Spirit Cloth

Rolling and Unrolling

 

I like to curl up like this.

And then s t r  e  t  c  h  out.

It's good exercise.

These ribbons of feathers will  act as ties for the large cloth we call Home.  And then who knows? I've enjoyed this final process.  Making strings of feathers.  Dreaming into them. Imagining them as representing the PieceMakers, hand to hand, reaching from here to there. Standing for hope and kindness. Ties that bind.  Strong and useful. And then light as dreams. Blowing in the wind.

I have spoken to Wendy. I will send the cloth on Solstice. She will wait for it. Welcome it. It was a warm talk, this one. Filled with knowing each other better. She brings out the love in me which sometimes gets clouded by all the crap that makes up a life.

But I guess that is just what she is good at.

Her gift.

I've been working hard to pull the story of this cloth together in some cohesive way. No small task, this was one big journey. Tangled up in a life.

 

You can read more about Wendy's work

in the sidebar under HEAL.

 

undone

just to say i've caught a bit of a bug and will be resting most of this week.

above, some rescued garden ties, a bit of natural shibori. sunlight resist on cotton. i have more un-dyeing to talk about,  but not now.

see you later.

very long cloth

 
 

Simple and useful things just bring me peace.

a winter's day

i chose to use the front button edge of an old linen shirt to form the top edge of winter's heart. because it was not being used and to restore its usefulness. i think it could be handy when it comes to hanging this piece. maybe i can make some ties for it or something.

...and i decided to add a bit of grandma's quilt again. i cut a small square from a ripped fragment. a square whose center is a lot of pieces coming together. and the quilt tie that bound them is still there. it seemed a symbol of something strong.  something about piecing things together.  something old and true and useful. something understood. something often overlooked, maybe because of its simplicity.

the heart of winter is still in progress. it is moving slowly but i am not in a hurry. i need to stay here awhile. there is safety in suspension.  there is time to appreciate the stillness and the potential. to forgive the absence of comfort. to trust in the unfamiliar.  to trust in spring.  you can find yourself, sometimes,  in the things that make you most uncomfortable. 

when the tide comes in

...it has been a quiet few days. the weather has been sunny and rainy and cool and warm and rainy and sunny. the extreme weather these last months has literally washed a lot of the beach away...leaving a narrow strip which means less humans and more of the natural animal life. we took some walks to check out the new shoreline.
..... and we were not alone.
i suppose i was inspired with the tides edge. 2 sides of the shift ( now aka 'the sands of time') have become blue. shades of indigo of course. one washed out and soft, the other deep and dark. and a few new details are starting to show up on the shore in between.
the other two sides were inspired by holding things together. symbols. keepers. strips of knotted silk. i think i can say that they are a tribute to the storm that life can bring, the battle we endure to hold it together. the simple beauty of that when seen from a distance.  and some attempt at immortality on a quieter scale.

... i am enjoying the slower pace. there are  new  old friends here.

it is what's inside that counts

linings are so essential to a useful cloth. this small journey has been waiting for another side and i chose to make it like a homecoming. i am recycling some of the color blankets from way back when. 
and simply tying it to the front layer to keep it in place. i also added a special strip of silk that will show at the edge when it is turned back.
the inside sort of overflowed onto the right side . i hated to waste any of that red velvet section. maybe i should make it completely reversible... or maybe the inside can just be a secret. something you know is there and that is just enough. yes. what if that is just enough?

quilting a book cover

since this quilt is a story, the door has become a book cover, an exciting chance for more layers....and inside the door will contain the final chapter of this story, the dedication. like all storytellers, i have in my head how i would like it to end. but the story itself is still pulling me in.
the door knob was chosen from my grandma's button stash. because of its family history and also its crystal ball characteristics, it has past and future elements. a meeting point. i normally don't like buttons on quilts because they hurt when you roll over on them. this is a BIG button. i am using it on purpose as a reminder of something.
no button hole, just a tie made from a friendship bracelet made my one of walter's sons. another reminder. the door opens into a private room (block 48) filled with amulet type elements. only the outline has been completed in my mind. there are leftover seeds of change, a book mark (yet another reminder)  an evil eye bead picked up in turkey,  and  a linen river with thread pearls.  so far. 

ready to roll

long island railroad here we come.

packaging

the quilt is not nearly finished yet, but it is nearly together enough as a unit to be carried about . i am stitching  the tie that will hold it through the roll, carry and stitch stage. the tie that will eventually be the ribbon for a gift. i like the way fabric looks rolled up and especially decorative and patched cloths. all the bits of color and thread spiraled together and then being unfolded like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon. so i roll them and tie them . and unroll them and roll them again. and tie them and give them away. these ties in themselves are becoming one of my trademarks. they are like edges without a quilt.  they evolved from leftover rag rug strips into binding for quilts and now they stand on their own, strings of special scraps, sometimes with words and stories. to tie things together in some beautiful special way.