My Sweet Prairie / Monika Kinner-Whalen's Blog

I am spending all day framing my work for the weekend and preparing all the little cards for each piece in my display.  I doubt I'll get the crocuses done in time, but that's okay as it seems to have been spoken for.  I just sold another Flax field too!  I was smart this time:  I made TWO.  : )  SO there will still be one at the show on Sunday.

3x9 vertical Flax in progress...

I DARE someone to count the French Knots in that piece!  : )

This will also be the week that I photograph all my embroidery before if goes under glass and is sold.  What crappy timing - again.  It's been grey and rainy for a couple days.  I think the same thing happened just prior to Gardenscape.   Dark & blustery - typical Saskatchewan spring.  We lost 4 out of 5 unbrellas yesterday while walking to school!  POOF - inside out and bent in half!  lol  Spring winds around here are not for sissies.

Tipi & Rosehips, 2012

I hope the weekend is nicer.  There will be walking tours on Sunday that bring in extra traffic to the Spring Show & Sale.  Elizabeth Cuming, an award winning art quilter from our guild, will be there as well!  I really want to buy an elevator from her and she has some lovely small works of local scenes.  Check this out from last fall at our bennial show!  They are both hers (I had posted these last fall on my blog with her permission).

Wall Hangings / Quilt Art by Elizabeth Cuming, Saskatoon

I love the hills on the other side of the river where the pelicans are!  Isn't she fabulous at what she does!?


Well... here I go.  Offline and to the cutting table.  I hope the sun decides to shine soon! This is why I love winter shows.  Winters here are MUCH brighter.   ; )  I'm linking up to The Needle & Thread Network for WIP Wednesday.  See you soon!

Prairie Postcard #42 (sold)

p.s.  10% of the sales from my Prairie Postcards will be donated back to FFFH.  See you then!

The wonderful and completely charming Annette from In Stitches & Seams invited me out to her place in Watrous to teach a 'Basic Threadwork' class for the first time to a group of five wonderful women (including Annette).  It was a great drive, about an hour out of Saskatoon on a beautiful sunny day.  I came with handouts, lots of practice fabrics, stabilizers, hoops, thread, and a beautiful project photo supplied by Edith Maracle from Kingston, Ontario.  (Thank you Edith!)


After some discussion, we set up the machines & adjusted the tension.  I had everyone test their stitches and then they began experimenting by coloring in on 'cheater' fabrics (see the apple above?).  Some hooped, some didn't.  Into the second half of class, I had everyone stitch out Edith Maracle's beautiful black capped chickadee.  First, each person traced the photo onto fabric using Annette's trusty light box (that would be her front door).


Simple scotch tape, an hb pencil, and some sunlight is all you need.  Away they went!

There's me in the mirror, cheering Annette on.  : )

She was so darn sweet - I got hugs and presents and even gluten free baking!


Here are some of the work in progress.  I picked these two particular photos by Edith because they were so clear.  You could see every feather.  The colors weren't too difficult at all to find in most people's stash: black, white, grey beige... and who doesn't love chickadees?  Check out their stitching!  Awesome...

haha - I told them I would only photograph their hands.  Looks like I got some toes in there!  : )

It's interesting to see who starts with what.  Everyone is different.

I'm sure they are wondering why I'm nose-to-the-dirt  : )

It's so odd to be once again at the point where I'm panicking that I won't have enough art for the next show, and then I line everything up to discover I have indeed made a LOT of pieces!  It will be a small space at the Spring Art Show & Sale as it's a group exhibit, and my table should be full.  I'll have machine & hand embroidered landscapes like this one...

Canola Summer, 2012

 You can read more about the event at the top of the blog.  Here's a close up...


I know... seriously?  There are thousands of French Knots in the whole piece...  That last photo was in-progress.  If you look at the first, you can see that I have a thin pale metallic thread couched down into the horizon.  You can click in the first photo to see it bigger if you like.

I will also have a little selection of art-to-mail from my Prairie Postcard series.

Wish You Were Here #30

side note - have you noticed that my photos look clearer since the new laptop?  My old one was failing and the yellow screen was causing me to edit my photos into strange & muddy colors.  Expect MUCH better photos from here on in!  ; )  There's something to celebrate!

Prairie Rug #11

Now I'm off to hunt for the right blue embroidery floss.  I have one more flax field to finish and I've ran out!  OH, I do NOT want to go shopping AGAIN.  I want to stay home & sew!  Maybe I'll grab a bundle of the right color instead of one skein. 

Today I'm linking to a new party called Handmade Parade.  Isn't that a sweet title!?  You can check it out HERE.  Thank you Katey for the invite!  :)

It's been a LONG time since I've made a post for my Thursday, hasn't it!?  I am so sorry.  I know for some of you, it was your favorite post.  Well here we go - I hope this makes up for it.



I love that wonderful people like RITA PENNER kept pestering me to mail her some fabric - because I love aprons and she happens to love making them.

To dye for.  : )

I love that fabric.  I found it in a bargain bin at Periwinkle's.  I figured it was pretty enough to make something beautiful, but subtle enough to wear as an apron and not scream out "HEY I HAVE AN APRON ON!!"  lol.  This one looks terrific with jeans and a t-shirt.  (Unlike the one my mother sent me - it's a giant slice of red watermelon with bright green straps.  It looks crazy with anything.  She bought it for my husband when she found out I was dating a guy who likes to bake bread.  p.s.  He has NEVER worn it mom.  I have, and accidentally answered the door in it.  TOTALLY embarrassing!)



*** I also love that we managed to mail the fabric back and forth through Canada Post for only two dollars each.  THAT is a miracle.  lol.  Thank you Rita!  This is the BEST apron ever. 

in progress - wild crocuses to be added by hand

I'm not sure if starting another piece right now was wise, but I think I can manage this.  Besides, it was 'calling' me.  I had to answer!   : )  It's all ready for hand stitching.  I'll be putting wild crocuses into the foreground, inspired by the photos I took at Patti's farm.  There was one photo in particular that drew me.   It was that blue, blue water down the hill.  I think I'll be putting smaller crocus clumps into it instead of one big close-up as the original photos portray.  You can see them here.

Also in progress: #7.  I am teaching on Sunday, so I am getting ready for that too.  I'm excited about this.  I'm heading out to the town of Watrous to do my first Beginner Threadwork Class for a group of 5 women.  I think 2 are coming from Regina.  Annette from In Stitches and Seams is hosting it at her place.  We 'know' each other through The Needle & Thread Network.  I'll be bringing along some yummy Wonderfil Threads too!  Speaking of Annette, she happened to be the one to answer my call for the "Tag! You're it" postcard exchange.  I mailed her one of my Tag cards, and WOOHOO!!  Look what I got today from her!

only the BIGGEST art-to-mail that I've ever got!

It's ONE HUGE TAG!  I had to burst out laughing.  Look at what I made for the swap...

off to Ireland it went... 'Tag! You're It' postcard.

Only the tiniest tag ever!  lol  Annette, I love your card!  Thank you so much!  I'm so glad you swapped with me.  Don't mind me if I show that one off to my postcard classes!  It's a keeper.

I'm experimenting with different presentation options for my art.  The next show & sale is less than 2 weeks away!  Lately, more and more artists and jurors have encouraged me to 'get it out from under the glass'.  With certain work like hooked rugs or quilts, of course I don't put those under glass.  With my fine thread embroideries though, I have put them under glass.  I use a gallery matting or double matting to keep the glass off the work.  Typically, other traditional embroiderers and nearly all buyers of my art want the glass.  "OMG HOW do you keep it clean!?" I get that a lot when I suggest removing the glass.  Maybe it's a matter of not knowing how to clean fibre art?  On the other hand, people from down south cringe and say, "do you know we have spiders and other insects that would eat that or make a nest in it?"  lol  I'd never considered that!  Still, after much thought, I think I will continue to put my thread paintings under glass for the next show.  It can be removed at the point of sale by me, or later by the new owner.  It does protect the fine work from the many, many hands that rub across those tiny little french knots.

And no - grown ups at art shows tend not to know better than to keep their hands off the work.  ; )

So, here is what I've been doing the last couple of days - working on presentation.  So far, I love the results.  First, I machine stitched some linen onto a fitted piece of tough watercolor paper by zigzagging around the edges.  The little Prairie Rugs had the excess canvass hot-steam pressed to the back.  I like it like this with no visible border.

preparing a linen backing

mounting the fibre art

Check this out.  I love this tool.  I can pick any frame I want, remove or add glass, double the matting, change from a tabletop frame to a wall frame... and this inexpensive tool from Lee Valley allows me to make everything fit every time.  See?  I added new tabs because the ones that were made with the frame didn't work once I changed how much I was putting into the frame itself.

best present ever : )

I removed the glass and inserted the linen & matted art, put on the backing board, and held it all in place by inserting the new tabs.

neat as a pin

Tada!  I love this.  No glass.  All fabric.  My small art pieces are just too small to stick on the wall as is.   



Here it is, ready to go.  My label is on the back for identification.

Prairie Rug #11