Spirit Cloth

Rolling

A beginning ceremony.

 

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And look what rolled in today, they are gathering no moss.

 9 stones from Cheryl.

and 2 more from Vanessa..

That makes   25!

 

Gathering slowly

And so the trips to the mailbox are once again filled with giving.

And this little package  held 9!  Nine more stones,  That makes 14.

Thank you Henrietta.

Your stones are home, safe and sound.

(This is part of the magic feather project, read more about it here. )

If you are going to participate, I have gathered the instructions once again here, on an information page.  Please read before making stones.

Gathering Stones

Here we go!

Thank you Deanna.... four beautiful stones.  I love how they were stitched to the paper.   4.  We have 4!

And one from me, that makes 5!

I will be recording the gathering of the stones here and have created a category, a link in the side bar that will gather the posts for viewing.

You can read the post about the stones here,  where you will find a tutorial.  Keep them simple.  Just like this.

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. 

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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.

wood and wool

My son likes to work with wood.  Just finding it and then turning it into something.  Found, hand turned, finished with a walnut oil rub. He was not able to identify the wood. Quite different with its flaming grain.

A beautiful gift. Useful too.  Which makes it just perfect.

The wool? Madder over walnut, indigo, indigo over onion skin. For weaving across a wooden moon.

and today, i really like this, thank you Christi

Later:

Nothing fancy. Just a little color sampler. But it is so warm and fuzzy.

new form through exchange

So, with becoming more still on my mind, I have picked up an old patchwork, one of my first actually, stitched from the waste samples salvaged from the trash at my first job. I was a trainee hand weaver then, working in the sample department. The company also had a print division. I was always in the trash. Ha. (And I had everyone sewing little patches together during breaks...)  Anyway, I have picked it from the pile here in the studio, because it is basically shades of brown.  and it is worn in spots, and stained. In need of repair.  And the kantha hearts here, well, what if I combined them somehow. I often note to myself how new form might emerge from the exchange of styles.  A meeting place in a way.  Crossover is what I call it most often.  A form of sympathetic evolution. Maybe I will try here. To begin that process. To begin to express more clearly what has been in my head about all that.  

And speaking of sharing, I was recently gifted this lovely sample of smocked linen. I just love it!  But in a frenzy, I have accidentally deleted a block of emails, and have lost the contact information...even the envelope it came in....how embarrassing!  I am a wild and crazy gal these days. Dizzy even. Feathers and cloth flying in from everywhere...So please,  if you are the one who sent this please email  me, so I can contact you directly to thank you.... I have not done much experiments in this kind of thing but I do love the dimension, the regular chaos of it. Nice to have an example in my hands to study a bit...

a sympathetic spin

Today's ring has a soft spin to it.  And it is carrying me in a new direction. Being carried is a grand feeling. I used to carry my son around, especially while dancing. He still remembers it.  Too bad he is so big now.  But he surely has inherited the  spin.

(child wrapped in a spin)

The gift of spin is a very kind thing.

A spin is a ring

that might hold you from falling too far from your center. 

Hold you in a place with no dark corners

where scary things often hide.

 

(This photo is a digitally altered version of an original by Wendy Golden- Levitt, cloth dyed by India Flint. Click the photo to learn more about Wendy's textile therapy. )

at the heart of looking

I am playing with this broken spin as the heart of a ring. The heart of a ring might imply a confusion in direction. And therefore, in a way,  exclude judgement in visualizing its boundaries. Or its center.

And I like the freedom in that.

So.Those days, when you feel inside out.

They could be very useful.

A gift even.

and i really like this.

and this.

Inside out and blue, with the right kind of outlook,  that's where I need to be.

what's left in novemeber

the leaves are worn and tattered, but they are still here, like an old blanket, patches of season, still useful, keeping the earth warm.

and she, remember her?, she has fallen over, hollow in spots, she is tired. resting in leaves, maybe posing. maybe.

a squirrel friend has found the basket of unused walnuts. he ate the nuts, but left the husks nearby.  a reminder that in a small and careful world, we work together and there is enough to go around isn't there ? i have a little bag of leftovers for him for when the snow comes. i will know him. he will be the one with the brown hands.