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.

Maritime Trip Coming Up

It's October 22, and that means tomorrow I leave for a 15 day teaching trip to the Maritimes. Since I am visiting four groups and have lots of things to bring, and hope to enjoy a few days there as well, I decided to drive. I'm giving myself three days to get there so I will never have to drive more than 6 hours in any day. 

My first workshop will be Collage Tree at a two day retreat for the Northumberland Quilt Guild's retreat at Liscombe Lodge. From there I plan on driving to Lunenburg to visit my friend, Canadian Quilt Artist, Laurie Swim. Then I head to Prince Edward Island to teach an In Full Bloom class for the Northern Lights/Green Shores Quilters' Guilds. From there it is back to New Brunswick to teach a one day Collage Tree class at Spruce It Up Quilt Shop, and finally an In Full Bloom workshop for the Gorge Quilt Guild in Perth-Andover, NB.

Peekaboo is enjoying crawling on and into the bags as I am packing them.

I've done a lot more dyeing this past month because I needed floral kits for the In Full Bloom class and tree kits for the Collage Tree classes. When I ripped the fabric Wilma was there to help me.

Tree Kits. This photo shows backgrounds for three different options, and leaf options.

Barks fabrics in darks, mediums and lights.

 Floral kits.

My dyeing was made a bit stressful when my fabric wholesaler ran out of my favorite white cotton, and it continues to be back-ordered until today. I borrowed 57 meters from a friend, and then had to order another 75 yards of other cottons to finish my jobs. While the alternate cottons are nice, they in no way come close to the combed cotton lawn I purchase from TrendTex. I'm told the shipment is expected this coming week. It has been delayed a couple of times so I hope this is true. While I have put my dye pots away (I'm out of fabric and I need to work on the commission) until January, I am going to be needing lots of cotton to prepare for my booth at Quilt Canada Ottawa in June 2019.

I am pretty close to being finished creating the patterns for the triptych commission I am making. When I return I will have them enlarged and begin work. This is the design for the central panel.

copyright, Elaine Quehl, 2018

I had planned to dye more yardage for the sunflowers but since I am out of my favorite cotton I will wait until my return. I want to use the best quality cotton for this commission. Should the cotton be further delayed I will delve into my store and my own stash. For example, these bundles in my store would work well for the sunflowers themselves, and I have a lot of greens in my stash and my store.

The leaves here in the Ottawa Valley have been gorgeous this year. We've managed to get out and about on a few nice days to enjoy them.

I'm hoping there are lots of leaves left on the trees across Quebec and New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and even PEI. I'll post a full report of my trip upon my return, however, I will be doing more regular updates on Facebook. Please feel free to "friend" me there.

The Commission

I've been working with a couple who wish to commission a quilt for the entry-way/stairwell of their home. They are interested in a sunflower theme. Over the years I have taken hundreds (maybe even thousands) of photos of sunflowers all over the world, and I even have a bit of experience rendering sunflowers in quilts. Based on their preferences and size needs, I came up with the following design to inspire the work. 

The design will be a triptych. The centre panel will be 4 ft x 4 ft., and each side panel will be 2 ft x 4 ft.  I'm delighted that we agreed on a design and the commission agreement was signed yesterday.

I'm blocking some time in my calendar for this year and next to complete this work. The deadline I've given myself is April 30, 2019. In my commission agreement I asked that I be allowed to blog about the making of this work, with the promise that I will not reveal the names or location of the commissioners.

It is an honour to be trusted to create something that a couple will live with every day in their home. I look forward to the challenge. Feeling blessed today.