Spirit Cloth

Needle Chanting Marching.

How we might Continue.

Last evening. Fireside.

Brain Nausea.

The smallest beast. Going. Maybe not Just. Leaving a trail. Dividing space. Making a path. Bringing a bit of fresh air to an old piece of patchwork. Transforming it into a place to breathe.

The slowest stitch. Slower than even the slowest slow stitch.  Splitting hairs I call it.  A split backstitch using one thread. Takes forever because you add row after row and and no one might even notice. But it gives you time to consider and shape your vision.

Eventually. Evidence of how we keep at it.

I'm not particularly focused lately.  I'm just letting that play out. More walking than thinking. More going than explaining. I need a Wordless Weekend of Willful Wandering. Mixed with Day Dreaming. Take care.

And Happy Birthday dear Michelle.

Old Cloth. and Stories

To remember how long?

I was 21 I think. I'll be 66 soon.

So a long time I have had this scrap. In fact it is the first scrap I came across and saved with the intention of gathering scrap and stories that go with them.  It's a wool challis. And when I found it I knew of wool challis. I remember my grandma has a scarf made of it. But I didn't know that challis was more of a general category of fabric. I thought it referred to wool. Really it can be just a lightweight, soft plain weave fabric with a slightly brushed surface, which I leaned later while working in NYC in the garment district. And originally it was a silk wool blend, way back (somebody I met added that to the story),  but can be just cotton or wool or even rayon. It was first manufactured in the early 1800s in the city of Norwich, northeast of London. But what I just learned is that the word itself is derived from an Anglo-Indian word, shallee, which means 'soft'. (I love that because it is soft and that is why I like it.) I guess this makes sense knowing the relationship between Britain and India and textiles over the years.

 

I love cloth stories (to be filed under c), the pursuit of them.

And I made a note to myself this morning...

Stories never end unless we stop asking. Learning. Stories change as we learn.

The cloth, this little scrap was not moth eaten when I found it. That happened while I saved it.  Time to use it. The cloth itself even with the holes, is still as strong as it is thin.

Heart head?  The background here is hand woven. I used to do that. Weave cloth. Like regular cloth. Two shades of indigo in the warp. And a black weft.  There is a lot of story to go with the old indigo cloth I used to weave. Stories for another day.

Another note to self. I am a morning person. I cannot post at night.  Get up earlier. Post before the bright light hits the screen. Duh.

It was a day.

And that's all.

I didn't need for it to be anything more than that. That happens more and more lately. I guess it's good practice for when that's all it can be.

Community of Strays Being OK

Gosh I really get to wandering don't I?

Remember this?

Well I had this winter spirit, leaning with heart...which I posted on Instagram yesterday. Was it yesterday? It was #9.

Any way, it was the leaning, the curve of that. I got caught in it.  And I just pinned it to the bigger cloth. Wanting and needing now to complete this circle.  Maybe the circle of other selves. Maybe a ring of diversity.  The circle of the many ways of going. Together. There is a lot of leaning, flexibility required.

I laugh now, posting late because I decided it was easier without the glare of sunlight on the screen, but now the lighting so strange for photographs. And too weird for video. so. maybe do all that in the daytime and post at night. I'll work it out.

 

 

Spaced Out

Yes spaced out.

But aligned. Heart at the center of it.

Room to let things move through me. Even if it is just wind.

Standing.

I updated the NewsLetter (always up top, but been lazy about it). Thinking about a better way to do that. 

I will be switching my postings to the late evenings. A silly reason, maybe, but the leaves are off the trees and the light is so bright I cannot easily work on the computer with the bright light coming through the window in this room where I sit for the winter. Maybe it's my old eyes. Anyway, if you are subscribed by email, or simply check in the AM, the post will probably show up the next morning . So really.  It will seem the same.

I spent time this morning organizing the Index for the new Feel Free.  I began with the categories in my side bar here.  Just to set up a framework.  Next I will add the categories from all my online classes. And then from my journal.  A framework of thought pattern. Reconsidering that. I have an idea that this might become a community effort.  So I ask this question.  Do you think we could build Feel Free together, in some way? I have a dream.

Building by Just Going

Building.

That's the way we transform. Self. Sense of self.

I wanted to do a bit of video before I got this far. But it was a beast of a day. With things to do. The kind of doing that is mostly waiting. Waiting means stitching. I don't mind. Bag of scraps always with me.

There is a lot I like here. I'll probably talk more about it tomorrow.

It's late and I'm hungry.

I did jot a few things down while waiting stitching. In between stitches.

Not what we are perhaps, what we are becoming.

 

A again

Later, A for A little more snow...

time spent Balancing BlockHead. (previous post)

A little Design Mending, which will be found  under D. Eventually.

Posting again today, because I won't be here tomorrow.

A

A is for Again.

Again, Snow.

Just enough to invoke story.

This little metal beast has been in the garden for years.  I like the way heshe weathers and especially how this figure was constructed. With holes that go all the way through.  But that is a discussion for tomorrow maybe. The snow will be gone by noon as the temperatures rise again to warmer than normal for January.

I chose number 8. After taking a tally here, from email and facebook... no one else chose this one.  Right now I have named it Block Head. Being popular is overrated. Too much expectation. I might turn it upside down. With the block on the bottom.  I am rooted in the square. It is my foundation. I have the video camera set up and I finally found my audio recorder. It's been a while but I'm back. And I will talk more abut this arrangement.

A is also for alphabet which I need to use to build and index of content for the Feel Free website. So A is also for A New Beginning. Don't worry, most of this will be transparent. ( A is also for alignment, but I'll get to that in more detail soon)

Snow Being? Snow Spirit. Better

To build a better Snowman

Here I am, not so in between today.

Resolute in a way, about going, not just going, but almost marching.

I did a bit of Snowman Storming. Not on paper. But with bits of cloth. here are 9 of them. I let my mind wander. What a simple thing. Child's Play. I think about simple things. Snowman. What a great exercise in Building. Balance. Alignment. And now Diversity. I think it is surely worth the time taken. To consider the Snowman Snow Being. At any age.

So here there are 9 stray snow beings. Which one would you start with? 

Feel Free will be moving to a website for better support of media. And community. Once I figure it all out, Loose Pages (the journal) and Spirit Cloth Language (the personal dictionary) will be added to the mix.

Thank you all for your kind support in this past year. Dream catching. Yes we can.

 

Now where's my video camera?