A is for Acceptance added 9/10/22 Can't believe it took me so long. Acceptance seem so big but really it just occurred to me that it might be as simple as a pause, letting the moment pass without interference. Now considering that... noticing how it feels 2/19/23 a little clumsy but... accept

A is for Again Again and Again actually. Sometimes you learn more the next time. Again might bring joy simply because it is evidence of another chance

A is for alignment. A compositional tool that creates a path. A path for the mind's eye.

A is for Alphabet By common definition: An alphabet is a standardized set of basic written symbols or graphemes (called letters) that represent the phonemes of certain spoken languages. For me, a way to organize my own Spirit Cloth Language.  We all have some sort of personal language system I think, and by explaining it folks might know us better.  Or maybe we will know ourselves better.

A is for Answers Sometimes useful for the moment, but then poof, don't count on it. Keep your needle threaded...

A is for Applique.  Ornamental needlework in which pieces of fabric are sewn or stuck onto a large piece of fabric to form pictures or patterns. Applique Page But really then, Applique is simply a form of collage, right?  Simple as that, if you think of it that way it will free up your mind to go in many directions.

A is for Arising I like the word arising. As opposed to Suddenly,  Arising is slow. Slower, as if it has been long enough to remember willing it. Wanting it. Expecting it. How one thing arises from another. A kind of growth.

A is for Arrangement

A is for Art.  I put Art here. Just because it will eventually become a conversation.  Maybe I'll need your feedback to define it.  You in? Way back, I said... Art might simply be the awareness of how we might create self. That we do. What happens, and then, what we do about it. The story. And the expression of that. 8/5/22  Over the years, I have grappled with the word Art.  The concept of Art.  The use of Art.  Art as a thing.  I have often been frustrated with the romantic approach to Art.  It's exclusivity  in terms of community.   Although many might disagree. But now I can explain, I think, how I feel. Art is not the contest that reaps the title artist, the attention, reward and fame and inclusion, so often the goal of the artist, and even the so called not artist.  No, I sense that the role of the artist ( which I will separate from the skilled craftsperson here)  is to give rise (form) to another point of view.  Not to gather approval or agreement  or an army of supporters,  but simply to make the point of view apparent.  As to bring light to the fact that there are many points of view.  For to understand point of view, without judgement will save us from hopelessness (a point of view really, you can change it). Art, then, is a form of kindness.

B is for Back to Back Patchwork. or Reversible Patchwork. Originally tried  and explained here. When you piece both sides and let them be a reference to each other. I am looking for the videos...

B is for Balance.  A compositional consideration.  For me the management of stability.  Which goes beyond the thing and often involves rocking back and forth.  Between selves.

B is for Balancing Act added 1/19/2023 A large patchwork cloth pieced in 2020.

B is for Base.  The concept of the base cloth is like painting I suppose, in that it is a canvas, something to put your marks on.  Base lesson from Spirit Cloth 101 4/22/2019 But a base can be as simple as a space, waiting to become a place. 4/30/2021- Creating a base is a kind of grounding ceremony 7/14/21- I like to think of self as a base.

B is for Basket.   I use the Basket as a symbol for self, often referring to it as a Basket-Self. But a basket is also an ancient style vessel, made carefully from what's on hand, often used to hold and carry food to others. A place to keep things safe.

B is for Baste... to sew with long loose stitches so as to hold the cloth temporarily in place.  My baste has evolved a bit.  I often leave it in.  I call it the Glue stitch.

The beast is a story character. Wild by nature. I once wrote..."Maybe they might teach us about the Spirit of Going." Lately, or should I say, over many moons, I have become one with the beast (s), that is they are my stray selves.  The story characters of me. The many selves. And a way to understand them.

B is for Beauty (10/28/2022) The presence of unexplainable satisfaction.  A personal sense of that. That is what comes to mind.

B is for Becoming.  My focus on evolution of self.  It a kind of balancing act, rocking between Becoming more and Becoming less. Centered by just being.

B is for Being. Simply. Existing. No agenda.

B is for the BiggerPuzzle I could write a book but really  that elusive thing we need the answer to.

B is for Binding.  There are all kinds of edges.  Binding implies holding.

B is for Bird Robe 10/12/22  just added it here. Old pics on flickr for now.

B is for Blanket... Human Wrapping Cloth. 10/21/22 But wait, that is so small, to only consider humans. Imagine a blanket of leaves. ( I crossed out Human)

B is for Bookmat A word I use to describe the oversized cloth "bookmarks" I often offer in the shop. They developed from a habit I have of storing unfinished stitched scraps between book pages to keep them flat.  They become useful as place-keepers even while in process. And the book becomes useful as a safe-keeper for scraps of self. I love the relationship that developed/

B is for BranchWork Working with sticks. I live in the woods. Why not?

B is for Brown Basic. Earth.

C is for C2P Cloth to Paper (and then maybe back again) An exploration in the transformation of medium. How one form of expression might become ( or even lean on) another. The moon here is a link to related private pages,

C is for Ceremony... most of mine are personal.  To give the moment importance.  So I might hold the thought, long enough to wonder. Make some personal sense of it helping me adjust to change. And then holidays,  maybe something we share, the simple joys in those.

C is for Circle.  There is certainly a lot to say about circles.  I will collect my thoughts.  I'm sure you have some.  

C is for Clarity... aka Blurrity. Because I cannot hold on to it.

C is for Cloth.  And more specifically Cloth Stories. For I have a special relationship with it.  My material (medium) of choice. For so long now, but not always. Just  to collect some thoughts... so I can tall the stories.  

C is for Cloth Stories Each scrap has so much to tell us.  I will be telling more cloth stories soon. Here is one. Back when I first began blogging. Amazed at how long ago that was.

C is for clothweaving.   The class here.   More on my mind. There was an advanced clothweaving class.  Some content got corrupted.  But I am reworking it.

C is for CobbleCloth.   A cloth built from scrap, in any which-way possible. As long as it holds together. A word invented to embrace my redefinition of patchwork. From anything and every thing.   Maybe Cobble Cloth might come to mean just that. Patching a daydream. With a basket of misfits, and a little time to consider. Even the stitching was done using short threads from the nest (the original ThreadCrumbs). The parts are all there I suppose, floating in the fog of mood. (excerpt from blog post) What you might come up with after years of trying to understand cloth. And then you do. How it Might Happen...

C is for Color... color is personal.  For now...Whispering Color, which is now part of the Forever Zone

C is for Coloring Book Quilting (Or coloring book stitching)  Quilting or stitching patch by patch,  matching the thread to the design, or at least quilting inside the seam/design lines.  By choosing thread close in color to what you are stitching through,  the design stays cleaner and less busy.  And the back is quite interesting too. From way back here.  

C is for a cloth called  Coma There will be a page for this cloth soon enough.

C is for Coma Effect.  I made a big cloth while I was very confused.  I focused on shift. And I continue to use that as shift as a symbol. And a compositional tool.  The cloth.

C is for Component.  Quite simply, what you have/choose to work with. Most practically, what's on hand. Floating around, waiting. Potential  Puzzle pieces.  Puzzle pieces for the Puzzle of infinite solutions. 

C is for Composition... for me, to compose is to make a kind of peace with something. 2/10/23 Composition is so much about point of reference. Composition is a kind of story in itself.

C is for Compound Symbols. I just put this here, gathering thoughts,

C is for Concept An idea. A mental construct. We forget the power in concept when we get wrapped up in the "thingness". The idea is way bigger, more important than the thing. The thought behind something has a lot to do with it's potential to speak and generate new form. Catch the thought and let it take form(s).

C is for Considering Take your time.  Brain Storm. Don't be so sure.

C is for Considering Weave An online class hosted way back in June of 2014. Original workshop description: This session of What if Dairies will follow my day to day creative flow. As I focus on weave. Weave as weave, weave and it's relationship to sewing, weave as a symbol. This is what I do. I pick something and think about it a lot and talk about that and make up a bunch of small studies and eventually my results end up as components in my work. Weaving and sewing are related in my world. This is not a classic weaving course. Although it will cover some basics of the process with the aim of presenting what weave is, as a structure. This is a free form investigation and you might follow along and participate or not. I am never sure where these small journeys will take me, I just go... however it happens. 5/27/23 I am in the process of moving the content of this class to this site as I Reconsider Weave.

C is for Context Context is a place really, in the moment. A place might be a loose patch of space until you get there.   At which point it is more like a Frame of Mind.  Which to me might be home, at least for the moment.

C is for Curtain a window drapery a veil and my favorite... the time at which a theatrical performance begins ends

C is for CurveWork An alternative to curved piecing. Excerpt from a series called Small Cloth. Full lesson here.

D is for Darning Simply,  rebuilding,  to fill a hole.

D is for  a Deep Pool of Thought A large cloth started in 2020. A liquid applique circle of silk, so far, a place for my selves to gather and relax. It is destined to become some sort of basket. Maybe just some larger self. Link to an old post here. And then some others here.

D is for Design Mending.  To adjust what you see in order to make it more pleasing (to you) and  therefore more useful. More thoughts and examples being gathered. Because design is mending really.  A way of building/rebuilding. Spirit Cloth blog posts tagged Design Mending 2/8/23  I said to myself. It's a sempathetic evolution. The most basic way to move forward, keep going. And then, not Just Going, but a more focused going.  Thought catching.  What if?   Mending is a Problem Solving method.

D is for Dogma a principle or set of principles laid down by an authority as incontrovertibly true. Comes in an infinity of forms. I don't subscribe. Although I am sometimes caught off guard.

D is for Doodle.  You know, the free going  on paper. ( what if it could be cloth?) Drawing is my other love. Cloth and Paper  are becoming like one to me.

D is for Dot.  Because it might be a way to begin.  And I have considered it a lot. There is even a dot diary. 2023 is the year f the dot for me, so I will be talking a lot, about dot.

D is for Double Cloth. a kind of woven textile in  which two or more sets of warps and one or more sets of weft or filling yarns are interconnected to form a two-layered cloth. See Cloth Stories/Double Cloth

D is for the Double Running Stitch Stitch a line of running stitches. Come back again and fill in the spaces with another line of running stitches. I call it the Magic Stitch when done in black and white. in the methods index here    

D is for Dream Catching... aka Thought Catching.  Because a thought is a dream until you catch it.

D is for Dreamscape That which might (hopefully) surprise me. Seems not imagined really,  no apparent point of reference. No plan, no reason, no judgement. Nothing to say. Out of context. Just going.

D is for Dye Po(e)t The way I began to describe the old copper dye pot that always gives poetry to cloth. But then any pot might become that in time. With patience and a little know how.

D is for Dyeing... I am not a dyer, but I do Dabble.

E is for Edge... I like to be there. Maybe because there is no there there.

E is for Electric Jude

September 10, 2007 on the Spirit Cloth blog

E is for Embroidery... decorative stitching.

E is for Enough A point of view really, most of the time.  

E is for Envision To catch a thought for long enough to see. To allow it to appear, even though it might remain nameless.

E is for the Extended Nine Patch. Not a new motif but a personal symbol.

E is for Eyes... not a new symbol. I've gathered many new ones over the years.  Let me try to put them in one place for considering. Anything can have an eye. It brings the spirit of the thing into consideration.

F is for face.   Adding a  face seems to bring consciousness to any form. Especially eyes. I use a face to express the spirit of a thing, often a way to connect to what we might like to get to know.

F is for Fear I battle with fear.  Even though it may not be apparent. I like this, it has helped me:

F is for Feel Free The original name of this site. And a dream. I have come to realize it is not possible without the support of traveling companions.

F is for Field, a space that might be filled by considering. Often a layer of thought used to mange vastness. A way to create place from space. A way to divide space.

See also:

Field of Stitch

Fragmentation Field

Overlapping Field

 

F is for Field of stitch When I refer to a field of stitch, I am talking about  an area that is defined by the texture created by a repeating style of stitch.  And the shape it holds in a cloth composition.  I am collecting some examples to show here. See the Snow Globe effect

F is for Fire. The fire inside.

F is for Floating

F is for the Floating Moon Block Floating things leave room for emerging story. some old rough pattern I had prepared for a workshop with kids.

F is for Flow To move as in a stream. Flow is important to a composition. It seems to add life.

F is for Fold and Stitch A patchwork method that requires no pattern or measuring. Can be done with just scraps but is gloriously fun while playing with pattern.

F is for the Forever Zone Just a private place  for sharing but then I needed to Feel Free so as of February 2023, I am on a mission to open up content and leave fear and selfishness behind. Yay!

F is for Form I chase it, as evidence of going. Yet form is temporary,  a moment in time.

F is for Form Chasing (as opposed to Fame chasing so it has come to seem) Since we think, and because we are unique, I am curious about the new forms that might emerge ( as well as how that might happen) as we describe/ express what we are witness to ( the story). No matter what medium we choose.

F is for Foundation Patching Creating a patchwork by stitching scraps directly to a base cloth. I use this concept as part of my skitch skatch technique.

F is for Fragmentation Field I can describe this as an area of a composition that is broken up by literally breaking it up into pieces, as if it might be in some transition state.  Becoming or unbecoming.  There is an element of change then, and even uncertainty. What if that makes the nature of form clearer?  Form is liquid.

F is for Frame,  which is a kind of attention to edge.  And that  has a lot to do with the context  of our focus.  It could be considered a border, and edging, or even  a way to finish. Maybe a way to hold something dear. For me, it has become a way to expand a thought as well.  And a way to define the box we put ourselves in.  Especially useful if we need to find a way out. also see Frame of Mind and this post and this post or just use the search for Frame using the search bar. Which will bring you here...

F is for Frame of Mind A common expression , but for me, a series that is part of A Bigger Series called Sanity. Which provides a special kind of context to my inner logic. I once planned to do an exhibit, but hey, I think I am just not that kind of artist. Sanity, as a collection of stories has become very personal. I cannot explain. And oddly, it is the only collection of work that I would hope no one would copy.

F is for Free Style Piecework Basically derived from Free Machine Piecing, a free handstitched method for building patchwork blocks without a pattern.

F is for fringe ...an ornamental border of threads left loose or formed into tassels or twists, used to edge clothing or material.  I use it as a symbol for continuing. click the moon thingie for more.

F is for Fussy Folding An playful expansion on patchwork  that focuses more on creating new forms by combining and seaming parts of  patterned cloth. A great way to use Loose Dyed Patches.

G is for Ghosting... a form of  Design Mending. Allowing and encouraging one design element to crossover into another.  A way to carry the story across a composition  Read More...

G is for Glossary Because I seem to have my own language. And I am often misunderstood.

G is for Glue Stitching A form of basting I developed early on to accommodate my layered style of working. Watch the videos here

G is for Grab Bag Style From way way back, that way of making  without much worry. No plan, just another bag of thread ends and a basket of tiny cloth leftovers. Don't look, reach in and pull out a scrap, don't judge, just add it. Use it. If you just need something useful, you might resist the urge to curate.

G is for Green What does green symbolize for you?  I am gathering my thoughts.

G is for Grid.  A network of lines that cross each other to form a series of  squares or rectangles.  A framework.   Over time grid has become a  personal  symbol for the safety net. I rely on it to catch me, just in case.  In this way it is not a confinement but an opportunity  for freedom. A point of reference when needed.  A cradle when I am exhausted.

G is for Grow, aka Just Growing. A large cloth started in 2020. More stories to come. Posts about the cloth I call Grow  

H is for Heal. A large cloth with stories to come. And some already told.

H is for Heart I have just added this term on 2/11/2021. An age old symbol that might be reconsidered in many ways. Working on it. You might check out Whispering Hearts.

H is for a cloth called Holding Pattern. I am building a page for that one here.

H is for Home A sense of place,  and how that feels. You know. I have just put this here, on December 11, 2022.  There will be more to say.  

H is for Hug.  aka The Hug. A form of binding or framing where one cloth wraps around to hold the edge of another, simply safe, raw and unashamed. A video here discussing edge in general and a bit about the hug.

H is for Human WrappingCloth Maybe that seems morbid as in shround but I am thinking how cloth is like skin all through our lives so it might include blanket and clothing as well. Cloth as protection. 8/18/22  I made wrapping cloth into one word, patched it together. WrappingCloth. It seems stronger.

I is for Idea. Briefly, a thought held long enough to become useful.

I is for Ikat A thread dyeing technique, see more info here. What I like about it is the way the colors seem to appear and disappear when woven.  The magic in that has me thinking.

I is for Imagine to me, what thinking is for.

I is for Imperfection. The way it is.

so i is for ish. Sort of, close enough, because nothing is perfect.

J is for JAHcardz JAH are my initials. Cards are a new form for my doodles (Joodles) Paperwork was my first love. I found that self again.  Click the moon to go deeper

J is for Joodle A doodle really, by me, jude hill,  when I was little they called me joody. But really, it goes deeper than that, gathering thoughts.

J is for Joy How do I say it, how it is? 4/18/23 Possibly joy is, for me, not  as light as it sounds, but simply peace.  No matter what, peace is in there somewhere.  Peace is a state of acceptance.

J is for Just. Exactly, as it applies to this moment in time. Like a puzzle piece. Accepting that as is. For now.

J is for Just Going... continuing, basically, but not mindlessly, because that is not actually possible.  Also known as, after all these years,  what else is there?

K is for Kantha Kantha can refer to a patched textile or a style of embroidery found in India. You can look it up for more information. Kantha has become somewhat of a buzzword in the last years. But basically a Kantha Stitch is simply a running stitch. It can be a quilting stitch (functional) or an embroidery stitch (decorative) depending on how it is used. Go to Kantha Page

K is for Karma-Patch one of many variations on the 9 patch that I use for storyblocks. A way to hold on to sanity. At it's core, in cloth, the 1" white square. I start here each day. 9. A way to frame it. Developed 10/2020. It's a bit of a square basket.

K is for KnewForm Linked to suddenly, but not really, you knew all along... I mostly feel this when I think about myself, and growing.

L is for Large Cloth You know bigger.  I think this includes Blankets and Robes mostly.  Maybe curtains. Because a large cloth for me, is mostly a useful cloth.  Yes, that. I would like to eventually document them here. The ones I have mad and am still making or even ones I am dreaming about.

L is for Layers

November 13, 2006

layers

for my own reference: i think layers are the most important element in my work. perhaps that is what has attracted me to the quilt as a medium. or why i hover here. it allows me the opportunity to explore this concept on all levels... functional (a personal requirement), conceptual and technical. the functional part is a given. i am not interested in creating wall art. i want to spend my time creating something useful above all.  so the element of layering in a quilt is on the simplest level is always present as a functional element for warmth, and then strength, followed by reversibility and of course repair ( most quilters leave this out!). on a conceptual level layers fit well into the my concept of symbolism and magic.  layers. what we see and don't see, what we can touch and not touch. the transformation from one to the other. technical possibilities are expanded limitlessly with the use of multiple layers. way beyond a sewing machine. and so i stay unplugged, sewing through some layers and not others, trying to understand the nature of the fabrics, hiding things and exposing others. playing my game of hide and seek.

L is for Leftover Applique Designing by wasting nothing.

L is for Less 6/7/23  but really forever now. A goal, simplicity, not even close.

L is for LifeLine  The straight line and the not so straight line, aka enlightening rod the line and the wave in Sempathetic Evolution...  

L is for Line line divides space

L is for Lion Quilt My first (what I call) Spirit Cloth I will be documenting it here, in pictures, eventually.

L is for List a series, a kind of math, an alignment of things, a path or direction, a diagram of chaos, a way to remember. a form of communication that makes things easier to share. sometimes lists are vertical or they can be horizontal like a timeline or round like a clock. i began to imagine a list as something more dimensional, something layered, like shifted slices of time. so a Work In Progress is like a list. a list of steps and temporary points of view, a form of shape shifting transformation that as a whole has a crazy order. i am hoping to harvest that crazy order here. a small journey, yet a larger one if you take it further.

L is for Listen to the River Listen to the River is a large cloth made for my youngest brother, a house warming gift for a little house near a river.  More pictures coming soon. But you can see a lot about it on Flickr,    here. I posted on Flickr for a while before I began blogging.

L is for Listening Much bigger than I ever imagined and I need a lot more practice.

L is for Looking.   Standing back,  putting it in perspective.   Perhaps  changing the scale of the thing/ thought caught and asking where does this fit in to the larger picture?  Being witness to the form your  considering has revealed.  Perhaps taking the time out to connect. Which may ultimately lead to Seeing.

L is for loom. A loom is a device used to weave cloth and tapestry. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the warp threads under tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of the loom and its mechanics may vary, but the basic function is the same.

L is for Loose. Free, floating, for now.

L is for Loose Dyed Patches A component system based on my childhood colorforms, remember those? Simple indigo shibori dyed shapes you might used to build a story in cloth. Sold now and then in the Threadcrumbs Shop.

L is for Loose Pages...A collection of unbound journal pages, free from the confines of order, destined to become less and then more.

L is for Love Way too big to define. But you know.

M is for Magic. I use magic as a metaphor for change I think.  Simply honoring that as an amazing process.  A note to self published in  Magic Diaries 2011, but older than that. I also use black and white as a symbol for magic. Magic is also the name of a large cloth very close to my heart: More about this cloth soon. I ran a Diary Series Class about Magic which has yet to be re-released.

M is for the Magic Feather Project Click here.

M is for Magic Thread A plied cotton thread/  black and white, designed for a specific end use in the manufacture of cloth, way back when I worked in the textile industry. It is fine and really swell for stitching, unlike a lot of bakery string style thread available for crafting. I have several samples here that I developed. I wanted to offer it in my shop, but the manufacture on a small scale is way too impractical and nearly impossible to source. It is very special and I call it magic because black and white is my symbol for magic.  I do occasionally offer small amounts in the shop. You might mimic it by using a wrapped backstitch.

M is for  Magic-Dot

M is for the Magical Warp A personal symbol from Way back When

M is for Map For now, quite simply, the way(s) through it. It is a great kindness to share them.

M is for Mend Such a big subject. For now I will just say make do and continue.

  M is for Mending Star (april 2018)  I suppose this is a new symbol. I call it the Mending Star. I might trace it back to prior musings, But that will take me some time. Perhaps I am indeed reconsidering wishing. My stars became wishing stars along the way. Linked to hope more than anything. But romanticizing a fix for something isn't really a commitment to anything concrete. So I bring it clearly back to a type of patchwork. Such a simple and useful thing with a clear intention.

M is for Mind's Eye Stitching This is a method I use for layered two sided cloth, allowing the thread to travel between the layers, unseen, between stitched areas. I keep the location in my mind's eye, as it travels in the dark.

M is for Mistake The way it happened

M is for Moon. The Moon is my clock. TimeKeeper.

M is for Moon Cabin A quilt style block I often use as a story base, of course we can go further and put anything in the middle. Sun Cabin, Star Cabin, Heart cabin... related post

M is for MoonFaced We can all feel it yes?

M is for MoonFlower Stumbled upon while experimenting with shibori dyeing,

it needed a name. A symbol for the Mystery of it All. I love how it confuses the normal logic of day and night.

M is for Mostly I say that a lot. It seems to leave the gate open, to change my mind.

M is for Mountain Often a symbol for challenge. Still thinking about it. Maybe scale is in there somewhere.

N is for Naming To name something is to form a relationship with it.  And so as things change, my names change with them. 5/31/23 Naming is a bit like framing, yes?

N is for Natural Order I am always interested in the patterns and rhythms of change and their relationship to form. We might try to explain as if we know but maybe it is simply the way it goes. Then as we might look back, in perspective we might catch a glimpse of its scope. Natural Order was a category on the Spirit Cloth blog. I am currently looking back. To get a feel of what I was thinking. Definitely not a straight line.

N is for Need...as opposed to Want I was thinking for so long...want being something more selfish. Need seems so deeply personal as I have looked closer over the years. To have someone say to you, you don't need that, well how can they know? Seems then, on an honest level, if you come to know, you will definitely want what you need. I will not judge you. (I have done that)

N is for Needle Chanting.   Stitching to me is a Needle Chant.  One stitch at a time is how I like it. Slow. repeat. Although some others may be using this term, I do believe I coined it. Needle in Needle out   Once upon a time I said...“Needle chanting......so much of my stitching is free form, it helps me sometimes to exercise some discipline in the form of repetition. Often times it seems, when I look at samples of ethnic and primitive textiles, especially older ones, that the repetitive element is quite important to the effect that the overall piece has on me. I think it is partly the awe at so much time spent and the respect for the purposefulness and dedication it represents. And then it is the rhythm created by the consistency of the elements. Hand sewing seems out of place in our modern day routine. Mostly there is an effort to get the look of handmade through trickery and short cuts. I've chosen this rainy Tuesday in July to embrace the ceremony of repetition. I have been listening to the rhythm of the falling rain. The obvious simplicity of doing the same thing over and over soon becomes the not so obvious complexity that is contained in a tiny stitch. not one of those stitches is the same, and the small journey of the needle into the fabric and out leaving a trail of thought behind it, could be the journey of a lifetime if you pay attention. So it is not zoning out and losing oneself.... but being there and finding oneself in every tiny moment. The rhythm, surprisingly, is created not by sameness but by infinite differences with a collective purpose. And this has comforted me today. “

N is for Nest of Days. A large cloth with more stories to come. Some related posts here.

N is for Nine. I am gathering my thoughts, there are a lot of them...

1. Nine always seems enough times for me to  expand a thought.
2. Nine never seems too many to consider.
3. Nine, being an odd number. has a natural center
4. Nine has three threes,  three is useful too.

O is for OK OK first appeared as an abbreviation (O.K.) for “Oll Korrect,” printed in a satirical article about grammar. I just found this interesting.

O is for that. Open Air Ritual From November 7, 2006. when I wrote: I always place my cloths in natural settings from time to time to make sure they are in harmony with the seasons and the surroundings. This gives me a fresh perspective and time to think, and of course it gets me off my chair and out into the fresh air. So since my gifts take generally 6 months to a year to complete I take them out to the woods or the sea every so often, and I shake them and hang them around and adjust my colors and stitches and shapes to reflect the time of their birthing. In this way the cloth's design comes to reflect the the time it took to make. The longer the project takes the more wise it becomes... and to me it is more of a gift. This is a personal method that keeps me from rushing and always thinking about finishing. It creates patience in my heart and allows me to let the project find its own end. I was working on the Listen to The River cloth back then.

O is for Open Edges Mostly. As it pertains to collage patching, the habit I have acquired of tacking the center portion and leaving the edges open. As I put it: here If there is one thing I have learned over the years, it is to leave your edges open, because form evolves. In the context of layers,  the natural build up of layers in collage type work is a covering up process, but I love interrupting that  by inserting  pieces in between.  It sort of gives the moments in between a second chance. Allows me to consider the time between this and that, as another space to play with.  Time travel so to speak. I have the habit of running my fingers around patches checking for openings that might be needing stitch to hold everything down, because I often forget which ones I left unlocked.  Many new forms have been born there.

P is for Pairings.   The bare bones of patchwork.   1+1=1.   Pairing  was born from "no scrap too small".   And honoring the value of connection.

P is for Paper My first love, before cloth.  And I am currently considering them, paper and cloth, as sisters.

P is for Patch I have a few different PatchWords And obviously there will be more here about that when I get to it.

P is for Patchmatics aka Piece Making.  A kind of patchwork (in perspective)  math,  a personal  system of measurement that eases my sense of how things might fit together.  And how I might express that.

P is for Patchwords. According to my own spirit cloth language system, the basic components, small cloth, divided into 3 categories. In order to better explain my process. To you as well as myself. Scrap- just cloth that has no plan attached. Loose Patch - scraps that have been considered in the context of use and scale Puzzle Piece- (a kind of patch) scraps or loose patches reconsidered in the context of design and pattern. Video link  here in case you see no player

P is for Patchwork.   I've expanded it a bit.  Building, Embellishing or Mending a larger piece of cloth using smaller bits of cloth. But I'm about to take it a lot further... Patchwork in the Methods Index

P is for Pathwork.  Most simply, a word I made up for a  cloth (or any composition really) made in a long format.  Which I have found encourages story.  Because it is like a path, it leads the eye and the mind , patch by patch, stitch by stitch, thread by thread ...to somewhere.  And it might lead you where I've been. ( more thoughts to be entered here soon enough)

P is for Patience Staying Power

P is for Pattern maybe a repeated decorative design or a model or design used as a guide... But it can also mean to give a regular or intelligible form to. I can be a trap too But I have suddenly begun to consider it... as also a kind of reach.  A vibrating outward.

P is for Perspective... So many thoughts to consider here, for now, Point of View.

P is for Place. Place is a special part of Space. Very often a kind of home.  Or a destination. Or a reference point.  

P is for the Poetry of Process There is a beautiful link between the journey and the "thing" that often slips behind the scenes. Some leave it there, but to me it is a vital form in itself, the telling. This is something I will consider Forever.

P is for Probably In general, a form of acceptance. But is it outside of ourselves? ... we use it a lot , right? I will have more thoughts about that.

P is for Process Or simply how it might be happening. Time's Poetry.

P is for Proofstitching. Basically the same as proofreading but with stitching instead of words. Going back and fine tuning if necessary.

imperfect

And then maybe you have changed your mind about what is needed.

P is for Puzzle Pieces Ultimately I am caught up in what I call the Spirit Cloth Puzzle.  And the thing is the puzzle keeps changing. I talked about the Puzzle Piece Making  here.  During a series call Small Cloth.

Q is for Quest.

Q is for Question Because I  don't know. And there are  so many answers to consider.  

Q is for Quilt. Technically speaking a layered cloth, stitched to hold the layers together. For me personally, what I just said, but really, a blanket.  A useful cloth .

Q is for Quilting As opposed to just decoration, a functional kind of stitching that holds layers together. That in itself, functional stitching is beautiful in it's own way.  Holding. 9/16/22 And as I sit here this morning, I think I want to say that for me quilting is also a kind of weaving, I quilt to "weave" the layers together, and the way that feels is important.  My goal is one-ness.

R is for Rainbow I prefer to call it Full Spectrum, using it often as a symbol for expanded vision.  I long for it.

R is for Reconsidering. Your brain, use it or lose it. Keep ideas alive. Allow for evolution. Polish your skills. Stay Open. And most importantly, Change your mind!

R is for Red A symbol for fire. (the fire inside) ... which in the end might become the symbol for spirit. at the heart of the thing.

R is for a cloth called Remember A cloth started in 2010, now in 2021, destined to become larger. More of the story to unfold then... And then Remember.. the way the story might come back to you again.

R is for Repetition. Since nothing ( we think or do) is perfect, repetition is the source of evolution. Right?  Keep trying and you will witness that...  aka Working in a Series if you share the result of this process.

R is for Ring From way back:

R is for Running Stitch.  A simple needlework stitch consisting of a line of small even stitches that run in and out through the cloth without overlapping. To me it seems like weaving. Aslo see Kantha.  

S is for Sampler A sampler is a bit like a brainstorming exercise for me as well as a way to practice technique. 11/9/22 And hey, a Sampler might even be a ceremony, a celebration of sorts...right? Like yay!

S is for Sanity.  I use sanity  as a symbol  for some personal  sense of rational thought which might be expanded to include a common sense.  No normal or abnormal, but simply practical,  useful.  Like a building block. The ultimate component. A reminder to find a simple solution. My Sanity Series has to do with that,  holding on to a simply useful state of mind. And therefore a place of personal peace. It is the part of what I do that I consider my true Art. I have not shared most of it.

S is for Scrap Often associated with leftovers but also, for me, just cloth (or anything for that matter) that has no plan attached...

S is for Scraps of Self Somewhere along the way, I began to refer to all the little pieces I work with as Scraps of Self.  Little bits rescued along the way.  Bits of story really, part of a life in bits and pieces.  Rebuilding blocks. The basis for storycloth and storypaperwork.

S is for the Scribble. A personal symbol. We all know it. Probably one of our first thought catching exercises. Before we cared whether it was good enough.

S is for Seam.  A line along which two (or more) pieces of fabric are sewn together. There will be more to say about that soon enough. But really a seam is a join. And I love to honor that. 2/16/23 A seam is a line. And a line divides space.  But a seam line also connects space. Time to reconsider seam. There are 3 kinds of seams usually presented. Plain, abutted and lapped.  ( French Seams too but that to me is a refinement) And then, I have considered some other techniques but I am not there yet.

S is for Seam Shibori Some   form of a stitched resist  method of dyeing. But in this case, discovered by accident, simply the result of opening up a seam from an old garment or other functional cloth item, and revealing the fade of wear in contrast to the area of cloth that stayed protected from light and use.  Sort of  "dyed with age".  Like a fossil embedded in the fabric I first considered naming it way back here.

S is for Seamless Piecing Why fuss? An overlapped edge is actually stronger than a traditionally stitched seam. And a ragged edge is a beautiful thing  to watch.

S is for Season.  Season is an important component for my work.  It provides context in some real way.  And quite importantly,  it brings out the animal in me.  That can be a Grrrrr or a Purrrrr or a Brrrrr.  Among other things. What if season is a lesson?

S is for Seeds Seeds are like ideas.

S is for Seeing.  The quest.  Way bigger than Looking.  Seems it is always bigger than expected.  The reason to continue.

S is for SeeSaw For me, Now you see it, Now you don't. seesaw  

S is for Selfish Or SelF-ISH Simply, for me, over time, like self. Which gives it a sort of honesty.

S is for Selvedge The "Self" Edge,  the natural edge of a woven textile.

S is for Selves Like self, but many of them, because it feels like that. 10/5/22  What if everything we do, or create, is in some way a self portrait? Form is temporary.

S is for Sempathetic Evolution 1/1/22 A revision to Sympathetic Evolution,  and a new word for the year. Sempathy. Which combines Sympathy and Empathy.  I am gathering my thoughts

S is for Sense Even the tiniest glimpse of understanding. And how that feels.

S is for Shibori The art of resist dyeing. I learned from Glennis.

S is for Shift Season is my teacher

S is for Skeave Weaving over a sketch

S is for Sketch A loose drawing. Maybe a drawing without an agenda?

S is for Sketch Applique A technique I developed early on because I love a line so much, my background being so much to do with drawing.

S is for Skitch Skatch.  AKA SkitchSkatchery.  A method I named myself, that combines stitch, patch and sketch. Basically my method of stitching and patching over a sketch. Using embroidery and applique mostly. A crossover between drawing/sketch (my other love) and  sewing/ stitch. Dig Deeper    

S is for Skitch-Skatchery A name I give the work that evolves through the Skitch Skatch technique.

S is for Skoodle Considered (3/7/2021) within the context of a compositional method I call Skitch Skatch... Stitching over a doodle, or in my case I more fondly to refer to as  a Joodle. Skitch Skoodle?  Bear with me, it's good to laugh.

S is for Skye Dyeing over a sketch

S is for slow A deeper form of going. Not just going.

S is for Small Cloth A class from a while back, I am working to open access to private pages , but it is a lot of work so bear with me. There is  continuing focus on  components, loose patches and puzzle pieces.  Content will be opened within the context of what I am working on. I think that makes more sense. Makes it more present instead of past.  

S is for Small Journeys A year long series of considering, 2014-2015. Thought catching and cloth.  Day by day. And every one before and after. And I continue.

 S is for Snow Globe Effect A field of stitch, inspired by snow. Video Here Also see Thread Beads And posts in the category snow globe on my blog.

S is for Snow Wash A way to clean Large Cloth. I should make a video.

S is for Soul-o Rescued on January 1, 2014.  From the forest.

S is for Space.  Emptiness. For now. Just room for place.

S is for the Spin One of my first symbols, storywords. It came from a doodle. S special kind of energetic flow. Pictured here on the Bird Robe. Now also the new name for a large cloth I used to call Magic Cloth 2

S is for Spirit.  Motivating force, animating principle, essence, mood, feeling...The principle of consciousness. The real thought behind something. The nature of...

S is for Spirit Cloth ... just the way I describe my work. My old blog.

S is for Spirit Cloth Language... a system of symbols and StoryWords  I've developed to share what moves through me.  Symbols are interesting. They might be universal or deeply personal.  That depends on dialog I think. In a way, this Glossary is the culmination of my Spirit Cloth Language project.

S is for SpiritCloth 101 An online workshop from way back but actually not the first one. I created this class to compile my basic methods. The old class is available for now as is, but the server is failing me so I will be reconsidering it, updating it and moving it here as soon as I can. it may be password protected now and then during this process. Link to class  

S is for Split Backstitch A split stitch  is not  new. I like it  back stitch style on the surface. Which it easier to control.  It is my favorite stitch for both line work and filling.  Because it gives such an integrated surface, I have finally come to name it the tapestry stitch (5/6/18).  

S is for Splitting hairs. I use a split backstitch a lot in my work. Sometimes, when a finer line or thinner surface is desired, I use a single strand of floss or thread. And I call it splitting hairs. In this form it is the slowest stitch I know. It is glorious and it takes forever.

S is for Square. The box.  Often the box I put myself in, and there are many stories about how I got out.

S is for Stacked Running Stitch In the scheme of things, a Kantha Stitch. One form of it. I named it a while back just to make it simple to understand. It changes everything when you keep at it. More about Kantha HERE.

S is for Star Stars are for gazing. Silent yearning, a sense often unnamed.

S is for Staying Power Patience

S is for Stepping Back In my stitch world, a running stitch variation that strengthens the stitch and prevents it form being pulled out easily. Two running ( or walking) stitches ( steps) forward and then one ( step) stitch back (a backstitch). Gives some pause to the situation also. Slows you down. Talked about it back here before I named it.

S is for Stitch.  An independent thread that travels though an existing material to decorate or connect. Stitch Page

S is for Storm My symbol for a Sudden (unexpected) Change, a disturbance...  as opposed to Season, a more Rhythmic Change/ cycle.

S is for Storming. You know... when you are caught up in a sudden overwhelming cloudburst of thoughts which are like seeds. When you let it rain down on you so things might root, grow, regenerate. No other agenda really. Just be in it.

S is for Story...an account of incidents or events.  But simply, it  just saying.  And often it is pieced together to suit our needs.  A personal patchwork of how it might go, how it might have gone, or  my favorite, how it is just going.  Embellished by what we think about it. Perhaps story and voice are linked. To try to explain why or how can sometime be a story itself. Story is not truth, it is a point of view. Truth is personal. I wish we could all accept that.   2/15/23 A story illustrates going. Even though there is no there there. (thanks Dad)

S is for StoryBoard A collage of ideas, usually for presentation purposes. A kind of Storming. To inspire. Self or Others.  

S is for StoryCloth Over time, the components (the scraps, the stitch, the symbols, the names of things) I use to create a stitched cloth become the story themselves as they touch and overlap. I always assumed that how they combined would eventually bring forth new form. I've been at it long enough to be witness to that as an evolving personal truth. I have named a lot of the stitches and methods so they become a lot like story characters in a way. Friends, acquaintances, traveling companions. Then, even when I just talk about my process, a story unfolds. I am happy to see this taking more apparent shape over time. Eye-Dea, this fits. Sort of a merging of thought and visual presence. Finding oneself in one's work. This is the core concept I have tried to teach. So in short. I feel as I explain the making, I am telling a story. In real time. The story of the cloth is the story in the cloth. And the cloth is self. Telling story. Cloth itself. Cloth, it's self. additional notes... 3/18/21 I wrote: I realize story cloth is a celebration for me. How I can, because I want to celebrate it all. To celebrate is to hold , long enough to get a sense of where it fits in the scheme of things. The beauty in that.

S is for StoryWords A personal set of definitions or often redefinitions for the words  I use for storytelling in my work. This language is always being translated into a  picture style set of symbols  that I use to build a visual story.  But then converted back to words so I can explain.  Layers of story then.

S is for Stray Wandering Wondering

S is for Stray Cat... a personal story character I continue to use in a series of self portraits  created to consider and then reconsider my many selves. It will evolve, like all beasts do.

S is for Studio Is it really necessary? More thoughts always come after questions which are the birthing of considering (s). 9/7/22  Thinking... a space, no a place,  to grow. Like if you were a sunflower.  Ultimately with the goal of making seeds.

S is for Suddenly Nothing is really sudden, things brew Taking notice is a silent skill.

S is for the Sun. An age old symbol. For me, I have simplified it as a symbol for Center. After all it is the center of the universe as we know it.

S is for Sun Shibori Patterning cloth by allowing it to fade using some sort of resist to block the light. Thought about it way back here. Thinking about  it again.  

S is for Sunflower A symbol.  Stand, Face, be food. Still gathering thoughts...

 

S is for Sympathetic Evolution.  As it refers to the evolution of form and composition, how one thing might encourage another. How the other might accept influence. How one thing might move through another and change form. As it applies to  community, how we connect and change one another. on January 1, 2022, I began using another term. Sempathetic Evolution, which combines sympathy and empathy because I felt there needed to be a new evolutionary process in form. I am gathering my thoughts.

T is for Talking Pages Journal Pages and Diaries are often there to be read, I wanted to animate them somehow.  Like anything, talking about it expands what is on the page.  This series is was begun on private pages (as part of The Forever Zone 2023) . As of February 15th 2023 I consider Talking Pages to be part of my open blogging.  You can  see the previous private, now open pages here.  

T is for Tapestry.  A piece of thick textile fabric with designs formed by weaving colored weft threads or by embroidering on canvas. I plan to redefine this in my own terms. Still collecting thoughts.  But really,  it is about Oneness

T is for Teach Show or explain to (someone) how to do something how you do something. There are many ways. Teach, not preach, has become my motto when it comes to sharing. 4/11/23  Teaching, Preaching or Reaching? I pick Reaching, call me a Reacher. just talking... reacher

T is for Temple A symbol that has crept into my work this year ( 2022) Maybe Temple is not a good word. It's connection to religion. Worship. Not my thing. In any form. Somewhere along the way, I was told, never talk about God, it will drive people away. I never take advice. Know me, I say. But, so, connection to something outside one's self. The bigger, even if it is simply a kind of respect, acknowledgement of the smallness of self, I think temple can be used like that. Not sacred space but a sense of being held by that which we cannot know, building a window into that. Making place. A field of peace of mind.

O is for the Other Side I had a category for that on the old blog here. I thought I might reconsider the importance of that here, so I am collecting my thoughts. 10/6/22 The Other Side is often disregarded. And sometimes just imagined. What if there were no sides?

T is for Thin-ness,  the state or quality of having opposite surfaces or sides close together.  Think about that for a moment.   I've begun to look back and collect how many thought I've had about thin-ness.  Some definitions include things like lack of substance or quality; weakness.  Not necessarily true. Considering Thinness

T is for Thing and Thing-ness It bothers me that I consider it a lot and I have not really found a way to describe how I feel yet, about thing-ness. Only that we give it so too much importance...

T is for Thingness Note to self:  Don't get caught up in it. It is really nothing.

T is for Thought You are what you think. Making is an extension of thinking.

T is for Thought Catching. What else is there really?

Also the name of a teaching segment. Hosted here in 2020. I have continued that in the Forever Zone,  if you have signed up, the moon is your link.

T is for Thread... without being too specific, the thing that runs through it.

T is for Thread beads A stitch that can be used for stippling and a more durable form of french knots. Dots. Listed in the stitch section of the Methods Index here.

T is for ThreadCrumbs. Now a little shop for small works, leftovers, components, sometimes bases to stitch. Soon to be my only shop.

T is for Three Three is as important as nine in my work. I am collecting my thoughts on that, but for now three threes make nine and that is so beautiful. And then, two is a pairing, but three, three is the beginning of a path. Or a community.

T is for Through Most as in seeing through.  Which has been so big in my making as well as my thinking. It might take me a while to explain why.

T is for Time. " They "  say  time is the indefinite continued progress of existence. For me time has become the sense of endlessness.  Measuring it has no meaning.  It's only the time it takes.  Which  is simply a matter of being there.

The Poetry of Process

T is for Tools and Materials   (added 1/18/23) What I work with,  changes as needed.  Mostly what's on hand. And always being reconsidered.

T is for Transformation How one thing might become another.

T is for Tree I use trees a lot. As components for story cloths. Tree, for growth, thus life.

U is for Un-Dyeing Taking the color out, as opposed to adding color as a layer. But then there are more thoughts. How about just the way time undoes things, like the fading?

V is for Vanishing Point added 6/6/23 Defined as: a point at which receding parallel lines seem to meet when represented in linear perspective. : a point at which something disappears or ceases to exist. Personally, the point at which the expected disappears and is replaced by just what is.

V is for Vibrating. The rocking.  Back and forth. A kind of energy derived from the search for center and the need for balance. And change. Rhythm really, it's beat is so strong to me.

V is for Voice What do you want to say?

W is for Walking Stitch.  My name for a slower running stitch, that is mostly done one at a time.  Also known as Needle Chanting in my world. 5/26/23  One stitch at a time seems to encourage less pulling and thus less tension, allowing the piece to stay flat. if that sort of thing isn't working for you at the moment.

W is for Wall Cloth A looking cloth rather than a using cloth.

W is for Wandering What stray selves do. 4/28/23  A kind of floating.

W is for Waves

Waves are used a lot in my work.

Firstly because of my history with the sea.  So they are a symbol for comfort in a way. Maybe more clearly, the comfort in change. How change might rock us. But then, well, I am always still catching my thoughts. Symbols evolve.

W is for Way This way, that way, there are so many.

W is for Weave Stitching Sewing is weaving anyway.

W is for Weaving My first real  love affair with cloth was weaving. I love how it such a beautiful example of the thing built from that which stands and that which moves through. I consider weave along side many things.  I consider sewing to be very much related to sewing.  Probably I will say a lot more about weaving really soon. 2/7/2021.  Note to self...I want to make carpets in my old age. 4/11/23 Probably I will reconsider weave now, forever.  There is a category for that

W is for What If ?

Click the Moon

W is for  Wind Wind is an invisible river. And also a robe. stories to come

W is for Window I whispered about windows once upon a time. A big symbol I use a lot without even noticing.  Let me gather my thoughts. A start...A window is, as I have narrowed it down in my mind,  a hole. A space.  A place to see through.  A place to look out.  And a place to look in.  That's where I start.  And like a mask,  it is a viewfinder,  framing vision which creates momentary context.  A point of view you could say. I will be reconsidering windows.  Because I am not finished.

W is for Wings

more to consider... what if stones could fly?

W is for WIP, Works in Progress Because there are always the unfinished and if you know me, more than finished.

W is for Wishing Star.  a personal symbol, derived from the classic traditional  eight pointed patchwork block pattern.  The symbol, for me,  was once used for hope but I've loosened it, and now it just represents freedom of thought. They started back here.

W is for Wordless Wordless,  or Word-less-ness might be better because it seems more a sense of something. I thing it is a kind of space  and place at the same time.  At least it makes  time to consider that.

W is for Work A kind of deliberate going. Dad always said, "Work. Work is good".

W is for what I call the Wrap Stitch and you can watch videos here

Y is for Yesterday What today will be tomorrow. If there is one.

Y is for Yesterday's Moon. Yesterday's Moon is a symbol for me, I can use it as a reminder of so many things. It is also the name of a large cloth that always seems to be in process.