It is cold.
A bird landed here to drink and skidded right across the ice.
Yesterday the Man erected a cold frame.
I am just going with this one.
A video test below, The the sunshine made the colors look too bright and there is no sound because I forgot, just testing something anyway. Video has not been loading.
Link to video if you see no player.
It's been a while since I focused on selling my stitched work. It is everywhere here.
Because I like that really, being surrounded by the history of process.
It's time to let some stuff go. I sell/offer the work that is closest to me in order to share something deeper about self and process, maybe just the time it took. And I sell stuff when I need to. When I need money, when I need to clear my head. And clear some space. Right now there is a little bit of all of that going on. I will be closing the Spirit Cloth shop. I left that place for larger works but I doubt I will ever let them go. Or finish them even. Supplies and Small Stitched Works will be available in the ThreadCrumbs Shop. I think I will skip a lot of the official announcing of shop updates. Perhaps just a whenever dribble might work at this point. Just stop by if you are curious. I do an occasional shout out on Instagram and Facebook. But not here really. Let this just be about the going.
Selling can be confusing. Especially pricing. I have often been "accused" of selling myself short. It is important for you to know that this selling thing is more about sharing than what I might deserve. Sharing is what I do. The best I can. Because I can. I put a lot out there. I feel good about it, even though some days I find myself disappointed in how others behave in the context of my sense of community... Sharing openly takes trust. I do not ask for much. And I don't like much that I need to put this here again, but after some shitty stuff this week, here it is:
Some days I can't keep my cool. I get knocked off balance. I think perhaps, well I would like to believe, that most hurtful stuff happens in some innocent way. Still, misunderstanding can never be prevented/resolved without dialog (we might say that about everything). I just recorded a rant to relieve some stress, but then I remembered a calmer time during PatchWork in Perspective-part 1 when I was Thought Catching and addressed a question about the copying issue with more composure. And I listened and I said what I still might say.
Here is a video link if you see no player above. Videos from this series are not public but I opened this one because it seemed to fit to the day. Of course some of you were right there.
Yes. I have settled back in here.
Leaving Feel Free as a reference for this place. Just a place to organize stuff so it can help me, keep me from losing my way. I will leave it there, simplify it's appearance a bit. And you don't need to worry about it at all. There will be pointers if needed.
Heal. Quilting. Slowly. I am sure it will end up as a gift somewhere down the line. Not an art thing, a blanket.
And , well, what do you know, I mustered up enough spirit to push me forward. A video, just to test my ability to keep at it. There was coding, the man is a teacher too. And I put it here the way it should be, if you watch it from the blog, with my own videos at the end. The audio is a bit weird but one thing at a time, Yay!
Here is a link if you see no player because it happens if the post comes by email.
A reminder to email subscribers, since some inquired, if you click the title of the post and read it on the blog itself, you can see comments, make comments and see other content, like video etc.
Meet the Day, that my friends is my only plan. From here on in.
This cloth, below, hangs where I can see it as I go to make coffee. It was a cloth that helped me be here in my new, but not really new anymore place. I still need it as a reminder to be just present. And how big that can become.
And then this. The cloth-woven leaf. Some of you may remember Small Journeys. An older class(?) Series. I feel that way.
That this blog will just be that. Let me try...
I like this shaped weaving and I am happy to bring it into the day for considering.
alternative video link if you see no player which can happen for those who receive this post by email.
And the season emerged more clearly this morning. It rained in the very early morning. The resident Barred Owl sang...And coolness came.
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.
Coating the edge of the other side of HEAL. To even out the layers.
link to video if you see no player above
I posted this video on Instagram a little while ago. Now I was able to put it here.
I am all over the place, here, there, everywhere. I need to make some decisions on how to continue.
Where, how, this is all too chopped up.
So I will. Soon.
continued from here...
A new space to put down new roots.
Because healing is really a kind of growth, regrowth. I was thinking that.
This is comforting. I think it has transformed into a safer place.
I suppose also, my hands, reaching, then thinking about putting my hands in the earth. That is where the thought grew.
Link to video if you see no player below.
Together, glued with pins and a bit of stitch. continuing from here.
Aligned, and I am looking. Uncomfortable though.
Then, making the concept smaller, to explain, showing, and then, telling myself.
video link if you see no player above
Pulled apart. Unpinned. Resting on a cloth I call the Nest of Days. Still informed by one another, through touch and logic. But free. Entangled, still one, yet free and on the same side.
link to audio if you see no player
Reminder, if the audio cuts off, try another browser. Firefox and Chrome seem ok.
I say things over and over again.
Usually as I am going. Probably because they work more than once. And that is reassuring. I am on a side trip here for the weekend. Continuing with new eyes. But I do this with Big Cloth too. Manage thickness as I go. Managing is that, problem solving in the moment. Tending to need. While holding on to the bigger picture.
Link to video if you see no player.
It took hours. In the scheme of all things, not long really. I enjoyed it a lot more with the extra layer. I could hold it more easily, the stitch rested in the bed of cloth with more ease. I noticed how many ways I can fold this cloth and birth new eyes.
Maybe we can manage anger with a bit of thin cloth.
Then this morning I just pinned to look. At a thought I had.
I note to myself how I so often create blankets with a center which radiates outward. But then this is interesting suddenly. A path that runs through it. I stacked a few small pieces I had here. Just to see and think about that. And then of course other thoughts surfaced.
audio link if you see no player
(Reminder, if you have trouble with the audio cutting off, try changing your browser. Firefox or Chrome seem the best).
If the path before you is clear,
you are probably on
someone else's.
-Carl Jung