52 Weeks of Play: Weeks 37-40

These rainy days bring out my inspiration! I have noticed a theme with my play activities lately. They involve a lot of quiet meditative stitching. Nothing beats curling up in a blanket with cloth and a needle and thread. Not all of the play has been stitching but even when my week focused on collage or embossed paper, there has been stitching in the form of knitting. This handwork has gotten me through some of my most difficult times in my life and I honestly do not know where I would be without it.

Week 37: Collage

More art journal play! I was fortunate to take an all day New Year's workshop with Courtney Prahl. The perfect day of losing one's self in making through introspection, play and reflection.

Week 38: Sashiko

The Japanese form of decorative reinforcement stitching (functional embroidery), traditionally used to reinforce or repair called Sashiko has been getting a lot of buzz these days. As people become more aware of the origin of their fast fashion clothing, many people are choosing to take up Sashiko to mend their well loved clothing as opposed to tossing them into a landfill. Besides fulfilling a practical need, the stitch also adds a handmade touch of beauty to the item. 

Week 39: Embossing

I just love embossing powder. I created paper mosaic hearts using gold embossing powder. Watching the dull dirty brown powder turn into gilded gold is magical.

Week 40: Slow Stitching

There is something about the up down motion through the cloth that just soothes me. And this particular nubby textured fabric is really speaking to my heart. For this week of play, this was exactly what my soul needed.