Works in Progress

I'm in - and I'm stitching away.  I used four 100wt bobbins up already in just a couple days.  You can wrap a lot of decobob onto a bobbin.  In fact, it takes so long to wind one that it's likely the most boring thing I've ever done!  lol  Here are some works in progress...  Remember - they are not done and still quite plain, but I thought I had better show something.  ; )

That last walk out at Chief Whitecap Park with my dog put me in such an amazing mood.  I put my  images up on the computer to use as reference and start building the background colours up with fabric and thread.

The next photo is a work in progress with a mat just to see how things are filling in.  I keep an extra one nearby while I'm sewing so I can keep checking my progress.

work in progress

Now I'm ready for hand stitching.  But wait!  It's been so long since I've ran my machine, I had to keep working on more.  I figure I can spend a couple days later on just finishing the hand work on all of them...

Pictured above is on older photo I took out there last summer.  I've been hanging on to it for a while, knowing some day I would stitch it.  I just love the blending of colours in it - the shades of green and the plops of yellow.

Here it is in progress - the machine work is all done and the rest I will also do by hand.

work in progress - the bare bones of it

Oooh I love how this one is working out.  I feel like once the stems are in, it will be just perfect.

There you go - I feel caught up with show and tell after a couple of quiet months building the studio.  It is amazing to have all the threads and supplies organized and at hand.  I forgot how much I love threadpainting. : )  I have lots more on the go...  Talk soon!

Linking to TN&TN for WIP Wednesday.

Things I Love Thursday

I love matching thread colours.  It's like playing I Spy.  It's a most enjoyable process.

grey-green

charcoal / rusts

blondes / soft grey / a hint of smokey mauve

pewter

Then I start to 'paint'.

I call the the 'ugly phase'.  : )

I love the 'ugly phase' too.

I love the point where I am done the main threadpainting and move into the details.

I love how thread looks like grass.  I love how grass looks like thread.

: )  I will show you the finished version soon. : )

Happy Thursday!  I'm off to Regina / White City / Rouleau.  Looking forward to the fun!

linking to WIP Wednesday at TN&TN

Housekeeping.

Work in Progress. 

Hmmm.  Things have really slowed down for me.  Puppy is like a new toddler in the house and pretty much lives on my feet.  I think he's sound asleep and I get up to go to another room and he perks up and follows me... non-stop.  LOVE.

Three out of five of us had the flu.  And... we are all getting tired of winter.  

 There.  

I said it.

Down with the flu.  My view from the sofa for a few days...  waiting for spring.

I'm on the mend.  I did mount a whole bunch of work and sent it off to get framed.  That feels very accomplished.  I have some smaller things I'll do myself.  Now that the commissions are nearly wrapped up, I can start on pieces for Gardenscape.

detail of 'Jacarandas' in perspective

I have all the entries received now for the show I'm curating (THANK YOU!).  I'm happy to look at late entries so if anyone chickened out last minute, please send me an email.  I would like to find something with trains... that's one thing I feel is missing.  Maybe I will have to fill in the blanks later in the year.  We'll see.  p.s.  my email is:   monika @ mysweetprairie . ca

At the same time, I managed to put together my entry for the big "Prairies" juried competition in Edmonton.  I really hate competitions, and as much as I want to be part of that show, I'm feeling tinges of regret for taking part.  It's not them.  It's me.  It's 'competition'.  Maybe it's just normal nervousness.  You know - one winner and everyone else loses.  I realize that's not true, but that's how it feels some times.

So, to relax and get grounded I spent an afternoon with Elizabeth at her studio for some 'she' time.  I stretched some handwork, and did some drop spindle spinning.  This pack of art batting from MeinkeToy is going to last forever at the rate I'm going!

You just can't get tense with something like this!  I love it!

I haven't met with Jacqueline for spinning lessons yet.  I told her 'February' but we've been sick with the flu and today there is a snow blizzard.  Sigh.  I'll make it out there sooner or later.

On the up-swing, I am getting hired to do a four day long art classes for various grades at a local school.  I look forward to that!  On Friday I will be going on a school bus with a grade two class for a field trip at The Mendel Art Gallery.  June Jacobs and Gwen Klypak have a big fibre show there.  !! Soooo excited...

Work In Progress

Commission # 1... 

The hills at Blackstrap Lake, SK was the inspirational photo I'm working from.  Let the threadpainting begin!  : )

Building the 'under painting'...  the land beneath the trees and bushes.

You've seen this next photo...

I add more and more - honey, ecru, chartreuse, gold, sage green, grey, peach, pumpkin, ochre...  It might look like a mess to you in the next photo, but I know where I am going with all this.

Coming together, little bits of thread by little bits of thread.

I eventually finished the machine work over the weekend.  I'll post it later this week.

Now for the magical touch - HAND STITCHING!  woooo - I am loving this piece.  It just sprang to life!  : ) 

I'm still not done but close!  Oh, so close...  I can't wait to show it off!  : )

Linking to WIP Wednesday @ TN&TN.

Old Stompin' Grounds and Work in Progress

We did a day trip out to Hamlin and Meota where I grew up.  I swear - when I die, I want to be buried in a ditch on the prairies.  It's hard for me to even notice the big skies right now when the ditches are so incredibly luscious.  Between the ripe Dock and the blooming grass tops, there is so much pink and red and plum... more than I have ever seen.

so in love with this... more stitching here : )

This is Hamlin... where I grew up.  Our yard bordered the tracks.  We spent many, many days counting train cars from our swing set.  : )  The old wooden grain elevators are long gone.

Hamlin, SK

Okay... one more...

the road to Meota / Jackfish Lake SK

Back in the sewing room, I have been slowly finishing up a stack of postcards (ie: making a HUGE mess).  These are all in progress.  The still need some more stitching, backings, and finished edges.  I love how they are coming along.  They are so fun to create...

Shirley's Sewing Room in Moosomin, SK called to see if I could teach over a weekend this fall!  I am really looking forward to that.  I also have requests for a couple other communities south of me.  I'll keep you posted!  They are all along Highway #1, so perhaps I'll book them all back to back.

One last Work-in-Progress is that I have a rug started.  It's not planned, but it's there for me to work on here and there as I feel inspired to.  It's also not small.  I hooked about a dozen mini prairie rugs last year.  This one is nearly a metre square.  SO far there's about six hours done, and it's summer-ditch-inspired.  : )

'slow craft' makes me happy

I hope you are all enjoying a wonderful summer.  : )

the road leaving Meota Beach at the end of the day

...linking to TN&TN's 100th post for WIP Wednesday.

The Skating Pond

Sprinter.  Have you heard of it?  It's winter but it really should be spring.  Last week I had no desire to stitch a winter scene.  However, after Sunday (my first real photo shoot of the year) I felt the spark return when I stood here by the ditch.

"on frozen pond" ?

The photo is quite dark.  The sky was very blue once the day cleared out.  There is something about the joy you can feel when the sun shines in winter.  You just can't contain it.  It fills you with life and you can't help but stretch out and breath deeper.  It's SO bright and beautiful on the prairies when winter shines.  So with this scene, I thought the photo was a nice composition.  And that frozen water!  I was flooded with memories of skating on iced-over ditches for hours and hours as a child.  I remember several times tripping over the grasses that shot through the surface (or tripping over my German Sheppard).  I remember how my cheeks burned with cold, how snowblind I was, and how I just wanted to keep on skating back and forth, back and forth.  : )

in the WE Edmonds floor frame embroider stand

I put together the background of a piece and set it into the frame for handstitching.

sidenote - I know a few of you asked about this frame.  I emailed you photos but I think the attachments jammed up my outbox and you likely never got them.  Sorry about that!  The name of the stand is under the photo above if you want to google it.  It's very versatile and inexpensive as far as wood frames go.  Also, the body of it is full of moveable joints so you can stitch anywhere - floor, chair, sofa, etc.  I'm not using it correctly here but this is how I do it.  I turned the bolts on top upside down because I keep catching my threads on them.  Now this way they can hold spools of thread for me too!  Smart hey?  I turned the top into a pincushion to keep my embroidery needles close at hand (not in the photo).  I always cover the art with a piece of cloth just to avoid the possibility that the wood could be too harsh when pressing directly onto the fibres.  (I hope that answers your questions.)

picking colors - laying them out...

I'm so sentimental over this frozen ditch.  I'm sure most of you shook your head at me after yesterday's photos.  Lots of people have had enough with this winter that won't go away.  Still... I'm glad I headed out with the camera.  I found so much inspiration.

i always sign my work in thread

Here's the finished piece!  TADA!  I love the depth in the water.  I think I'm getting pretty good at that.  I altered some of the composition to make it a little more appealing.  I didn't love the bushes in the foreground of the original photo.

The Skating Pond, 2013  6x8.5"

I hope you can find 'happy' in that piece like I can.  This one is also heading to Winnipeg but I'm sure I'll be making up more.  Incidentally - I have ONE WEEK now to finish everything for my last trip to the framer.  I am officially at 23 pieces of art!  I'm shaking my head and pinching myself - I can hardly believe I was able to complete enough in time.  Thank you everyone for all your encouragement.  ('you can do it!')  I really didn't believe it, especially working at home with three kids having ten days off of school.

* * * Thank you also to Nicki Ault - Saskatoon prairie painter mom-preneur extraordinaire - for featuring me on her  Sunday Spotlight.  That was mighty nice of her!  (Have you read it?  Goodness!)  Please pay her blog a visit.  She has a lovely gallery on her sidebar of work for sale as well.

all the best,

Linking later to The Needle & Thread Network for WIP Wednesday...

Plenty of Progress

I'm working on it!  After one year as a member of the embroiderer's guild, I finally made my required name tag!  Sheesh.  It took me long enough.  Everyone in that guild has the prettiest name tags with the most perfect and intricate formal embroidery.  I don't have those skills.  I enjoyed the silk ribbon stitching on my last piece so much that I decided I'd use that in my name tag.  It's not perfect, but I think this little tag is really me.

It's on a little piece of linen with raw edges & neutral coloured machine stitching, so it's kind of rustic looking.  It has nature in it, sewing threads, French Knots, and the ribbons were hand dyed.  I think it suits me.

I was lucky enough to finally find an online ribbon source.  I got twenty metres yards? mailed to me for $12 plus a dollar postage.  That is SUPER cheap, especially after wasting a 1/4 tank of gas driving around the city looking for silk ribbon.  sigh

The rest of my many, many days away from the blog have been spent stitching that field of dandelion puffs.  WOOO!  I'm still NOT DONE.  It's been days and days.  I'm doing good though.  I'm certainly proud of it as it's one of my biggest pieces ever - 30 cm across / 12 inches.  (Funny how most embroidery is metric and quilting is all still the old imperial.)

Here is a sideways view of it so far:

blooming dandelions (in progress)

How many now?  I completely lost count.  I have no idea.  My guess based on past work is 2000-ish.

Wait!  There's more...

I finished off a piece that I had started a while back.  I didn't show you because I didn't love it.  I wasn't feeling like it was 'singing'.  Then it hit me - a few touches here and there and the whole scene just sprang to life!  It's finished now and awaiting the framer's.

Fields at Floral Road, 2013

As for my 'news' - oh there's so much piling up that I don't know where to begin.  I'm teaching and getting booked up for public speaking in a couple different cities in 2 provinces.  It's quite overwhelming but terribly exciting!  I'm getting more and more requests for things like this.  I bet if I wanted to, I could actually book up 2014 and just travel travel travel.  Motherly guilt will keep me fairly close to home however.  Still - it's nice to know I have a wide-open world just waiting for me.  Exciting indeed!  Have a great week.  : )

P.S.  I'm linking to The Needle and Thread Network if you would like to go see what other 'penniless' Canucks are up to.  Haha.  (That's a private pun that has nothing to do with poverty, FYI.)

What I'm Working On... A Little Bit of Everything.

Would you believe it if I told you I'm practicing up for a flash mob dance!?  90's hip hop is the most painful thing I've ever done.  lol  Lots of stomping and hunching and shrugging shoulders.  Wow.  I really hope I can make it through all the choreography, because this is something I have on my bucket list.  (sorry - no photos yet)

In the mean time...

done!!  done-done.  oh it was so much work, but I'm done!  : )

Tuesday morning, I brought in all the rest of my work to the most wonderful Donna - she's the woman at Cindy Moleski's photography studio that is doing my framing.  I am so incredibly happy with it!  I took home two pieces that I dropped off last week and WOW.  The matting is perfect.  The frames are incredible.  The backs are papered, sealed, and stamped.  They are wired properly with rubber tabs behind each bottom corner.  Superb.  Oh, I feel like a big girl! ; )

stitching my initials in

Right now I'm working on non-sewing things.  Things like cataloging photos of my work, making ads for the next show, trying to build a mail list, and cleaning up an article I wrote for a magazine that is due in a week.  As for videos - that would be up to Mr. My Sweet Prairie.  He's the techie, not me.  Sorry for all of you who are still waiting!  Between my work and his, we haven't had much spare time to collaborate.  (Case in point: it's 10:45 pm.  He's in his office, I'm in mine.)  It feels like once the kids are in bed, we are moonlighting.

I have to show you this... Here's the university hallway where I wrote up a proposal one night on my laptop while waiting for my boys to finish a class.  It was a wonderful two hours of uninterrupted quiet.  I even caught a little nap.  Check out the signage!!

That last word... can you say that 3 times fast?  Can you even say it once?

I had to snap a pic of that.  I have never seen a word so long!  Maybe I'll ad that to my bucket list.  : )

Have a great week everyone.  Please say hi if you come by the Little Gems show at The Mix on the weekend.  I plan to be there Friday evening and Sunday afternoon.  Linking to WIP Wednesday at TN&TN.

I Heart Binding Quilts

I personally love to bind quilts.  It's my favorite part of the process.  I'm not sure why.  Maybe it's because when you're done the binding, you are DONE the quilt!  Maybe it's because I really enjoy the quietness of hand stitching.  While my 1-2-3 Binding Tutorial seems to have gone viral this summer via Pinterest (like, holy cow batman!!), I managed to finish a few quilt projects this month.  I finally got a charity quilt done for our guild.  FINALLY.  It took one evening.  I'm not sure why I procrastinated.  I also put on a scrappy continuous bias binding onto this quilt!

It was completely accidental that it happens to have 3 perfect Windows logos in it!  Crazy -leave it to my children to come up with that one!  I straight line quilted it with pretty pastel threads to match the 'windows' and now the binding is all done.

So, to all the Pinners, "gee thanks!"  : )  You've completely doubled the hits this blog gets in only 2 months.  Stick around and see what I have up my sleeve this fall.  You just might see more you like!

I am linking to The Needle & Thread Network for WIP Wednesday, as well as Lee's at Freshly Pieced.  While you are over at TN&TN, check out the past couple of posts!  We're celebrating one year with some cool prizes.  Later!

Work in Progress. It's Wednesday Again!

Yes I do have more work started!  The trip to Lakewood Park left me with so many inspirational photos.  Having such a range of greens from Jane Evans makes my work much easier.  I have the right colors!

small backdrop ready for handstitching

close up of the Birdsfoot Trefoil flowers that will be stitched into my threadpainting

I have two other large pieces started as well as another small one. Here's a backdrop that I can't wait to start.  That gorgeous sky fabric was hand dyed and gifted to me by Heather Lair from Manitoba.  It's it sweet!?  Thank you Heather.

stormy sky

That will have a scene from a photo I took out at Grasswood after a tornado warning was lifted.

One last show & tell.  I'm multitasking here.  I need to work on samples - one for a Dresden class I'm teaching, and two for a guild presentation on a Thread class & the Hand Quilting class I took.  So here it is all in one!  : )  I love it.  I think it's turning out to be a fine sampler that will meet the needs of all three!

: )
I'm linking to The Needle And Thread Network, as well as WIP Wednesday at Lee's / Freshly Pieced.  Have a great day!