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.
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.
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.
I am finally back to the blue. After a bit of interruption I have been able to revive my vats. Even through I was not that active in class, I gained a lot of new knowledge from Glennis. Especially the nature of different vats. I am playing around with an idea that captures steps in a process. I think because that is the part of indigo dyeing that intrigues me the most. The changes that you can watch. This has moved my mind into another mode perhaps. Isolating parts of a process as designs in their own right. I tried dyeing and redyeing just a section of a tied piece. Concentrating on just a section. And I like the partial ring effect.
And then I dyed a folded and clamped linen that was soaked in water quickly after clamping. After opening I noticed some dry areas (the light colored spots) and quickly outlined them with permanent pen. Just to save the moment. Just because it seemed an interesting thing to do. To record. And it is a kind of nine lives patch. Stages of something. A story in sections. Some kind of natural order of moments caught. When it dries, the shape will remain as evidence. A time keeper.
Garden Study 1 in progress. Layers of brown. Using some of winter's dyeing for new growth. In sympathy for season. This is the way most of the garden looks right now. (This cloth is continued here.)
So it was me who said, pomegranates don't really grow here. But He, who grew up in a place where they grow like weeds, said let's try. So we saved a few seeds from the ones we purchased in the market. Planted them in pots last summer and brought them inside for the winter. This one is now five feet tall. Thank you to a very sunny window and some loving compost. Since then we have found a Russian Pomegranate that should withstand the winters here outside . So planting a string of those along the road's edge is on the list for this season (a string of trees, I love that) . Growing them . Because we love to eat them. They are good for you. They are beautiful. They are ridiculously expensive to buy here. And as you might recall, you can dye with them, without a mordant...
I have been getting more of a tan on cotton, yellows on silk and wool, but amazingly, a very rich greenish brownish gold on the silk velvet (a bit of mom's wedding dress) that was left soaking in the copper pot over the winter. Like 4 months. Forgotten and rediscovered.
Respect my work. Everything shared here is original , and holds personal value. Contact me if you wish to use or publish/pin my words or images. Thank you for understanding.
jude
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