January Waning

Goodness gracious!  My mother was right; she told me decades ago (she's been gone for 21 years) that "Once you reach (age) 21, time disappears."

Yep; she was pretty much right.

So here we are nearly at the end of the Longest Month of the Winter (because it doesn't have 10 days of holiday in it).  I'm in the Northern Hemisphere, as most of you probably know by now, so it's been a very January January.  Snow.  Blowing snow.  Freezing rain followed by snow. More blowing snow.

The good news about that?!  I get to stay inside and make things!

And the good news about that?!  Making things helps me cope with all the STUFF going on in the Outside World.

So...what have I been up to since my last post?

First, a bit of "housekeeping".  Full disclosure: after I wrote that I used my Indigo/Chapters gift card to pre-order the paperback version of Deanne Fitzpatrick's Making a Life: Twenty-five Years of Hooking Rugs, I found it when I was sorting the bookshelf on the headboard of my bed.  And yes, I'd read it -- in 2023!!  (See what I mean about time?!)  Sigh. 

Well here's what I did: first, I cancelled the pre-order and got a full refund (a new gift-card) from Indigo/Chapters; second, I took down the hard-cover copy I had and began to read it again.  And yes; I thanked Indigo/Chapters profusely for their understanding.

Don't tell me that's never happened to you.  Just sayin'! 😉

Now then...back to our regularly scheduled Blog Posting...

As we're talking about hooked rugs as art...I've managed to finish that new piece I showed on my last post, when it was still in the early stages.  I've called it "Restless Sky"  and now need to take it to be framed:

"Restless Sky" (c) 2025
17" W x 10 " L before framing
Hooked yarn and wool fabric

There is a word hidden in the sky.  Can you find it?

I've now answered a Call for Entry for a fundraising Art Auction to benefit the Lacombe Performing Arts Centre (the folks who run the Under $100 Art Auction in late November)...and I await the results.

And the call for artists for the annual Encore! Lacombe Art Show and Sale is up.  I was last there in 2023 -- as Featured Artist.  I took 2024 off, but am gearing up to enter again, with new work that is hooked -- and some art quilts that really need a new home.

The other making continues, of course.

I spend a great deal of my morning time knitting.  I've just finished another hat to give away (sorry, no photo; the ends aren't sewn in yet!), and am working on another pair of simple mittens -- that would be the third since I last posted, for I've finished these:

Once again...The World's Simplest Mittens
Designer: Tin Can Knits
Size: child.
Yarn: red wool/synthetic blend - no label
Machine wash, hang to dry

I also finished the socks I started in December for the Advent Mystery KAL -- the "Christmas Smorgasbord Socks":

Pattern: Christmas Smorgasbord
Designer: Becky Greene
Yarn: Patons Kroy FX in "Clay Colors"

I know they look like they're not the same size but please note: due to the nature of the "smorgasbord" of stitch patterns used in the Mystery KAL, each sock has different textured stitch patterns in it.  This means that unless I photograph them on my feet or using a sock blocker (I don't own blockers), they look oddly mis-shapen in different.  They've been washed now, though, and I can attest to the fact that they are the same size! LOL!

I'm really focusing this winter on two kinds of knits: those to give away to folks who need them, and WIPs (Works In Progress) that have been lingering for far too long.  Finishing three projects has left me time to return to these items:

1. A pair of cabled socks I first cast on in 2009.  Yes; you read that correctly: 2009.  I finished one sock and then...well, all I can say is, I must have been visited by the Squirrel! 😃

Here's the first finished sock; the photo 
dates from April 8, 2009!!
Pattern: Guernsey Socks
Designer: Amy King
Source: The Knitter's Book of Yarn
by Clara Parkes

Second sock on the needles.  
Progress as of January 22, 2025.

Please note: the colour of the yarn in the second photo is much closer to real life -- probably because I took the photo against a clean white background.  It's a lovely deep blue-green.  One ball had a label -- Regia 3-fadig.  

2. And I've gone back to the "January Blanket" I started a year ago.  When I picked it up again on December 24, 2024, here's what it looked like:

Photo taken January 10, 2024

Here's my progress as of January 15 (I've knit another 2 1/2 pattern repeats since then, for a total of 10 repeats, 8 rows each):

Pattern: January Blanket
Designer: Leslie Weber
FREE on Ravelry
Yarn: Diamond Select 'Stonewash'
in the colour "Chalk"

The yarn is a nice blend of acrylic (not my fave option but...), wool and cotton.  It's chunky, so I'm using 5.5 mm (US 9) on a nice long cord.  And even though the inter-changeable tips I'm using are wooden (from Knit Picks), the stitches move nicely along and don't stick to them. (That's probably due to the plastic and wool in the yarn blend, off-setting the cotton, which can be hard to knit on wooden needles.)  I got it in 2016 at the LYS I worked at part-time -- the long-missed Crafty Lady in Lacombe, Alberta, which closed in February 2020, because the owner went online and on the road.  She's now retired altogether.)  Sigh.  I still miss that place!

I'm focusing on those for the moment, but there are several more items in project bags that are lined up...just waiting to be worked on (or may finished) -- not to mention the bags of projects that are on the "Start Me, Please!" list, kitted up with yarn and patterns, waiting for time and needles to be available to start them!

On the quilting front, I've made or prepped all the units for the "Old Town" Mystery 2024/5 from Bonnie Hunter.  I've only enough of the fabric for 20 of the called-for 25 blocks, which is fine; it'll make a nice-sized throw, or perhaps something a bit bigger.

So...I've made 5 blocks thus far, and they all look something like this:

"

I'm using "dusty" turquoise, red-brown or rust, pale grey or grey-white, and very pale peachy fabric.  The photos of some of the units might show this better:

Flying Geese for the inner star

Fabric for the central square-in-a-square

I really like the blocks - but the sashing and the borders are too "busy" for my taste, so I'll be simplifying those accordingly.  To each her own, eh? 😉

While constructing these blocks, I continue to make small "Easy Breezy" blocks as my leaders-and-enders project.  I've got 154 finished and plan to do another 14, so I can make a throw that's 12 blocks wide and 14 long.  Each block being 4" finished, that'll produce a top -- before borders -- that's 48" x 56" long, and borders will take it up to a nice throw size -- 54" or so by 62" or so.

Although this has been my focus this month, next month I've vowed to the Quilting Gods that I'll return to the Celtic Knot project and get those last 7 blocks made -- ones that are extras to "up-size" the top from queen to king-sized, as requested. 

Quilting takes up a good chunk of the afternoon -- and then I usually head out for a walk, depending on the weather.  On my return, and on into the evening, it's time for cross-stitch.

I'm still working on The Swan Sampler which, as I mentioned in my last post has been a very enjoyable stitch -- but it wasn't a good choice for a Blessing Sampler, one that is to be started and finished in January, in order to "bless the year ahead".  Ah well -- I'm still enjoying it and have made steady progress, even if it's not close to being finished!

Pattern: "The Swan Sampler"
Designer - Birgit of The Wishing Thorn
Using the called-for threads (DMC & Kreinik)
2 over 2 on 30-count mystery linen

As a palate cleanser of sorts, I finished two small pieces.  The first, "Winter Gingham", I started a year ago (January is a month of "startitis" after all!):

"Winter Gingham"
Designer: Ruth Sparrow Gendron
Publisher: "Twisted Threads"
Kit fabric - 28-count Cream/Natural Gingham
2 over 2 with DMC floss from stash

This is the last of a trio that included "Fall Gingham" and "Summer Gingham". Why there was no "Spring", I've no idea.  I bought them -- with the fabric -- on sale from Traditional Stitches in Calgary a good twenty years ago -- it's not even in their online inventory any more!  I haven't finished them, but they might make cute pillows, or an insert in a journal cover or something. They were just fun to stitch. 😊 

Then there's this little piece that I started in December as a possible Xmas gift (changed my mind).  Some days it really suits my mood! LOL!

"Say You Have"
Designer: Brenda Gervais
2 over 2 on 28-count
Antique White lugana
Floss from stash

Next month I'll be taking up a new start, to honour the fact that in February, fifty years ago, my love and I announced our engagement.  More on that later, so stay tuned!

That's really all my news for now -- at least, in this space.  I remain closely attuned to what's happening in the Wider World, and may speak on that here some other time.  Meanwhile, I take refuge in fabric, fibre, floss and colour -- trying to live out Deanne Fitzgerald's recommendation -- to create beauty every day.

I'll leave you with my usual link to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday.  She's got the winter 'greys'...and could probably use a visit -- and a hug!

Till next time...a bientot!

Dumfungled and Gobsmacked!

 

I learned a new word this week: 'dumfungled'.  It's an old Scots word meaning "mentally and physically worn out" -- and it can imply being depressed.  And I've been all of that much of the time for months.  Years.  Since DT was elected, anyway.  I thought I was easing out of it, but then there were planes shot down and COVID and BLM and the unmarked graves of Canadian indigenous children discovered, and January 6, 2021, and cancelled art shows, and Zoom exhaustion, and over 30% of the US Electorate losing its mind and...and...and...

And then, in the last few months, I've been soundly reminded just how blessed I am:

• For one thing, I'm still here.  I turned 70, and lightning didn't strike. I didn't get "called home" as some folks put it.  I AM home, here in this wee hamlet with all its beauty and wonky citizens and such;
• I have a glorious yard and garden, and the deer haven't attacked too much of it.  I have baby apple trees and Saskatoon bushes, and lilacs and wild flowers, and 5 bird feeders.  I have bees in the May/June blossoms.  I have benches on which to sit and knit or stitch or read or just think.
• I have two great kids who, despite their own health challenges, are managing to live independent lives, pay their bills, and show me they love me.
• I have a sister who's a delight and who shows me love and hospitality whenever we get together.
• I have a few close gal pals, and a whole lot of long-distance friends, some whom I've never met -- who gave me support by buying my work this summer so I could afford the trip to Art in the Park, the price of which had sky-rocketed since COVID interrupted the planned 2020 event, which finally happened this July.
• 
  I've a faith community that struggles with aging members and fewer hands to do the work, but we gather every week to worship and pray and learn and have fellowship and struggle together -- and it's a blessing to be able to bumble along in person again after 2 years apart.

And then...yesterday...I was totally gobsmacked!

I went for the mail.  In it was a package from Traditional Stitches, my trusty LNS (Local Needlework Store), which operates online as well as in person.  I have a Wish List on their website, that's six pages long.  Yep!  I place orders as I have time and $$$ to do so.  Each order takes a long time; they're a tiny shop and don't keep a warehouse of inventory, so often things take weeks to put together.  I placed an order recently for a pattern they've told me is now on order, and I'm prepared to wait several weeks for it.  They don't request payment (via PayPal) till it has arrived in their shop, which I see as another Good Thing.

So, I looked at this package and wondered what the heck it could be.  They'd not asked me for $$ recently.  Had I ordered something, paid in advance, and forgotten??  Was I drunk or sleep-walking when I did that?  

I came home and opened the package.  It was a kit for a pattern that's been on my Wish List for months, maybe a year.   I checked my e-mails. No hint of it.  I checked my PayPal account.  No transactions recorded that referred to it, and none in that dollar amount.  I decided to look again at the order form that accompanied the kit, to check the Order Number.

Keziah Campbell 1796
Designer: Needlemade Designs (2017)
A Scottish-style sampler
Photo source: Traditional Stitches

And that was when I was GOBSMACKED.  

Right between the eyes!

Two of my dear stitching friends -- people I've known for years, and with whom I gather annually to stitch and talk and walk and eat and enjoy art and textiles and gardens -- had sent this to me.  The name and address of one of them was on the order form as "purchaser".

Oh. My. Ohmyohmyohmyomyomy!

But...why now?  Why in November?

I picked up the phone.  When one of my friends answered and asked, "How are you?", I replied, "Stunned".  I then explained about the mail and the parcel and asked, "To what do I owe this honour?"  "It was supposed to be for your birthday," she said, adding that it was because it was a Big Birthday. "We didn't know it would take so long."

After thanking them both profusely -- the call was on 'speaker' at their end -- we had a lovely chat and I ended with telling them, "nothing for Xmas", because this in and of itself was enough to cover both occasions!  

Now, I'm not interrupting my Xmas 2022 'making' to start this.  (I can hear some of you snickering.  Trust me; I'm not going to do that! 😇😆😁)  But my friends have suggested that perhaps I could have it finished by the time we get together again in August 2023...God willing!

Hmmmmmm.

Meanwhile, the Gothic Lace Cowl for my nephew's partner is finished but for sewing in the ends and adding the buttons:

And I've started a simple cowl for my nephew:

Pattern: "Just Try It"
Designer: Susan Ashcroft
Yarn: Kathmandu Aran 100 from Queensland Yarns

I finished the "Wabi Sabi" quilt top for a Certain Young Man -- now it's ready to sandwich and quilt:

Original Pattern: "Magic Tiles" by Kathleen Bissett
My adaptation: "Wabi Sabi"
No pattern notes; it's One Of A Kind!
Size: 9 blocks + borders = 50" x 50"

And I'm 90% of the way through stitching "Lick the Bowl" for my son's partner.  It'll be made into a journal cover -- I've bought a little journal to go with it -- and I hope she'll use it to collect her favourite recipes, as I've been told she likes to bake.

One of the "Kitchen Counter" Series
Designer: Hands On Designs
Fabric: 30-count mystery even-weave
Threads: my own selection - DMC

My right hand is still a bit 'iffy' -- aggravated somewhat not only but the stitching but also by the writing, typing, and shovelling.  I try to rotate activities...but my art-making is on pause.  I figure if I get these gifts finished, I can move into sampling for the 3rd piece I need to do re: Art in the Park.  

And in the weeks left in November, I have 2 short theology papers to write, two Morning Prayer services to manage (with homilies), 3 dozen Christmas cookies to bake for the church cookie sale (Nov. 26) and the Under $100 Art Market in Lacombe (Nov. 24-26), where I'll be showing small works and volunteering.  

Here's just one of the pieces that will be for sale at that Market:

Winter Grasses (2021)
5" x 7", floater frame

Just a few things to keep me out of trouble!

Meanwhile, it's Remembrance Day here in Canada, and I'm going to wander downtown (3 blocks from here) around 10:30 a.m. to see if there's a ceremony planned.  The good folks at the Royal Canadian Legion here used to do it every year at the Community Hall, followed by a buffet lunch at the Legion Hall.  Then COVID hit and it didn't happen in 2020.  Last year it was an outdoor service (no lunch).  This year it's been very cold and snowy, and while I noted that a small area around the Cenotaph at the Legion had been cleared of snow, there's been nothing posted about a service at the Community Hall -- or anywhere, for that matter.  So we shall see.

It's also Friday, and Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday is up and running...so I'll leave you with an invitation to check out the action over there, and with the hopes that your weekend is warm and cozy, or cool and beachy, and wherever you are -- safe, sound, happily creative!  'Bye for now!

Almost There...

 There's a great deal of "almost there" going on here right now.  It's been "almost autumn" for the last couple of weeks.  Cooler mornings, sometimes cooler days -- and sometimes days in the twenties Celsius -- from low to high!

All the while the leaves are turning, the grass has stopped growing, the geese are trying to figure out which way is "south" -- but my cherry tomatoes have refused to believe it's not summer!  Believe it or not, I picked these yesterday -- September 29 -- in central Alberta, Canada, Zone 2a to 3 (depending on who you ask).  Go figure!

Meanwhile, "Samper September" is nearing its end.  I didn't do as much sampler work as I'd planned, but I've enjoyed it nonetheless.  So..."Ann Turtle, 1810" has 2/3 of a border.  My September needleroll is snoozing, as is "Ruth Gibb, 1882" -- though I did add "q r s t"  before I set it down!

All that aside, I'm getting there with "Growth Chart" -- perhaps the most ambitious piece I've got on the go at the moment.  This is not just due to size, but also to the fact it's intended to be a 2022 Xmas gift!  So as mentioned in my last post, I focused on it for the better part of a week last week.  Here's where I left it on August 22nd:

and here's where it is now:

Lest you get your gnomes confused, the fellow with half a hat in August now has a full hat, and has discovered leaves and flowers growing behind, around and above him.  The next gnome goes on that blue step to the left of the ginormous pink blossom -- in about 10 days from now. 

With a few days left in September, I turned to the September "Back to School" mini-bouquet from Jeannette Douglas -- the 9th installment of her free informal SAL for 2022, which I'd not even touched.

These are delighfully tiny and colourful stitches, so I finished it up yesterday (Sept. 29):

And here's what it looks like next to its mates:

There's another border running horizontally below the bottom three; I've done just enough of it -- plus the border on the left side -- to enable me to place the October motif properly.  Coming soon!  😉

What next?!  Well...it's less than 3 months till Xmas now, and for those of us who give hand-made gifts, that means "Get a move on, eh?!"  

So...I've returned to the "Quaker du Japon" from Jardin Prive, starting now on a rather large motif that's pretty much dead centre in the piece. Here's the model photo (from Traditional Stitches shop site, which is where I bought the pattern):

See that BIG red and black motif in the centre?  Yep!  That's the one on which I'm working!  I'm about 1/4 of the way around the outer two black borders.  Having started at the top, I'm now making my way counter-clockwise around the design.  That's because I'm working from left to right across the piece, so I've positioned each motif based on what's either above it or to the left of it.

And because I've got at least 2 more stitchy gifts to make for Xmas, I've started one of those too -- for my son's lady friend, who likes to bake.  It's one of a trio called "The Kitchen Counter Series" from Hands On Designs.  This one is entitled, "Lick the Bowl".  Delightful!

As for Art in the Park 2022...I'm almost there too -- at least, with the first of at least 3 pieces that are required!

Remember all the samples I described in my last post?  Well...live and learn.  None of them -- no, not one -- would work for this first piece.  A large part of that was due to time.  I discovered -- to my chagrin -- that, in order to make a piece of any size, most of those techniques would take far longer than the time allotted for this project. 

What to do?

Rethinking...and trying without success to create anything that bore any resemblance to any landscape I'd been able to make "BC" (Before COVID). So...I went with what I'd been doing, and what I learned from Katie Pasquini Masopust's practice of "Artful Log Cabins" -- the same sort of technique I used to convert one of my wall art pieces into a bed-sized art piece, commissioned by a dear friend in 2019.

Back then, this... 

Trio (2012)

became this...

Prairie Quintet (2019)

Using the same sort of gridding technique, I've almost finished my first Art in the Park piece, with the working title "Meadow Impressions".

First the photo:

And now the "impression" in fabric -- on my design wall, still under construction:

Another four blocks and the top should be ready to assemble.  Then I need to decide on the quilting process, and whether or not there'll be textural additions (hand stitch).  Time will tell!  Stay tuned!

Meanwhile, the theology classes continue to challenge -- and irritate -- me (the author of the text takes up a lot of space to say very little)...and our poor wee parish has suffered the loss of yet another member.  That's two in as many months -- neither from Covid.  Both men, both stalwart, helpful, faithful, dear souls, and both at the end of short, unexpected illnesses. With another stalwart dying earlier this year, and the Queen's death so recently, we're a rather mournful crowd at the moment.

The only way to manage is to pray, to put one foot in front of the other, and to do what one is guided to do next.  For tomorrow, that means writing a homily and preparing the Order of Service for Sunday.  On Monday, that means writing up 3 of the silly questions in the theology text and sending them off to the prof.  At the same time, in the next several days, it means praying for two dear friends who are facing surgery...and sorting out what will be needed to remember the dear man who's just died.

After that...one must look forward, and live out what is set in front of one.  Finishing one art piece and starting another.  Working at Christmas gifts, which is always delightful.  Looking forward to Canadian Thanksgiving (next weekend) when I travel to Edmonton to visit my daughter, help her put her garden to bed for winter, and perhaps see some of her lovely friends at a pot-luck.  

Meanwhile, Gentle Readers, thank you for dropping by.  I leave you with my usual link to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday -- she too is finishing and starting, in the way of the world.  I hope you are all well and safe -- remembering especially my friends and family in Atltantic Canada in the wake of Hurricane Fiona, and friends and acquaintances in Florida and up the US coast as Hurricane Ian travels by.  May we find strength in the comfort and help we give to each other whenever and wherever it's needed.

As Tiny Tim said, "God bless us, every one."

When All is Said and Done...

 'And now these three [things] remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.'

-- Paul, the Apostle - 1st letter to the Corinthians, Ch. 13, v. 13.

Those Gentle Readers who've followed me for some time know that August is what I've come to call "My Anniversary Month".  I was married in this month 47 years ago -- in heat and humidity, in a little old church in southwest Quebec.  Thirty-one years later, on the same day, my DH died in a room just a wee bit away from the ER in a hospital in Calgary.  If you've followed me, you already know the story and I'm not going to repeat it here.

That said, that phrase from 1 Corinthians 13 was the tail end of what was read at our wedding.  It was true when Paul wrote it; it was true when it was read at our wedding, and it remains true today.

After everything has gone up in smoke and ash, what remains is...love.

Last year in August I began to work on a piece with that title; "What Remains is Love".  It's a sampler from Black Bird Designs, created especially for the 20th anniversary of one of my favourite needlework shops, Traditional Stitches, near Calgary.  I got a good start on it, but put it away after August -- until February of this year, which marked 47 years from our engagement to be married.

This month I took it out again and discovered that, lo, and behold!  I'd completed more of it than I'd thought -- so I decided to finish it -- and yesterday, I did.

It still needs a good press, and will be framed -- eventually -- but for now it's pinned up on my studio design wall:

And here's a close up of how I finished the bottom -- which differs from the pattern:

I used the alphabet provided in the pattern for the ornate "HMB" (my DH's initials) and adapted the numerals provided so that they'd match the size of the letters (vertically).

Typical of my challenges with counted cross-stitch, there are glitches -- mainly in the spacing of the motifs -- which (of course) produces a 'domino' effect.  I ended up lengthening the side borders a little bit, and, having some extra space in the lower left corner, added the heart motif -- taken from a different pattern, designed by Erica Michaels.  I look on that as a blessing, despite my fuding elsewhere in the piece!

Since my last post, I've almost completed the Erica Michaels piece, but can't share it here in case the recipient reads my blog post (it's a birthday gift).  And of course, once finished with "What Remains...", I had to start a new piece, right?!  You bet!

So yesterday I set out on the first motif of "Quaker du Japon", which I ordered to make up as a Christmas gift for my son.  It's a very soothing stitch thus far -- an "order out of chaos" sort of practice, which I really need right now.

Blessedly, though we're having a spate of Very Hot (for Canada) weather (again), there's been a bit of a breeze, so I'm able to sit outside to stitch -- and enjoy my garden.  The zucchini and cherry tomatoes are beginning to ripen at a steady pace, the Brown-eyed Susans are starting to blossom -- and then there's this bee balm blossom that looks double!

Bee Balm!

The bee balm's been blooming steadily for over two weeks now -- still going strong on the southeast corner of my house, with potentilla and lilies behind it trying to catch up.

Across the lawn to the east, under the small Mountain Ash (aka 'Rowan'), to my delight -- at last -- this year the poppy seed given me by my neighbour has not only sprouted but grown and blossomed!

Double-ruffled poppies in situ

Glorious poppies close up!

I planted them in a bed with other wild flowers, which are also starting to appear.  There are some forget-me-nots just out of camera range...and then there's the Whatever It Is right next to the poppies.  😆  I won't know for certain what it is until it blooms -- and maybe not even then!  No matter; I'll enjoy it!

Signing off with a link to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday, and wishing you a lovely weekend, wherever you are. This week she's written about creating happiness -- especially if you're a maker.  It seems to come down to this: have faith in yourself, hope (and confidence) in your gifts, graces and abilities -- and love yourself enough to appreciate the unique being you are!

Thanks for stopping by! 

Finishes, Starts and Ideas

There's a lot goin' on 'round here.  Mother Nature hasn't been able to make up her mind about allowing us to have Spring this year, which my tulips, my budding trees, the returning birds and my schedule have found rather chaotic.

As if the outside world weren't chaotic enough! 😆

I've been fighting back attempting to stay calm with routines -- roughly reflected in the title of my April 1 post. Knit, quilt, stitch, repeat.  To that, when possible, I've added "walk".  It's helping -- somewhat!

As a result...I've managed to get a few things finished, a few started, a few under construction and a couple of new ideas.

In my last post you saw my finished blue-and-gold quilt for Ukrainian refugees.  It -- and three other lap/comfort quilts -- were delivered to the local Blankets of Love rep a couple of weeks ago.  Now I'm roaring ahead on "Hearts of Hope" -- Bonnie Hunter's contribution to Ukraine support.  All of the pattern parts are posted now, and I've seen some finishes online.  I'm not there yet -- but I'm getting close.  Though not a difficult pattern, it's rather labour intensive, but I've been working on it every-other-day or so, and have 4 rows completed, with the blocks of the fifth waiting to be sewn together, and those of the sixth under construction (there are 7 rows plus borders).

"Hearts of Hope" - what a single row looks like

I have to say I've really enjoyed this pattern and will probably make it again with different colours -- or completely scrappy!

Aside from my little embroidery piece honouring Ukraine -- which now hangs outside my back door -- I've finished some other pieces, and am gearing up to start a couple of new ones.

This one -- "Crowning Glory" from The Victoria Sampler -- is now at my framers for a special mat to be cut.  I've asked her to mat it, then back it with foam core, so I can simply mount it on a stand once a year as an Easter Season Stitch.  

It's a pattern that I acquired a good 12 years ago; now it's available as a PDF.  I had some trouble with it (to put it mildly).  The fabric frayed tremendously in the midst of one of the pattern features...  Take a look at the pattern on the website, and see if you can figure out what I did differently.  😉😆  

I also finished this one -- "Schoolgirl Basics" from Just Nan, started one summer (2018?  2019? -- I can't remember).  It's very pretty, and when I'd done it up, I wondered why I waited so long to finish it!

"Schoolgirl Basics"

It's also at the frame shop. I want her to frame it as a companion piece for this Just Nan pattern I did in 2005 ("Summer Night"), that currently hangs in my bedroom.  The mat and frame styles have changed, of course, but she thinks she can get something close to this:

"Summer Night"

And speaking of finishes re: Just Nan designs -- I've finished the stitching for the first of a pair of pieces entitled "Marching Orders".  This first one is going to become a needlebook for one of my favourite "floss-tubers".  Here it is just out of the frame.  There's a red hat charm to be sewn on, but I may leave that till I'm close to a "Final Finish".

"Marching Orders"
Needlebook

And...I happily finished Jeannette Douglas' "Mini Bouquet" for April: "Be Well" -- shown first here in situ...

And here's a close-up

I played with the reds on this one, so it's a bit brighter than "called for" -- I just think it's delightful!  And the next installment comes out on Sunday!

I have three pieces under construction: "What Remains is Love" from Blackbird Designs, which is a memorial for my husband and is stitched only from time to time; "Stitcher's Prayer" from Kathy Barrick, a pattern I've had for ages (it was published in 2001!!); and a third on which I'm making great progress -- but won't show any links or photos, as it's a gift for one of my friends who occasionally reads this blog.  Sorry...

Of course, there are 'starts' in my future now: "Marching Orders" as a line sampler is top of mind, along with the May 'mini bouquet' from Jeannette.  

In the sampler/cross-stitch world, apparently there's a group that celebrates stitching in the month of May with "Stitch Maynia".  There was a Facebook page...but it's evolved and I can't find it for 2022.  Nonetheless, the Floss Tube world is all a-buzz with this year's projects and plans.  The general idea is that you start something new every day during May!!  Whoa!  

But wait -- you don't have to!  As with so much today, there are no hard-and-fast rules about that.  Just start one new thing, or one a week or one for Mother's Day and another for Victoria Day (or Memorial Day in the US) or...or...well, you get the idea.

So I'll have the two starts mentioned (which I'd have started anyway), and...I've a stack of options for another start.  I'm thinking of Mother's Day because of this red-stitch sampler:

"Ruth Gibb, 1882"
Designed by Hands Across the Sea Samplers

 
I bought mine through my favourite LNS, Traditional Stitches, located on the west edge of Calgary.  

Margaret Gibb
ca 1910

It was the name that got to me: Ruth Gibb.  My maternal grandmother was Margaret Gibb, and she named my mother Margaret Ruth.  Mom always went by 'Ruth' -- and my DH and I named our daughter Gina Ruth (she uses 'Gina').  I think it only fitting that I do this as a "Mother's Day Start" then, eh?

Of course...that's lead to another 'rabbit hole' -- finding out more about the Gibb family, emmigrants from Barrow-in-Furness, England, in the late 1800s.  And seeing if I could find a Scottish sampler created by someone in my father's family, which originated in Kilsyth (Stirlingshire).  My GGGrandfather and his bride came to SW Quebec in 1826 to join his two half-brothers.  My Scots cousin (on Skye now) said he didn't know of any, and that may be true -- I'm not sure how many of the farmers' daughters went to school in those days (where many samplers were taught). 

That said, I had the delightful honour of a Zoom chat with Nicola Parkman of Hands Across the Sea (HATS), and she's encouraged me to select some examples of Scottish samplers, including ones from Stirlingshire (there are some distinctive features in those), and design my own.  Needless to say, photos are being collected and ideas are percolating!!

On the art quilt front, my little piece, "January Picnic" is up for bid at the SAQA Spotlight Auction, which opens today and runs online at HandBid, through May 7.  (Bidding opens at 3 p.m. Eastern/1 p.m. Mountain).  My piece is on "Table 1", which will be the first to close on that date (4 p.m. Eastern, 2 p.m. Mountain). Every piece starts at $20 USD.  Shipping is $30 USD for up to 5 pieces.  Each is matted and backed, so it will present beautifully when you receive it.

And...several pieces are in at the framer's, including my latest piece, faced and mounted on 16" x 12" stretched canvas:

In the Tall Grass (c) 2022
Rusted cotton fabric, machine quilted

It's actually rather "good" that my art-making has taken a back seat to knitting, stitching and charity quilting.  The pieces are stacking up at the frame shop due to supply issues including the acquisition of the particular mouldings used for my work -- that black 'floater' frame I like so much -- so I don't know how long the process will take.  As I'm showing in the shop's gallery, I do have some work on exhibit -- as it were -- but there'll be no local art show/sale again this year (I'd be there right now if there were!).  Thus my framer can take her time getting them framed -- and I can save up the $$ for when it's all finished!

As for new ideas...well, aside from designing a Scottish sampler (and maybe an English one too!), I've at least two art quilting 'experiments' brewing.  One is the quilting of an almost-all-white string/improv piece that I thought at first might be a background, but now think might stand on its own.  The other is some sort of improv work with a selection of "prairie greens" I've gathered over time.  It includes some sunprinting I've done, some hand-dyeing, and some lovely stretchy velvet bits (6" square) dyed by my friend arlee barr -- and which I've finally mounted on stabilizer so I can  use them!

In addition to continuing my making, over the next while I'll be attending the SAQA Conference -- brought to us again online this year, from a team in Florida (where the in-person plans were cancelled due to...you know).  So while I'm 'travelling' to "St. Petersburg" via Zoom...I'll leave you with wishes for a great weekend, and a link to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday.  Nina-Marie isn't there right now though; she's also travelling. Check out the link to learn where!