Quilt-wrestling and Other Things...

As some folks say, "It's been a hot minute".  April's been a month of mixed blessings, so I've not often felt willing or able to post.

The first part of the month was delightful!  I met up with my kids in Edmonton and we enjoyed dinner together at my daughter's home and then went to the Edmonton Symphony to see the orchestra with guests -- the Jim Witter Band -- who were performing the tunes of Simon and Garfunkel -- and a few others. Amazing! Wonderful! THREE (count 'em) -- THREE encores.  It was total bliss.

After that...I moved on to putting up my booth at the local Art Show & Sale -- in Lacombe, Alberta, held this year on April 11 and 12.  It was a well-attended show, but from my experience and that of others..well... the economic situation meant there was a great deal of appreciation but not much in the way of significant sales. 

I'm thankful I sold enough to cover the booth fees and a bit more...and that I got a chance to share my new work.  I sold a couple of small hooked pieces, and that was good -- plus an older 'matted mini' piece and one of the very last Scotland pieces, created in 2018.

There was also a lot of attention paid to the work from my Art in the Park (Parks Canada and the Revelstoke Visual Arts Centre) that had been travelling in B.C. in 2023-2024.  My 'history' piece was particularly intriguing to folks, though not generally the type of piece one would hang in one's living room!

Entitled "Rails & Ruins", it was inspired by the ruins of what I believe was the first CP Rail hotel in the Canadian Rockies, by the paths where the railroad ran, the remaining old stone trestles -- and the music of Gordon Lightfoot -- specifically his Canadian Railroad Trilogy.

All that said, the show took a toll on my body.

I've been dealing with shoulder strain since January (though it is getting better) and after the show, and all the lifting-and-toting I also found myself with lower back pain that doesn't want to completely go away (though it too is getting there.)  And then there seems to be creeping in some repetitive stress that cuts short my knitting time.  I can still knit, especially with finer yarn, but my hands feel it if I try to do so for too long.

Sigh.

I'm seeing my doc on Tuesday (Apr 29) so will see what I thinks I need to do.  Meanwhile, heat packs, cold packs, linament, a glove for my right hand, and the occasional analgesic-with-muscle relaxant seem to fill the bill.

I have to pace myself, so have been doing so with yard work, as well as with other things.

Since I last posted, though, I've managed to cast on and finish the first of a pair of 6-ply socks, and start its partner:

Pattern: Wide Rib DK Weight Socks
Designer: Erica Saint
Yarn: main colour: ONline Supersocke
Arizona Color - Colour-way #1967
Contrast: elann Peruvian Pure Alpaca

I'm also working on a new sweater -- the Bustleton Tee -- which I'm making in an assortment of fingering yarns from stash.  I'm not striping it as indicated in the pattern; rather, I'm knitting "stripes" however I want, based on the yarn available.  It's an easy knit (now that I'm past the short rows at the back of the neck) so if it plays well with my hands, I'll have a lovely little top at the end of it, and I'll have used up stash!

And yes, I've been quilt wrestling.  A couple (or three) years ago, my daughter asked me to make a quilt for close friends of hers who'll be celebrating 20 years of marriage in September this year.  We found a pattern, we (she) bought the fabric...and it sat for a bit.  I've been working on it here and there for a while.

Last fall I finished the blocks -- 4 in one combination and 5 in another.  Yes; it was intended to be a 9-block quilt, plus borders, to fit a queen-sized bed.  BUT while the friends who were to receive the quilt had been pondering a KING-sized bed for some time so (please Mum) could you make it King-sized?  That took it from 9 blocks (22" each -- finished in the quilt) to 16.  

Yes, "Please, Mum" could do that.  And the fabric vendor accommodated the request for extra fabric.

So... as of this afternoon, all 16 blocks are together, with sashing and the first (inner) borders: 

Ta-DA!

Like I said -- it's HUGE -- and there are 2 more borders to go! One narrow one at 1" finished, and the outermost, wider (7" finished).  Adding each border involves wrestling the top under my domestic machine.  I'm glad I have a piece that I can add to the sewing table to hold some of the weight.  And yes; I'm back-stitching the tops and bottoms of the seams as well as in between if needed.  The weight is something else!

Meanwhile, today I pick up the "Old Town" (Bonnie Hunter's 2024 Mystery design) quilt I pieced, from Quilting from the Heart in Camrose, where I took it for long-arm quilting.  I've shopped there often but this is the first time I've used their quilting service.  The price was right and the service was friendly and prompt, so I'll be "wrestling" with it soon, trimming and binding it in time for my son's early June birthday.

Given the care I have to take of my body, yard work is being done very gradually this year.  I'm fortunate that windy and sometimes rainy weather (more rain, please! We have a drought!) have kept my from being tempted to over-do it.  It's rather hard to rake leaves and pick up broken branches (willow) in that weather.

Thus the piecing of that quilt top, and a bit of knitting, and quite a bit of cross-stitch.  

These days, I want to stitch EVERYTHING!

Since my last post, I've made progress on the Flanders Field Biscornu from Heartstring Samplery.  As you can see below, the top is finished (left side of photo) and I'm moving right along on the 'flip side' (on the right):

Again, I'm using 36-count "Grey" from Weeks Dye Works and the called-for WDW flosses, one strand of floss over two fabric threads.

I also did up the pretty April bouquet that Thea Dueck (The Victoria Sampler) created for her 2025 'Block of the Month'.  This month? Sweet peas!

I'm doing this on a single piece of fabric -- 28-count pearl grey, 2 over 2 with stash threads, three across, so here's what it looks like so far:

January through April

And I've made more progress on my "Sunday Stitch" -- "Hope" from Jacob at Modern Folk Embroidery:

We could all use some extra hope these days, right?  

And some humour!  Given that the US President has imposed tariffs on the penguins living on the Heard and MacDonald Islands, there have been a variety of memes being posted poking fun at the absurdity of it.  These brought to my mind another of Jacob's designs -- "Ruskin's Penguins".  I couldn't resist!  I dug out some 40-count fabric (Roxy Floss Co) and thread (also Roxy Floss Co) from my stash and bought the pattern!

To date, I've made just a tiny start.  That border is really something!

So those are the four pieces I've been focusing on this past month.  As May approaches, others are calling to me -- "'S' is for Stitcher" (The Victoria Sampler), "Ann Perrin 1841" (Jeannette Douglas Designs), "My Day Complete" (Black Bird Designs)...and more.  Thea will have a May bouquet out, and Sheri of A Quilting Life will have one too (see my April block at right)...

And then there's rug-hooking, which I want to return to, as my Cheticamp frame arrived earlier this month.  It's set up, and I've cut a piece of burlap for it, but that's as far as I've gone.  I've got one of Deanne's courses waiting for me, so perhaps that will bring back my motivation to go forward!.

I'm very much about stitching as the mood strikes me, so time will tell which ones I work on between now and my next post.

And so, Gentle Readers, I'll leave you with a wish that you be safe, creative, and able to find both hope and humour in your days.  Maybe drop over to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday to see what she and other crafty friends have been up to.  Don't we all have ideas simply lying around, waiting to be brought to life...

Until next time, a bientot!

Obsessed!

 

I come from sturdy English and Scots stock -- "stiff upper lip" and all that -- but I have to say, the last 3+ weeks have me hovering between weepy/wobbly and purple-in-the-face angry.  

My country's been threatened by a madman -- who has equally mad minions around him. What's a civilized, educated, sensible person of the female persuasion to do?!

Well...hmmm...

I've decided the best I can do is to keep making.  Creating beauty every day, as Deanne Fitzpatrick says.  Making items for those in need of warmth and comfort.  Making gifts for friends and family.  Selecting items I no longer need or want and giving them away.  Filling the 3 active winter bird-feeders in my trees.  Tending to my yard and garden in season.  Making jams in season and giving jars away to friends and neighbours for their enjoyment.  Donating books to the local libraries (yes; one here, one in Alix, AB -- but mostly here, as it's not part of the wider library system).  Donating to causes in which I believe -- or in memory of friends who have died.

My friend Dave died a couple of weeks ago.  He was a United Church of Canada minister, a handyman, a fisherman, an appreciator of art, and a beloved husband, father and friend.  In his 'handyman' role, he renovated my bathroom 16 years ago, and upgraded my kitchen counters about 8 years after that...and with a skinny accomplice, figured out the source of the frozen pipes under my kitchen floor -- and fixed it.  

His wife is a potter, and I have one of her mugs. We met years ago at a small-town 'Art Walk' in which people understood her work but couldn't fathom mine. I hope she knows (as I've tried to communicate) how much I appreciate her work.  

And so...watching my friends and family (by marriage) refusing to come home (some of them have Canadian citizenship -- born here, grew up here, and our government hasn't challenged their birthright) -- but somehow the fear of 4-6 months of snow keeps them south...

I don't understand.

What I DO understand is making and giving...so since my last post, here's what's on the table -- finished:

Hooked Art:

• A 12" square piece for the "Piece by Piece" fundraising auction to support the Lacombe (Alberta) Centre for the Performing Arts (LPAC).  I finished it -- fully -- yesterday and will deliver it to the Centre next week:

"Prairie Gold" - 12" x 12"
Hooked yarn; mounted on canvas

• A small piece for sale later this spring (I hope):

"January Moon-set" - 6" x 6" 
Hooked yarn on burlap
Mounted on canvas

I've another idea percolating -- a reprise of my "Blue Pot" done in fabric several years ago -- so stay tuned!

In all of these things, the attempts to create Order out of Chaos are evident.  In hooking mats, it's the hand-over-hand motion.  This is true, too, of cross stitch.  I've been working on 3 pieces this month, all with deep Canadian connections.

The first two feature Canadian designers -- Thea Dueck of The Victoria Sampler, and Jeannette Douglas of Jeannette Douglas Designs.

I love samplers, as many of you know, and so this month, I pulled out Jeannette's reproduction sampler, Ann Perrin 1841, and picked up where I left off during "Sampler September."  I love all the little motifs inside of that fabulous border:

Hankering for a new start, too, I dug out a pattern -- with accessory pack of threads and beads -- I'd bought in the fall of 2008 when I went to a retreat in Victoria, B.C., hosted by Thea Dueck and her Victoria Sampler staff: "'S' is for Stitcher".  I found just the right piece of fabric in my stash -- an unlabelled 28-count mystery linen that's a Zweigart base (it has the famous orange stripe in the selvedge), and have managed to do the first few bands of this sampler:

In the gap you see above the "S" is a cut-work feature I've chosen to leave out; I'll go back and put my initials and the year in there later.  I even have Thea's blessing to do that! 💜

February 11 this year was rather special for me.  Those of you who follow me on FB will note that I posted about it: the 50th anniversary of the day my DH and I announced our engagement!  I decided a special piece was needed to honour the day and his memory.  No; not something lovey-dovey.  Rather, something simple in construction but complex in over-all effect.  Something that makes order out of the chaos of married life marred by long-term illness and in the end, his death.

I've chosen "A Quilter's Dream", designed by Jacob de Graf of Modern Folk Embroidery -- using the paper pattern, fabric and floss I purchased from Evertote, the wonderful Canadian cross-stitch suppliers of select patterns, and Roxy Floss Co. fabric and floss.  I'm using Roxy Floss' 40-count 'Porcelain' linen, and Roxy Floss "Greater Porpoise" and "Pippy" hand-dyed flosses, 1 strand of floss over 2 fabric threads.

I began with the border, starting in the upper left corner, as is my habit:

By this morning I'd done some of the border across the top too, and decided to add a bit of the red:

It's a lovely, methodical, meditative stitch -- creating comfort, beauty and order out of chaos.

There's been progress on the quilting front too. On Friday,  I finished 168 "Easy Breezy" blocks -- 4 1/2" (unfinished) -- and have arranged them into 12 columns of 14 blocks each. Here's what a stack of those rows looked like, laid out on my ironing board!

Yesterday I finished the last two columns and began to sew the columns together in pairs, randomly sewing one column to another.  I've now got 6 pairs of them to sew together.  That should measure about 48" x 56" before borders -- and once borders are on it'll be a good throw-sized top.  "Easy Breezy" is one of Bonnie Hunter's "Leaders and Enders" projects, and this is the second one I've made. The last one I did was a QAYG (Quilt As You Go), finished in March of 2022:

 I love the scrappy look of these quilts!

I've made a total of eight blocks now in the "Old Town" pattern -- Bonnie Hunter's Mystery 2025.  It's now released as a pay-for pattern, if you missed getting it during the weeks the Mystery was being posted.  I need 25 before I can put them into a top, but I've enough of them now that I can tell they make an interesting pattern without worrying about the sashing.  That's a good thing, because I'm running very low on fabrics from my stash in the colour palette that I've chosen!

Just one of eight "Old Town" blocks finished

And as always, there's knitting.  It's what my hands love most when I'm trying to make sense of the world and my place in it.  

I finished the second "Mash It Up" hat, using two strands of assorted fingering-weight wool odd-balls.  And yes, I used exactly the same colours (or pretty close!) to the ones in the first Mash It Up I made, last November!

Pattern: Mash it Up
Designer: Babs Ausherman
Yarn: assorted fingering wool left-overs

I finished another pair of mittens -- these in an Adult Small size, using up some "Bravo" DK (100% acrylic) from stash:

Pattern: The World's Simplest Mittens
Designer: Tin Can Knits
Yarn: Schachenmayr "Bravo Originals" 
in colour #8355

I finished the "Guernsey" socks -- and discovered on wearing them that the fabric is rather thin.  I probably should have used a smaller needle size from the get-go.  Ah well...I'll wear them -- maybe they'll be okay for spring and early fall.

And I finished the first of the pair of "Twizzler Socks"; the second is now on the needles:

Pattern: Twizzler Socks
Designer: Tangled Bekah
Yarn: Lana Grossa Melleinweit
"Cotton Fondo" in "Greens" (Colour #6507)

These are a pleasure to knit -- easy pattern and I'm enjoying the yarn, which is a blend of cotton, wool and nylon.

Finally, I made progress on my "January Blanket" -- finishing a total of 12 of the 34 pattern repeats, and I've been plodding away at the increases on a sleeve for an over-sized tweedy pullover that I'm converting from an 'in pieces' pattern to an 'in-the-round' pattern.  Slow and steady...

But all those finishes called for a couple of new starts, and I was inspired by the knitting podcasters I watch.

First, I decided that I could use a new hand-knit hat.  I have only one, and it's pretty light-weight.  The regular 'Deep Freeze' weather we've been having this winter calls for something more substantial.

For Xmas 2023, I was given a gift card to Arcane Fibres, an indie dyer in B.C.  I bought two lucious skeins of a DK weight in the colour-way, "For All the Trees":

Once of them should do for a nice cabled hat, and the other, perhaps, for a cowl to match.  so I've cast on the hat and am about 1/2-way through the 4" brim, which is deep because it's meant to fold up for double thickness:

Pattern: Lake Reed
Designer: Asita Krebs
Yarn: Arcane Fibre Works Merino DK

Ribbing is lovely and mindless when one wants to be quieted, calmed, slowed down. It's an orderly stitch, too, which clearly fits the theme of "Order Out of Chaos"!

As if that weren't enough, one of the podcasters I watch -- I think it was Linda of the "For the FUN of Knit" podcast -- mentioned the 'Missoni Accomplished' pullover as a project she wanted to start.  It has optional colour-work which she plans to do.  Now, I've had that pattern for some time -- I got it when it first came out and was free (it's a pay-for pattern now)...so...why not?!

I'm not going to make it with its wide zig-zag stripes, though.  I'm built like a box and those would not be flattering!  Another stash dive -- and I found a sweater quantity of single-ply DK/light worsted weigh yarn I've had for a good 20 years. It's dyed in a mix of blues:

Yarn: Classic Elite "Waterspun"
'Felted' 100% Merino Wool
Colour-way: #2549 - "Periwinkle"

I wasn't sure how this would knit up, but I cast on yesterday and discovered it's got a lovely self-striping thing going on -- in stripes that are far more narrow and subtle than the colour-work in the pattern:

Pattern: "Missoni Accomplished"
Designer: Espace Tricot

It's knit top-down, so you can see I've finished the nect and am on the rows of increasing moving downward.  I'm making a size 4, which will give me a bit more than 10 inches of positive ease -- and that's intentional, per the pattern.  Again, it's simply knitting 'round and 'round -- mindless, soothing, rhythmic, hand-to-hand...Order out of chaos.

Perfect for this frigid, wintry weather.  Perfect for the still-short days.  Perfect for uncertain, shaky times.

So that's where I leave you today, my friends...with my usual link to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday.  This week she's seeking solace in creating too.  How about you?

Until next time, Gentle Readers, thanks for reading, for your support, and for sharing the ways you create beauty, peace and comfort -- every day.

A bientot!

Christmas is Coming...

Yes, Gentle Readers. 

• Following a long, lovely, warm autumn, we've had two good dumps of snow here in the last four days.  
• There's not been a County plough in town -- yet.  
• Only on the highways, and then again, our not-at-all major highway linking two larger highways is partly covered snow with icy patches.  
• Our clocks went back an hour overnight -- from Mountain Daylight Time to Mountain Standard Time.  

What does all this mean?!  "Winter is coming", as they say in the movies, or wherever they say it.  And in my world, up here in the Northern Hemisphere, with 'winter' comes Christmas.

Those of us who are Makers understand.  Our needles (stitch or knit), our hooks (crochet), our machines (sewing, quilting, felting), our wheels (spinning), our looms (weaving) -- all are ramping up to top speed if we are making gifts for others.  And I am with you, Gentle Readers; I'm with you!

On the knitting front, I'm making fingerless gloves (by request) for a long-time friend who, apparently, has never owned any.  The pattern is 'Cielo' from Eweknit Toronto on Ravelry, and I've combined two yarns to make these: Filatura di Crosa Fancy Line Gioiello -- in colour #5 (red) with a bit of gold bling, and Jaggerspun Zephyr Wool-silk 2/18 lace-weight, in 'Cinnabar' (all from stash).  I've finished the first one of the pair -- a bit 'blingier' than expected.  I hope my friend will like them!

The 6-ply socks for another friend are well on their way to being finished (on the foot of the second sock) but they're Very Plain so...no photos at present.  Sorry!

I did, however, cast on another knit for Xmas this week -- and am about 25% along the road to a finish.  It's the Gothic Lace Cowl, a free pattern from Tin Can Knits on Ravelry.  I've made it before with a thick yarn.  This time I'm doing 2 finer yarns together, and so far I'm happy with the result.  

I chose this one because it's for my nephew's partner who has a "goth" esthetic and who, he says, would like lace.  The yarns I'm using include one purchased especially -- "Widowmaker" -- a sock yarn (merino/nylon blend) from Black Cat Custom Yarn out of Chilliwack, B.C., which I bought when in Revelstoke in July.  The other is another lace weight from stash and yes, another JaggerSpun Zephyr Wool-silk 2/18 selection -- this time in the "Mahogany" colour-way.  The lace-weight selection is adding just the right amount of weight, while blending in beautifully with the hand-dyed yarn.  Yes, I could worry that the colour selection 'interferes' with the Gothic Lace pattern, but I've decided not to!

The pattern calls for buttons, and I found the perfect ones at the Prairie Fibre Festival in Lacombe in mid-September, to whit:

I only hope my nephew's partner likes the results!

There are also gifts in the cross-stitch department.  First, I can now show you the gift I sent my sister, as her birthday was Friday and she received it early last week.  The designer is Erica Michaels.  I created the piece on 32-count Lambswool linen from my stash, using Needle Necessities over-dyed cotton floss, in a colour that I knew my sis would like, as she has a 'beach esthetic' going on at her cottage.  

Front

Back

The initials are my sister's and mine; the dates mark the year we became sisters (1957) to the present -- 65 years since her father married my mother and brought her and her older brother (RIP 1981) to create a new family.  This was a very special piece for me to make, and I'm glad she likes it.

Another before Xmas gift in the cross-stitch realm is a "November Needleroll" that isn't.  Say what?!  I chose the pattern by that name to make a little piece for a friend of mine who has a Big Birthday coming in the middle of this month.  But she's not a stitcher, so it's not a needle roll.  Instead, I found a darling little frame at a local vintage shop (Cuckoo's Shop in Alix, Alberta) and made this:

With apologies for the glare from the window on the left...it's only about 6" W x 8" L.  It's now packed up and ready to mail this week.

 Today I finished one of my family Xmas gifts in stitch but because I think my daughter reads this blog...sorry!  No photos!

And I've taken up a cute piece for "Black Sampler November" -- but again, it's for my daughter's household so...no photos!  Sorry!

Meanwhile, on the quilting front...the top for the throw for a Certain Young Man is almost finished.  I have the centre part done, as I mentioned in my last post, and I'm working on a pieced border.

As for the artwork?  My hands have finally recovered, so I'm hoping to return to beading and stitching the "Fallen Log" in the coming week.  There'll be more about this in the next post, I'm sure.

I'll leave you with a link again to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday, and wish you all a cozy, safe, creative week!  Till we meet again... Hugs! 

WIPs on Friday; Finished on Tuesday

Just in from a lovely jog in the sunshine and melting snow.  Don't get me wrong; there's still plenty of it out there and it's still getting darned cold -- and foggy! -- at night, but by late afternoon it's glorious for running under the wide blue Alberta sky.  Even better, today I finished my usual route in a full 2 minutes less than I have all winter!  :-)

The jog was my daily break from the sewdio, where today I finished those two miniatures that I'd prepped on Friday.

First, "Can You Hear Me Now?"

"Can You Hear Me Now?"

NOTE:  This piece was inspired by an old television commercial for a mobile phone service, which advertised it's ability to not disappear in remote locations...like the middle of the Canadian prairie...

I was going to do this as a 12" square for the SAQA Benefit Auction this year, but somehow, it called to be made in a smaller size, so there you are.  I'm relieved that I actually got to use one of my white mats! (I have a second one, but it has a blemish on the front, so it will be used in the sewdio for sizing pieces instead.)

And a second version of "Prairie Autumn" (dubbed "PA II", to replace the one that sold):

Slightly different fabrics give a slightly different 'look', but I think it still captures the essence of the piece -- and the original photo.

Yesterday, as I reported earlier, I did some more piecing on P's quilt.  Here's where I've left off till Saturday (this is a weekend project for now):

Have you noticed how similar the colours are to those in the background of my blog?  Hmmmm....

And my friend C and I finally got together today to celebrate her birthday, which was actually over a week ago.  Now that she has her gift I can share the finished photo with you:

This design is Thea Dueck's "'P' is for Princess", from her alphabet series, and is, in truth, quite tiny -- no more than 5" wide and a bit over 12" long (with borders). I wasn't brave enough to do the cut-work hem stitch all the way 'round, so C had to settle for it at top and bottom only!  Still, I think it turned out well and she certainly likes it.

On the knitting front, yesterday I finished the armhole shaping on the front of the sleeveless turtleneck top; on now to the neck shaping!

And so it goes...

Oh yes, packaging has been ordered for my show pieces, and has been shipped...

Just think!  Less than a month and the show will be over and I'll be having a ball at the SAQA Conference at The Lodge at Santa Fe.  Wow!  Roll on April!

Edgy ;-)

No, I'm not referring to the subject matter of this morning's post!  (Grin.)

A friend of mine has a birthday next week.  We're relatively new buddies (about a year now), and I know she loves to stitch -- particularly embroidery, or combinations of quilting and embroidery.  I've done up a piece that I want to finish before I tootle off to Edmonton on Saturday -- and I decided I wanted to try my hand at the hem-stitched cut-work edging.  Oy vey!

Thank the good Lord for the internet; I found a tutorial that took the mystery out of the instructions that come with the pattern.  Those instructions assume one knows what one's doing in that department.  I've embroidered for years and dabbled a teeny-weeny bit in hardanger, but cut-work is an entirely different matter.  I feel the same way about it as I do about steeking a sweater; I break out in a cold sweat!

First, I practiced on a tiny corner of the linen that wasn't going to be used.  Then, following the tutorial carefully, I put in two lines of basting, using the dimensions called for in the pattern.  This is 28-count linen we're dealing with here; I needed to leave 8 threads from the edge of the embroidery to the start of the cut-work and to allow 4 threads for...ahem...cutting.

As of this typing, I've finished the entire bottom row...and will do the same to the top.  I've decided, however, that I'm not ready to tackle corners!

Once top and bottom are thus embellished, I will trim the piece and fold over the edges as for a 'regular' hem -- except for the casing for the bell-pull hardware.

Enough stress for one day!  Tomorrow I'm back to miniatures!

P.S. The pattern is from the Alphabet Sampler Series by Thea Dueck at The Victoria Sampler.  As a friend of my friend sometimes reads this blog, that's all I'm sayin'!