Spirit Cloth

What's New Today?

Coolness. A crossover into the expected.

I feel new.

Acorn found. Acorns dropping. Time to begin gathering. I make ink, and use the tannin rich bath for dyeing. I did a bit of stitching here. To build that cross from Nine. Part of my Nine Forever/Crossroads and how it implies endless expansion of center. And the balance in that.  But that is way too deep for today. Today is a be outside day.

This one has been hanging around for a while.

I want to say that I look at it and I think the moon made her blush. And eventually she will find her new face. A stray might have many faces, but they are all who she is. At the moment.

 

 

September Tangle

Transition often seem like a tangle.

Soon Leaves will be falling. There is no wood stacked.

I need to get back to that video problem. Deal with that. Figure it out. I'll be doing a little bit of media testing.

With your help of course.

Last night I dyed this.

A cleaner image of change. Shift. Easier to understand. One Moment. One Moment at a time.

There is wind here this morning. No rain.

 

At the Crossroads

So it's like this.

Older. Body requires attention.

Not Just Going, but Going with Care. I face and fully accept the interruptions required from what I want, to address what I need.  I said this to myself this morning. Woke up a bit more achy to the morning's heavy humidity and stale air. It is clearly too hot for the sea today. I will move, but slowly. Want what I need.

This is a small shibori effort on old cloth from last week. A little crossroads component I want to develop further for my patchwork. It is stitched resist, that is, some sewing is done and pulled tightly and the thread keeps the dye applied from penetrating the cloth here and there.  I love the little loose, stray thread that found its way here. I can relate. I like how this pattern idea seems to have a space at the center (here off center) and the paths seem to vibrate outward. I will make myself smaller now and rest right there in that space. Rest is like holding space. Or being held by space. Rest then. Let my thoughts grow.

While I heal and rest, the deer are having a garden party. When they finish off what I planted there will be plenty of weeds for dessert. Maybe I will become a Deer Whisperer for a while.

I will take the weekend off from blogging. Maybe a few photos over at Instagram, less sitting,hunched over the screen. I have pushed the opening of my wee shop back to August 1. Turn Turn Turn.

Resting in the Nest of Days

A little longer. (continuing from Yesterday)

Making room for more wondering. Not too much longer. Just enough to make it a path.

The Nest of Days cloth has been on the wall for a while now. No more rings have been added. It seems to absorb anything I place there. Takes it in. Holds it and says it is OK. Don't think too much. Rest here. The Nest of Days is an embrace.

I have been working on the hundreds of components for the outer ring, using an itajime technique, clamping a cloth sandwich, between two circle shapes, dyed in the indigo vat. Sounds simple, but it does take time. Some are dipped many many times to produce a deep blue. The natural vat takes many many more dips. It has been months and I have accumulated something like 999 heavenly bodies. That' a good number. Ha!

I learned this clamping technique from my friend Glennis who has kindly joined me in Feeling Free, her basic shibori class is listed on Feel Free Under Dyeing which will take you to her blog where the listing is in her sidebar.

I am over-dyeing with indigo here. Continuing to use up some old scraps of self. Give them new life.  I talked a bit about over-dyeing here. In case you haven't roamed through my Whispering Color class. During those considerings I also what-iffed a bit with some clamp-less moons.

 

 

This house This life This work

This old house is such a Patchwork.

We live this way. Patching as we go. Using what's here.

Sometimes using the day to find just the right piece that might fit. Or fashioning one.

This is the sleep loft where it meets the stairs. The stairs I just painted white because I do have a lot of white paint left from something. And it makes a small room seem bigger. Photo by my boy. An early one that I have always loved because of how the distance eats the path forward.

I stitched two dyed corner patches together this morning. (dipped in Indigo twice, first clamped, then just dipped to get two tones.) I like the liquid path that formed. And the wings. I need to make more of them so I can complete a new Nine Lives Pat(c)h. I renamed the nine patch that a while ago. Nine Lives Patch. To imply the spirit contained in each one I make. The story really. Now, as a variation, I think Nine Lives Path would be a nice little series. The white linen here is still crisp and new,left over from the first linen blouse I ever made. I used to make all my clothes. I wondered why I am not doing that any more. I think it is because I am still wearing what I have. Yes. I am patching what I have. And I don't need much anyway.

Note to self:

The rectangle, the longer form, makes the Nine Patch into a Path.

Resting on Monday

Monday in April is a relaxing day.

Everyone around here in this neighborhood goes back to work or school and it is quiet. Deserted.

There is laundry that will wait for Tuesday. Dirty sock for Soul-O.

Even cloth has relaxed. Continued from yesterday.

I don't feel like typing so let me talk. You might click on the picture to see closer while I am talking.

 

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The pink mending is split back stitch, with one strand I call it splitting hairs. Changing orientation is a good exercise in looking and balance. Dad taught me that. Changing the alignment of components encourages a different chain of thoughts. Story.

What November Brings

 

So here we are. We got leaves of many colors. And warmth. Many young squirrels.

 

And then continued troubles with Typepad.  A lot of back and forth as they kindly spend time trying to find out why.  And I patiently do the same. If I need to move, I will simply start over somewhere else. That would be a trip after all this time.

 

This is Nick. Young Nick. He is very frisky. And very friendly.  The peanuts are probably encouraging that.

Meanwhile, September's dyepo(e)t got away from me. And the thoughts that were forming set aside.

But now they are back. And they are really some continuing things from when I was considering color a while back. I think I will say a few things about that...

 

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Blue Through

Sometimes. When I light an early fire in the studio, the first smoke from damp wood fills the nearby forest with blue light before disappearing.

This morning I caught that.

The blueness , moving freely filled me with a sense of story. Mystery.

And then,I played around with those dyed corners. Again.

 

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So yesterday's nine appeared as today's and nine ended up to have something to do with letting things go.

Nine for That Which Moves Through Me and Keeps Going.