kantha commencement

here you can see the slightly different coloring of the jean piece that i have slipped inside the frazzled cuff. i started working the kantha stitches in a hand-dyed indigo cotton thread, but it just disappeared into the denim and hated to waste the thread for something that wouldn't be visible. so i started over in some heavy vintage cotton thread instead. i'm really liking this so far. 


i thought about changing direction with the stitching and creating a pattern, but decided i'd rather keep this one simple. besides, i want to add some more boro patches to it as well and don't want it to start looking too messy. most likely won't be a "plain" boro patch either... i'm thinking skull shaped or something else different and unexpected at the ankle in more contrasting denim on one leg. perhaps a bone or something else on the other? or a simple geometric?


i'm off to a good start. slow going since denim is so thick...and two layers of denim thicker still...but going nonetheless! i could kiss whomever invented thimbles!


namaste'

thread chanting

in keeping with being gentle, i've been quietly thread chanting this little peacock based on a vintage pattern found in an old sewing box. most of it is kantha stitch, though they did not call it such. my mind has been wandering around other designs and images that could translate nicely into kantha stitch. perhaps this will be a new direction for quiet moments when my fingers are not in the mood to be needle chanting 4,320 inch and a half squares into a bed cloth...

namaste'

a new obsession

imagine my unexpected joy at finding such a treasure at the local thrift shop on my way home from work this morning...and for only $25 no less! except for the small broken bit on the back rest, the wood is in amazingly perfect shape, right down to the wood wheels. the cushion springs are also in incredible condition.  obviously, the upholstery needs a total redo, though there is a wondrous, faded vintage floral on the bottom that i believe i shall salvage for my clothwork (i know...pics, please!...i will get to them later...for the moment, the batteries in my camera have died). whomever owned this lovely before it found its unfortunate way to the thrift shop obviously loved and cherished it for many years!

this will be one of my favorite new obsessions, of course! some years ago, my folks bought me a luxurious scroll saw for xmas (that i simply *had* to have or i was gonna *die*!) that still hasn't been out of the box. i do believe, however, that i now have an unprecedented reason to get it out and set up! that little panel on the back should be a breeze to duplicate with the scroll saw and a little hand carving.

then i'll want to tighten up the support bands under the springs, check to make sure none of them need to be re-wrapped, and then decide on the cushion materials. of course, at the moment, i'm thinking kantha stitched vintage sari scraps! or perhaps she'll want something a little more stately and subdued? japanese boro stitched fabrics maybe? i've have a delightful stash of vintage silk kimono bits that would be absolutely exotic and lovely on this chair!

oh, the possibilities!!! but where to start?!? wood? cloth? well, either way will have to wait until tomorrow in any case as i'm working a night shift again tonight for someone who couldn't get out of their driveway through the snow...

namaste'

feathering a heart

"i would rather have eyes that cannot see; 

ears that cannot hear;

lips that cannot speak,

than a heart that cannot love"

-robert tizon

still feathering my heart. digging through scraps and salvage, looking for paisley feathers. have a few more to add and then will probably start tacking them down tonight. then dive into the thread nest to find some appropriate strands.

this piece speaks deeply to my own heart. there is an element of the phoenix inherent here. while broken too many times, it rises to soar, and love, again. and again. the cloth is still whispering. sometimes too quiet to hear clearly unless i hold my breath and concentrate fully. while i may not be clear as to where it will be going, i am quite certain it will unfold as it needs to...

namaste'

being vulnerable

“to love at all is to be vulnerable. 

love anything, and your heart will certainly 

be wrung and possibly broken.

if you want to make sure of keeping it intact, 

you must give your heart to no one, 

not even to an animal. 

wrap it carefully round with hobbies 

and little luxuries; 

avoid all entanglements; 

lock it up safe in the casket 

or coffin of your selfishness. 

but in that casket- 

safe, dark, motionless, airless--

it will change. 

it will not be broken; 

it will become unbreakable, 

impenetrable, 

irredeemable.”

-c. s. lewis

i have been thinking on this passage from one of c. s. lewis' books while stitching on my boro heart. i can think of no better truth than this when it comes to loving. to living.  at times, i have done this, and know from whence he speaks. that casket is warm. soft. protected. but is also stifling. fosters death. one should not be found in a casket until after one has left this mortal world behind.

this boro heart reflects my own heart quite nicely. true, there are a lot of breaks and cracks. some still to be mended and re-attached. but still growing. loving. living.  beneath this shattered heart is another. whole. unbroken heart.

still vulnerable. eternally vulnerable. ready to be placed in the hands of one who would cherish and nurture it. it is only wrapped in the tattered and embroidered robes of the heart broken by others.

this heart has much farther to go before it will become the jewel it is destined to be. but for now, it will rest and infuse my home with its warmth and life. whispering quietly to my soul. filling the soft and reticent nights with its soothing tones. i would believe anything you tell me, so long as it is whispered...

namaste'

  

darkness and light

you can't have a light 
without a dark to stick it in. 

- arlo guthrie

all this whispering about fog and shadows had me thinking about the dark. darkness.  which led my thoughts toward light.  even at night there are few shadows right now, with the countryside blanketed in blaring white snow.  even the cloths i am stitching are centered around snow and light in the night. moons radiant.   

light can be gentle. harsh. dreamlike. misty. dangerous. dark. sensual. poisonous. soft. bare. hot. violet. cold. calm. radiating.  penetrating. concealing. all of this and more. so can dark. and yet, without the other, none can exist.  it can even be said that the quality of their opposite influences the nature of the other. not unlike the way the fabrics influence each other in our cloths. i gaze at the fabrics i've been weaving and stitching into cloths for jude hill's c2c workshop and they no longer resemble the garments they once were.  they have transformed into something altogether different and been influenced greatly by the fabrics they've been intertwined with.  even the simple blues that make up the sky in the small cloth i've now named sky flower have been transmuted:

as you can see, i've done quite a bit of stitching on sky flower since yesterday.  added a tangled gossamer moon, filled with random stitches, finished stitching the tree (for the moment), added some stitches in the snow, as well as a forgotten blue flower which looks as if it has fallen from the sky... or perhaps disremembered by a jilted lover. there is still much to do before the small cloth is fully realized, but it may need to rest and reflect for a short space.  the larger, woven cloth from the c2c workshop has been whispering stories into my ears as i lay in the dark, sleeping.

on that thought, cat is meowing for attention, so i shall leave you with this one:

there are two ways of spreading light;

to be  the candle or the mirror that reflects it.

- edith wharton

peaceful new year to you

"i made no resolutions for the new year. 

the habit of making plans, of criticizing, 

sanctioning and molding my life, 

is too much of a daily event for me." 

~anaïs nin

 i don't know if i could have phrased it better...except, perhaps than by letting go of all of it and quietly sitting in the moment...allowing it all to just be.  harder than one might think...sitting in that elusive moment...our nature is to attempt to pin it down...fasten it to the surface of our minds...mark it...tag it...define it...but as soon as we attempt to do so, it is no longer and we are grasping at the whisping threads of the past, rather than sitting and peacefully being in the moment...

these are amongst the thoughts that stream through mind as i sit and stitch in the new year...well, stitch out the old year, in any case, as i'll be fast asleep long before the new year puts in her appearance since i have to get up at 4:30 in the morning to prepare for another day's work....

i've been allowing the midwinter cloth and the woven c2c cloths to rest a bit while working on this winter small cloth:

and i realize that there appears to be a pattern forming...a pattern of trees...growth...dormancy...quiet fortitude...left facing and therefore entering...or standing quietly in passivity...but not true passivity for they are standing in their knowingness...and in their beingness...circling back to into that thought of being in the moment...trees are never anywhere else but standing in the moment...being what they are...random thoughts urging me back into the needlechanting that was unfolding before i took pause to write these words....

wishing you all a joyous new year, filled with moments of being...

namaste'

merging cloth with cloth

the midwinter long cloth has been resting in its work box these past couple days while i've been cavorting with cloth strips and jude hill's cloth to cloth workshop and am thoroughly enamored by the process!  i can so hardly wait for her contemporary woven boro workshop to commence.

now, i have a background in weaving (i studied zapotec weaving with an 8th generation weaving friend and family in oaxaca (mexico) and have woven rugs, tapestries, rag rugs and bobbin lace for many years. however, i'd not even entertained the idea of weaving cloth to beget cloth! it's been one long continuous "duh!" experience and i am completely under its influence now...

the snow has all melted in the rain these past few days here in boise, idaho and even the rain has quieted down to a light drizzle, so it was good to get outside by the waterfall and pond, if even for only a few minutes before getting soaked.  this first woven cloth that i did (as well as the other two experiments) delves deeply into the madness which i have come to know while exploring this workshop.  why madness?  could it be because i did not bring any fabrics with me (aside from the midwinter long cloth, which was started before leaving for idaho) and i did not long to go out and purchase new cloth to use knowing that i have two rooms full to overflowing with cloth, both new and repurposed?  perhaps.  but madness probably more because of the manner in which i chose to feed the addiction that jude has introduced me to...

i arrived at the folks' nest with an overstuffed suitcase, not being one who knows how to pack lightly because i can't bear to leave behind too many of my favorite clothes. not having any other source of cloth at my disposal (save for a couple stray fat quarters and the odd cloth napkin found in the job box of my truck) my gaze turned toward the overabundance of cloth that nestled safely in the old leather suitcase at the foot of my bed.  "hmmmm...do i dare?"  without further further contemplation, scissors were flashing and cloth was ripping and before i knew it, i had an enticing heap of cloth strips to dabble about with! yes, by this i quite intend to convey that i have cut up several several shirts and even a pair or two of boxers with which to weave cloth.  are you able to wrap your mind around this idea? i perpetrated this carnage against my own wardrobe, quite joyfully i might add, and i'm still uncertain if i can get mine wrapped securely around it! hence, the reference to madness...

in any case, here is the result of that manic insanity.  this is the first cloth.  it has been stitched alongside every raw edge thus far.  i am quite certain it will get much more kantha stitching...but am allowing it to rest a bit until it reveals what it wishes to become...

and here is a close up (still with the inadequate droid cam)...

i suppose in this manner, i will have these clothes around much longer than if i continued to wear them...

the stitching on this first cloth has taken several hours as it is a rather large cloth (the strips are about 2 inches wide).  i thought about tearing them narrower, but didn't want to lose the print on some of them...  the stitching itself is done with various hand dyed variegated pearl cotton threads. some are lost in the prints and are more subtle, others stand out in a bit more contrast...

next, i pulled from my weaving background and wove to more cloths...one in a basketweave pattern (over 2, under 1):

and a freeform woven cloth, primarily because i wanted to see more of the central horizontal strip of fabric. the darker strip running vertically through the center of the cloth is begging to be embroidered or to become the background for applique' or some other work (either that, or will be replaced before basting so as not to detract from the mudcloth strip):

i have several other ideas roaming around in my skull but will need to tear narrower strips to allow for more complicated weave structures without having to create cloths that are larger than the approximate 16" x 22" format of these cloths.

for now, the weather soothsayers are predicting a massive snowstorm headed our way.  just in time for my journey home to montana tomorrow, how very special!  the rest of this day shall be spent in preparations for that journey, time with the folks, and perhaps a little basting this evening...

namaste'

radiance redo

i'm much happier with the new radiance stitching.  i pulled out all of the kantha stitching that went out in rays from the moon and replaced them with a more subtle combination of vintage off white pearl cotton and hand dyed variegated pearl cotton in a randomized spiral.  this maintained the quiet peacefulness of the cloth while still creating a radiance from the moon.

and a close up (it's difficult to see the variegated stitches...i can hardly wait to get home and get my good camera out instead of relying on my droid cam):

that woven cloth peeking out from behind the midwinter cloth is one of my c2c pieces.  i'll post pics once i get some stitching done of it, but right now it's just pinned...

meanwhile, these remind me of what is falling gently outside at the moment...

and i'm really enjoying this...and this...

namaste'

some stitching, a fine dinner, and a quiet night...

spent a nice afternoon stitching on the midwinter long-cloth, sipping a good merlot, and spending some quality time with the saint wrapped around my feet and my folks on the davenport.  mom, of course, has decided the midwinter long-cloth is hers.  i'm not certain what the cloth has to say about that...it's still revealing itself and hasn't spoken much above a whisper....

i've added some modified kantha stitching around the moon to give it some radiance... i think it may need some more...maybe some spaced stitches to suggest fading light?  i have also started adding french knot snowflakes.  think the cloth still wants some random seed stitch snowflakes to add texture and visual interest.  as you can see, the roots definitely extend beyond the outer edge and will become part of a fringe with the cloth is complete.

you can see the modified kantha stitches better in this close up as well as some of the french knot snow flakes.  i'm not certain where that little dragon pup flew in from but he seems rather interested in what's going on there...

here you can see the beginnings of that bird's nest i mentioned in an earlier post (i used the scissors to point at it to help you find it since it isn't well-defined yet).  that little curl on the left side is couched down.  i'm thinking it needs more thread or at least an egg or a bird or something, but will come back to it later...it's being somewhat vague with it's desires at the moment...

here's a close up of the root system of this quiet little tree.  it's still just pinned down and patiently awaiting to be couched (if you could see the rest of this picture, you'd be groaning at the pun since the cloth is sitting on the couch at the moment).  i will most likely work on couching them all down tomorrow before going back to stitching snowflakes, moonbeams and other various sundry bits.  somewhere, just out of sight, is still a quiet presence waiting for the right moment to present itself.  the anticipation is of meeting him/her is poking me in the side like an unruly child.  i can hardly wait...

this was the wonderful dinner my dad prepared for us tonight (odd that he seems to do most of the cooking when my mom is the master chef!).  the crustacean was delectably amazing.  i could have eaten three more of them but had to remind myself that i'm trying to watch my consumption these days....

now i'm off to bundle up and go sit by the waterfall out back with the saint and soak up some of the crisp midnight air and bask in the starshine now that the snowstorm has passed us by.  i wonder if the saint will be wanting a scarf tonight, too?

namaste'