Good Start to January 2018

     My entries for the SAQA Transitions show have been 'sent in' ... that's a bit of a weird thing, since I am the one to whom things are being sent.  My hope is that one or both pieces will be accepted; it would seem kind of odd, I would think, if the person (me) who is curating the whole show didn't get a piece in the exhibition.  Our juror has all the photos and expects to get the results to me for next week ... fingers crossed.
     The two pieces I've entered are:

     Halifax in Transition I: View from Citadel Hill; original photo taken January 2017; the building on the right under construction had its opening debut this weekend!

     Halifax in Transition II: Citadel Hill Clock; original photo taken January 2017 by a CBC newsperson (the CBC communications dept gave me permission to use their photo ... I had gone to the same spot as the original picture hoping to take my own photo, but the crane angle had been shifted). 

     I like the idea of postcard art quilts ... presumably something quick and easy to produce, but I don't really choose ideas that are quick and easy. This is the Dennis Nicholas lobster boat out of Pubnico Harbour, NS, that a friend of mine works on for the month prior to Christmas when the lobster fishing on the south shore is the busiest. Finished size is 4" X 6".  Hopefully I'll find some time to make a few more, after Charlotte's quilt and a commissioned graduation quilt due in June.

     Charlotte will be 3 next month (hard to believe!) ... the side of her crib has been removed as a first step and she will be receiving her big girl bed for her birthday.  The baby quilt and the crib quilt I made her will not fit.  I saw the Elizabeth Hartman "Fancy Forest" pattern at a shop and thought I might do that for her, and then I saw the "Awesome Ocean" pattern. Well, Charlotte's daddy works for BIO (Bedford Institute of Oceanography) ... and it only makes sense that her quilt have an ocean theme. 

     There are 8 sections containing 9 sea creatures and seaweed. (that's 72 pieces that need to be created!)

     I've modified the colour scheme that Ms Hartman has suggested, only using greens, blues, yellows and oranges (no pinks, purples, browns or reds).

     And, I have been lucky enough to not buy any extra fabric for the colours, although I did need the grey background fabric ... which is the same background fabric that I used on Ari's Christmas Cat quilt / duvet cover.

     I have found it easier to work on all 8 of the sea creatures at once ... invariably I have made mistakes in putting it together and seem to be ripping out or remaking some part in every grouping, (eg. putting the fins on backwards, forgetting to move the needle to 1/4 inch, messing up a size when sewing ... some pieces are only a 1/4 inch different in size ... you name it, I've done it!)  
     There is a manatee in the pattern which looks a little like a sea otter. It is unlikely that Charlotte will ever see a manatee & more likely she is aware of sea otters, so I need to modify that creature when I get to it. The goal is to have all the creatures done before the end of the month and that will give me three weeks to put it together and have it quilted.