A gift to self

Across the threshold of this new year I found time and space to bring this cloth, long in the making, near completion. Some elements that have long sought a home have found one.

Arranging squares yesterday – pure pleasure – I thought of how the strips and swatches of fabric hold memory in a tactile, visceral, yet gentle form. Maybe that is the allure of cloth for me. There is also a conversation. The cloth talks to me and to my many teachers.

I found some handkerchief weight linen that will make a nice backing for this. Before winter is over I will cover up with it and daydream.

Reflective mood

Leaves gone, our local pond added to my reflective mood this past week.

 

These winter evenings are perfect for working on my personal quilt project, practicing new quilt weaving skills learned from Jude Hill. I’m incorporating the vintage damask napkins that I’ve layered with paste resisted imagery and indigo dye and pigment, as well as squares woven from my own dyed scraps and other fabrics from my stash.

 

Interlude: Weaving with cloth

I’m taking an online workshop from Jude Hill of Spiritcloth, learning something about her innovative approach to weaving cloth from other cloth. It’s a freeing experience for me and such a contrast from my rather structured katazome routine. I really enjoy how quickly these pieces of cloth come together. As I tear strips and weave I am loosening up my thinking. Here are my first few attempts.

These little woven pieces also stimulate my own daydreaming. In the piece above I can see ….

a favorite sateen shirt from 30 years ago
limpets gathered on Galway Bay on the west coast of Ireland
magenta gladiolas from our August garden (which dyed the silk a light green)
a cloth “palette” I use to test color and off-load my brush when dyeing katazome
an edge of a work called “my sister’s house” …

which of course immediately transports me to my sister’s woodsy place with the salty breezes near the coast of Maine.

anchored weaving with cotton and silk

I used the little stones as weights for one part of the process but I really like how they look on this piece!

one more…

anchored weaving on indigo dyed wool base, silk, cotton, linen