Go where the Magic is
Hocus Pocus...the magic words spoken when bringing about some sort of change. A bit about Magic...
And Focus, that demanding word that was used when I couldn't seem to get to my homework. Back then I thought it meant one thing. Not what I wanted to think about. Sticking with a plan, feeling guilty for not loving what I was doing. Simply put. Staring straight ahead. Not "really" thinking. But no, focus can be really thinking. Distraction a path.
FOCUS POCUS
So as I was trying to build a simple stray cat like I have so often done, I thought of anything but that... My mind wandered to those scraps on the wall. Waiting to be rescued. And a couple of loose dyed scraps on the table. And I remembered some old simple exercise in connection. The Pairings! Some of you will remember. The concept so embodies my sense of patchwork.
Patch + work
Loose.........Connect
So ok, better, this has more of the spirit of the thing.
Fold and Stitch
I use a simple method for this type of component. Pairings. I use it for many other types of components as well. You can find it, if you haven't already, under the Methods Index/ patchwork (menu in the sidebar). I'll have a lot more to say about seamed components in Part 2. I've included the video here. (direct link to You Tube)
The fold factor
There are many ways to connect 2 pieces of cloth... The fold and stitch method has become my favorite. Especially this free style.
I am inspired to get out the dyepot, well it is always out but empty until needed. Jude, you inspired me to dye small squares with the shapes of the stupa a square, a circle, a triangle, a crescent and kind of flaming drop all of which a man I found on eBay made for me in acrylic. They are fundamental shapes, two dimensional cubes, sun and moon, cone, saucer and well, drop. And resist dyeing which I have found to be imperfect but I find immense beauty and joy in the imperfect. So once Miss Cat (I love cats but can have no more where I now live) is finished I shall return to the shapes. How vital online classes can be and the community which shares a common interest.
Sometimes copying allows learning of the techniques without the worry of what will I design? The techniques can then let you begin roaming about with your ideas and design ideas. Learning is about moving from the known to the unknown…which can be scary but satisfying when you create something of your own…your own style. We all copied our parent’s words when learning to speak…so I don’t mind copying some of Jude’s bits and pieces to better understand and then create something a little different…like beastie looks. I need to remember the bits that are Jude’s and be grateful for the generous sharing.
agreed, and it is all a matter of time, time taken to let you dilute me.
I love tearing strips of cloth, folding the edges and overcast seaming them together … especially since you pointed me toward deliberately making seams with contrasting thread that shows through to the front. Deb Lacativa’s wild-dyed threads are perfect for that!
so much more to say about seams… i love that a seam is a line. and deb’s thread is good for everything
Haha! I thought I wasn’t a cat person… until I got to know WAS. I went to SPCA a few times, then found me one.
WAS, I miss her.
waiting for that t shirt…
just a thought…
I love that they are celebrating their own birth.
Maybe that is a kind of rebirth.
devotion
Which i think is different than worship.
Always good inspiration.
Hope so
I think we get in the mode of copying when we take classes and all made the same thing. Getting ours to look just like the instructor’s work. Hard to un-learn that. I don’t like cats- so no reason to make Jude’s cat. But what do I like??? If we don’t use a spirit animal what would we use? I haven’t begun anything as yet. But I have made Jude’s Pages. Lots of pages. I could use one of them to build on–using green scraps.
I suppose it is different for all of us. and what we might use to say something about ourselves ? i use the cat to retain lightness i think, sort of like the concept behind social commentary using cartoons. not serious but then deeper than you realize. maybe just taking the ears off will change them. shall I try?
Your cats need their ears. Laughing. I like circles. I like squares. I like monkeys. there it is–Monkey. thank you Jude.
Well if i leave the ears off for now some sort of evolution may be possible. Ha!
“Devotion to continuous curiosity without expectation….”
Gosh, I love this!
i feel like putting that on a tee shirt.
So much wonderful helpful information to help me stitch my scraps together without paper and pencil plan as that wasnt happening well for me. And I didnt want every scrap session to end up becoming a little garden scene.. as I will next post on facebook.. This information just opened up many possibilities.. cant wait to play with pairings and foldings and refinement!!
YES!! I think I will write that down….ok, I did! On a post-it. Now it’s on the window above the sink. I will see this every day. Many times a day. What Speaks to us. What Moves us. And we thought this class was about cloth. Ha Ha….WE are the Cloth. THANK YOU, Jude!!
love how some of the best magic comes with trying to catch a fleeting distraction, that glimpse out of the corner of the eye that beckons so enticingly from whatever work is at hand but on the other hand I do love having a big sprawling project to focus & hone the energy
it’s all good, and worth considering, especially the love part.
Thank you. Lots of food for thought here.
Last lesson actually got me drawing!
yay!
I can understand the problem with copying, it is good to get inspiration from another’s work, but young have to make it your own. For me, cats are definitely not my thing, but your style and method for putting ideas together I like, so I will follow along in my own way.
i think what I have learned from others is mostly that, how it might happen really, it encourages patience with just going. knowing that it is in the going we give our thought time.
so much to take in, I like how you highlight your definition of words, your “seams” gave me an idea, seams-out,
I have been struggling with something- I have learned so much from you so how do I make it my own and not a copy of you,
I have a problem with copying big time
earlier in my life I was constantly copied and I hated it.
Do you understand?
we all struggle with that. I’m sort of over it at this point. I’d love to talk about it in a separate post.
that would be great! I would love to hear your views on the subject of copying, thanks
Big subject!