Category Archives: journal quilts

‘Mystery’ – reinterpreted

'Mystery' - reinterpreted by dee at clothcompany

On of the fun by-products of clearing out clutter is finding things you forgot about.  Things that you like or are intrigued by.

This color collage (top, center — above) was on a bulletin board in my studio, so wasn’t actually unearthed, but in the many, many hours spent bagging up unwanted and seriously-in-the-way-fabric this past weekend, I spied it and was inspired to make a small thread drawing.

The proportions were off (he looked like he was holding a pogo stick or jackhammer, instead of wearing a pair of pants), so I had to add pen marks and additional cloth on the sides to change the edges.

I like it (in part) because — it’s small; it was made in two sittings; it was fairly spontaneous.

GAVE AWAY three more HUGE bags of fabric on Saturday. And guess what? Even though that makes about 10 (TEN — HUGE bags!!) for the year, I still feel overwhelmed and crowded in the basement. So! My new resolve is to keep bagging up fabric and giving it away until I can breathe better down there. I don’t care how many it takes — I’ll know the relief when I get there.

Have you ever noticed that you can’t fake relief? You can’t talk yourself into it or out of it?

And, while I am on this demonic roll, I also cleaned out an upstairs closet (even painting the baseboards to make it look cleaner!). I don’t know what’s inspiring this unbidden drive to clear clutter, but I don’t plan to stand in its way.

TAG sale on for Saturday! Wahoo. Nothing like a deadline to sort by.

Simple pleasure / simple need

coffee steaming by dee at clothcompany

Today I offer a quote by Wendell Berry from his 1987 book, “Home Economics” —

“Once we grant the possibility of a proper human scale, we see that we have made a radical change of assumptions and values. We realize that we are less interested in technological ‘breakthroughs’ than in technological elegance. Of a new tool or method we will no longer ask: Is it fast? Is it powerful? … We will ask instead: Can we (and our children) afford it? Is it fitting to our real needs? Is it becoming to us?”

Even though in this post-internet age, speed and innovation seem to matter to us more than ever, these strike me as worthwhile questions.

coffee pot cloth backlit

And yes, I am still working with white, though this morning I pressed a mound of brilliant green and indigo blue squares. I nearly swooned after so much tan, beige, linen, oyster and ecru.