Spirit Cloth

Over Time

...they Became Like a Tree.

A Typepad glitch is keeping me from viewing and replying to comments, here and on other Typepad blogs. So, comments off and I am going to take some time away and get lost in some details.  The stray cat series has evolved into the stray selves series, realizing that I may contain a whole spectrum of beasts to deal with. I need to consider this more deeply anyway. 

And in the News, Feel Free is not closing but will be temporarily down for a while so I might fix a few things, I will be reopening the Spirit Cloth Shop soon, it is now sweater weather, and Grace's Hill is still there. The winds have shifted,I hear the smoke may reach NY. 

Comforting Others, regardless

I thought a lot about what happened yesterday. How we don't know each other. How my scream's subject was not clear. How kindness might not need to know. 

I moved my old sewing chair nearer to the window.

I stitched a bit before sunset.

This morning, confirmation, the spot is just right. I have created a comfort zone with a small move. Still putting pieces of the puzzle together here, bit by bit. Building a sense of home is patchwork, in perspective. It's bigger than house. But it helps to start where the heart is. Then vibrate outward.

Grounded

continued from here...

A new space to put down new roots.

Because healing is really a kind of growth, regrowth. I was thinking that.

This is comforting. I think it has transformed into a safer place.

I suppose also, my hands, reaching, then thinking about putting my hands in the earth. That is where the thought grew.

Link to video if you see no player below.

 

Tendency

This is me. And the tendency to complicate.

I woke up in a frenzy. This is how my mind interferes with simplicity.

Tendency, is it linked to need? Or habit? Form is fluid. Choosing makes things seem more static, permanent. More useful to others maybe, that's all. It all settles out into everything.

I'm never sure if I can ever explain how clear this is to me.

Yeah, so...

Another crazy day. I'll explain some other time. I'm done with it for a while.

But joy!

After a major deer attack which mostly destroyed my garden last week... I found one squash vine still dangling and crawling outside the raised bed, surviving. We used pee, don't laugh, around the perimeter of the garden with the advice of a neighbor and what's left has been untouched since then. And there it was. A squash. And more blossoms. And Bees!

Really need to finish the fence though, probably not till fall.

And I stitched this, this kind of shattered or cracked star, a crack in the logic of the pattern, mostly grew from frustration and fatigue and not caring if it was neat. And I went with it and  made it more so, and it is ok and very kind in a way. And persistent.

July's Wish is Growing

A small cloth is a bigger cloth if it holds a big thought.

"There's something happening here
What it is ain't exactly clear..."

 

72

Now aka Path

Still the color is not good. But I am not focused on that right now.

Probably you will need to click on this to read it. You can do that while I am talking ( click on the audio link first), because dammit, I refuse to give up.

 

alternative link to audio if you see no player.

If the audio cuts off, try switching to another browser. Firefox ans chrome seem ok. 

♥

just that small twist...

Not just black and white, but light and dark. The magic in contrast.

If you squint your eyes, less colorful.

I changed up a few pairs with 2 that I had leftover from something else. I remember talking about this concept way back, but hell, if I could remember where it was... does it matter?  It stays with me. And it softens contrast while holding the pattern.  It rocks between appearing and disappearing. It is so true.

So today I call this 12. For the 12 Pairings. Until tonight when it will become 13. I was going to save up a bunch of pairs over time and then sew them together in blocks but I decided I like the way it unfolds day by day. Of course I might just shift the placement now and then. A ripple in time. This cloth will become big, behind the scene. I will show it now and then. Simple and not much more to say , except 2 1/2" squares, until it needs a backing.

We are painting the dark brown wall on the porch white, to reflect more light. 

And the Dye Po(e)t is waiting.

I can just look at it for a while. Probably till fall.  I think I will try to build some sort of outdoor fire pit. There is no wood-stove yet, just that shitty fireplace insert and a not so functional chimney. Getting some estimates. If it costs too much we will just use the heat. It's ok.  Maybe give the wood away to someone who needs it. Finish some blankets...maybe wait till next year.

I think it's time to review where I am on large cloth making.

See ya Wednesday. Have a good holiday if that's your thing, but really not sure why anyone is celebrating America at the moment. Yup, that's what I'm thinking.

Summer Hours

Just to show the process, on what I now call a Balancing Act. 

The patchwork component, which is now like a large puzzle piece has been inserted into the Equality base, using the applique and cutaway method.

Just to show the thin-ness.

I realized that the black is looking green because the cloth is so thin, the forest is showing through. How good is that? I also note the shadows of the beams. Noting that.

The basement space. Which, despite the low ceiling and small windows, is quite a large space. Painting, caulking, scrubbing, repairing, and there is space. Clean space, although we still might paint the floor.

Just to show The Wall space !

Welcome to the woman cave. It's cool down here without AC, and warm enough in winter with a warm forced air vent. Dry because mostly above ground. So ok. Someday maybe a door to outside, a bigger window. But it's ok. The guy here put up some good lights.

I'll talk a bit more about this process when I get time, right now I am off to drop my car for inspection. Hope that goes well. Next, wood splitting. I have switched to Summer Hours through August. Look for me on Wednesdays. 

Not Part of a Plan

Just happens.

He ran between my legs when I opened the door from the porch to check on the raised bed seedlings. He leaped through the railing and ran beneath the porch and rolled in the dry dirt. I tried to catch him. He ran up the hill to the stone wall, disappeared and then reappeared from the forest. He ran around front just as the FedEx guy pulled up to deliver a much needed part to fix the shower.  He got frightened and disappeared.  I was in despair. I called and called.  I walked back up the stairs to the porch thinking oh gosh, what will happen if he doesn't find his way back?  If the fox comes? What if...? I opened the door to go in and he ran right between my legs, back to safety. This morning he has made it clear he wants to do it again.

The Man broke the axe trying to split some black locust wood. Gosh it is dense. We are getting old. I think we will need to invest in a splitter.  To be prepared for winter. Or maybe, in these strange days, just pay someone. Everyone is looking for work here. 

ClothWork just happens also.

You remember these from the other day? The explaining puzzles. The loose puzzles. That changed my path.

The green one, well you saw that one hanging on the porch yesterday. The other, just stitched to the center of the window puzzle, applique style, patchwork as applique. 

Back trimmed away to keep it thin...

Yes that is a bit of Deb's cloth, wouldn't want to waste it anyway.

I also added a couple of rows of magic squares to the sides. So now it is square. 

What a difference a day makes. 

What I love here is how it has more depth, the center seems to be far away. I can look through and deep into. 

I can leave this here now and stare through and into it for a while. Maybe name it.

It got chilly. 43 this morning. Mid June? Maybe time to do some robe work.