilting can begin.

However...it may just have to wait a bit.  I'm still knitting gifts, and have yet to assemble the 2015 edition of the Annual Christmas Boxer Shorts...

Meanwhile, let's join the group for WIP Wednesday at The Needle and Thread Network, and see what's happening over there, eh?

'Bye for now!

All I Want to Do

I know; I know...I have Christmas Knitting still on the needles.  And the Annual Christmas Boxer Shorts are cut out, but not (yet) assembled.

But when I'm in my sewdio, all I want to do is work on this:

Initial lay-out for a "Chunky Churn-dash"
(Free) Pattern: Bonnie K. Hunter

The photo above shows only the first few blocks (my design wall is small).  I've now finished another 4 'Hourglass' blocks -- for a total of 20 -- and have a stack of CCD blocks -- plus 3 more under construction.  I've been checking out quilt sizes...figuring that if I am to make a throw-sized quilt (or two), for each one I need at least 80 blocks (10 rows of 8 blocks that are 6" finished, plus narrow borders to finish at 51" W x 64" L).

"To what end?", I hear you asking, Gentle Readers.  Well...this end: a refugee family from Syria.

The Canadian government is bringing in 10,000 people before year end, and another 15,000 or so in the early part of next year.  Some are coming to Red Deer -- and my "home church", St. Cyprian's Anglican, Lacombe, is working with St. Andrew's United Church*, Lacombe and the Roman Catholic Family Services in Red Deer -- to bring at least one family into Lacombe proper.

And...well, I live a fair distance from Lacombe and even farther from Red Deer.  I'm on a fairly fixed income.  But...I have connections (The Shop) and a stash of fabric...some of which is actually suitable (no images of animals, flora or fauna or people) for quilts...

So. I am making a top (or two) and will trust God to provide batting...and time to quilt and bind them.  And I am stitching together granny squares donated to The Shop -- and from The Shop to me -- for image-less blankets of comfort. (Note: I don't crochet...well.  My Granny Squares never line up. These were done by more talented folk than I!)

It takes the edge off the Cultural Consumerism of the "Holidays"...and keeps me creating, while I think up art pieces in my mind for the year ahead.

"And what of EB?" you might ask...well...December is "assessment month".  My task now is not to create a new piece but to finish those that need to be finished (I have a facing to do and maybe a sleeve or two)...and to do a thorough assessment of what I have learned (from all angles).  And so it will go.

"Would you recommend it?" Those of you who are art quilters lacking confidence in your ability to design?  Those of you who want to learn more about design because you can't manage to get a BFA?  Go for it.  Get yourself on Elizabeth Barton's mailing list NOW for 2016...using this e-mail address...

And so...I am linking up with WIP Wednesday on The Needle and Thread Network...and wishing you blessings for the week ahead.  Skip the shopping. Quilt, embroider or knit instead. You'll feel ever so much better!


*For those outside Canada who might be curious, the United Church of Canada is made up of members who, in generations past, came together from Presbyterian and Methodist worship traditions.