Spirit Cloth

March tease

Almost 70. Yesterday. Ha, like me!

Rain, sun, wind, fog. No snow. That's coming next along with cold.

The Japanese Andromeda bloomed. Must have been overnight. Reminding me that life goes on even when it doesn't. New York, they say, now has 40% of all cases in the country. The car won't start, even after replacing the battery. The small repair shop within walking distance, a loooong walk, is thankfully still open. We'll see. 

I saw my first groundhog this morning. He comes to eat the kitchen scraps I dump in the compost. I haven't rigged up anything official yet in terms of a bin. 

I have nothing to show you today, and I have not done a video test yet, but pop over to Shibori Girl Studios. Glennis has set up a page for Moon Making Videos, some how to for all you indigo lovers. I know a lot of you have asked about the process and I don't really teach that... And if you are learning something and enjoying her gift, please consider dropping a few coins in her basket, there is a donation link in her sidebar. Things are tough, more so for some than others, especially those who rely on small business that has all but dried up in this crisis. Every little bit helps. And when things get tough, the tough seem to keep going and giving. I learned my indigo skills from Glennis and I am for ever grateful for her generous spirit.

And say hi for me.

.........

So Ragmates, the audio seems to work as is, and video is just a matter of getting my ass in gear. I will begin soon. With no plan, no agenda, just going. Here, where the group is more likely to be smaller, more intimate. Safe. More like simpler times. I will ratchet down a few details over the weekend because all I know now is:

Patchwork in Perspective part 3

Large Cloth and whatever else gets us through

Thank you as always , for your kind support and company.

 

 

 

 

Smaller

The deer.

Among clotheslines. Closer than before. A group of young ones wandered through. Or maybe they are just smaller here? They are more grey, less brown from the other place I no longer call home. Very hard to see against the oak bark. I think they have been more present, just not noticed because not so much in the clearing near the house. This is right outside the window where I put my drawing/drink tea table that sits closer to the ground. 

The tiny iron tea pot.  And not for drinking tea. I bought it from Crazy Richard in Japan, while considering small cloth. Asked if it could linger there before the move. It just arrived. It's actually my new tiny dyepot, maybe big enough for one walnut. And then, I accidentally left my big old walnut pot behind. I did remember my big copper pot though.  But smaller was,is on my mind. Dyeing one scrap at a time.

Scraps of self grow smaller each year.

A Studio Day

A warm one. Before another polar vortex. I put my winter bitch in the closet.

I will build one small fire, warm up the stove. Since the sun is out, that's enough for the day.

On a lighter note, this will be a Stoodio Day.

The lightness took over yesterday. When I patched Joy back to my center.

Stitching, anticipating February, weathering a storm before it happens, stitching, sewing snow, S(new)ing...? Snewing. Probably with out the context, we might read it Snoowing.  Oh ha.

The patches are half dipped indigo, two stitched together seemed to be a snowscape. The cloth is doublewoven, from an old baby blanket, so I did not add my normal extra layer.  Maybe you remember this Cloth Story. More of those to come. Materials are like good friends, every day you learn a little more about them.

Some Old Thing

Years and years ago, I made this patchwork for a pillowcase.

I gave it to my mother.

It was one of my first patchworks where I departed from commercial fabrics. In fact the yellow squares at the border are cut from my high school gym-suit. I clearly remember high school gym. Probably because I was always embarrassed by the teacher because I was not athletic.

I got it back to repair. But time passed and so did Mom. It's not a pillowcase anymore. It's a story fragment. I cut part of it off to use in something else. I don't remember when or what. But it's probably buried in this blog somewhere. The indigo is new. I can say I patch with dye. And of course, there is a lot more to say about dyed patchwork when I pull it together. I hung this on the wall to remind myself to do that.  I've not time for a lot of things right now.

It's raining. Way more rain than we need really. It just keeps raining.  Yesterday, after waiting so long for a dry day, I had some wood dumped. I covered it with a tarp, not having time to stack. And expecting a shower. It's been raining all night and still raining. Like a monsoon. At sunrise, no tarp and a big pile of drenched wood.

Excuse me, but SHIT.