Thursday, May 21, 2015

A Memory Through Cloth

 
 
We said good bye to this beautiful lady earlier this week.  My Nana Dot, as she was called by everyone including my friends, lived to be 95! She was a happy, positive person who never complained.  She loved Big Band music, coffee with sugar cakes and her whiskey sours! As far as crafting and art were concerned, I never saw her take an interest in any of it but she always proudly displayed my gifted hand made wares.  It sometimes even surprised me when I would come across something I made and gave to her so may years ago... Something I had forgotten about would be proudly sitting on her side table or kitchen counter.
 
My mother found a box of vintage handkerchiefs that had been in my grandma's house. She gave them to me knowing how much I would appreciate them.  It's indescribable but there is something about a cherished piece of cloth that holds so much meaning. Opening the box and touching the pieces of fabric, I felt close to my Nana Dot.  I could smell her house and imagine her folding and pressing the handkerchiefs.
 
These pieces will sit with me for awhile.  I will give it time until I know how to use them. I know that eventually I will figure out the perfect way to stitch into them and create something that will honor her memory and help me heal as well.
 


Thursday, May 7, 2015

Coffee & Stitches

When you really get into the practice of your meditative stitching it becomes something you look forward to each morning. And for me this means coffee and stitches.  The smell and sounds of the coffee brewing against the quiet of the morning is my favorite part of the day. No matter how rushed I am, I find that giving myself the time to slow down helps me better manage the fast pace of the day that lies before me.

 
My sweet dog Jasper also appreciates this morning routine as it means that he gets a rare chance to be up on the couch!  It also really feels good to have this time with him before I have to leave to go off to work.
 
 
Currently I've been working on a morning mantra piece.  This is going to be a class sample for a workshop that I will be giving later in the summer.  I love the look of beautiful script created with a simple backstitch.  The word I chose was Grateful.  I have so much to be grateful for and it helps me remember that as I stitch out the word on a beautiful vintage handkerchief. Getting lost in the word and what it means becomes easy.  You focus on each stitch and with each stitch is the reward of creating a beautiful mark in the cloth. A great way to begin the day.