Spirit Cloth

May

 A bit cool. But still May.

The Man reduced the size of one of my worktables.  To better fit the now Warmer back room. More space. Space has become my new and most important tool. Easily said. Just cut a third off and move the legs over. OK.

8 hours later.  Rebuilt.  Big job but Good.  Sealer still drying.

Alphabet Soup (remember that one?) Washed and drying.  And still not done. Soul-o used it as a bed over the winter.

I will be back to Small Journeys tomorrow. (For those who are subscribed and have patiently waited through my April break).

Rainy Day Being

The weather has turned. Rain, lots of it and cold coming. Another freeze tonight and a few cold days behind it.   We need the fire today.  The cloth I call HOME is on the table. One last corner to quilt. Can't get at it in the hoop.

More feathers will be added here as well, probably some cut  from their backgrounds to retain the feel of the Sky, Space.

Rain,  And wild Wind.  Makes "Chicken" here a little buggy.  He has recently formed a relationship with the still unfinished Alphabet Soup quilt.

Looking back on crazy right side up

I guess I was laughing that day too, way back in 2008.  That's when I began with the patchwork beast style.

Thinking about how much I have changed.   And then how much not.  I can't cut this cloth up, too much work in it.  It could be a functional cloth really.  A child's blanket.   Many letters are still to be detailed with story.  It is only half quilted.  I have some ideas that might help me like it more.  Maybe more smiles.  Making cloths for kids is nice.

And I might have another go around at the alphabet thing.  Maybe. It was fun.  i am sure it will be different this time. Because that's how it goes.

Sky light and laughter

Skylights seem bright even on dark days.

And it's a dark day.  Drizzle  before a big rain. They say.  I see the drizzle.  I will know about the rain when the skylight leaks.

Still so green for this time of year.  Makes things seem upside down

Looking at Alphabet Soup.  Which lies folded over the front beam of the floor loom. That old quilt. Never done.  There are things I've learned since then, things I would have done differently.  What if I cut it up?  Or dye it?  Everything is so funny to me today.  Funny as in without  attachment.  I  simply woke up laughing out loud. 

And how interesting that is. 

P is for Pumpkin

Alphabet Soup is getting  a seasonal update.

Remember Soup?

Alphabet soup. (there's a category for it if you are new here)  You might remember if you've been hanging around for a while.  I am working on the Red Lion.  R is for Red Lion.  Long time in process, this cloth.  An alphabet sampler.  A sea of stitches and so many more to go.  It was freeing really.  To sit and stitch on something that was  about nothing more than stitching.  Continuing.  Just fun.  Fun to look back and discover old thoughts.  Fun to see how my approach has changed.  This would be such a great  gift.   Wish I had a grandchild. 

goings on

so the friday fun spilled over and i find myself thinking again about the flow of one thing into another. the blending of moments, like stew or soup. we are soup, yes. or wine maybe, but whatever it is we are always brewing.  i suppose everything i touch right now becomes sun moon stars related. but it is interesting really to pick up an old cloth in a new moment and see how you approach it with new eyes.  maybe stop to count how many eyes you have after all this time. use them to revise , reconsider or simply look. maybe close them all at once and open them one at a time. or the other way around.

a bit of work is due on alphabet soup.  i am thinking of the alphabet as something that might evolve, with self. i know juggling has taken on a whole new meaning.

if my pictures seem a bit dark, it's because there is no sun here for days. it fluctuates from dark to darker and back.  hard to tell where you are in time really.

(there is a category for alphabet soup if you are not familiar with the cloth)

drifting back

yes i am back. why?   because i feel unusually rested. because i have never before seen such a winter sky and i needed to share that. because i am enjoying so much the characters that have appeared in my c2c3 giveaway. and because some one asked me what ever happened to the alphabet soup cloth.  here it is and it makes a great draft stopper.  larger cloth can be very useful, even in process. so i guess i am back. once again without capital letters. because i can't deal with it really... this correct grammar thing. so for those of you who called me lazy...stitch me up a cloth by hand why don'tcha. a large one. ha.

a quilt as a learning curve

alphabet soup is a learning quilt for me. it was my first real sized machine free pieced quilt... a method i learned from tonya. and now that i am hand quilting it i am learning a few more things. when machine piecing lots of small pieces the seams become a bit of a problem in adding thickness. i used lots of different kind of fabrics so i aggravated the situation a bit. i think i will switch to ironing seams out flat from now on. just to reduce the thick spots (i tried that on some smaller pieces and it seems to help).  even though i started using 3 ...i have switched to 2 strands of floss  because combined with the larger kantha style stitch it makes a more drapey cloth and a softer surface (it is a baby quilt) ...AND i can squeeze the double strand into a small eye needle which is easier to get through the seams. i have also started to quilt the surface completely before applying an applique so i only need to quilt the applique to the top surface and not all the way through.
.....an alphabet quilt should be a learning quilt so i am adding all kinds of conversation pieces.  what a great opportunity for story telling at bedtime. the S itself became the Snake it stands for and the it sits near a Sunflower and under a Shibori Sky. the Snails have not arrived yet because they move so Slowly.

dreamstorming

....as i ripped the velvet from mom's wedding dress into strips, it sprinkled everything  with a dreamy fairy like dust. and i dreamed of warm snow instead of vacuuming.
...with the intention of skatching a border for the pathways and bridges, i drifted with the snow idea and the harshness of the piece is now softened by a blanket of white and light, sculpted by stitches to retain the character of how velvet snow might come to rest. and now it is resting for a while.
...i worked a bit more on alphabet soup. just to stitch. because i was inspired by the childlike enthusiasm during the inauguration. and because all of a sudden D was for Dreaming, L was for Love multiplying and J was for Jude Juggling many thoughts at once. .

sometimes i just let myself float. day dreaming. letting the thoughts flow without struggling to focus. and i have been dreaming furiously at night. i don't jump up and jot things down  anymore. i try to become more conscious of the thoughts without waking so i don't destroy the melting process, the soft slow drift.  i think slowing down is what causes ideas to form. slow thinking is dreaming. i really feel sad when a child is given the impression that day dreaming is a waste of time.
today i woke with memories of uncurling and giant holes floating in liquid squares and the shape of trying and transparency and snoring as a language and cropped circles and huge ninepatches and velvet and silk shibori and lullabys. i can feel the shape of coma forming. without intention. 
today WAS is practicing yoga.