There is intense bereavement. Numbness…
This week solace began through some slow stitch. A calming ryhthm again – if heard so quietly, less than a whisper.. but a felt sensation
These little birds are nesting in the eaves under the roof again.
The frame is the winding thread that wraps the tibetan incense we burn, the fracture where the thread does not quite meet barely glimpsed but highlighted here.
Emerging from hibernation – slowly, tentatively..
Playing with placement for a little kantha study. Watching the birds on the feeders outside, aware of an increasing chatter and song with earlier sunrise and seasonal shifts (if to and fro). This morning sharp frost, cold cleansing air, cracked ice, fragile white blossom, a wash of blue clear skies and a walk to awaken the senses
Gentle colour, sensing a quiet rhythm begin to flow, breathing some life into a piece that has been patiently waiting in the wings…
the colours of sunset, rosa mundi petals caught with a knot, a circle in a square
the stitches my thoughts and words
A tiny tiny quilting needle and seed beads – repetition, balance and a little disruptive change of detail
A stitched fragment
Rusted scraps of cloth and lace, skeleton petals
A slow stitch rhythm, thoughtful…
Small pieces separate yet gathered together
I missed the date for finishing my little quilt fragment for ‘inching along’ but I am not worried – the theme was ‘rhythm’ and it took on it’s own pace and time…
The first phase was documented here
The base fabric is a fine turban cotton which I left out on the beach every night whilst we were away, tied to some rusting old boat bits so it soaked up and imprinted with the rhythm of the tides. The walking rhythms of the days…noticing the changes to the tide lines… have become stitched patterns and pauses. The rhythm of stitching the piece has integrated into the past couple of months and is a practice I want to continue.
Now I look at this I feel a strong sense that I could have stopped here – I love the texture and movement of the cloth. But I carried on, the thinking and process of stitching took over and I ended up
As a piece in reality it is more cohesive and integrated – maybe part of this is enjoying the way photographing the phases of a piece can highlight aspects and enhance them..
I also like the way images can magnify, draw attention to detail, dilate my view
Have a browse..
The fragments of colour are naturally dyed cloth from Heike – Gerdiary – her inspiring blog is one I so enjoy – natural dyes supporting the natural world matter to me
Onto the next quilt piece, the next exhibition, and the next body of work….!
I am part of a ‘quilt challenge’ – a fragment piece every couple of months with each person having chosen a theme secretly and a blog to share work! I like the difference creative play on an unexpected theme gives – have a look at the first offerings here
the first piece – soft fine turban cotton layered with bamboo wadding, silk threads for hand stitch, charcoal free machined, pen drawing…
the feel of the layers, the slow smooth stitching together creating those textures
the drawing of grasses and earth showing through and threads cut, drifting in the air
hand stitched knots – flakes floating down
coral stitch frame for defining an edge and leaving edges floating
the memory of a walk
capturing an experience – the sound of birdsong, energy of small darting feathers seeking food, trickling water, sharp cold enlivening the senses
Fragments of tea-dyed and rusted fabrics, selected scraps and skeletal frail flower heads found on walks – hand stitched slowly, caught lightly, the lace I made to fade away…
boostitch 