Spirit Cloth

Blue May

A visit from my boy who just discovered the comfort of a linen shirt.

Some new mending to do which fits right into my current workshop. 

Indigo socks.

A big indigo button.

Love Grid, the last of the Whispering Hearts in process.  This has turned into a nine lives patch. I like how the hearts have morphed into some sort of arrows, symbols of direction or going. It will be good to get back to some regular yet slower stitching. 

May seemed a slow moody month.  Wet, and damp, unexpected early heat.  Some confusion, frustration, but lots of growth.   I can say I felt, in some new ways, quite mentally challenged.  Anyway,  June will be next.

Notes:

New indigo has sprouted after the first batch molded over.

PayPal has announced major  interruptions on Thursdays as they upgrade, starting with this one, through the end of June.  If you have trouble in the shop, just email me.

The fermentation vat is still happy.

June will be bluer.  And mostly just photos here.

Mending ways

In the last week, I have been to see Mom several times.  She is fine but older.  Mostly cheerful but forgetful,  forgetting how often she says,  I hate that I can't do what I want anymore.   Funny how now, as I age,  how much more I understand that.   My parents changed their lives  after 60.  They moved more.  Up early, walking the beach,  playing golf,  eating well,  walking, gardening,  simple kept  going.  Now that Dad is gone,  Mom moves less.  She blames this for her increasing  aches and pains.   She is a lot older, yes, but I do agree that moving kept her younger for a long time.

I sit too much with the sewing thing.  I had been regulating time spent stitching, but I became wrapped up in it and I feel things have become out of balance.   I notice that a burst of movement in between a lot of not moving is more like a jolt than a help.  Not good.

I hurt my thumb and it is mending,  but I also feel like this is a sign of some sort of weakness creeping in.  From too much sitting.   So, in the spirit of mending, I will, once again,  patch my  long term plans.  I have moved the beginning of  Spirit Cloth Diaries to September 1, for now, and will , perhaps, be revising my plan in general,  reconsidering its impact on my lifestyle and my financial situation.  It is not the sewing really, but the extra time spent on the computer to make it all happen.  A few folks have already signed up, and I will be in touch about refunds if it comes to that.

Yesterday I practiced stitching with my other hand.  This was hilariously difficult. But this could be a good skill to have.  It occured to me that learning is moving too.  And laughing is never a bad thing.

I love to watch these geese move through the water so seemingly effortlessly,  but how the change in the water around them reveals their constant effort to keep going.

making do

The way it is. 

No sewing for a week. 

No anything .

  The thumb  needs rest. 

Especially since I annoyed it.

I'll look at this for a while.

I get a lot done this way actually.

 Good excuse for a break.

See you later.

 

 

the shape of persistence

It has taken a few years, but this one feels just right now.

Sustain-ance

This one seems to keep going. 

Thus the name Sustainance.  I chose the newer version of the word  sustenance, which usually refers to food...  newly defined: simply that which keeps something in existence. (From the Urban Dictionary) 

That which keeps something in existence.  Like the sun. Like community. Thinking a lot about that lately.  The sun here has morphed into something a little bit egg shaped with all the handling.   In this case, perfect.

...continued from here...

and finally finished here.

Making space and staying grounded

On this clear quiet day in May, after a bit of dream catching and life getting in the way,  I have begun the ground cloth for the first Magic Feather Cloth.   I have gathered some sky cloth, indigo, some dyed by Glennis, and some dyed by me, (after taking her class where she shared her secrets so freely).  I think it is a good start,  an open space based on sharing.    A combination of thin cotton and linen.  Soft and light.  Space . Place.  A new beginning.  A sense of Old Sky.

This blog will now  be dedicated to this project.  For as long as it takes.  For those of you who have contributed feathers to this project, please email me if you see your feather featured here as the story unfolds.  I want to add a bit more information about you to the journal that will accompany this gift.  You can email me using the link in the sidebar.

There are so many feathers, I think we have the makings of many cloths.  So I will just keep going until I use them up. To balance the lightness of  sky and feather, I will need some stones, as mentioned here.   I am looking for something tiny and simple.  Like the one picture above. Just a 1- 2" square of cloth, natural fibers only.  With a stone ( never a perfect circle)  applique in the center.   The applique needs to be turned.  Like this. 

alternative video link

Please keep the colours stone-like in feel and the background  undyed or neutral/naturally dyed or blue.  Soft or old cloth that is easy to stitch through would be nice.  You might make one or more .  Email me for an address if you don't have it already. There is no rush and no deadline.

Please include your email address
Your name as you would like to be listed for the project
Website or blog if you have one.
Anything else you would like to say.

Feel frre to grab the logo for this project for you blog or site if you are participating. Or just spread the word. If you are not familar with this project, you can read about it here.  There is also a tab up top in the top menu bar, and stone tracking and instruction in the sidebar for reference.

As always,

Thank You.

A small journey

A little vibration

...the slightest breath of continuing.

Can carry you.

 

 alternative audio link

 

 

Expanded Vision expanding

Continued from here...

I have begun  to move outward, and to distort the frame in sympathy with the original  ring of vision.  With dreams of expanding the cloth to cloth idea.  This could go on forever.  But of course I will never have time.   But then again I can imagine it.   So there you go.   Mend your ideas and they might last forever.

And today I really like this.