Process and Progress

Okay; so she didn't like the painted whole-cloth trio...

So I've created a couple of minis in "my usual style" (rough-edged applique).  I showed you the first one HERE...

This week I made the second, using colours as in the painted version, but all wee bits of cloth:

Inspirational photo, started piece, assorted supplies

It took me quite some time to assemble the jig-saw that was this piece, but I like the finished product...an artful impression of Lunenberg, Nova Scotia...

Maritime Memories II  (C) 2015

Both will be in the mail to my DD tomorrow.

On to the Next Thing(s): finishing the Magic Tiles throw (beginning with the pieced borders); knitting my September sock (another plain vanilla pair in colourful yarn); starting Christmas Knitting (yep; it's that time of year again); starting minis for two shops and 1 commission...also for Christmas/Holiday giving...

And pondering how to block out in fabric the "Lost Edges" project for EB.  By the by, Elizabeth rather liked my watercolour.  Her feedback (emphasis mine):

I like the way you are approaching the assignment...and definitely lost/found edges is a great device to indicate depth....in the photo and in your painting you actually have about 5 different levels: grass and trees, far meadow, bushes or slope beyond that, distant trees and then clouds in the sky....so gradually softening the edges as you go back through the layers...and also increasing detail on the front layer will give you beautiful depth.  there are several different ways to use this device, but this is a good one...

Don't try to copy the trees too literally, go for a pleasing arrangement rather than an accurate one...and you may not even need the house...note also that the trunks are light on one side and dark on the other...you can choose to make those edges stand out...or lose one of them!! hmm...it will take some thinking....

good luck!!

RE: the highlight about copying the trees literally.  Clearly EB has picked up on the struggle I have with detail, and adhering far more closely to same than is necessary!

Somewhere in the mix there is yard work to be done, but it might be that this year there will be a prolonged 'Indian summer' here.  Whatever's happening weather-wise, I can't recall such prolific beauty from my Zone 3 roses in all my 38 summers out here...So before linking with Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday, I'll offer you this eye candy...

(L) to (R): dark red "Hope for Humanity";
yellow "Bill Reid" (bud in centre, and full open on right;
 and yellow/pink "Campfire" rose
(to honour painter Tom Thompson of the Group of Seven)

Front and centre: deep reds and pinks
 of "Never Alone" roses as they open up.
Back: "Campfire" (Tom Thompson)

Close up: (L): "Never Alone" cluster;
(R): "Campfire" (Tom Thompson) cluster.

"Campfire" (Tom Thompson) close up

Dew Worms and Dandelions

This week's been spent re-decorating my Outdoor Studio.  In other words, I've been working in my yards (front and back) and gardens.  Now in my 7th spring/summer here, I've finally found the energy and determination to take time to enrich the soil in the beds, dig out unwanted plants and do a general garden improvement with steer manure and peat-moss-heavy "potting" soil (recommended for beds rather than pots.

First up, the dew worms (aka night crawlers).  Big, ugly things apparently -- I haven't ventured outside in the dead of night to view them, nor do I plan to!  There's no cure that won't sicken or kill plant life, pets or worm-eating birds.  According to a venerable nursery in Lacombe, they move about in a seven year cycle, and just about everyone in this part of Alberta has or has had them dwelling under their lawns.


They are particularly partial to shaded, aged lawns with a build up of thatch, which undoubtedly describes my front yard, on the north side of my house.  The recommendation? Magnesium apparently helps the grass re-grow where the worms have been, so...sprinkle Epsom salts (dry) on these spots from time to time, keep the lawn mowed, and otherwise...live with 'em and let Mother Nature take her course.

Pretty much the same thing can be said for dandelions...except they are a bit prettier than dew worms.  I live next to a vacant lot and across from a swath of County-managed green space that lies between the public sidewalk and the street.  Dandelions come with the territory.  Every spring I wage a short battle against them with a dandelion fork; after that, I just mow over 'em.

After mowing front and back, I moved on to the garden beds...where I tackled two grass-infested patches of yarrow, and an unwanted bush.

The "bush" was actually an off-shoot of one of my ancient ornamental fruit trees.  Clearly the prior owners thought it would make a nice shrub.  Alas, in recent years it failed to flourish, produced few flowers and no fruit to speak of, and lots of "sucker" branches.

I'd had enough; this year, it had to go.

I dug and dug and dug around it, till I got down to the root system.  There were 5 main roots that needed to be cut in order to remove the thing -- and amazingly, I managed to cut 'em using only my large pruners!  Then I huffed and I puffed...

And I pulled the thing out!

I rewarded my efforts by replacing the yarrow and bush with four roses (yes, hardy to Zone 3).

Here's a close up of one... from the "Never Alone" Rose collection (red opening to creamy centre):

Isn't she lovely?

I also bought a yellow "Bill Reid" rose (named for a Canadian Haida artist and jeweller), a two-colour (yellow to deep pink) "Campfire" rose that honours Canadian painter, Tom Thomson, and a red "Hope for Humanity" rose, honouring the Centennial of the Canadian Red Cross but used as a fundraiser for various Canadian charities, including shelters for the homeless etc.

The rest of the week was spent clearing my veggie plot of invading "jolly jump-ups" and wild poppies (I left a few) to make room for my raspberries to spread, and for the planting of tomatoes, lettuce, lemon balm and mint, as well as planting hollyhock, forget-me-not, cowslip and marigolds in my south facing bed under the back window.

We really need rain, so I'm hoping for the forecast thunder showers to actually happen mid-week...

Then maybe I can get back into the Indoor Studio and finish my EBMC piece for May.

Oh, yes, there was feedback on my initial effort:

The sketch is really nice, it's interesting and the line quality quite beautiful...but when you put it into fabric you're being way too literal - as you noted!   I think maybe you should limit yourself to just one color, or at most two - and use many different values of that color....so your ideas are working, your sketches are working...but the color and fabric choices are not yet there.

When you come to translating the sketch into fabric, if the sketch is good...don't change it.  BUT first make a copy of it and shade in the values.  In the sketch above I see wonderful flowing lines...but they're all straight in the quilt...the barn is at a slight angle to us in the sketch, but not in the quilt, the furrows really make the sketch, but are not evident in the quilt...everything is stiffer and straighter in the quilt...plus you've lowered the horizon to the exact mid point which is much less interesting that the high horizon you have in the sketch.

So a really great sketch - and I like the two (or three?) of them put together as you have....just square it off of course - a really great sketch which totally shows your love of your country....

So square it off, make a copy, do a value study - or more than one - choose ONE or TWO colors, colors that you have a lot of different values in...and follow the sketch as literally as you can. and you'll have something really wonderful!

I've not done the shading in of the values as suggested.  Instead, I scrapped the entire piece and have returned to piecing skies and flowing hills -- several values of blue for the one, and greens for the other.  Wondering if a pop of another colour is needed...but it's not over till it's over...

Stay tuned!

Linking to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday...and going back out to the garden with a cuppa coffee and a good book.  See you later!  :-)

High-Tech Adventures

I've surprised myself today by learning how to download photos from my camera to Microsoft SkyDrive -- and thence to my memory stick or...I hope...onto this blog.

I've been working hard on the "roses" piece, to whit:

I'm now ready to re-consider the "grid" portion.  I wasn't sure that there was enough balance using only thread to stitch onto the surface, so this morning I tried a different tack: creating a thread grid sample with water-soluble fabric:

Grid stitched on Fabri-Solvy (R) - before dissolving

 Looked good...but then I cut away the excess fabric (yes, all the insides of those squares), dissolved the rest and pinned it over the background. 

Nope.  Even though this is just a sample (not secured) I can tell it's not what I want.  It's too wobbly, too 'all over', too imprecise, compared to the black applique squares I've sampled -- as in this photo, taken before I finished applying all the roses.

Next step: re-audition fabric squares.

Back to work -- but before I go, I'm linking this with Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday.  :-)  My next check-in will be Monday (God willing); have a great weekend! 

*Whoo-hoo!  Not only was I able to share this with you, but I was able to re-size the file so it wouldn't be too large to upload/download/share in an e-mail/store efficiently on my memory stick!