Commission Update

Over the past week I finished my patterns for the sunflower commission. It took considerable time to decide the order that the designs will be built in, and every part was numbered and lettered accordingly. Sections were colour-coded with hi-lighters and markers so I will know where petal ends and leaf begins. If you zoom in the photos you should be able to see this. Now I have a much more intimate knowledge and understanding of my design that will help when I am building it.

 

I also dyed a few more meters of fabric to fill in some gaps I saw in the group I dyed earlier. Here's the full collection now. If there are any additional hi-lights or shadows I need, I am sure I will find them in my stash.

In addition, the pattern was traced to the reverse side and colour-coded and numbered and lettered there. When I begin building I will need a pattern in reverse. Yes, I could have had the copy shop do a pattern in reverse, but I find that when an 8" x 8" design is enlarged to 4' x 4' the lines also enlarge and become quite thick and sloppy. I want a nice clean and sleek copy to work from.  

I had no idea how long it would take to complete this because I don't normally work this large and also don't normally do three pieces at once. The next four months will be spent building and quilting. I am going to begin with the large centre unit as it will be the star piece. Very excited about the scale! As you can see the patterns take up most of my studio. Together they are 8' x 4'. My studio is only 10' x 10'

I am absolutely delighted to be staying home for the winter and devoting myself to this commission. 

Now to take a break for my Christmas bakefest!  It begins with lots of butter and my vintage Sunbeam Mixmaster. I think it dates to the late 1950's when my mother got married, and she continued to use it until she went to long-term care around 1995 (she passed away due to complications of dementia just before Christmas 2000). When I cleaned out my parents home I took it with me. I still use it a few times a year. They don't make them like that anymore! First up is cranberry/walnut shortbread, to be followed by maple shortbread and chocolate shortbread. 

Mixing in the cranberries and walnuts.

Wishing you and yours a splendid and peaceful Christmas and holiday season.

Last Gigs of the Year

I've been dyeing fabric for the past couple of days, getting ready to construct the Sunflower commission. I will start building it this week, so my next blog post will report on progress. Tomorrow night (Monday, December 3) I am Shop of the Month at the Ottawa Valley Quilters' Guild's last meeting of 2018. Information about the meeting and a map to the location is available here.

Two weeks ago I delivered my last lectures and workshop of the year. First was a lecture for the Out of the Box Fibre Artists group here in Ottawa. It was lovely to attend one of their meetings and see a lot of people I haven't seen in a while, but to also meet a lot of new members. The next day I drove the two hours to Pembroke, Ontario, to give a lecture to the Pembroke Log Cabin Quilters, with a workshop following on Wednesday. 

Our lecture and workshop took place in the chapel of a former Convent, now known as the Carefor Centre. I really enjoyed the colour and light therapy from the stained glass windows. I don't think I've seen marble floors like this since I've been to the Vatican several years ago!

Outside our windows winter was brewing, the temperatures were dropping, and it was excruciatingly cold for November by the time I left at the end of the day.

My impression is that the class had a lot of fun working on Flip & Sew Curves. I've got two class photos. The second one includes me.

I really love Suzette's take on the technique. Can't wait to see it finished.

And, a photo of another finished work from the Northumberland Retreat in Nova Scotia at the end of October came in. This beauty is by Carolyn MacKay.

Stay tuned for updates on the commission.