Spirit Cloth

Hunker Down and Decide

There are quite a few folks subscribed to this blog. Folks come in and out. For many reasons. I am hosting a class here through the rest of this year. Before I disappear. I will be posting, most likely more than once a day when necessary to record the the flow as it happens, because I try to teach by example. How it happens..  If you get frustrated with too much email, just unsubscribe. And have a nice life...

So to continue from this morning... One way to easily square up an old piece of cloth is to fold it diagonally against one edge. Cut , or tear, I prefer that, off the extra. Again, not exact, but closer. 

Let me talk...Link to Audio if you see no player below.

 

Hunker Down, Start with a Square

Yesterday, no cloth,just Dirt.

A big square of dirt.

This morning, a big square of Cloth. 

Ok, not exactly square, but who's measuring? Not me, Not this go around. Feels big enough for a beginning. Can always adjust later. I am guessing about 48" square-ish.  In these times, a looser approach seems suitable. Use what I have, stay light, make something useful. Feel useful. Feel Joy. Of course I could start with a smaller square, even a one inch square, piece the base an inch at a time, keep going, it will become bigger. No puzzle about that except keep going till it's big enough. What's big enough?  Could be dependent on your goal for end use or just the challenge of seeing how far you can go. Imagine if you just kept going until you could go no more. Set a world record.  This time, for me, I want to make a Baby Quilt. Just because. It should contain calm, joy... so I am not going to worry. Do you feel it is important that what you make contains who you are?  I do. Let it be that. I like square(ish) blankets.

The power went down overnight. It came back on at sunrise. 

Some of my old baby quilts here...before blogging.

Day 3

 

Here I am.

Again.

(loving this,how much the paper seems like cloth)Wondering where I begin. Or not.

With the box I put myself in, looking for another way out.

Over the next month I will work on all the existing small works here. Touch them. Let them go, finished or not. I think one final Spirit Cloth Shop update for small stitched works when Spring begins.  I know that once the season changes, I will be outside. Clearing paths. Trying to grasp my new sense of personal space.

Just to clarify, I am now 69. And I have entered into my 70th year on earth. This being Day 3. 

I do not feel particularly physically challenged. I feel good. Strong. It's not difficult for me to continue as I have for so many many years here. But my focus is shifting. I sense that. My thoughts are leading me astray. I am a stray at heart, in that regard.

I We moved to make things easier, especially financially, as we age. We may do that again. But for now we feel free enough to change our minds. I do not miss the old place. I thought I would. But Poof, it's just another day.  What else is there?

 

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.

Nine for Tendency

Tendency is on my mind.

A predisposition to think, act, or proceed in a particular way.

How Sanity (as I am trying to define it, in small deliberate steps) might in some way be a modification on that.

Anyway, yesterday I got to thinking. While out hacking away at some old root-ball I was trying to remove from the garden. It was such a dense mass beneath the surface. Nothing would grow there. It seemed small initially but as I dug... well it took hours and I ended up with some unidentifiable tangle of plant threads and a Big Hole.

I had a green liquid lunch. Then stitched this.

Another nine. With a black center. A black hole block (component). (What if a black hole could be square?)

This might be Nine for the Tendency to be Sucked In. Ha! Yes. (I could make a political comment here. About Her. But I will keep it to myself.)

Now my thoughts turn to concentration. Concentrating thought. Art might be, in some way, related to that that. Simply that. I think.

I used a focal zoom effect on one section (about 30" square) of the perpetual grid cloth (I am working in sections, but more about that later) after adding the black hole block. I like how the black hole became the center and everything else is radiating outward. Here a black hole is something positively negative. And an eye of a storm.

 

Here Soul-O. And the Art of Looking.

 

what if wednesday revisited

 
what if squares could blush?  just a leftover fragment . and a leftover question. and a bit of hand dyed silk. the what if blog has been reconfigured and will be back in new form soon enough. just in time for spring.

i really like this.

cloudy but warmer and a possibility of more stitching

I just noticed how the light of the moon seemed to be embracing the darkness of the tree sillouette. Moving around it. As if i caught them in a dance. A spin.

This snail came all the way from Indonesia.  It was probaly a long trip. I wonder if she is homesick.

This composted sheeting was an accident. I like that kind of old cloth. The real kind.
  A square could be made from smaller squares which are only a product of careful reconstruction.

  She might be wondering  who is this new beast. And so am I. ? .

.............

This morning the sky is like a crazy quilt and my desktop is a patchwork of things to do. I am back to this. Because today a square is quite calming as I think about the nature of a square as a way to organize a tangle.

And I was up at 3:30 this morning, laying the ground work for something to stitch about that. Maybe at mom's tomorrow.  It is very thin. Like my mood today. Just this very simple start has made me feel grounded. I like to act on sketches quickly. Just a simple start to make them stick.  To plant the seed.

what if wednesday

So. 7:30 AM. What if a nine patch could spin? What I think now is that in this way a square could become a circle. Which means you might start with anything and with a bit of focus... turn it into whatever you want. This is actually quite important in the scheme of things, don'tcha think?  And then the question arises, how much do you want it? 

11:24 AM... just to keep it going, what if I add a bit of that velvet I dyed yesterday? And quilt the center down a bit to keep it from getting out of shape.  Stitching in a spiral can raise a bump. And this time I don't want one. Nope.  What if Wednesdays could be what-iffing days, continuing. Yes, just continuing. Whispering Wednesday. Maybe.

1:30 PM... Ok I need to go out now. We will take a hike along the shore. It warmed up a bit and I have been sitting too long. Yes, I asked what if some of these points were magic? And I know these will begin to show up now. A lot.  In a lot of things. See you later. 8:30 PM... stitching and fresh air. A good Wednesday. Goodnight.

a square

A square is a neat start. But a square might be changed into just about anything. Points and protrusions, (my theme for next year) have quickly moved into play  it seems. I have lost my sense of time anyway. I have visitors.  No  time for internet. See ya next week.