Spirit Cloth

wa-lter and the weeds

limited stitching time has produced some spontaneous ragged applique results. a couple of pieced letters (cut from an old fabric selvedge with the mended rip left in) to start out walter's name and  the block next to him is sprouting weeds.. this time of year when all those weeds bloom... all that inspiration outside, i will do some research over the weekend. and play with that "W".
...and try to mail out all these little blogger gifts i have been gathering. no, i have not forgotten....

skitching a story

...is there a name for sketching with thread?  a quick scan of the work accomplished on this morning"s commute. the stitched version if this. a never ending short story. in some spots i used that marker edge technique from here to give the piecing a more sketchy look .

a long time ago i wanted to illustrate children's books.

single thread embroidery on linen, 3"x10" for now.

quilting walls

early on when i was working on the front of the quilt, building the block for the house, walter had sent me some old wallpaper he salvaged while tearing down walls in his little house. i've switched to building the walls again, a feeling of safety maybe and also because walter has left me with some new scraps after his recent visit.  they have become the keepers of memories and i suppose i will transfer these images to fabric as well and continue applying them to the outer border.

the colorful leaves on the bottom one are also inspiring me, maybe some rainbow theme leaves left in the wake of a flying elephant.

i also started visiting threading thoughts this week, a very pleasant read with wonderful  images.

stitching stupid

....i have a lot of questions and no answers. i have no claim to being an artist and i don't much care about whether i am or not because i don't know what that is. and what difference does it make anyway? i do respect  and value people's attempt to express themselves in what ever form that may take as long as it is sincere.
anyway.. there is really no point to this piece. just like this one.

quilting sleeplessness

sleep just didn't come and the edge that was becoming for a while now was ready.  i got bit done on the word becoming. and here we go again. lift off. if you wait long enough, lightness returns.

stitching new growth

...this is about change. and this will be a gift,  a pillow to hold and embrace. it seems embracing change is much harder than just writing stitching about it.

so i had to work with what i had access to like a quick scraps and a pen and some black and white thread...bakery string. in a way it brought some new growth potential and the unexpected has flowered into something after all. i never would have gone this way without a push. black. a nice contrast.

i am thinking how lucky i am to be able to carry my mending with me, how convenient to be unplugged. especially now that my stitches are the keepers of my sanity.

walter flew in yesterday. we are all waiting.

stitching the unexpected

thank you to all of you for leaving kind thoughts regarding my father. they keep me stitching.

a few burning tears
a hole in paradise
another layer...something darker and a bit transforming has broken through.
this one is from what if #32, now moved over to spirit cloth.

a gift for my mother. she tells me stories . i stitch.

stitching undone

i want to thank you all for the wonderful comments and to apologize for my silence and explain my lack of response. although much of my time is being spent bedside with my father, i am still stitching away in some random and ragged style, not really finishing what if # 34... not really caring about neat edges, reflecting on my hopes to mend his broken body , and to hold things together a little longer, to prepare to understand dreams that have come undone. to  grasp unfinished.

there is something about peru

this is one of my  tapestry weavings from 1975. it was inspired by peruvian textiles which to this day are still the most inspiring to me not only because of the motifs but for their amazing technical skill.

Sara of Fabric of Meditation has embarked on some inca inspired projects which i am just aching to see finished...

and today on flickr..., dogdaisy92, another great source of stitching inspiration. check out the others too, a great set!

quilting now and then

certainly, it is difficult for me to know how or when this quilted story will end. the story of walter (not his real name)... where it began, well i have an idea and an old picture has helped me remember. 1963. my other brother on the left, (let us call him nemo) is next in line for a quilt.