August 9 - 2016: Anniversary

Once again, it is time.

The last stitch mark on the piece, MOB I, was made this morning...the journey that began in November 2013 is concluded.

Abdomen 

Left Hand

Left Shoulder

Left thigh

Right Hand

Right Shoulder

Right Thigh

Working now towards assembling this piece for hanging, I will be shadow quilting a bit around the exterior of the body shape, trimming the piece and bordering it with navy panels so it can be seen more easily -- and from both sides.

I have one stump sock left to knit for MOB III; the other eight are in place thanks to help from Ann, Bev, Lia, Sharon and Shalaya.

I continue to collect squares for those who are "making their marks" for MOB II.  As mentioned in earlier posts, this is the ongoing portion of this entire project, and kits are available for any who wish to participate.  Simply contact me by e-mail, and I will send you one!

I remain ever grateful for those who follow this wee blog and who've expressed their support and encouragement over the past 32 months...and continue to do so.  Next posts here will be more of process, leading up to the debut of this installation in October.  I hope you'll continue the journey with me; stay tuned!

My Silent Partners...

And today remembering the man who inspired all this -- on the forty-first anniversary of our marriage, and the tenth anniversary of his death...

Me and my Howard
Engagement Photo
Summer, 1975

July 29 - 2016 - MOB I: On the Home Stretch

With the last stitch taken July 29, I realized there are only 11 days left...11 days till and including August 9, when I'll take the very last stitch in MOB I.  The anniversary of which I first spoke will have arrived -- ten years from Howard's death from Type 1 Diabetes (T1D).

July 29 - 2016 - One thigh

Oh my.

And then...

On August 10 the work of "assembly" of the now-in-three-parts installation will begin.

MOB I will have additional quilting done around the body shape, and the will be mounted against a dark background to make it all more visible.

July 29, 2016 - Outside a shoulder

The MOB II squares I've received to date will be mounted in a mobile attached to a grid, enabling each one to be viewed alone and as part of the whole.  There are still several squares out in the world, yet to be stitched and returned.  I suspect some of them may have been lost...or set aside because "life happens"...but this is the ongoing part of this project.  My dream is to have several grids -- several mobiles -- of hanging squares, made from the kits that will be available at the exhibit when it opens in Lacombe in October and at every venue at which it shows.*

As for MOB III...there is one stump sock left to knit, and then they will be "stuffed" to give them shape and form, and prepared for display.

There will be periodic posts -- likely monthly but perhaps more often -- as the assembly process moves forward.  It's not long before the installation, and there is much work to be done.  Onward and upward!

July 29, 2016 - Left hand

Next Stop: August 9, 2016...

*If you wish a kit in order to 'make your mark' for MOB II, please contact me directly by e-mail.  And thanks for your support!

June 29, 2016 - The Saga of a Stump Sock

This month has seen the arrival of some precious gifts...

First, the socks!  MOB III is now nearly complete.   My hope was for nine socks, and seven are now finished, thanks in large part to my knitting friends from Ravelry and SAQA.

Here they are so far...with particular thanks to Anne, whose sock arrived some time back and wasn't acknowledged...and with thanks to Bev, whose sock was sent twice before it found its way here!  Oh...and the three in the back row?  These are the ones I've finished so far.  With another being knit by a friend from Calgary, I need to knit only one more to complete the set.  :-)

Collected stump socks - June 29-2016

Here's the story of Bev's sock, which boggled my mind!

• Sent to me the first time...landed at Customs on May 5...and was sent back to her as "undeliverable" -- even though the address was correct.  Sigh.
• Sent again June 2:
• Departed Post Office in Colorado - June 2 at 6:26 p.m.;
• Passed through "USPS Origin Facility" - June 2 at 10:45-10:47 p.m.;
• Passed through "USPS Facility" in Los Angeles - June 4 at 10:14-10:35 a.m.;
• Processed at "ISC" in Los Angeles - June 5 at 10:43 a.m.;
• Arrived Los Angeles (location?) - June 6 at 1:06 p.m.;
• Departed Vancouver, B.C. - June 7 at 8:11 a.m.;
• "Processed Through Facility" in Canada (probably Vancouver) - June 7 - 10:43 a.m.
• "Customs Clearance" in Canada (Vancouver?) - June 7 - 10:43 a.m.;
• "Customs Clearance processing complete" - June 7 - 11:10 a.m.;
• Arrived Mirror, Alberta Post Office - June 10 - 12:03 p.m.

Seriously?  Colorado is just about straight south of Alberta...well, southeast but not "east" by much... so it's anyone's guess why the sock had to travel here via the west coast of the continent (LA and Vancouver, B.C.).  Bev and I are both relieved it finally arrived!

Another gift surprised me on Tuesday this week: I was given a box of unused, still wrapped insulin syringes.   I had been longing to add syringes to MOB I...but had no idea how to acquire any, as I am not in need of them myself and had returned all my husband's to the pharmacy when he died. (Unused and still sterile, they were donated to those in need.)  And out of the blue -- !  So now to plan exactly how to use them tastefully...I believe they will add impact to the statement of this piece.

As for the "main event" -- MOB I -- here's how it looked after stitching yesterday:

Next month's report will be the last before the finale of MOB I (August 9)...stay tuned -- and thanks for your continued support!

May 29, 2016 - It's All Coming Together

April and May have been busy, exciting months for yours truly!  In mid-April I shared a booth with my photographer daughter, Gina, at the Lacombe Art Show and Sale -- and sold my first large landscape.

Having been part of this Show for a few years now, I've had the opportunity to get to know Maureen MacKenzie from the City of Lacombe, who is on the City's Art Committee and responsible for coordinating that annual event.

Remember that meeting I mentioned in my last post?  Well...when Maureen and two other members of the Art Committee met with me for lunch...and they agreed to host the debut of the Mark on the Body Project as an installation in the upstairs gallery at the Lacombe Memorial Centre!

The exhibit will go up October 20 and run till November 17, 2016.  It will be visible from the foyer...just enough to entice a short trip up the stairs (or on the elevator) to see it "up close and personal".  There will be an official Opening Reception on Wednesday, October 26 (time to be determined)...complete with media etc.!!

Needless to say, I'm over the moon!  I've connected with the Fundraising and Development Coordinators from both the JDRF and the CDA for this area (Central Alberta/Red Deer and District).  Both are excited to see the installation and will be invited to the opening, as will Gracie and Deb, managers of the two galleries in which I show my miniatures.

And I'm now working hard with my SAQA Mentor, Bonnie Jo Smith, to prepare my Artist's talk and a book to accompany the piece -- and I'm knitting away on my third stump sock as well as doing my daily stitching on the main piece.

May 29, 2016 - Left Hand

May 29, 2016 - Abdomen & Thighs

While I work away, my band of loving volunteers are working too.  You saw Lia's sock last month...This month one arrived from Sharon:

In addition, MOB II squares are once more coming in...

Newly-minted squares from Monika and Jo V.

And more have been sent out to volunteer stitchers I met while in Stratford. ON on the Victoria Day holiday weekend...and at Olds. AB, while at a stitching workshop with Monika at the College.

I have on hand another dozen MOB II 'kits' for anyone who would like them; there will be even more available at the installation for folks to work on during the opening or to take home, stitch and send in to be included.  These will be hung as a mobile (or two) so that people can walk around and see them from front and back.  (If you are interested, please contact me at margblank@xplornet.ca.)

I continue to hope that this work will dispel the myths that surround both types of diabetes, and will play a part in increasing financial support for the important research going on here in Alberta -- and around the world -- to better treat, to prevent and ultimately to find a cure for T1D.

Thank you again, Gentle Readers, for your encouragement, your prayers and your support.  By the end of next month, stitching on MOB I will be in the home stretch.  See you then!

Time is Marching On

Just a few days more than three months from now, the stitching for MOB I will be finished, based on the deadline set out from the start.

April 29, 2016 - Abdomen and Thighs

When first envisioned, I thought that would be all there is to it -- but as those of you who've been following along know, the Project has taken legs (ahem)...so to speak -- and I've not waited till the last MOB I stitch is stitched to think about how and where and when the Project will make its debut in the wider world.

April 29, 2016 - Right Hand

Seeing how poorly some of the stitches show on such a wide, white background, for instance, I've already determined that the finished MOB I will be shadow quilted a short way out from the image, then trimmed and mounted on a dark background, cut away in the back so that the stitching can be viewed from both sides.

April 29, 2016 - Left Shoulder and "Air"

Thanks to wonderful volunteers, MOB II: Making My Mark has been launched; I've received over a dozen finished squares and have about an equal number 'out there' that I hope to have in hand by the end of July so that the installation can be launched with a decent number of them.

Earliest Returns - July 2015

I've decided this will be the participatory part of the installation, and am preparing a stack of 'kits' for participants to do at each venue where the Project is shown.  I'll include self-addressed envelopes (with stamps, in Canada) for those who want to take them home to finish and send to me.

And then there's MOB III: Dance of Hope (working title)...with now five volunteers knitting stump socks...

Lia's sock...soon to be here!

And with two of my own now finished...

My own second sock

Since mid-April I've been working with a mentor (volunteer) provided as a service through Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA), the international studio quilt art group to which I've belonged for nearly a decade now.  She's been giving me insights into the process of preparing for an installation, including polishing the Project's back-story, creating proposal packages and the like.  I began by creating my own hard-copy folder:

And...I've managed to procure a meeting in ten days' time -- with people representing my first potential venue...

I'm both excited and terrified!

For the first time ever, I'm linking this blog to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday.  See you next month!

In Betwixt and Between

The first sock for MOB III is finished so I thought I'd share a photo:

And the second, begun:

This one's going more quickly -- in part because the yarn is more interesting!  :-)

Thanks again to the volunteer knitters helping me with this.  You are all a blessing to me.  More at month-end.

All Over the Place

With only a little over 4 months' stitching to do, I've started moving my stitching around a bit -- especially the "injection" stitches -- because I seem to be running out of suitable "sites".  

The hands are filling up, for sure.

Trying not to let one hand get filled more than the other,

I tend to move back and forth between them every

other needle-full of thread.

Right now, I'm stitching on the right hand.

Then there's the "pre-diagnosis" stitching

in the "air" around the body.

I have a needle threaded on each side

and alternate sides from day to day.

This is looking over the right shoulder.

It's really hard to photograph this!

As for the abdomen...there, I'm stitching all over the place.

The stitching seems to emulate the course of T1D, which makes its Mark on the Body in different ways, at different times, and with different effects -- permanent or not -- on different people.

Thanks again to those of you reading this page on a regular basis -- and welcome to those of you who are new visitors.

Thanks especially to the three volunteer knitters who are helping me with MOB III.  My own first contribution to that project is nearing the finish line -- there'll be a photo next month.

Blessings, all; I very much appreciate you!