September has taken hold. Warmer than usual but still...
The turning has begun. It will dip into the 40s tonight.
This is the edge of the Coma Cloth. Where the edge was no match for new eyes.
I have so many new eyes. I just feel like closing them all. If only for a moment's rest. I watched the news before bed, woke up, went out to the chilly porch and screamed "I can't take it anymore!". A few moments later, off in the distance, over the hill past the stone walls, I heard "Me either".
I am a firm believer in Form Follows Function. And to extend that into the spirit of the thing, if you have no use for what you are making/doing, it will not turn out to be anything much at all. Usefulness is a broad concept. Maybe you need to make a living, maybe you need a blanket, maybe you need simply to see what happens. But there has to be something. For it to be something.
This one is forming. Through intention. Even though I remain on the edge of what it might look like. I want it to be a two sided blanket, I don't want one side to be more than the other. I want it to center me and yet express empathy. To give visual form to that. No matter what it looks like.
The red. Such an odd addition. But I like that it fits, make the candy colors work more deeply. As I drew and expanded the original red lines, stitched and then thought the split stitch was too blah and would also take too long, I switched to my signature Wrap Stitch, (here, stitched only on the top layer) I drew some dividing lines, for the bars, and suddenly those spikes seemed like backbones. And courage popped into my head. And then the words...to become whole again, to heal, requires courage.
I spent a long time stitching, and not one single minute watching either convention. I feel clear headed. And that is what I need this one for.
Yesterday. continued from here
I did finally get the full video to post on Instagram. It will probably be that way now. Words and audio and more photos here, video there. Things are what they are and we go. Now that I know better how, it will simply be easier to continue and I thank you for understanding. The process, a patchwork in itself.
The seed ended up in the corner. The cloth is a bit white and I considered a tea stain but then I began to love the purity of it. So thin, the earth showed through and that was good too.
In words, if you did not see or were unable to see the video... I use a red pen to draw the rays, ink being see though, the lines appear brownish but I will redden them up with stitch. Just a running stitch in red to bring the lines to the other side. For now guides. And of course quilting at the same time. Strength. Stability. This is an old pueblo symbol and I have used it many times as a sun, but it is as I learned though my research, a sacred symbol and I will only use it as a guide now, to something else. A teacher.
For a two sided cloth, some stitched go through and some don't. Moving between the layers appearing and disappearing is the magic connection.
Mom.
In a pool of Silk Velvet. The cloth mentioned in yesterday's cloth.
1949 I think...
And that cloth from yesterday,
now in the context of Summer's arrival.
How much season is part of us.
March. Sun and Magic. Focusing on that.
Magic Sun Evolving.
alternative audio link if you see no player.
(Note: Indigo Dyed over Deb's hand dyed cloth and then stitched. Deb is a trusted ♫ resource. Has a nice ring to it doesn't it?)
Green here.
We don't need rain.
An icky weekend in store. Rain. Humidity. Chill. No sun.
I have a lot of squares here.
That's nothing new. Neither is the question:
What if the sun was square? Have you played that game yet?
What if ___________________ was square? Try it. It can really lighten up a day.
This one evolved.
Just That.
And Soul-o
Becoming a star.
That's what came to mind.
None of the current stray cloths got done this month. But they will be happy to wander towards May. A long time ago I stopped stressing about turning the points on the ears. I just left them to how it might happen. And As it turns out, it's always better that way. To accept and learn to manage the fray.
The weather has turned magical , as it does, suddenly, seemingly over night.
I've got some wishing in my pocket and we are off to go walking.
Really, just to make a video.
And remind myself about a few things. But then...
I doodled again, these square stars that are based on the traditional patchwork stars, an old what if.
Embroidered patchwork. I like the crossover between techniques, and how that adds to the history of forms.
I draw these all the time.
Sometimes just like humming a tune.
But then repetition can also lead to change.
A slow movement, hardly noticeable at first.
I heard myself say that, how I had fallen in love with the rows of wrap stitch. I mumbled to myself, loving can limit, and I let go. I split hairs here. That is I worked the split back stitch with a single strand of floss, row after row (first named here). Appropriately slow for easing into change. Splitting hairs, as I call it, is the closest thing to painting on cloth with thread. It forms a thin layer of stitch that hugs the cloth and can mimic tapestry. I also love here the blurred line around the dyed square... how it left a soft line beneath the stitch. Isn't it funny how imperfection might just be something we didn't expect instead of "wrong"?
I've dye a million of these little square components on a million scraps of self, over time, for a special large cloth. I have a million ways to try. Maybe more. Filling space takes time.
Some leftover squares at ThreadCrumbs...
A bit of time out today.
Post office. Preparing the house and yard for winter.
Many blurry pictures lately. Maybe from all the going.
I looked at this and many thoughts surfaced. Questions maybe. About the blur, the softened,ragged edge of image. And clarity.
Isn't blur a just another kind of vision really? Depending on what we focus on? How we choose to look at it? I somehow got caught up in that. The blur of moving through when we are not in the flow itself. The blur of what moves through us if we aren't in that either.
Anyway. I finished autumn eyes. I think I was influenced by thinking about space as something that might invite a kind of turbulence. Wind. Something indeed began to blow through. The points and protrusions are like pointers for that. Vision is growing and going in sympathy with that motion. No blur or confusion here. Just change.
I like how the center piece became like a small flying carpet. A place to ride it out. The storm of change. And the eyes are like stars. And the magic ring, is like a circle game.
Considering SunMoonStars and all that might include will help me finish many things. Clear some space for more going.
So here I am.
Suddenly without a camera.
But wait. The phone! Not one of those new fangled iphones, mind you, but good enough. And some photos already taken. And some digital tools. OK.
NOTE TO SELF: Find a way. There are so many.
Some loose pieces hanging around, and then put together. A while back. Colored moons. The nine for a change of direction, and corners, some of which resulted from me asking myself, how about 2 corners? And then. This.
I swear, just that. And then, obviously, after a bit of looking....
I think the stray in me wants to come out. Or maybe my heart has simply just lightened for good. Possibly.
Anyway, a bit of Corner Storming. STORMING, a word that will turn green for going soon. But for now, something from the VISUAL JOURNAL.
I will probably spend the weekend backtracking a bit to catch up with the patchwork thing. And solving the camera issue. Also initiating a format for the Visual Journal. I plan to open Patchwork beasts as well, for free, because it is fun and my heart is light. It is an old class and I want to revamp it a bit. So Hey Ho and see you Monday.
PS. Thanks to all of you have contributed to the effort. I tried to send thank yous in response to PayPal donations, but many folks have different emails associated with their account and do not receive my notes. I know. So know your support has helped me continue in a bigger way. Love.
PPS. My posts are likely to have media in them going forward. Please note that links open in a separate windows so you can follow without necessarily cutting off the audio. This includes enlarging pictures when available. Just keep track of the open windows in your browser bar.
If the path before you is clear,
you are probably on
someone else's.
-Carl Jung