The Stitching Weaver

New Perspective

a nice vacation in mexico. relaxed, had fun, looked for birds and read.

this is the black vulture that liked to drink out of the pool.

it was also a strange time. lots of bad news while there about people being close to death for unusual reasons.

people that weren't suppose to be that close. 

it is hard to deal with death when it is not someone that has lived a long life.

that is older than you or had a long illness. 

i think the vulture at the pool was a reminder of how close death is to life.

not a reminder we want but it helps to keep it all in perspective.

Indigo Dyeing

I am taking an indigo class for dyeing. It is not something i want to do full time, but i do like the idea of using the fabrics that i dye. i tried last summer at the cabin and it was fun but i didn't really know what i was doing. i find that i don't really like it.

i want to like it, want to be excited, but i'm just not. i will continue with this vat and maybe do some more when i need the fabric, but not going to compete with anyone for selling it.

these colors look more faded.. we actually have a sunny day today. the yarns came out nice too. i hope to weave a wool rug with my own indigo yarn. 

i like being able to make the sky.. this is something i will use in my stitching.

 

so off to clean up.. 

just a note to let you all know that theo is improving. we hope we can get the hated collar off today. he is turning into the autistic dog.. banging his head on the floor. 

he actually played catch this morning. hasn't been that active in a while. we might be sorry for what we wish for.. the old theo is pretty crazy. but will be good to see him again.

What I've Been Up To

 

this is the warp that i took off the loom.. it is dish towels.

here they are still altogether. it took a while to weave them all and each one is a little different. if you look closely, you can see a dark line where each one ends and another begins. i am busy cutting and hemming them all. i really like doing it. a satisfying project.

stones have been a big topic over at jude's place. i have been a collector forever.. of rocks. these are little stones that i collected at a beach actually called pebble beach. this took hours to find exactly the right one to carry home. it was heaven.

this one is a favorite. wouldn't it be wonderful to try and stitch?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

these are some of the rocks collected while canoeing on rivers in washington and british columbia. 

the speckly ones are granite. probably others too, but i'm a lover not a geologist.

 

back to stitching. someone asked if i was still working on this.. sorry i forgot who. but i am still stitching and love doing it. the sun was really fun and i think i will put eyes on it, but not sure yet.

back to the kimono.. still stitching. i did some stars and kantha stitch but am having some puckering. i may take out a row of stitching. i wanted to kantha it all so not sure how to handle it. i saw some people did invisible basting but i already have it lined and not sure what to do.. will post it at sew and ask there.

some more stitching around moons.

so this is my main focus this week. theo got hit by a car on tuesday. it was such a horrible experiece that i have been pretty traumatized, as has theo. we are hunkered down and being quiet. great time for reading and stitching.  it also gives you so much time to think and be grateful for how seconds really do count in life. a few seconds here or there and life can change drastically. i wish we were born with that knowledge but maybe it would be too hard to grasp. just little glimpses sometimes makes you know what is important. 

 

well a long post but we are caught up. thanks for coming by.

Happy Birthday Jude

i am wishing jude the best birthday.

i wouldn't be here or have this blog or know all these wonderful people without her.

how many lives has she changed? if you talk about making a difference in the world, this woman has done it,

one stitch at a time.

so

thank you, jude.

wishing you all the best.

Magic Kimono and snowy day

 

 

i am finally posting some pics.. suppose to be going to san francisco today. we are having a snow and ice storm. plane got cancelled and i could be sad and upset but it gave me a free day at home. so time to do all these pics and after this i can stitch all day. i think old movies are great to stitch to.. 

this is the right side of the kimono. i haven't lined the back yet.

the bottom right is a pocket that i made but haven't stitched on.

some close ups of front stitching and the pocket.

i am working on this and the eye sampler. 

today reminds me that this is slow stitching.

how happy can you be when it is this peaceful?

i wish you all peace

by the way

i did sell something. i sold the little piece of hearts in a row.

it felt good to sell.. it felt like a validation of what i do. i was proud of it and i think it will be easier to do it the next time. i still haven't gone any farther than that, but the next time someone asks me if i sell my stuff,

i will say YES.     

Making Eyes

i wanted to do a new sampler and i picked a cloth, made it into a nine patch with stitched lines and then tried to decide what to make..

i thought of eyes, suns, beasts, blocks.. okay i finally decided on blocks. they are something i am always drawn to. i like to weave them, i love them in paintings.. look at sean scully, he does great blocks.

so i sat down and pulled out squares of cloths and every one looked like an eye. i think this is when you realize that spirit cloth is really about the spirit of the cloth. it creates itself. i watched the cave movie that everyone is talking about. i kept falling asleep, but i woke up to see the paintings and hear the man say about the aborigines.. they aren't doing the  painting, the spirit moves through them. 

i just went with it and kept going. i wanted something to stitch on that would just be fun. i have never made eyes. i found out it is fun to do and will be good experience for something. right now just stitching is so comforting. it is gray and rainy and ugly.. a fire, dogs at feet and soft jazz. stitching in lap. it doesn't get much better than this.

i have decided this sideways picture is when i post from my phone. i will find my camera and do better pictures. in the mean time, you can turn it on your own..

Santa Cloth

 

 

for some reason my cloth is sideways and i can't figure out how to fix it..

i made this for my grandson this past week. he and his mother were here. i wanted him to see me making it for him. it turned out well i thought.

i am amazed that i can do this. taking jude's classes has taught me so much. i love being able to just sit down and know what to do.

for some reason we did not get the family picture. how did that happen?

i remembered on the way to the airport. makes me so sad.

now on to baking and getting back into the groove of the holiday. 

happy holidays to all of my stitching friends.

 

 

To sell or not to sell

okay i am having a problem

or i was..

maybe i still am.

someone wants to buy my work. my little things i make for the classes.

they are very complimentary and want to buy them for art. they plan on framing them and giving them as gifts.

i said no so many times she kept raising the price she would pay. that was even more disconcerting.

 

so why not sell?

my two friends that look and comment on my stitching were gone. i didn't know what to do 

so  i talked to grace.

it was a really good talk and to finally hear her voice was so fun.

of course, it helped a lot.

when you talk to someone about a problem, i find that it makes it clearer. you come to the the solution because someone is asking you questions you don't often ask yourself. or maybe it's saying it out loud that helps.

i have never sold anything i have made. i have many offers to buy my weavings but i have always refused. i think mostly because i couldn't admit that i had something worth selling. sometimes i think it's because they aren't perfect and there are so many wonderful weavers that sell things so much better than mine.

plus, to actually make any money on anything raises the price too high.

so then you come to my little cloths. they aren't perfect. they aren't even useful. are they art? 

yes i think they are.

BUT

jude sells her things and they are wonderful. to sell mine would feel like i was trying to be her. i would be embarrised for anyone to know i was selling them.

i am not an artist. 

or am i?

that is how talking to grace helped. 

maybe i am an artist. i do things others can't or don't do. i make things that are unique. 

i grew up in a time and place where you didn't get encouragement to be unique. you had to follow the lines. so doing something and putting yourself in front was not encouraged. it is taking a long time to come to terms with all that. you think you are doing great. you think that you have gone past all that old talk and then something happens to make you realize that you are still that little girl. the one that was told to not be a doctor.

"you can't do that, you are a woman and it would be too hard".

why did i listen then? why do i listen now.. not to the outside but the inside.

my things aren't perfect. they aren't suppose to be. they are me. the part of me that puts her spirit into the cloth and lets it become what it wants. 

they are little pieces of art that i will never think are as good as jude's or many other peoples work. 

but they are mine and i am proud of them and i'm proud of me that i can make them. so i am going to sell. 

you've come a long way baby!

Saturday night

it has been another quiet day.. i love them

it was great to see the kimono on jude's blog today. 

i have been steadily stitching on mine. no new pictures tonight.

it made me feel like i was on the right track with my stitching.

i just keep adding more kantha stitch, more moons, more symbols.

it is my magic diary project and it is slow

it is okay for now.

will try to take pictures soon. will even post on sew..

just checking in