Greens for patchwork playtime

No smaller scraps in the scrap bin...the routine is to toss the tiny bits, attempting to keep the hoarding down.

Following along with jude hill's online course Patchwork in Perspective...
I have no idea how to make scraps into a story...
mmm, no...
how to let cloths tell their story

First weaving

First attempts at Basic Block Weaving from jude's Feel Free open teaching project. First time sewing the Invisible Basting Stitch.

Burrito storage system is complete. Many hours spent rolling and bundling, snipping and tearing. A good investment.

New devices...

New cheap phone with decent 8mp camera... I shall try this...

...to mark that Here is where I begin again, this blog-thing.. started so long ago when I got this:

Grace's Keeper of Seeds... She sits above my computer, guiding my Loving Thoughts, especially now toward Her creator, who is busy packing and preparing for that huge move.. away from the windy desert to another climate...  to be with Them.. the offspring and the growing family.. (oh how poetic that word is, offspring...)

I made a similar choice one year ago (easy /no excitement /no crossing state lines... a mere 75 miles)... it's not perfect, I had many doubts...
but it is Right... Here are a few Reasons:

Their pictures on my walls

Their Chinese New Year stars (our new tradition)

They are here... many of my offspring and their offspring..

We 'do things'... we make gorgeous creative messes... we sing and laugh and play games...

It *is* worth it... to pass the magic on...

They need us... our rough unkempt older selves... we have hugging arms and smiles and many Many MANY Good Words

Can't ever have enough Good Words.. spoken to Them... spoken about Them..

Words and hugs and eye-to-eye... whatever we do /are... *we* are the magic

However! My ever-growing fabric supply...luscious, soothing, abundant.. alas, storage is *forever* a dilemma...
Until NOW! Grace again...

Cloth burritos

Her super-simple super-awesome Burritos! The bins below them are my current system since the move. Can't get them out, they've been unseen for a whole year... but a burrito, I can pull one out, or several, test the color-kinship right there... no fuss, toss it back when I'm done. Amazing!

(And in reading her post I found another fabric-lover June Wildflower... who is also trying burritos!)

So in celebration I wandered my old pleasant haunts in the Old Pueblo this week (after a dentist appt, not up there often anymore)... came home with these, most 100% cotton, 50% off...

My sewing area in the bedroom, desk is a plywood closet door on 2 file cabinets..

And the view... best in the whole house

Dye pot attempts

(confession)... I have a serious love affair with raw materials.. cloth especially. It consumes my living space, my brain, my internet-surfing hours...  Each piece that ends up in my possession (a frequent event) has its own personality, its own 'best use' that someday will reveal itself... but mostly it sits. Waiting In Reserve... much like a secret bank account.

I live in a rental condo in Tucson, Arizona, for the time being... beautiful but a poor match for messy hobbies... Last fall I discovered an old pecan orchard in a local park... gathered a bag of dried pecan husks to make into dye... got a cheap hot plate and old pots... stewed and stirred and strained..

Here is my outdoor 'studio':

Outdoor studio

View from my outdoor studio

This week I heated the last of the pecan dye (which sat in a plastic bucket outside all winter..a bit gelatinous for some reason but not stinky)... experimented with Itajime Shibori discs on cotton sheets and harem cloth. The dye looks very dark, not brown as it was months ago, but a deep mahogany.. creating a light gray-mauve...

Itajime Shibori on cotton sheet

close-up of shibori circle

harem cloth shibori

I didn't have clamps so I folded the cloth into squares with 2 of these acrylic discs sandwiched inside.. secured the sandwich between 2 ceramic tiles with rubber bands and string... then into the pot for an hour.

2-inch shibori discs from Rossie Crafts

Now there's the pomegranate husks to finish off:

Pomegranate husks from last winter

Off to work now... only 6 more weeks... then a move... to a place that is Mine...

..a Beginning... from a Gift

A few weeks back i received a gift from grace, the dear one who blogs at windthread... this is her Keeper of Seeds.. The Keeper spoke to me of a new direction...

...here is the other side.. hand stitching and grace-penmarks and subtle color:

..this is the cover of the hand-folded card which held Her safe in transit...another grace-work:

...not only this...but grace provided incentive and advice... for when, perhaps, i might consider stepping into the blog-o-sphere... Oh My! so unexpected and so kind!

my deepest Thanks to You dear grace!