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so..on we go.  i should have taken a pic of the center piece on the clothsline.  i was preoccupied with Japan, with my brother calling very early.   i simply moved through the day in a kind of daze almost.  but here we are.  the Whole Thing taken down and placed on the adjusted table top.  the center piece in from the line and layed in place.  i will not stitch it now as i'd thought.  i realized that the Whole Piece needs to be invisible stitched…well….as in every …ooooo, what?…let me go measure.  every 1/4 inch across its expanse.   all the way down.   then i can stitch in the center.

i have 5 rows done.  the feeling of them…the two layers of woven cloth and the third of the backing…all becoming One, is well….ecstatic.  

my brother is reading through my mother's notebooks that details the weather, what she ate, whether she slept or did not sleep.  he read them aloud to me for about an hour and a half while i stitched this morning.  he found too, papers i'd never seen before.  the birth certificate of my mother's mother  Francis Katrin Ludvinka,   Jzero…..something, Moravia.  he will send me the correct spelling.  i can SAY it, but not spell it.

the daughter worked to create a different space for the next doe to kid. 

i did not talk to the granddaughter.  but i thought about how i have not yet sent her the cloth she asked for…the one i made while i was waiting/anticipating the first class with Jude. 

and inbetween, i looked at photographs of Japan.  the displaced people in shelters.  all surrounded with kinds of cloth as they waited, sitting on the floor.  waited for something, not knowing what that might be?  but they have their cloth with them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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23 responses to “March 14, 2011”

  1. deanna7trees Avatar

    been wondering what you’ve been up to, Grace. looks like your making steady progress on your big cloth. interesting that your mom kept notebooks of her daily goings on. gives some insight into her inner thoughts. is your brother the keeper of all her papers?
    sounds like your daughter is quite busy. does she know yet about the cloth that will be coming her way?
    i, too, have been following the news on Japan very closely. it was nice to see how cooperative the Japanese people are in cutting down on electricity on their own and sharing what they have with others. they are a calm and patient people. i hope that things will continuously get better for them. hard to watch the pictures of the devastation.
    glad to see you back here.

    Like

  2. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar

    have i been seemingly gone?
    yes. steady progress.
    my mom…well, a kind of insight, yes.
    my brother would like someone else to become the keeper
    of the papers. she has lived in his house for the last
    four years, her and her papers. i burned all of my own
    in the last years.
    Daughter knows of the cloth but doesn’t “look”.
    Japan.
    well…
    they had been through so much. interesting that it is
    coming back around to them by their own imagined needs?
    i had been reading a very beautiful book since Christmas:
    A Different Kind of Luxury
    Japanese Lessons in Simple Living and Inner Abundance
    Andy Couturier
    2010
    sTOnebridge Press
    Berkley, Ca

    Like

  3. Jill Avatar

    interesting thoughts.
    i like that you are going to do the invisible stitching all the way through , doesn’t it feel so wonderful in the hands?

    Like

  4. jude hill Avatar

    i like that i see this cloth as bigger than the world at the moment. something we might wrap it in. rock it into a calm sleep.

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  5. KaiteM. Avatar

    I think we all need something like this to absorb ourselves in, there is too much devastation on the tv,
    we can leave the windows of our minds open for too long and the ill wind can cause more damage inside.

    Like

  6. Valerianna Avatar

    My first impression was of strips of prayer cloths woven into a world… I like that.
    I remember painting a 5×5 foot painting as a commission years ago and, knowing that it was going to be in the lobby of the Ritz hotel in Boston, I decided to chant and pray and listen to Hindu chanting the whole time I was making it- just following something. Just after the painting was hung, 9/11 happened. People who saw the painting said they thought it was my best ever. I did not, but I thought, oh, what they are feeling are the prayers… a painting as a prayer.

    Like

  7. Peggy Avatar

    Grace, I think I know the joy you wrote about — of the cloth becoming One — so exciting to be able to hold it up the first time — of course, that’s with my little pieces, not like this Grandmother Cloth of yours! Love the suspended Earth globe.
    Thank you, I’m going to check out that book. The cwb class seems to have awakened a connection to the Japanese aesthetic in my being.

    Like

  8. Cristina Ortega Avatar

    good morning grace,
    your cloth has a “grandness” about it, draped
    over the table, reaching the floor.
    your mom wrote about things like my
    aunt laura. so interesting listening to their words and
    more…
    i too, watch and listen about japan. there is a blog (origami mommy)
    she lives in japan, i followed just for fun. a mom who likes to make things for her kids.
    lots of knitting, art activities.
    from the photos it looks like they lived on the country side… i don’t know.
    but i think of her constantly. i wonder where they live. what she was doing
    at “THE” time. i pray every day for their safely, that they are together.
    her happy family blog photos are frozen in time…
    peace to you grace.

    Like

  9. Penny B Avatar

    The world is hovering over your cloth itching to touch down. I can only imagine what it feels like as the stitches are bringing to layers together. Wonderful, Grace.

    Like

  10. Herm Avatar
    Herm

    i’m glad to see the cloth down on a table, it would be easier for you to sew, it is a lot of sewing, i’m still working hard on my jacket but i take a rest once in a while because my hands are old and tired, but i’m enjoying it so much and will have it done soon. Peggy has a “prayer flag” for Japan (on CWB) and i think it is a good idea for all of us to make one and hang it outside as a prayer for the Japanese people!

    Like

  11. handstories Avatar

    i would love to be under the weight of this cloth, instead of the weight of the world. interesting the things your mother chose to write down…eating and sleeping sound like survival thoughts. of all of the things that happen in a day, what would we each choose to record?

    Like

  12. Cristina Ortega Avatar

    i am over joyed to say that
    i learned today … the gal, origami mommy,
    her children and husband are all
    safe! she relocated back to the states
    two months ago.

    Like

  13. judy keathley Avatar

    hey, grace–
    beautiful

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  14. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar

    it does. and this morning i added one line across of
    just simple stitch…in pale blue thread

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  15. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar

    i am holding this image…the cloth, bigger than the world

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  16. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar

    i want to chant into everything i sew now. i will.

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  17. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar

    peggy…it’s interesting to me, the ever increasing
    sense of the japanese culture in all it’s paradox….seems
    there is something to learn by watching very closely…

    Like

  18. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar

    blog photos frozen in time
    this is a HUGE thought, thank you Cristina….

    Like

  19. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar

    there seems to be a lot of hovering…

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  20. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar

    Herm…how are hands old and tired????? tell me…..

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  21. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar

    “of all of the things that happen in a day, what would we choose to record?”

    Like

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