...a while a go i started talking about long cloth. i have really become attached to that idea for many reasons. so much so that it will be the subject of many posts and even a workshop ...
and i am thinking that because the long format is both functional and logical and because it is also quite universally symbolic of something key to story cloth. my long term focus.
...i appropriately and affectionately named this little long cloth "longing" , a title that i think contains a physical description as well as a symbolic implication. some times little pieces like this are little thoughts that eventually connect to make bigger ones. so this morning i thought to myself...these two old trees, this other long cloth....why not make the old part of the foundation just part of an old story. the ground i stand on. a symbol... both of where i am going as well as where i came from. today a square might be a frame of reference. or a foundation.
i thank you all for your response to my video series. i am dedicated to making it something very special. i am so happy you are asking questions, and the best way for me to answer them is to address them in follow up videos. so keep them coming. it took me a while to get used to being in front of the camera. sometimes i clam up and my throat gets too dry to talk. and other times i get the giggles. the clip below is one of those times. i had no intention of making this one public but now that i have looked at it again... it is just so me (and him) well.... some comic relief is always good. and this is also for velma, who needs a good laugh.
...so magic is on the wall, and today i finally located my spool of double indigo. that is a cotton thread i plied from 2 different shades of indigo a long time ago. i don't have much but it is just what i need right now to do some detail stitching.. my love affair with indigo started a long time ago and this quilt will bring all of that story together. finally. so that's where i am. and where am i going?
#1...starting today, i am going live with the magic cloth. i realize i am not starting at the beginning but i will back track to fill in the details missed. every post for magic from now on will be a video post. today is day 38, and yesterday i made a video for day 37 (taken before the rearrangement of the furniture and the new design wall). i have done a lot of work in the last weeks to get used to the camera and learn a bit about filming. still learning, but the MAN has volunteered to help, so we are jumping right in. this will be real time documentary of the making of this cloth, complete with dirty house, unfashionable attire and whatever else happens. feedback and questions welcome.
#2- i have almost finished preparing some video workshops which i feel will be very cool. more about that will be announced in the coming weeks.
...in some ways i always knew this needed to be a longer cloth. it was already a long story and a nine patch planned for magic just seemed to fit here... now i think i need to extend the bottom too. not sure with what. something very very old would be nice.
the march issue of art quilting studio arrived at my door yesterday. i wrote a bit about my quilt weaving. and squares. and although i feel it is a good article, i am personally dissatisfied about the timing, the photos, the context....many little things. ...it is obvious to me that this type of publishing thing is not really connected to my goals anymore , at least in its current format. but that's ok. the fact that this is the last issue of the magazine itself, coincides perfectly with my need for change.
i marked a page from the wild braid by stanley kunitz a while ago. although he speaks of poetry, i was sympathizing with his words. which could be about any kind of making. so often i think about how hard it is to create in this world. and i join others in making lists of things that prevent me from doing what i really want. but today i am thinking differently. maybe it is more important to change my viewpoint. i am thinking about blame. i am thinking about the difficulty of overcoming ones own convention. a box we fit ourselves into with not even seeing it. because it so close. but that is our own fault. just thinking about that. so today a square might be a box you squeeze yourself into. or not.
i was complaining about not having a design wall. i moved all the furniture around (even planning to give some away...how much furniture do two people need anyway?) and claimed the only full wall in the house. just for a change. a ceremony for change.
...well yesterday it was my birthday and i was met at the door with mom's birthday greeting. she used to be a nursery school teacher. all her kids called her "miss edna". once in a while some full grown man will show up at the front door and my mom will answer and from the other side of the glass....."miss edna? "...i think this means she was probably a great teacher. how nice to live long enough to know that.
we had a quiet birthday ceremony with cake and coffee...and i stitched some more boro blocks for magic. stitched so much i wore a groove in my thumbnail. i was thinking how long my love affair with indigo has lasted. how some of the scraps have come along on this journey with me. how amazing it will be to be 60 next year and to still be able to stitch...i am hoping to fade as gracefully as these fabric friends...
...i also stitched a bit on the two old trees. the ones that have formed that long term relationship. this piece is a bit of a symbol of something. maybe i have come to feel that i have been gifted with more than one lifetime here on earth. i certainly feel grateful for a lot of things. i will use this piece to begin a new journey. one that has been a long time brewing. but i think i am ready. i want to teach.
