Goals for 2019

I am a creature of habit. So when my routine is disrupted, I feel very lost and unsettled. That's what's happening to me today. It's Thursday...Art Day...but because we are in the Christmas week, the days have been anything but routine. That's not a bad thing or a negative thing; it just messes me up. I awoke at 3:30 am and just couldn't fall back to sleep. Running through my mind were, "What art am I going to do today?, What will I blog about?, No, I need to tidy up my house after all our partying., Oh, I have library items that are due back today"...and on and on. I finally got up and just started my day.

Maybe I should have begun the day with my usual walk. That always gets my creativity going and inspires me. Being who I am, if the house is a mess, I can't settle down and do art so I began by tidying and cleaning. I felt very satisfied when the house was back to normal but it did nothing for my creativity. Eventually, I went down to my studio to see if just being in that space would inspire me...... Nothing! I took out a few things I had been working on but one of them bombed and that's a real inspiration sapper. Yes, not everything I do, turns out the way I want it to. Bah!

Well, Ok, then. Figure out what your goals will be for 2019. That's what I did and now at least I have a plan and I won't be aimlessly trying to figure out what to do. Here are my goals for 2019.

1. Do more "on location" sketching and include people. Uh, huh, I've been leaving people out of my sketches because I don't do them well. So if I never try them, I'll never do them well. Here's a sketch I did from a magazine this past week, WITH people. Not too bad; there's hope.

2. Paint fabric to use in art quilts. I'm not sure that I will actually use this hand painted fabric because I really love the colours I can get with commercial fabrics. However, I will try the paint and see how vibrant I can make my fabrics.

3. Create a Perpetual Birthday/Anniversary Calendar. I made one of these many years ago so it is time for an update. I'm not sure what the theme will be so if you have an idea for me, please let me know.

4. Create 3 small art quilts. This could be a stretch for me because my goal last year was 2 art quilts and I only produced 1. I think the operative word is "small'.

5. Do one art activity that is "outside my comfort zone". Risky! But how will you know you can do it if you don't try. I have a few ideas so you'll have to keep up with my blog to find out what that would be.

Wishing all my blog supporters a very Blessed 2019 and hope you also have some interesting goals.

Artwork Goals

As the year draws to a close, I am thinking about the goals I set in 2017 for this year. I have them hanging in my studio as a reminder and I didn't do too badly this year.

1. Make less fabric cards - I did make less 4" X 6" greeting cards. I produced only 35 this year. This goal was so that I could devote more time to other types of art. However, I also made 58 2"X 3" fabric cards.

2. Do more watercolour or drawn cards. I ended up making 52 watercolour greeting cards which I have posted here in the past and 10 watercolour 4" X 6" paintings of our kayak trip this summer which you have also seen on this blog in the past.

3. Do at least 2 fabric art quilts. Well, this goal was not met. I did get one art quilt done which took me from April until December to complete. I thought if I made them smaller they would be done quicker but the opposite seems to be true. The smaller the the completed size, the smaller the fabric pieces, the more time it takes. I am happy I got one done.

4. Do at least 2 acrylic paintings. I met this goal with the painting of "The Calm of the Day" which hangs in our pastor's office and "Four Canoes" which I still have.

5. Take an art course. I actually took 2 art courses. One was Portrait painting and the other was Acrylic painting.

6. Experiment with dying my own fabric. I did experiment with rust dying which I will have to revisit since I didn't think it was as successful as it could have been. I also experimented with painting fabric as well as dying it. So I may have to keep this goal on my list for next year to become more confident in this technique.

7. Keep a garden sketch book. I have also met this goal although the sketch book is not yet complete. I'll keep it going next year as well.

In conclusion, my goals were achievable and helped me to focus this year so I'll try to challenge myself a little more for 2019.

Besides what I have listed above, I also completed four baby portraits with one unfinished as yet.

Watercolour Cards

While I work on other art projects, I am always still making cards and recording the seasons in them. Below are some of my recent watercolour cards.

Calm Morning Paddle Completed

Yes, I did a lot of procrastinating when it came to quilting my latest art quilt. Because I wanted to finish it before the end of the year, I had to tackle the quilting. My procrastination had everything to do with the new quilting machine I purchased in the Spring. I had figured out how to set it up and wind bobbins, thread the machine, work the regulated stitching but there were still things that were not working like I thought they should. I decided, I had to do some more practicing so out came the scrap quilt sections and I tried all kinds of things. I finally felt like I could place my precious quilt underneath the needle and give dimension to it.

As a recap of my process, I used two photos taken on one of my canoe trips and did a watercolour painting. This painting guides the composition, value and colour to help me choose the fabric.

A pattern is made from this painting as well which is enlarged to the exact size I would like the finished piece to be.

I began with the canoe and as below, I built

the rest of the image around that.

 Before I began this art quilt, I had decided to have it framed like a painting. I have done a few of my fabric pieces that way and I really like the look. I think it elevates the piece a bit to be more like fine art than a quilt. I haven't received it back from the framers yet so I don't have a photo I can share,

Bahamian Inspiration

My husband and I had the opportunity to go to the Bahamas for a short vacation a few weeks ago and as always, I took my sketching and painting supplies with me. Below are some sketches I did while I was relaxing.

In an obscure hallway at the resort, I happened upon this beautiful quilt that was framed and hanging on the wall. It is a wonderful example of applique and looked as if it was hand stitched. Too bad it was displayed in a place where not many would see it. There were no details with it as to who had made it and when.

Sketching Sling Bag Completed

When I read through the instructions to complete this sling bag, I knew it would be a big project and I almost put it back into my studio cupboard for another time. I hesitated because I was looking for a challenge and I had all the materials purchased and ready to go. After about three week's work, it is finally done and I love it! It is not as big as I thought it would be but I learned a lot about how these bags are constructed. I had to put four zippers into it!  I made a few small errors along the way but really enjoyed the process and I love my fabric choices. It is perfect to carry some small sketch books in and pencils, small paint kit and any other items I need for a sketching outing. It has 5 pockets so I can even bring snacks.

Front and back sections

Sewing on the bias fabric to the inside of the bag to hide the seam allowances.

Voila!

Front pocket with zippered interior pocket.

Two pockets in the interior of the bag.

A Slightly Out of the Ordinary New Project

This summer while I was wandering around a local quilt shop, I saw these really unique hand-made sling bags and backpacks. I'm not sure if it was the fabric that caught my eye or the construction but I really, really liked them. As I looked at how they were constructed, I knew this would not be a cheap endeavor or a quick project but I was interested in doing something different for a change and so I bought the pattern and the essential accessories. In order to keep the price down, I would use fabric that I already had at home.

It sat in my cupboard for a long time while I finished other projects and then I took it out and read through the instructions. It was becoming very apparent that I still had to purchase other materials that I didn't have on hand such as fusible fleece, fusible woven interfacing and something called "peltex" that I had never heard of before. There were also a few zippers I needed to get. Yes, this was becoming an expensive project. I did have the fabric at home I wanted to use and I was still excited about trying to put this thing together.

 This is what the sling bag looks like. The one in the store was much nicer but probably because the fabric used was nicer than on this photo. It has one adjustable strap that you can sling over your shoulder and has a lot of pockets. I think it would be great for carrying my sketching gear.

After reading through the instructions, I was a bit overwhelmed. There was a lot of cutting out of pieces and because I am using several different fabrics, I had to be sure I was using the right fabric for the right piece. I had to cut lining pieces for every section and so I thought I would use an off white cotton. After cutting several of the lining pieces, I realized I needed to use quilting weight cotton and of a complimentary fabric to the rest because it would be visible when you opened the bag. It took me a week to cut all the various pieces out before I could even begin to sew!

As I started to sew, I was really impressed with the accuracy and clarity of the instructions. Sewing was going much faster than the cutting did.

Sling strap completed.

Interior Pockets

Check back for photos of the completed bag.

Philip Edward Island Inspiration

In July, I had the privilege of kayaking with a wonderful group of women along Philip Edward Island which is crown land in Georgian Bay near Killarney, Ontario. The Georgian Bay landscape is breathtaking and very different than Algonquin Park where we've canoed in past years.

This is our second year of kayaking and we were more comfortable with it this year and have learned how to efficiently pack our gear into our kayaks. We were a little concerned with the rougher water in Georgian Bay but found the kayaks handled well and we also stayed close to the shoreline as we traveled. Using kayaks makes portaging almost impossible so we stayed at one site and explored the surrounding area in day trips.

The weather was perfect with beautiful sunshine, warm nights and refreshing water for swimming. The bugs were only bad right at dusk however, we did have a fish fly plague one day of our exploration.

Below are the 4 X 6 inch watercolour cards of the scenery we experienced. Each participant received one of the original paintings.

Chikanishing Creek 

Evening Paddle

Sheltered Cove

Exploring

PEI Campsite(Philip Edward Island) 

PEI Sunset (Philip Edward Island)

West Desjardin Bay

Beechey Point

Kayaks

Overlooking Georgian Bay

Dead Tree

Finishing a More Traditional Quilt

I've taken a break from my Art Quilt and turned to a more traditional quilt that I have been working on with my sister and a friend.  It is comprised of pastel coloured batik fabric and each large block is separated by white sashing. The quilt top was completed this Spring and it has been waiting to be quilted and finished off so I pulled it out and spent this week quilting and putting a narrow border around it. I used a walking foot on my domestic sewing machine to quilt each large square. It will be donated to a fundraiser in the future.

I think it would make a great crib quilt.