Spirit Cloth

Rehearsal

...for the Moon Faced New Leaf Dance. It's late and I couldn't sleep. There was a tribe of Moon Faced Strays dancing in my head. I feel better now. Good night then.

 

A new leaf.

This slower than slow growing plant has found new energy this summer. It actually bloomed again (!) before sending up new growth. It is speaking to me.

And now some Old Leaf.

Found under some old wood outside, while trying to clear away some junk. Last autumn folded over on itself. Preserved and holding in some strange way.  It's summer but it is time to start stacking  wood. Turn turn turn. It sang to me.

Couldn't help myself. Finding an old stray leaf cat in there.

And of course while considering that, a new stray leaf is calling as well.

It's a dark damp Sunday and I am sitting by the fan amusing myself. Going with the day.

Shop Saturday

I took some time out to weave a little nine.

Just testing some new wool yarn I dyed in a fresh leaf indigo vat. The deer trimmed the tops off the plants and suddenly they are all bushy and full! Who knew?

I've activated the Gallery in the sidebar as a little shop. Only a couple of things right now. It's not a regular shop. You need to contact me in order to purchase. Pricing is fair but I will negotiate. My plan is to update on Saturdays. Shop Saturday then. I'll add nine more things next week. I am also opening a new little supply shop with a few surprises. But more about that later.

Have a good weekend.

Rain and Old Cloth

Rain. Lots of it. Slow and steady.

Just finishing some old thing.

History here.

I am using an old piece of indigo chambray. One piece that was just big enough. It was rolled up for years. I am happy to find a use for it. To back the old patchwork. Nothing in between, basted loosely like in this  little video.

The binding was already there. It's a table cloth. And I promised Mom I would cover the raggedy back. Which never bothered me but drove her crazy. So now. I am finally getting to that. Not because I need to . Because I want to. It's a kind of closure. As I fold and stitch against the binding we added together, I realize how long some promises linger. I've no plans to quilt this in any fancy way. Just hold it together. So it lasts forever. 

And I will address the center in some way, as I had been imagining.

Note to self. How things change. How promises are more like processes.

Missed ... Mist-ery ... Mis-Story...

A humid morning.

The windows were open all night to cool the house.

I woke to find my feet sticking to the floor. Ick. The dreaded thick air.

Mom used to text me. Ick. I know what it meant. I would text back. Double Ick. I stopped for a moment and missed that.

But mist. Ahhh. Mystery. Story overtakes me. Distracted by that. Does that happen to you? Do you take the time to act on it?

Just a layering of sketch over photo then. Photo play even before coffee. Mis-Story.

And as always I love the effect of the photos through the screen. (Took this one with my phone on the way down the stairs from the sleep loft. My feet sticking to every step along the way.)  How it's a patchwork grid in a way. The safety net again. This time safe from mosquitoes. But how beautifully it breaks up the mystery space. And hold me there.

The Tomato Patch

Ha! Thank you.

What if a tomato was square?

Table Basting

 

Table #basting . No knots. Discontinuous. Reuse the threads again and again. #spirtclothfeelfree

A video posted by jude hill (@spiritcloth) on Jul 26, 2016 at 11:14am PDT

 

I am experimenting a bit with mobile posting. More of a real time thing. Bear with me. I am trying to learn some HTML. I often baste like this, short pieces of thread, no knots. A discontinuous tack it where it needs it thing. This is the inner layer of Holding Pattern, the back shown in my last post. I will cover it with silk eventually. It just so happens I found this old thin cotton lawn in one larger piece. Not big enough to cover the whole thing . I will have to patch in some other cloth. I'll show you. But you knew that.

Gosh my hands look like I am 1000 years old.

Holding Pattern in Reverse

Holding pattern in reverse #spiritclothquilt #patchwork #slowstitch

A photo posted by jude hill (@spiritcloth) on Jul 26, 2016 at 5:55am PDT

I will be working on placing some thin cloth on the back of this one before continuing with the next ring of floating squares. The big storm last night brought some new ideas on floating as well. I will share them soon. My cloth weaving class will be added to Feel Free by the end of the month. And then the Sun Moon Stars series by the end of August. I think that will round out the offering in terms of basic technique and story building. I plan to publicize the other content right here on the blog little by little as it fits into the context of what I am doing and how it is evolving. So I might develop the concepts in terms of now. That includes The Contemporary Boro Series, the Weaving Series and the Diary Series. I hope you are enjoying the open teaching and as always I appreciate your continuing support. And thank you Bernie Sanders for leading by example and continuing in your gentle way to be a grown up.

Where a Cloth Continues

Update.

Velma posted about her trip to Toronto.

To visit Wendy, the safe-keeper of the Magic Feather Cloth.

What might be better, that this Cloth has become a place and a path all at once. For all of us, to know that this is enough. That it is safe. A safe place. A safe way for just going. Home away from home.

I smile. It fills me.