still standing in the snow...

tonight's arctic storm has inspired me to pull out the old man in the snow winter cloth and work a bit more on him as the snow continues to waft down around the cottage. he isn't really a "santa clause" so it doesn't matter that xmas has already been packed away once again into its boxes for yet another year. does it? not in my demented world in any case...  perhaps he will be in need of friends? either way, there is still a lot of thread chanting to be done before he has whispered his stories into the cold, snowy night air.

meanwhile, i am in full gratitude for the crackling fire that burns on in the hearth and the comfortable chair beneath my backside as i stitch into the wee hours of the morning...

namaste'

waiting for the man standing in the snow...

the holidays have been creeping around the corners of my awareness. these years past they have been a time of great sorrow and heartfelt pain. so, usually, like a sleeping lion, i allow them to sleep whenever possible. but, for some reason, they will not sleep this year. little piles of old cloth would congregate. and whisper. the din grew so great that i simply had to begin needle chanting them into existence. and so, this small cloth has begun manifesting beneath my busy fingers. there are miles to go before he has whispered his story into my ears. but he seems content with this start. a beard. a 'stache. a nose and crinkly eyes i think are next. perhaps a potted tree in his mittened hands will follow. from there, it would be any body's guess what he will require of me!

meanwhile...

i managed to pull out the "better camera" for those of you requesting more detailed pictures of the tiny nine patches that have been manifesting during my daily needle chanting sessions to clear my mind and kick start my creative energy.  it has been a struggle, attempting to stitch so large! 24+ stitches to the inch is just ginormous when compared to what i'm used to hand stitching lo these many years ago of miniature bearmaking and heirloom sewing. there are a host of inner muses screeching at me for allowing...no, intending...the stitches to show. for choosing variegated threads to heighten the effect. to not-so-blind stitch the seams, allowing the little dots to blatantly reside along either side of them. for allowing one of jude hill's magic fringes to grace the edge of one of the tiny squares. you'd almost swear the muses were harpies indeed! but i have stopped my ears with cotton wool to their cries and continued on... i am quite enjoying the added texture and visual interest created thereby! a little math scratched on a scrap of paper has informed me that i will need 480 of these little nine patches to create the queen sized bedcloth they aspire to be. which turns out to be 4,320 little squares of recycled and repurposed cloth! best not to think of it these terms, joe, lest you become quite overwhelmed and abandon all hope!

namaste'

first snow

we finally received our first snow of the season, here in billings. it's rather late, like many things this year. including many of my own projects and aspirations. perhaps i will catch up with the weather soon...

sometimes snow can do a wonderful impersonation of draped cloth.

or even like a manipulated cloth quilt (found on scouttyboy's photostream)

or even like one of jude's woven strip boro cloths (found on ojos_azules's photostream)

or this bit of quilted snow (found on daddynewt's photostream)

so, even though i have had little time to stitch these past few days, i have found many sources for inspiration!

tonight, i think, i may find some much needed needle chanting time...by a nice crackling fire!

namaste'