Suddenly I find some very personal meaning in a piece of work.
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I started this piece for Sharon B's TAST2010 challenge. A stitch a week for one year. I realised that it wasn't going to last, so I patched on some extra pieces of fabric and stitched scraps around the sides so that I can work right to the edges and more easily hoop the piece.
It is hand stitched and it will go on for the best part of a year. That has to be a 'Slow Cloth'!.
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I will be learning new stitches, or experimenting with old favourites as I go along.
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Also, this is a perfect example of the way I like to use threads and stitches to completely change the look of a piece of fabric. The background to this piece is made up of patched together pieces from the reject bin. Ragged bits of muslin I used as sop cloths when I marbled some nappy (diaper) liners with oil paints. Looking at the heavily stitched areas, you would never know!
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Lastly, but most importantly: my brother is very ill. He has been in hospital since March 25th. This week we anxiously await the results of a bone biopsy. I am so scared that we are going to lose him, and I panic. Then I think about how scared he must be, the pain he is suffering and I am distraught.
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I pick up this piece and I stitch, and I stitch. I'm still afraid. I think about him all the time, one minute hope the next despair. But the stitching has a calming effect. For all this time, I have stitched my thoughts into that piece of work. Never before has this happened. Whatever the outcome, I don't think that I will ever part with it. For it has become my 'Piece for Jim'.
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To find out all about TAST 2010 click
here.
6 comments:
I'm sorry to hear of your worries about your brother and his illness. I guess I will not be the only one to send best wishes, and hope it helps a little to know others are thinking of you. Your work is lovely, and finding peace through stitching will make it even more special.
Love, love, love, your sampler, and the way you have joined the various stitch samples into one. It is very creative. Embroidery is a very peaceful past time, and I also find it has a calming effect..it absorbs you and takes you mind off other things.
Best wishes for your b rother.\
When I saw the first pics in this post and read I thought, "Wow...this is going to be one beautiful piece by this very talented artist." Then I read on, and not only will this piece be beautiful asthetically, but it will be beautiful spiritually too, filled with stitches of deep, deep love. It's terrific!
Thank you.
Stitching is so theraputic. I hope your brother has some good news and you can stitch a celebration.
Thinking of you Blossom.......sending Cyberhugs and a cuppa tea
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