jennifer's blog

Magic Cloth #1

Finally I've moved my Magic Cloth along enough to post. This project has been such a joy for me. I have quite a way to go but I've decided that this cloth and the ones to follow are a life's work so no need to rush them along.  I love to hold this cloth in my lap and turn it the way Jude does until I find the area I want to work on next.  I am insired by Deb Lativa's beautiful hand dyed fabrics and use them whenever I can. And I'm sure many of my clothmates will see inspirations I've received from  them as well.  I've included some details and will post again when I've made more progress. Thanks for your interest.  And I want to acknowledge, again, how grateful I am to have this class in my life.  I have been taking classes here for more than a year now and this outlet for my creative expression has helped me through some challenging times. So thank you Jude and thank all of you beautiful stitchers out there!

p.s. I love the symbol of the Tree of Life - to me it represents All.  I've made each leaf a different color because there are so many different pieces that come together to make the whole - different but all One, all the same.  My wren sit at the tree's heart. She will almost be enclosed by the beautiful leafy brances but I'm leaving an opening so she can fly to the sun when she's ready...ha!

 

Germination

 

This is my entry into Jude's Magic Feather Project. 

Germination

I grow plants for a living in a little town in central Florida so it makes sense that this little seedling came to mind.  I am finding my creative voice through Jude’s generous teachings and the sharings of so many far flung stitchers.  I count this class as one of my blessings every day.

 I dyed these fabrics using Setacolor and some sunbeams.  The shibori is my first attempt.  I love the way it turned out looking like a flower bush, a happy accident.   

Jude, this sprout’s for you!!   jenni-lynn

Fabric Dying for Beginners

 
 

I thought I would try my hand at some fabric dying yesterday.  I used Setacolor - Transparent Dyes. They are light activated so making patterns is a lot of fun.  I still have a lot to learn.  I want to get a chart for mixing colors, these are a bit too clear for the tones I'm looking for. I'm going to try to use stitching to bring them down a notch. It was great fun though, endless possibilities.

Barely Hanging On

 
 
 
I found a shirt in my thrift store hunts with this beautiful print. It looks like a water color to me.  I did a lot of background stitching in white, I'm not sure that photographed well.  I took jaihn's lead and put a sunbeam on this photo and I like that idea alot.

I felt that it needed something so I searched beetles/bugs online and found this lady bug. I was studing this cloth, looking for the story here, realizing that we are learning to let our cloths speak to us. I saw that of all the places I could have put this little bug I had placed her percariously on the edge of a flower. She looks like she is scrambling a bit, which feels so true for me some days.  She knows how to  fly but is saving that for emergencies....  : )

 

jenni-lynn Magic Diaries 9 patch

I'm really not sure where to start my new cloth adventure so I took Jude's advice and made a nine patch.  This one looked so much better on the back that I decided to turn it over.

 
 

I am feeling attracted to more muted colors and using circles and spirals....

 
 
These are my favorites!  Again I want to say what a joy this experience is for me.  Off to NY to help out the kids and I will have Deb Lacativa's beautiful fabrics in my pocket.

Sun Moon Stars

 
 
 
This is the assignment for  Jude's  Sun Moon Stars class.  I was glad to have a little break between classes so that I could spend more time with this one.  It grew to be about 18x28.  The largest I've attempted so far.  I started with the reverse applique of the sun in the middle. When I traveled to NY in May to help my kids I took this little scrap in my pocket.  The cloth grew slowly around that scrap.  A cosmic looking printed cotton on the right and midnight blue linen on the left. I decided to use some of the dyed fabrics from our clothmates so I have a Glennis velvet moon and used a piece of  Arlee eco dyed cloth for the moon on the right side.  I used the paper piecing method Jude taught us on the border. ..very calming.

Here are a few close ups.

 

 

It was odd to me that as I added the stitches and beads for the flow of energy coming from  the earth I stitched up to the sun.  I felt that it was important though I'm not really sure of the story here.  I do believe that our positive thoughts have power. They go out into the Universe and make great winds in space...he he... fun!

Father Sun

 

It's so funny what you see when you take a picture.  This little house is listing left...I'm sure that has some significance but the main thing I see when I look at this cloth is the many happy hours spent in the doing of it.

I started with Jude's suggestion and auditioned fabrics on my design board, walking by and tweeking and basting and "what-ifing'.  I saw a shirt in the thrift store that looked like a garden and I thought about it so much I had to go back and get it.  (Felt a little guilty because it WAS a beautiful shirt someone could have worn... now it's a one-armed beautiful shirt. )  I knew I wanted to make a path to the water.  It seemed very important.  Now it looks like everything is moving to the water.   I love that Deanna saw my heart flowers as kites.  So I'm letting my heart flag fly!

These cloths are hanging up in my space and I look at them all the time. I'm beginning to see a common theme.  I'm not being self-critical here, just noticing a sweet/corney/polly-anna trend.  I believe that the quiet hours spend here are healing and renewing.  I've decided to just stitch.  These are challenging times for our family so I am not underestimating the Power of the Cloth in my life right now.   Thank you all, it's wonderful to have a place to share.

 

Nature's Gift

 

Some evenings I step out the door to decide if I should take a walk. I know when I hear a bird call me or see a dragonfly.  It may sound a bit odd but sometimes I feel that Mother Nature is leaving me gifts. It might be a feather or an amazing stick or noticing something new.  Yesterday I was just following my nose and chose a new path and this is the gift that the Mother left for me.  So sweet...

 

Heart Sampler

 

This is the heart stitch sampler I created for Jude Hill's Heart Whispering class.  I tried to get every stitch we have been working on in here.  I started out just putting hearts on a piece of linen.  It was very disconnected and cutsie.  Then one day I walked by and the woven piece at the bottom looked like a basket. That helped me tie all of the scattered hearts into a story.  It is still very cutsie, but like all my cloths these days,  it's very upbeat.  I'm learning to let that be because it makes me happy.

We are awaiting test results for one of our tribe this week. It is a very stressful time and working on this cloth helped me in so many ways.  I made the heart I like the best for her. This heart with it's wild hairs and velvet bottom is moving closer to where I want to go.  Again I have to say that this process in so healing for me. I no longer worry about what others may think or what the outcome may be  (As Jude says, "What have you got to lose?" -  right!).  It's the magic of stitching and what if-ing that fills my creative needs and happy hours.  It makes me smile when some people look at a cloth and say..."what's it for?"  It's for me and that's enough.

 

A heartfelt bunny

 

I wanted to talk about my process a bit.  I decided to play with the heart idea so I started with the fence weaving in reds and pinks.  I knew I wanted a '"heartfelt" beast but I was not sure how that was going to come about.  Then I looked down and saw a torn rag that looked like a hairy bunny ear and since Easter is around the corner there we go!  I took my beginnings to show my daughter on Sunday and while we were shopping I found a napkin in World Market that was perfect for the background garden. I love it when that happens.

I believe that all of our creations are self portraits in some way but I know that is true with this little heart faced, sad eyed bunny. I  keep doing fences because I feel "fenced in"  in my life right now. ..not complaining, it's just the way it is.  I  love that she is standing in a window the flowers are reaching in to her and her ears are reaching out into the world.  I did some applique to make that work.  This is my favorite thing that I have made so far with her quirky frankenstein heart and gigantic ears.