Deb Sposa at Artisun asked to see a close-up of the stitches on The Land as the Crow Flies ...
At the time I replied that I wasn't sure I wanted to show them ...
because they're not what I consider my "best work" ...
But I reconsidered, because these pictures detail a learning process I want to remember. How the thrift store linen clothing, torn into strips, would not be held by Jude Hill's invisible basting alone. Nor by kantha stitches worked in Deb Lacativa's "Dirty Threads." Only a final application of single-strand overcast stitch along all the raw edges finally effected a cloth that felt capable of fully being.
It will soon be done and shown it in its final state. But I will never again love it as much as I love it now, my hands traveling over its imperfections, working The Land.
I love that farming analogy...working the land. Sewing has some of the same hands-on-working-with-what-you-have quality as farming. This particular cloth really fits with your always present engagement with the earth and your physical surroundings.
ReplyDeleteThis is so so lovely; worn, frayed and worked...
ReplyDeleteSo alive! Love seeing the stitches :)
ReplyDeleteit's beautiful! the stitches are what brings it to life, enjoy them.
ReplyDeleteDana - I usually consider stitching to be play, but this one has been a hard slog. Work is the right word for it.
ReplyDeleteFiona - It felt very tenuous for quite a long while, now there is strength in its fragility
Nancy - The Land called and this was my response
Vicky - For a time I was discouraged by how many stitches it was taking, now I anticipate missing them once they're done
Vicky~ Love this thought!
ReplyDeleteThis sings the land: colors of land and brush, the tatters/fringes sway like native grasses, the stiches are seeds, dropped into rows, randomly placed by wind; such an alive cloth that speaks to me of outer inner landscape. When I refer to inner landscape, I mean how one feels when working intimately with cloth that holds so much story of how we hold the land in our minds and heart. Simply, this is a cloth of acknowledgement and love.
ReplyDeleteNancy and Vicky - I love the conversation
ReplyDeleteMarti - my heart is so happy that you see the grasses, the seeds, and the wind! And yes, how “we hold the land in our minds and heart”
It's beautiful! I feel for you as I have the same problem with fraying edges with what I am working on now. I've decided to overcast them first because all the loose threads were driving me crazy. I hope I can one day make something as wonderful as yours. Are you on Instagram? I can't find you
ReplyDeleteSue - thanks for the kind words. I’m afraid you won’t find me on Instagram as I’m an old-fashioned blogger in awe of those who manage to keep up with multiple platforms.
ReplyDeleteOh my dear friend, I am so very glad you shared this cloth. How wonderfully tactile. Beautiful. Blessings.
ReplyDeleteSue - The Land is now done and hung ... but this time not imprisoned in a frame so I can take it down and stitch some more if the spirit moves me
ReplyDeletemaybe it's time to redefine 'best work'? it's really alive and full of texture and a subtle palette...
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you decided to show it. I knew it was special, so very tactile from a distance. Now I know why. Thank you Liz. It's wonderful!
ReplyDeleteDee - putting “best work” in quotes was a wry nudge to self ... and thank you
ReplyDeleteDeb - speaking of nudges, thanks for giving me one at a time when I was discouraged by what had become a slog. Ironically, as I finally approached the end, I found myself wishing it could last longer