Spirit Cloth

losing the guesswork

this was an old one. maybe you remember it. i asked what if (?) i create a crazy block from scraps of thread instead of scraps of fabric. well the answer was...i will probably never finish it!  what a tangle this was becoming. i liked the look of it but became confused by the time it was taking. in fact i could sew all day on it and never seem to get anywhere. i was losing track of where i was going. was i trying too many things at once?  i added a bit of fabric to relieve the stress and move it forward just a tad. i still felt it wasn't going anywhere and liking it even less.  this morning i stood back to take a photo and now that i am not holding it so close, i think it works. i think i like it. i think i can keep going.
i have lost touch with a lot lately by complicating my life. i am going to stand back and take it all in for a few days. the snail in me is calling and saying stitch some more on this one. it will help you bring order to the tangle.

as you can see from the pictures....the sun has returned.

finding fun on friday

still no sun here. today is  weekly shopping day with mom. a while back she took this picture of me and nemo, declaring it might be time for us to do some shopping.
since then i have been doing some refashioning since all my pants have holes. i decided to leave the one hole in the knee and patch the spot near the zipper on this pair. good as new.   nemo cut off the holes and made a pair of gardening shorts out of his. he left the scraps with the holes at mom's for me to play with since he knows how much i like them.  holes are like clouds to me. i always imagine something there.

centering as an edge maker

...in the spirit of keeping it going, i am thinking about framing things, the dot as where we begin and  the binding as not where we end but as how we continue. one of the ways i keep things going is to let them grow. many times the framing process is not an end but a new context to work within. my little what ifs create an intensity of thought and i get stuck there whirling sometimes and 'what good is that?"... i have started to realize. what if reaching beyond your center is where you will find the clarity of where you are and the new ground for the next step?   layering to form the frame allows the  edge to stay connected to the center somehow.
....a grid has been  drawn  on this ground cloth and since it is so sheer i have added another gauzy layer in between to hide the messy threads of this crazy sort of block. the grid sometimes makes it easier for me to expand the patchwork of ideas in my head with some reassurance of balance. so i don't know where i am going yet, but i am sure it will be somewhere.
.... a few days expanding center is what i need. if i seem a bit sappy lately it is because i am feeling a bit sappy. and so it goes. this will all result, i suppose, in a relapse of the coma sort.

stitching without sunshine

 it was so gloomy today i had to sit next to the window with a light behind me to see properly. i cannot start anything new on sunless days...so i  just decided to stitch and stitch to detail this particular cat's nature. it seemed natural to add some stormy weather and a hazy shibori dot for a little promise of light...  the cat stays so calm...even though a piece of the sky has fallen into the garden's grid which seems a bit like a game board now... .....the whole thing now is about 12" square and has been stitched to a vintage linen napkin that has a crocheted edge, fitted into the original shape which is a little off line but charming in its skew. the quilting is close and easy to handle through only the 2 layers. it has a nice floppy drape.
this one which i call the nature of patience...is was in the shop ... it will probably be the last one this month because i have some personal projects that need attention and i want to think about the shop thing some more before continuing. it seems to be my nature to move slowly. i am starting to understand the time it takes me to do things and why it is that i choose to take my time. i never really paid attention to it before in a selling context. i hope the sun returns tomorrow.

doodle wednesday- holding magic

.....more thoughts on holding things close. little keepers for tiny magical moments. old sketches, new ideas.

the nature the beast

.....i think we are drawn to know more about the things we cannot keep as our own. there is an excitement in capturing those moments... when we get to hold onto the something we have imagined to be more permanent than it will ever be.
today i am experimenting with merging the nature of this ikat fabric with the nature of the face of a new character. i like how the ikat  running through the face is like a smear of tears. i have mixed a bit of painting/ drawing with the stitching because i want to move more in that direction. i like how it all runs together.

and my ongoing investigation into the heart as a symbol has me thinking that loving something is like filling a hole in your heart, keeping it there for a moment, however fleeting that may be.

in memoriam

...a second post today. because i caught up in it. this tiny cloth was my whole day. and i ended up with a ragged, weary warrior at peace with its surroundings. and now i am thinking...in order to respect those who have fallen, we need to give peace a chance. it is only fair. (this was totally inspired by this...)

hey honey i shrunk the lions

 and the clouds...

regaining consciousness on a smaller scale.

what if(?) i try spirit cloth, the mini series.

holding back

one of the things that sticks in my mind from my childhood is how many times i did not raise my hand in class when i knew the right answer. i was shy. scared, actually, to stand up and speak in front of others. now that i look back i think the first half of my life was about holding back and fear. it is hard to know why. and i have grown out of it. the only sad part about not carrying through with a thought is that no one really knows you. and ultimately you have communicated nothing. you are kind of half there. leaving no lasting impression.
the regaining consciousness piece is done. i like many things about it. i like how the character has become more comfortable in her surroundings. how she has absorbed the colors of the season ...and how she has learned to give them back.

 i am happy that i kept going and added more detail. that i carried through.

...right through to the tip of the tail. tale.

and most of all i love how i had to carry the warm heart's stitches right through to the back to get the stitches to lay flat and to get the right intensity. i have covered that part with a silk dot stitched with a quiet heart as a keeper of how far i have come.

.

a smaller journey aka a day trip

...a few steps outside her small world changed her forever.
...a warmer heart
...a softer edge. and that's how it goes.