What is beautiful?

red thread stitching
rare quiet moments unconditional love

quiet memory

Last night ned and I took the boat and watched the sunset. It was so quiet then.

The family has started to arrive. Four are here now, five more to come over the next week.

Quilting in a hoop

Over the last three weeks, I have been finishing the hand quilting in the Earth Ark meditation panel. The stitch design was inspired by Emily Carr's paintings of Canadian skies. At first I used a small (14" diameter) strong circular plastic hoop. It goes anywhere - here in the dining room at the cottage. I prefer my oval wooden hoop. It goes anywhere too - here on my father's condo balcony. An oval hoop allows you to see more of your design, but is not as unwieldly as a circular hoop of the same size. (28") I've tried to purchase a new one but they are hard to find. Mine is 30 years old. Herman

Old Beds

We are putting old beds into the new sleeping cabin. All the kids are coming home.

Wabi Sabi

Wabi: humble by choice
Sabi: appreciate rustiness

because nothing, including ourselves, is permanent.

meditation panels in June

The church hall was set up to serve a dinner party last Thursday and the Mended World meditation panel was propped against the back wall.It was as good a reason as any to work outside. I've finally decided on how to hand quilt the 'heaven' part of the Earth Ark panel. We began a new technique. Reverse applique. Linen damask tablecloth is layered on top of blue silk or cotton fabric. A hole is cut in the top layer to reveal what is underneath. It takes practice to neatly hand stitch the dots. We need masses of these dots to make up the bottom half of the third meditation panel. The fellowship the group enjoys on Thursdays seems to be stitched into these panels. Drop in attendence is encouraged over the entire day.

painted silk on the dock

Over the weekend, April joined us at the cottage. She brought her own silk fabric and setacolour paint and her wonderful energy. She wanted to paint a backing for the quilt she made in May. I brought foam brushes and my Mickey Lawler book and just watched her. She told me that she read a blog post of mine 6 or so times. She painted into the long evening and then left it to dry overnight. It's important to make soft pleats in the cloth when it is wet, and allow it to dry slowly. The technique responds to nature, air, light, the moisture in the cloth, and how the colours mix or don't. It's magical how the fabric wicks and everything changes. April got up early the next morning to see what happened. There were some areas that she was thrilled with, and others not so much. She fiddled with the latter for a while. She made two lengths of fabric, and late the next day pieced them together to make a quilt back approximately 70" x 80".

Days like this

Each Stitch is a Prayer, dyed rayon, hand stitched quilt, 80" x 80", 2003 I made this protection blanket 8 years ago, a reaction to feeling whirled by weapons of mass destruction stuff. It helped.

April's Moon

satin, wood support, silver leaf, threads, beads
When April was home in May, she completed this piece and we had it framed in a shadow box. It will be exhibited at the Perivale Gallery this season.

A new post is up on Modernist Aesthetic for those interested.

eleven months of obsession

I pinned my daily stitching up today. The walls are nine feet high. The chair gives an idea of scale, the white bar in the image is part of the building. I've been stitching one skein of embroidery floss each day since last July. Not finished yet.

Not to know, but to go on

and still maintain a normal life

and still maintain a normal life, wax batik on cotton, hand stitch on wool flannel, 2010 I've made many pieces over my long career that show though metaphor how we each have two sides. A side we present to the world and a much more interesting 'inside'. This piece, however, is an attempt to just show our inner world. That too is a duality.

This piece is about our time, and being in it. One half is slow, but it seems fast. It seems a whirl. When joined together, the two halves make a whirlwind.

Please visit the World of Threads Weekly Interviews on my side bar or click here to read and view my interview with Dawne Rudman and Gareth Bate. It's beautiful and I am very honoured to be included.

My life is a whirlwind right now.

The Principles of Uncertainty

gunnera leaf rubbing on cotton bed sheet, waxed.

I have heard from Middlesex University and they have indicated that they are looking into ways to ensure that we do graduate. Something positive will come from this. Thanks v much for the encouraging emails and comments. I am OK. I noticed my own old work yesterday when I wrote that post. Those giant leaf rubbings were first made in 2007, then in 2009 I painted them with hot wax. Stumbling, taking risks, I don't know where these are going, or if they're going anywhere at all.

I've also been re-reading The Principles of Uncertainty by Maira Kalman, a most excellent graphic masterpiece. I keep it at the cottage and read it every year around this time.


Step, step, step.
How are we all so brave as to take step after step?
Day after day?
How are we so optimistic, so careful not to trip and yet do trip, and then get up and say OK.

It can't be true

Today, students and staff received the news that the Julia Caprara School of Textile Arts has closed. I cannot believe this. My heart goes out to those who had to make this difficult decision. My work has been transformed by the rigor and challenge required of me. It has been affirmed by attention paid to it and the one on one feedback by tutors I respect. Fellow student Gina Ferrari has written an informative post about this. She says what I want to say. The images in this post are of work from the first year or two of the degree. Twelve of us were to graduate May 2012. I'm numb.

Celebrate

Two things to celebrate yesterday. The first was that it was his birthday, and we went for a boat ride after dinner. He fished. I stitched. Blues turned to golds.


The second thing? We finally have high speed internet. After five years of posting this blog with a dial up connection, this is a reward indeed.

Photos of Cross My Heart, my quilt national entry, are now posted for those interested. Please click here.