Spirit Cloth

working on the edge on the edge

....the best thing about saturdays is that i get up early and do things i can't do on the commuter train. i can spread out on the table and get a feel for where i am and  baste new scraps and make new plans for the day's stitching at leisure. there is something about aligning the edge of the table with the edge of the quilt, the thing just sits there suspended conveniently in front of you, suspended yet supported.

.....i am back on that side that created all the confusion a while back. ( there is a category called fever for this project) the long strip of black with printed leaves is being broken up into blocks to create a rhythmn.  for me it is also a sampler of technique. there are a lot of details here. each section is separated from the next with some sort of free form ethnic style border stripping. in some cases some old  handwoven scraps left over from my weaving days. and i am connecting the elements without a plan, like a research project for me to answer on the fly...how can i do that?  i am trying to make a cloth in some sort of a primitive style. but one that will hold together.

a midnight doodle

sleep hasn't come easily lately. but stitching has.
a pair of 6's  are the winners of yesterday's giveaway.  addresses please. i am starting this game over on monday, to be officially called 'one-a-day-vitamins'.
i have gathered a few scraps for monday's gift pack and i think i will stitch them first....in honor of sharon b's new textile community, stitchin fingers.
...lots of potential for sharing, especially for those without a blog.....see you there.

quilting strange habits

......do you ever get up in the middle of the night and sew? i do.
here comes the sun using an old cut up (inspired by karen) embroidered shirt from my hippie days and some newly soft-scrub stenciled indigo moons. and lastly an old silk jacquard dot that faded a bit while it was sitting on my worktable in the sun. for many moons now. i love when that happens.

today's velvet gift (posted yesterday) i will call lava. 10 pieces, 3-4" square. someone picked 29. don't confuse me. 1-10 please.

thank you for playing with me. this one is closed.

and do check out what clare is doing over here.

quilting off center

....i really should learn to trust in the seasons. nature's changes are very reassuring. the fever we call spring has inspired the return of my core project for the year. i have spring FEVER. i've begun to extend the edges of the quilt which, like the reversible aspect of 'listen to the river', is the experimental part of this project. ...every project needs something that can be a question answered.... i have cut (a milestone) into the old quilts. oh the relief of letting them go! i am simply butting them together and laying a strip of green corduroy over the break. on both sides. and stitching through. it will be fine and the break between the sections will allow the piece to absorb extra drape.
what i am really paying attention to now...is how the center shifts each time i add a new edge. i will think about this some more.

the winner is # 5. and i need an address. i am too tired today, BUT, i have decided that gifting, like vitamins, will be a one-a-day routine for me starting tomorrow. tomorrow the gift packet will be velvets. another 10 numbers please...

tiny tuesday

......i am turning spring cleaning into a quilt. lots of whites and leftover micro-scraps. lots of clean-up to do so i will sew as i go and have something to show for it. i thought it appropriate to pack up some tiny gifts as well and recycle some of the beauties that are lacking attention... small pieces ranging from 2" square to 5" square. this one has 20 pieces. some sheers, some metallic, some vintage shirtings, a seersucker, a scrap of eyelet...mostly very lightweight cotton with a touch of linen and silk. pick a number from 1-10.

i will apply spring cleaning to my links also, hopefully by the weekend, but for now i added jackie's blog to the newlinks list. i.love her stitching..... one of my favs over at  flickr.

making a difference

this one is no where near finished. the addition of many moons as a frame gives it a context of having been there from the beginning of time, which leads me to the feeling that it will always be there, so i have plenty of time to work on it.  it is amazing what an edge can do.

after reading this post, i was thinking about what we do.  i was thinking how being a mother changed me. and then i was thinking how a mother's love changes everything. i went on to reflecting on making things. i am thinking now that you need to do what you love....and love what you do. it will create a new world order....because the world is nurtured by who you are.

layering a mother's love

....i am struggling peacefully with this. it has been transforming at every step. confusing. i wasn't happy with that mysterious face showing, but i didn't take it off. instead i covered it with another scrap, slightly tilted for a change of direction but they still flow together as one piece. i keep stitching and covering up layer on layer. i suppose some of the work seems wasted then. but it 's not.

who am i?

thanks to acey, the garden muse, gathering violets made yesterday a bit better than it would have been. i was able to relax and reflect on a different kind of journey. being a mother. i am just letting this one fall together while i let some other pieces of my life take a rest.

i didn't notice until now that the silk shibori heart had a face.

spinning

spring cleaning has brought me to my picture file which is almost as big as my scrap pile. my grandmother had a lot of old encylclopedias, compton's, i think. anyway they were damaged and ready to be trashed. i cut out ALL the pictures first. it was when i was a teen. i love this old woodcut by john e. platt. "the giant stride".
i have been spinning, and thinking about spinning and thinking about the force behind many things spinning. and it's may, and spinning in may, well... i am catching thoughts...maybe connecting dots. i don't know. but i like this in many ways.

quilting a time share

many ancient moons have gathered as a magical path for two travelers. time is warped.  woven with moments previously perceived as detached. a connect the dots sort of string of dreams thing. it spins first to draw in a flow of energy particles... in this case tiny scraps and thoughts from me and many of you. and then it turns around and radiates outward, beginning as a small journey ...and will keep going forever... at least that is how i see it. it will take a while i suppose, but it will reach you eventually.