Spirit Cloth

quilting shelter OR no time left

i have said enough about this one. i dropped the writing idea and had in mind to slice it and shift it somewhat. something shocking... but in the end it just got a bit larger. like the beast that turned from a lion into a tiger (did you notice that?) while i was focusing on tiny stitches, the big picture has changed and this seems to be growing into something else. i'll stitch a bit more tonite and that's it. with this complete, i am through with the challenge. i have enough of my own for the moment.

quilting in an instant

this morning was clear. i have the habit of picking up the camera each morning now, just to capture the mood of the day. the moon was still visible as the sun came up. the still bare branches were my target for the second shot. and then there were crows! and i noticed them sillouetted in trees like fish in a net. and then it seemed like fabric unraveling.  and it struck me that noticing details is like capturing  fleeting moments, observing what is... in the context of you at that instant, never to be seen exactly that way again.
.....i extended the march tif piece to include a patch of galaxy unraveled. it's wool. moth eaten actually. over ikat cotton...i noticed that wool is nice to stitch through and tacks easily to the smooth cotton.
and even as it falls apart , it still holds together.

quilting twice

the layout for this small piece (13x22") is fairly complete. i have extended the bottom to include a row of pieced baby carrots, sleeping underground. they may get faces too. sleepy ones. much quilting and embellishment has already been done through the initial layer of flannel that was added as an intermediate backing. i have now added another layer of flannel as the final backing, which transforms the first one into batting. i like this method because it allows me to do lots of free form quilting and stitching and jumping from place to place without cutting thread....and then the freedom to leave a lot of the embroidery mess and loose ends in between and gives me a way to tack the whole thing together with another round of quilting which will actually show on the back. and no one would ever know how i did that  except that i just told you. ha!
and yes that is an antique (hankie from my grandma) in the left corner, very sheer linen. makes a lovely old crow moon, reflecting the flowers below.

quilting almost

thanks for all the comments on the last few posts. just not getting around to reading and writing these past few days.
.....it is almost spring.
this is almost a carrot patch.

quilting as the crow flies

the holiday weekend, like most, was no part of any plan that was made. and so it goes. a pinched nerve in the hip area has made it almost impossible to sit or lay down and to make a long story short, i am tired and the gift for mom is NOT done. stitching or sitting at the computer is next to impossible.
the crows  have arrived....and were stitched while standing. i suppose the good thing is i have another whole year to finish this one.

quilting moonshine

there's a lot of stitching to do by sunday, so i will be signing off for a while. i hope all of you have a wonderful weekend filled with peace.....and moonshine!

a home for moonfaced rabbits

......i am really not a big easter person, but mom enjoys it. and she enjoys the more storybook side of life. i remember getting up early on easter morning as a child, stepping on jellybean trails she left all over the house. currently she has a little peace on the wall, and i have decided to do some sort of calendar/season series here, though i have missed a couple of months....
moon faced rabbits i am calling this one. the basic plan is intact, although i am thinking of a carrot border....the tails are those recycled ball fringe pompoms again. they come from old curtains mom sewed, unplugged, so perhaps they will be a recurring theme in this series.

doodle wednesday- wabbits

something on the lighter side. a few wabbit sketches for tonya's FREE class.
and some free pieced ears. the shibori cloud is indigo ribbon from glennis. i am practicing sewing with silk. i used this on the bias and stretched it a bit to get some movement. is this stuff amazing or what?

quilting out of the darkness

the darkness quilt was made for my brother nemo. nemo wasn't his real name but now it is. more about that later.
this quilt was used for years and has recently been returned for mending.
so now the idea is three quilts in one. this is my first experiment with what i will call extension quilting, adding one quilt to another, after all elements are already backed and batted and sometimes quilted. the reason i want to do this is because i am a commuter quilter and it becomes very hard to work on the middle of a quilt on the train. so i am finishing the center first and then i will add borders and edges one at a time so i can always be working near an edge where i can get my hands around things and not be sewing in someone else's lap. makes sense to me. and probably to "them" too.

two quilts in one

the old black and white quilt is well worn, and in need of repair. it was originally tied and then patched and then partially quilted. the white blocks were too worn and so this one has been folded up in my stash for a while. the backing is still in good shape and i brought it out with idea of repair.
for some reason it has a relationship to fever. (an old story). i am thinking of combining them. just a thought. caught.