Spirit Cloth

Simply Keep at It

Sun's out but it's a bit cooler today.

What a relief.

A little quilting, just simple, around the edge quilting.  Seems to add a simple logic of building to the new day side.

And then around the sun. Hardly visible from the other side if you don't look closely. But it is there, the new day has come through. There are many choices for thread and stitch. Stitching does not have to scream, it can simply whisper. There is satisfaction in the way this is going. It takes me back to a simpler time when no one was watching. It is nice to know I am still that person.  That I have held fast to what I love. I like the place it takes me to. No, wait, I AM that place.

There is a huge hibiscus tree at the edge of the wood that I had not noticed until it bloomed. This morning it was all-a-buzz. You hopefully know that sound. I saw this pollen drenched bee and thought... keep at it, find a way, do the hard work, gather, take what you need and spread the goodness.

Let's hear it. With me?  bzzzzzzzzz

Let's Get Back

Simple then. A simpler time, a simpler way.

So this can be considered one way to make a quilt from a whole cloth base. I want to talk about that now as I go forward with this one.  One piece of cloth as the beginning, as opposed to lots of small patches stitched together. Of course you can only begin that way if you have a bigger piece of cloth.  We often do though, could be an old sheet or table cloth or curtain or just a piece of inexpensive muslin.  Or something that is not big enough really, for a blanket but can be made bigger later by adding a border. A quilt like this can move very quickly.

This one just simple then. Focusing on this one. Renamed. Heal. To recap, it is 44" square, the size of the cloth I began with. Square-ish. In this case, I filled the empty space by attaching a patchwork cross as an applique.  Normally I would cut away the back of the applique, but I did not need to. The cloth used for the pieced applique was so thin. And the slight thickness in the center is pleasing, yet it still seems weightless.  I have laid it on a similar size piece of very light weight muslin, which will act as batting.  It is ready to baste. I leave it there for now. And will talk, yes, talk, tomorrow. 

Just Quilting

This part, the quilting. Needle Chanting.

I am quilting a Nest Of Days.

My favorite part is the hardest for me these days.  Older with thumb joint issues. Slower than ever. But then, it is the forever part that holds me in the safest place.

The basic quilting style I began with. Just going, along the seams. Simple. With squares, reinforcing the grid. I am back there, in simpler times. Hoping to finish another blanket before winter. 

The quilting will be done using what is left in the thread nest from a year of working. No worry about color. Just thread to hold it together. Mostly I use 2 strands of floss. No hoop.  I will quilt what is here and then make the whole thing bigger by adding around the edge. A cloth can always become bigger. Even if it is already bound. I am not sure I have ever composed that thought as I have this morning.

A baby quilt might just be the gift of beginning, it could grow with you. Imagine it as a nest of days, adding a ring each year as needed, so it remained big enough to hold you.

...in the spaces in between...

The time in between is the time so telling.

The breaks from what needs to be done. Calls to be done. When you come up for air.

Why do I call this my work?

Suddenly it is quite the opposite.

I have stitched quite deliberately, but without drama. In rows, and then sections.  I tacked the sections to the deck rail. To get to know this deck.  Forgetting the order of the design. Sensing the beauty in that. I fall back into the simpler time before art and judgement. And I am refreshed. Spaced out like this, the pieced sections have become, again, loose patches. Or even long cloths. Path-works.

The clothesline is temporarily out of reach due to some forest management. With the advisement of a new friend. 

Splitting needs to come soon.

When we first moved in, I dumped my kitchen scraps on one corner of the existing  raised bed because it was the only spot I could find where the soil was soft enough to turn over. 

The soil is good. What a gift, the soil is good. Even though I have decided that this will eventually be a dye garden,it looks like, for now, we have some bonus potatoes, tomatoes, onions and squash. I will space them out a bit today. Madder has been planted on the other side. That will take more time.

Yes, I feel torn apart.  Don't we all?

Piece.