WIP Wednesday

In case you’re not up to speed on the lingo, WIP stands for work-in-progress. I’ve been having fun creating the elements required for the Dwayne Wanner workshop I’m enrolled in. This coming Saturday, we’ll be bringing these elements along with our sewing machines and putting them together into 10 or 12 blocks that will form the wall hanging (approximately 4 feet square, although Dwayne does not encourage the standard, square product). It’s far more likely to have an irregular shape.

“very skinny strips” – one of the elements for my abstract expressionist wall hanging

There are six different elements, using a range of techniques, and it will be a lot of fun deciding how to put them all together.

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Wordless Wednesday

quilt colour combination inspires jewelry

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Wordless Wednesday

laneway surprise

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Women inspiring women

I have a couple (OK, maybe four) projects on the go, so I thought I would share one of my latest obsessions. Wanda Hanson inspires me on many levels, and I identify with her bold colour sense. Ever since I came across her blog,  which has only been a matter of a month or two, I have been following her daily updates. She’s one talented artist, and prolific, to say the least. I don’t know whether she has any “down” time at all.

my “cobblestones” in progress on the design wall

Here’s my take on Wanda’s “cobblestones” design, batik style, up on the design wall. I’m not quite finished with the arrangement, but it’s getting there. The process is simple, downright addictive, and for the most part, I am using scraps.

Last weekend, I took my folks for a drive north of the city to a small art gallery in Unionville – the Varley Art Gallery – to see an exhibit titled “Canada on Canvas”.

We discovered a modest exhibit in a rather tiny gallery, but there were a few pieces by relatively famous artists that I hadn’t seen before. In particular, pieces by two Canadian women – Emily Carr and Doris McCarthy – made an impression.

Home, by Doris McCarthy

Ms McCarthy lived to 100 (1910 – 2010) and she lived and worked for many or most of those years atop the Scarborough bluffs, where I lived for a few years.

I can visualize her “Home” painting interpreted in fabric … inspiration for another day!

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2013 – here I come!

I can’t let January slip by without writing a post, so here goes! Back in November, I blogged about a show that I participated in, at Ellington’s Music & Cafe. My “Not too Close for Comfort” quilt was chosen as the image for the promotional poster, and guess what, I sold it! I definitely had mixed feelings when I had to surrender it to the buyer, but that’s the way it goes!

I promised I would reveal the Christmas gifts I was working on, and here they are. I made a reversible tote bag for the girlfriends of each of my two sons.

Delia’s tote

Delia’s tote – the other side

I love this pattern (Six Pack Stack Reversible Fat Quarter Tote) by Whistlepig Creek Productions. The instructions are easy to follow and it’s a nice size. The most difficult part is choosing coordinating fabrics!

Amanda’s tote

Amanda’s tote – reverse side

I spent a few days in Ottawa visiting the boys and my Aunt over Christmas. Check out this crazy mosaic owl image that I discovered embedded in the sidewalk on Parliament Hill!

I This might make a great quilt motif

I have high hopes for this year – in all respects. I have been able to get out skating several times, and am still taking two yoga classes every week, as well as finding excuses to go walking and cycling. My goal is to get more active as I age, not less active!

As far as quilting goes, I am working on several projects at once, which I gather is rather typical of us fabric addicts! More on this in the next post!

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Slowing down

Whether through luck or skill, or maybe a bit of both, I am not caught up in the holiday frenzy. I am officially on Christmas vacation, and thoroughly enjoying the slower pace of pretty-much schedule-free days.

In planning for Christmas this year, I was fairly realistic about what I could get done (that is, creating vs shopping) and finished of some projects without a last-minute panic.

I can’t show you what they are yet, but here’s a bit of a sneak peek!

Full-size images will be posted after Christmas! By the way, most of my gifts were hand-made, if not by me, then some other crafty person!

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Intuitive design

I have finally managed to dedicate some time to writing this blog post, which is long overdue. Life has just been too busy these days (as the fall always is in my “day” job).

Since a about 2007, I’ve been part of a group of fabulous textile artists in my neighbourhood that has been organizing annual exhibits of our work in the community. However, it’s getting harder and harder to find a decent place to show our work. One of our members approached a local cafe, and the next thing we knew, we had wall space for the month of November!

So last weekend, we had our opening reception at Ellington’s Music & Cafe. Shelley’s talented friend, Steafan Hannigan, and his partner performed some lively, eclectic Irish music and kept the place hopping!

I wanted to share a bit of background on the creative process that brought my “houses” quilt to life.

I bought a cute little bundle of delicious shot cottons (fat eighths) at Greenwood Quiltery a few months ago (the one and only time I went there!), and just knew that I wanted to make houses out of them.

Way back in my subconscious, I had stored images of the colourful houses I’d seen in St. John’s, Newfoundland, but in the forefront of my consciousness, I had two current sources of inspiration. #1 – an illustration I’d cut out of the Globe & Mail Report on Business magazine; #2 – an image that I encounter every time I am sitting in a certain meeting room at work (daydreaming, and looking out the window!!).

Inspiration #1

Inspiration #2

#2 isn’t the best quality photo, but you get the idea … the angular shapes within shapes, carrying on almost infinitely. I played around with various ideas on paper, but the design wall became the best source of design inspiration.

Not too Close for Comfort

You have to look closely to see that the blue background fabric is not uniform (click on the image to enlarge). The top part represents a starry sky, whereas the bottom half is tone-on-tone fabric symbolizing earth, vegetation, growth, roots. A lot of the small pieces were random scraps from my scrap stash that I didn’t even trim.

It’s really liberating to follow your intuition and just start throwing things up on the design wall. I highly recommend it!

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Inspired by a 12-year-old

My sister and I were transported to 1880’s rural Ontario recently. Well, we drove to Fergus but once we got there, we were immersed in 1880’s culture at the Wellington County Museum & Archives. We were there specifically to see the exhibit of log cabin quilts. Some gorgeous examples in this collection, on display until May 25, 2012 and they were well displayed.

One of my favourites was made in the 1880s by a 12-year-old girl, Agnes Miller, from the vicinity of Clifford, Ontario. I kept saying to my sister – this looks so contemporary! The colour sense and the design really impressed me.

Agnes Miller's log cabin quilt - zig-zag pattern

The border of this quilt is dark red velvet. I can’t imagine creating something like this when I was 12 years old!

We also learned that this museum, a National Historic Site, was built in 1877 as a House of Industry and Refuge, which provided shelter for the “deserving poor,” the aged and the homeless.

My sister and I both adore log cabin quilts, so we came away with renewed appreciation for the talents of our quilting ancestors and lots of design inspiration. We highly recommend this exhibit!

close-up of Agnes's zig zag log cabin blocks

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Colour by Instinct

Here we are in the season of hunkering down, of trying to eke out the limited hours of daylight each day until spring arrives once again. Most of us who live in the northern hemisphere find our own ways to deal with the shorter daylight hours. In my case, I gravitate towards bright colours. OK, those of your who know me will say “ She ALWAYS gravitates towards bright colours!”, which is true, but this proclivity seems more pronounced in the winter months.

For my current project, I dove head-first into my collection of  batiks. Who can resist the energy exuded by these colours and patterns?

I was fascinated by a concept called the “disappearing nine-patch”. There are numerous interpretations of it, and some were just awful (read: dog’s breakfast). So, up at the cottage, without the benefit of a computer as a resource, I made a few sketches with coloured pencils to figure out the best approach.

The process is easy! You start with a standard nine-patch block.

original nine-patch block (4.5" squares)

Instinct directed me to be consistent with the placement of my 2 colourways (always placing the orange blocks in the corners) and using only one contrasting fabric in the centre (dark purple). In a traditional nine-patch, you might gravitate towards more variety, but in this case, the consistency pays off later when you assemble the blocks and a pattern appears.

Once these are sewn together, you simply slice them in half, in both directions, then rearrange them before sewing back together.

nine-patch, sliced

cut blocks, rotated

I expect this will evolve into a lap quilt … tbd.

disappearing nine-patch block

In closing, I have to say that I’m feeling a bit smug, because I have already got a good head start on one of my new year’s resolutions and that is to concentrate on using more of my fabric stash before acquiring more!

Wish me luck!

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Ups and Downs

It’s been a crazy week, full of ups and downs, and now I have arrived at Saturday. My sister (one of three) is arriving from BC this afternoon for a week in the big city, so that’s definitely something to look forward to.

I really feel a difference when I don’t have protected creative time incorporated into my life, so my goal this weekend is to get some of that time carved out and make something. It must remain secret for the time being, with the holidays quickly approaching.

Watchful Guardian

I made this owl wall hanging – titled “Watchful Guardian” –  specifically to donate to the United Way silent auction at my workplace, which will take place this week (Dec. 8). I hope there’s some interest in it. I continue to explore techniques for creating bird imagery with fabric, a lovely way to combine two passions.

I also contributed a miniature (5″ x 7″) textile landscape, matted and framed, which is shown below.

I learned this technique in a workshop with Valerie Hearder, several years ago.

Tranquility at Sunset

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