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At first I thought perhaps I could stitch a ghost heart around the "I FORGIVE" piece. But the "died" piece in the middle of the reverse appliqué heart didn't feel right. So I gathered the rest of the scraps together and tried to reassemble them into a heart shape ...
realizing as I did so that there were nine scraps altogether if I included the smallest bit ...
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| Note the whisper-thin shred on the upper right edge of the heart |
However, after moving the pieces back and forth several times, some began to disintegrate, so I hastily pinned them where they were and began to baste. Then, thinking of Mo and her bandaged hearts, I stitched around the edge of the heart ...
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It reminded me of the torn and tattered heart made last year when I first began seriously studying with Jude Hill. Remembering the lesson learned, I didn't try to tidy this new heart up ... instead I let it speak of the loose ends of everyday life that the Emanuel Nine surely left behind.
Turning next to the reverse appliqué heart, I decided it needed a backing. Tearing a small patch of Salvia amistad cloth it occurred to me that it was about the right size for a label. So I wrote some text with a Pitt pen ... twice. The first time just didn't look right, so I tore another patch, re-wrote the text, then invisibly basted a piece of harem cloth to the back. After backstitching the text in blue, I used a traditional basting stitch to attach the patch to the back of the cloth. Following the lines left during the dyeing process, I made fine running and back stitches using white floss ...
which went through to the front ...
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When it was done, I removed the basting threads from the back ...
and turned to the front, where I discovered nine lines of stitch crossing the heart ...
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| Life lines |
What will come next isn't yet clear, but I absolutely trust the process that has brought me safe thus far ...
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| Overview of back |
and that it will lead me home ...
there is so much strength in the vulnerability of your open heart
ReplyDeleteAs you said of your Hearts piece, it's amazing how stitch and cloth work together to make something stronger and yet somehow lighter
DeleteThis is deep work Liz. I like the way the two hearts balance each other.
ReplyDeleteThank you ... now I'm torn between "Does it need more" and "How much is too much?"
Deletelooking this morning, going back a few posts, coming back here looking i am so Taken
ReplyDeleteby your Going with this. Imagine...at the beginning, when you thought, yes, i will do this
for Dee's vision, and if you sat and made a Plan....
What cloth would have come from that?
But rather, you Began and you Went and Went and Went, one thing showing you what
might be next. Nothing but Trust in the process and the love and in STITCH.... what
an incredible experience this is...just incredible.
How Glad you must feel and how Glad we feel to receive this from/with you...
This is IT. that conversation about blogging, it's worth,
this is it. Right here.
Gratitude.
It has been intense ... keeping it simple, but thought-full. Don said I haven't been very talkative lately ...
Deletenot very talkative lately...oh, i SMILE.....the focus it takes...YES.
Deletenot so talkative. YES.
i love.
Hi Liz, catching up over several posts… I was trying to find words to say something akin to what Grace said above, but she did it so perfectly, so now I don't have to. That ability to trust and surrender to the process is such a magical feeling. Each of the components that I have seen so far has held a lot of healing power. I look forward to seeing how Dee pulls it together.
ReplyDeleteThank you Beth ... I felt like I was in another world during the making. Now that it's done I feel rudder-less.
DeleteStill, I'm looking forward to seeing the other squares come in ... and then seeing what Dee does.