monkey hands

Blues

My boro course is getting to me--I can't pass the scrap basket without thinking of a thrifty, useful new project. I sat down to start a "blues" version of "reds" but soon realized that my blue scraps, mostly from the wonky block quilt I made a few weeks ago, were bigger than my red scraps, and thus something larger should evolve.  

This is an oversize table mat--about 22 x 15. (The blues aren't really as neon as they seem in this photo. ) I machine stitched random scraps on to a light muslin foundation, then zigzagged over the edges again. I layered  the patchwork with batting and a medium weight muslin and hand quilted,  sashiko style, on the diagonal. The binding is pieced from scraps. Now all l I need to do to is trim, turn, and hand stitch the binding to the back.

I may decide more sashiko quilting is needed after future washings, but for now, it's okay.

Meanwhile, I'm ironing backwards (those legs really get in the way!) because I dropped my wonderful heavy hot Chinese iron a few days ago and did this:

Reds

I've been playing in the scrap box, boro-style stitching the snippets together for some as-yet-unknown future project. Mostly just amusing myself.

Doll prototype, Boro patching

I'm using rough unbleached muslin to make some dolls for an upcoming summer teaching project in Mongolia (provided I'm crutch-free and walking well by August). I was going  to make a Mongolian doll in traditional dress last night, but somehow I ended up with home-on-the-prairie or little miss shetl here.  The thing that matters most now is getting the doll pattern down so I can make a papper patten and PDF instructions. So I'm just having fun. The traditional Mongolian costumes will be fun to create, too. I'll take another trip to the Beijing Women's and Children's Museum to look at their great displays of traditional dress as part of the process. 

 
 Tie shoes and wacky socks under that prim dress:  

What kind of face?  I often stumble here.  I should probably make the face before I stitch the doll so I could mess-up and re-do, but it seems the doll's personality doesn't appear to me until s/he's stitched and stuffed. So...simple stitched lines for eyes and mouth?  Embroidered eyes and mouth? Drawn (this is scariest for me) face? No face?  Old dolls often had no eyes/mouth, but it seems to me that's saying something about seeing, smelling, and speaking--as in being heard or something, yes? 

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I'm still working on my boro-inspired apron, but I took a break to patch my pjs. Before taking the boro class, I might have found a black scrap and made an unobtrusive fix with black thread,* but this time I decided I want my work to be visible. It makes me smile.

* or I might well have tossed them--my favorite pj pants--into the giveaway bag.  I'm changing my ways.

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Today marks 16 weeks post-break, and 12 weeks post-op (bone graft/plate/screws) for my poor old left foot.  I'm off to see the surgeon this afternoon.  The last x-ray was six weeks ago and showed "no sign of healing" (i.e. bone graft filling in gap). I'm hoping today brings better news!

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Our air quality continues to be quite bad. The days are gray and hazy--it's like looking through a steam/dirt filled sky. The sun is not visible, and the light stays dim, as if in a heavy rain, all day.

Boro Apron

 

 

_final plan

Here's my work in progress on the boro apron I've been creating on as part of the online "Contemporary Boro" course I'm taking with Jude Hill of Spirit Cloth. (Link to previous post about boro: Thinking Boro) From initial ideas to final sketch design and materials, including Chinese and Japanese shibori, this is my progress so far. It's a terrific course. Jude is a gifted teacher and the class members are creative, inspiring and encouraging. 

  

I seamed the panels along three sides and turned them, leaving the top sides open. I'll tuck the tops into the waistband once I figure that out. This is very much the way I work in general--figure as I go. I may attach the panels to each other by sashiko stitching across the width, or I might use an overcast stitch on both sides as if I was piecing double-sided paper pieces (or paperless pieces--yeah Jude, for that one) and then top with decorative cross stitches. Or maybe, because the panels will be firmly attached to the waistband ties, I can skip the overcast stitching and merely go straight to the decorative stitches which would also be functional anchors. Hum...we'll see. I used lightweight unbleached muslin fabric as an inner batting of sort to give some weight to the layers. 

Thinking Boro

Jude Hill's "Contemporary Boro 2" online course starts next week (see her  Spirit Cloth blog), so I've been thinking boro as I try to decide what I'll use for my applied learning--an old shirt, perhaps, or maybe a bag to carry.

I've been fortunate to see the boro exhibit a  couple times now at Amuse  in Tokyo (click the highlighted* terms for more information from the source).  If you're in Tokyo or get a chance to visit, this is an amazing place with a vast collection (the result of one man's life's work) of rural Japanese clothes, cloths, cookware and tools, including this farmer's jacket:

and this coat, below (with apologies for the sideways images--these were taken with my phone, and I'm too eager to get back to stitching to fiddle with them--click on image for larger version).

detail of coat:

I have a few more photos of clothes and cast iron tools--let me know if this interests you and I'll try to post more as I go along. For now, my needle beckons...

* barely highlighted--faint gray on my screen, sorry. I'll try to figure out how to fix that.

Revised!

 

Good Days for Stitching

Unbleached woven muslin nine patch, continued from here.

     

Not good days for being outside in the city air if it can be helped. Most people have to carry on, and many must work outside or in non air-conditioned buildings all day. 

Woven Nine Patch

This is sort of an "ode to Jude" at Spirit Cloth--the inspiration (and instruction) behind this cloth-to-cloth muslin nine patch with heart (in process). I'm working through Jude's first boro course in preparation for, and eager anticipation of, her upcoming Contemporary Boro (series #2) course.

about 7" square

Cloth Weaving

old embroidery

in process ~ pale blue linen and natural cotton on muslin foundation 

off the hoop -- stitched with threads unraveled from the fabrics

Moon Flight and Gratitude

Hospital stitching (under the influence...) on magic diary cloth. The eye became a fish and then turned into this rocket--whoa--how did that happen?

I stitched the moon (or chaotic brain) to a light weight unbleached muslin background--rows and rows of relaxing boro-style sashiko stitches.

I'm not sure about this direction, taken, as it was, in an altered state.  I may remove the rocket eye and use the moon brain in a different way--I have some ideas, but no plans just yet.

Foot update: Many, many thanks for all your kind comments, sweet emails, prayers, and healing thoughts. I deeply appreciate our supportive online community.                                          

Five days in hospital: bone graft, titamium plate/screws, strong meds and okay food. Pretty good food, actually.

No walking for three months; let the healing begin.

 

Meanwhile, in addition to some stitching, I'm finding other ways to amuse myself. Behold, Mango Pit Boat: