Spirit Cloth

the shape of sharing

cloth as fringe.

i used the extra cloth to redefine the edge where conversation is talking place. a good conversation will redefine your boundaries i think.

one side and four directions

i decided to apply some black silk fringe, from a discarded scarf, to one edge of this one. i trimmed it down a bit and needed to free up the straightness of at least one of the edges without defining which was the top or the bottom. i think it still can be hung any way. i am considering a set of ties on all four corners. i think this one is about circumstance. (the keeper of context) how that can come at you from any which way. how you can absorb the impact of that (with the help of many eyes). and create a space to be again. just like magic. poof. you continue.

continued from here

back and forth

the dragon is still there.  in my mind. i thought of stitching him down, and then not and then maybe and finally not. i added the indigo ties and the silk fringe in the spirit of continuing and as a personal reminder to do just that.  i have lost my sense of it these last days. sometimes it is harder to practice what you preach, especially after you have said it so many times and you still face the reality of its difficulty.

...it is spring, yes, but there is that sharp chill in the air this morning. it feels good actually, this small step back. that little dance of back and forth  can fill the edge of a new journey with extra excitement. like a tickle really. to soften an edge. permission to laugh a while and not to decide.

tomorrow's shop update has been cancelled. shop info will be on the whispering page from now on.

a season of seasons

yes.

more snow.

i spent the morning pulling thread from a cloth to make room for something new. maybe a spring breeze. a cloth that is actually woven like this is called a skip dent. the density difference is engineered by skipping some the spaces in the reed, which is like a metal comb that the threads pass through to keep the spacing consistent. i like the idea of patterning with space. not all fabrics lend themselves to thread removal, this is a loosely woven linen. the thread is strong and smooth and pulls out easily.

meanwhile, that icicle is back in new form. looks like it was inspired by the trees.

hangover

...the cloth kind.  my little holiday cloths are still hanging around. perhaps helping me redefine the ideas for this year's focus... points and protrusions.  yes today, that concept has moved into something all together different.  not just pointy things like triangles. no. more like extensions, some elements signifying merging parts, interaction fields, connectors, paths from one thing to another.  growth.  a design element that reaches, like fingers, touching new space. pushing boundaries. expanding and contracting moments. breathing in a way.

this cloth has so much to talk about in that regard.

and this one, this one too. 

let me go shake the video Man out of vacation mode.

Riggidy Raggedy

The Man decided I should try talk into the camera. So a few bloopers are being published, just some silly stuff while I was either unaware of the camera or tried to be more conventional.

  And then I composed myself.

Just for the record... To Compose: To make something by merging parts. To calm oneself down.

  The experiment for the folded tree was based on something like this. 

I like it.

The tree idea....

considering cloth a bit

It's Wednesday. I have 3 bases, one is already a very important gift.  They are basted. And they all feel great. I just lit the fire and that popping noise is the pine cones.

I'm ready for some trees.

When I did this one (which I am still working on) , I asked myself what if I cut the triangles for the trees and wash them up to enhance the fringe before stitching them down..., which I did, but now I want to take that idea a bit further.  See you later....

continued from here.

Today I like this because it is also about considering cloth. I see that here. Quiet honest consideration.

flip flopping

So. What if the darker section is on top?  Ok. Snow, winter, right.  The snow is lighter but it fell to the bottom.  Ha!...There seems to be story in this kind of grounding.  I found this linen napkin scrap.  I love using corner details. And the hand embroidery could just be a ghost of a warmer season, or some snow covered foliage.  I like this variation. And also the scale change, isolating the figures in just one section, smaller, giving the season more power. and of course adding a moon perhaps. 

I like this one. A great way to use some old family heirloom scrap or even highlight some nice white on white texture or stitching.  Maybe just a lovely stitched version of the word snow.  I like that the snow could be a cloth focus somehow. A blanket.

So usually my next step will be this,  but because I am working ragged edge here, in addition to tearing the pieces instead of cutting, I will wash and dry all my pieces to encourage a bit more fray.  I find that if you don't want to use the washer and dryer, roughing them up in some hot water and then rubbing them roughly in a towel,  then hanging them in the wind to dry will get them to give up some loose threads and soften the edges a bit.   So I am off to wash up a few bits of fabric and I will talk a bit more about that step later.  Yes, I want to talk about that more. 

The new sketch and some thoughts if you want to save them for anything. PDF Sketch and story

and a link...Harem cloth

(this post is part of a series and is continued from here. ) And it continues here.