There's been lots of talk about Weaving (with a big W) on Jude's blog
here. I would love to be able to Weave on such a loom but there is no time to do all the things that are already on my list. So I will stick to weaving (with a small w), on small home made looms, to still get the wonderful feeling of the under/over motion that is extremely satisfying to the soul. More than 35 years ago, when still living in NYC, I did a weaving on a wooden frame using my grandma's angora yarns. I went and searched for it this morning and here it is. It needs a good washing and I really should do something with it. Any ideas? It is soooo... soft to the touch. Click on images for closer views.
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| woven on a wooden frame---7" x 5" |
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| grandma's angora yarns |
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| This is one of my favorite cloth weavings that I did in one of Jude's classes. |
While searching for the weaving, I pulled out some older stitched pieces. All the pieces I've done by hand, in the past, have been small so working on my magic cloth is a very new experience. A large cloth is not as easy to handle and takes ever so much longer. One really forms a relationship with a large cloth. I'm constantly thinking about what to do next and ideas that pop into my head are written down immediately so that I will not forget. Here is a small piece that I did about 5 years ago. It is mostly hand stitched but there is some machine stitching as well. It measures 12½" x 15½".
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| that orange color that I do not like always shows up anyway |
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| I just love that cow. |
And while looking back, I discovered that I have done a portal in a quilt before the ones on my magic cloth. It was back in one of Jude's classes, I believe, during the terrible oil spill in April of 2010. That portal was an escape hatch for all the fish and sea life that were in such danger.
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| an escape hatch...piece measures about 12" x 12" |
Looking to the future, after my magic cloth is finished, or maybe, nearly finished, I think this piece will be the beginnings of my moon cloth. I have lots of moon pieces but I'm going to stick with colors I really like this time so many of the moon pieces already made will not be used. There is lots more incentive to continue working on a piece when you love the colors you are looking at.
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| a piece made in Jude's 'sun, moon and stars' class |
Jude's classes are very inspiring, even if you are an experienced stitcher, and they give a different point of view in hand stitching cloth. They have been a constant motivation for me to continue stitching on a daily basis. Her classes are still available and you can read about them
here.
20 comments:
I adore the farmscape and sea with fish! So vibrant and such fun.
I love your samples from your classes and the little weaving is beautiful. I'd want to have it out as perhaps a touchstone. Something to caress when you need a hug.
i would just leave the little angora piece out in a pattable place to enjoy and hug on walking past. and the little cow is very cute, wish the cows near me were that sweet.
Oh the weaving is so soft looking and precious. I think the purple weave would be my favorite too :) And I think cows SHOULD be colorful rainbows! Thank you for sharing your old work...it's fun to watch Deanna evolve :)
No never enough time to do everything we like, but I think you do more than most Deanna. I just joined our spinners and weavers guild to learn weaving....
Hey
I agree--you do do more than most. You are an engine of creative creations, a fertile font of finishing things, an unstoppable force of natural inclination.
I agree--Grandma's angora is an as is keeper. I don't think it needs a thing done to or with it, but that it be seen, touched and cherished.
The ribbon weave from five years ago is perfect for a circle or moon cloth inclusion in my opinion, a deeper expression of the blues you prefer and a memory piece worth highlighting within a larger cloth.
All those amazing orange patterns you disdain would fit very nicely into the new portal piece you are working on now it seems to me--Portal to the past within the new cloth, They do work with the brighter color scheme and that cow is a miraculous piece of stitching and vision.
And the fish escape portal would, indeed, be a lovely centerpiece for the future moon cloth, incorporating the last piece you post here in and expanding vision from ocean to earth to the sky and maybe even outwards to the universe as a border.
My thoughts. Yours will surely be a revelation in days to come.
I love it all Deanna...and your portals posted below too. I went and looked at the link for the loom and sighed and decided for now I'd stick with my little table looms. But when I use up most of the fabric floating around here... :)
hi Deanna, thank you for visiting the other day! I see a lot of fun and humor in your work and your love of making shines through; the rainbow cow is delightful and I like the wavy stichings in the background; there is still so much I haven't seen but I 'll make certain I do!
I love your work! You have shared something important for me today. The big W and the little w. I have so many interests and there isn't enough time to do them all. But labeling projects with W/w is an awesome way to organize them and hopefully get them out of my head.
Thank you
that originated with Jude, Susan. glad it helps you.
thanks, saskia. that 'wavy stitching in the background' is actually netting that was stitched down to the fabric to represent a fence.
it's always so interesting to look back & see how we've grown or changed. "escape hatch" is wonderful. & i identify with your anxiousness in the previous post, of wanting to get to the next place, at the same time as enjoying the present. & today i am thinking of "a wrinkle in time" while visiting here.
I think I have said it before but I adore your woven cloth, the lilacs and mauves. It is stunning.
I love your moon phase, look forward to seeing where you go with it & wondering how your stitching meditation on the cheesecloth is going?
i worked on the stitching meditation last night and hope to do some more today. doing some needleweaving in the holes. will post about it soon. thanks for asking.
its all just wonderful... you are so amazing to me... i was thinking of you the other day ... it seems you try so many things. always open to trying and so you end up with a great variety! and all done so nicely. your angora piece would make a very nice lavender sachet. you could do the blind basting stitch to attach it to another fabric so you could keep the bring out of the seam. and then stitch it into a bag for the lavender. it would be nice in your linens or underwear drawer.
What a lovely, soft, beautifully patterned weaving - and nice to see some of your other work, too, and the recurring portal. You have a long relationship with fibre!
Strange to find you talking about weaving when we've just found the child's loom I used to use and I've set it to one side to play with some more!
I love all these pieces, especially the cow! I think you could frame that piece of weaving. It has special memories.
what a lovely catalog of work! I love that cow too! I particularly like the purple woven cloth piece with the circles... Can't think of what to do with the woven strip. If it were mine, I'd make it part of a doll body, and really showcase it. I wonder if any of your thrift finds would partner with it? The stranger's unfinished work meeting with your own loose ends...
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