Saturday, June 23, 2007

My Life Is Full


I make lists in my head, on paper, and really my stash of fiber or fabric or weaving yarns are all a list of things planned, therefore, to do. So with that thought in mind I get overwhelmed just looking at my stuff. I'll pick up a piece of fabric and think ,oh yes, that is going to be a bag, the yarn in that bin is going to be a blanket or a sweater...and so it goes. I visit my basement "store" and come upstairs arms full of the projects that were intended, and once again they are revisited. Some of them actually make it to the sewing machine, knitting needles, or the loom. Some sadly go back down to the basement when the pile grows out of control again. Is anyone with me on this? So today I post those that made it from plan to reality with a catcher thrown in for fun, no pun intended.
The first item is a messenger bag out of decorator fabric from Butterick B4247.
Next I found this paw print denim and thought dog mat, so 4 years later we have a dog mat for what else but the lazy girls , Amy and Maggie. My design, no pattern. I used layers of thick quilt batting I had( a store I tell you) and just made an envelope and stitched. It is washable as they have been known as the mud sisters as well. But the important thing is it is off the list as well as the bag. Gone, space clear in my head...Feels good.

Then I attended my grandson, Anthony's championship ballgame last week. Very important. He is the catcher and very serious about baseball. But alas, he is a Yankee fan, poor thing and I am a Red Sox fan. We have had some interesting conversations about this, but I love him anyway, he is the best. Oh and the game? They won it, so on to citywide championships later in the summer. He will be unbearable.
Funny story about Anthony's arrival almost 13 years ago...wow. I had two looms in my living room, a 22" Harrisville and a 54" Glimakra it was a long room and I could pull it off, at least in my mind, I pulled it off. My daughter, Anthony's mom didn't agree. So when I wanted to have the baby shower in my home she absolutely refused, no looms at her shower, thank you very much...Life is funny, shower came and went somewhere else. But the night she went in to labor the only way she could get comfortable was sit on the Harrisvlle loom bench and hang onto the Glimakra back beam. And hang on she did until we left for the hospital. I did not let the irony escape either...
The last photo is the finished story cloth. I presented it last night at a Muse and Mingle at my church. A time of talking about inspiration and questions about what we think art is , etc. Good inspiring night...This project was very moving. As I wove and handled each piece of someone's life and thought about what the fabric was...a piece of a husband's shirt who has passed away, wedding dresses, ribbons with meaning, quilt pieces, yarns from specific things made from them, fabric pieces from clothes worn for special things the person loves to do, stones, jewelry, and memories. I was blessed and humbled by this piece of weaving like nothing else I have ever done...
Thanks for reading and have a great day and I hope you get to enjoy the beautiful summer weather. I am off to a meeting for local knitting bloggers at Sakonnet Purls.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

The story cloth is beautiful, as are the stories behind it. And the story about your laboring daughter and the loom is funny. I'm sure you rub in the irony whenever possible! Nice to see that you enhanced your basement stash at the blogger meet up.

sloth-knits said...

Oh, was that the underlining problem you were talking about? You might have the "<-/-a->" code in the wrong place. (take out the dashes--I tried typing it the way it actually looks and Blogger kept interpreting it as actual code, so I stuck in the dashes)

It was nice meeting you on Saturday at Sakonnet Purls!

Anonymous said...

It was so nice to meet you on Saturday! I found your description of the story cloth so touching and beautiful...your daughter is going to treasure that too someday, even if she hasn't appreciated the looms as much! :)

cindy said...

Hi Carol...what a lovely post!! The story cloth is a treasure, not to mention the bag which I love.

I don't see any problems with your blog at all............no underlining or any other problem on this post or any other.........hmmm

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