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talking to self

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maybe i am just still too  "new" to the cloth thing.    ?

i thought i was ready to work on a large cohesive cloth.  i        want     to,   but  where i still am is just a complete fascination with the combinations of things, how the     cloth     itself,  themselves, "go" with  one another…….and in this moment, how so many individual pieces go  ON  the base cloth that i LOVE…that was a miracle of accidental dyeing luck.  

so as i look and play with small pieces of cloth this morning,  then stand back, sit, look,  i realize i am  all the while  entertaining this undercurrent of thought about      how am i going to tie this all in to a solid quilt like cloth????    in the moment, i don't think i can yet.   that might be yet to come, someday but for now, i might  just have to keep doing it this way????????

 

 

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19 responses to “talking to self”

  1. nance Avatar
    nance

    grace, i have made several large quilts with various elements that could be changed around. there is a process of having the head spin because of all the viable choices. i think this is a normal part of the process. you know how you did that gorgeous collage in your kitchen? you achieved it . this is much the same thing. your style doesn’t seem to be structural like jude’s. it seems more organic. i find its easier to have a structure. but when i work in an organic style i am more satisfied….like my roots piece. (which i need to photograph soon) i know you are just talking to self… but i recognize the place you are in and i hope this helps a bit.

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  2. handstories Avatar
    handstories

    hello grace’s self…i know you are trying to get somewhere with all of this, but i think i will be sorry when you do, glad for you, but sorry for me. watching this change and shift, reading your ponderings, it’s just…oh, i don’t know, but i’m finding comfort in it, and learning, and pleasure in all the pieces- pieces of cloth, thought, you.

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  3. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    i thought i was ready for both. this random collage thing
    that comes naturally, and the more orderly way. i thought
    i’d watched enough, absorbed enough, learned enough, understood enough. but….that seems to be a real challenging transition for me.
    and yes…would be “nice” if you posted Roots…….duh.

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  4. jude Avatar
    jude

    no dilemma here. redefining is a good thing. no rush

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  5. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    Cindy…right after i commented over in Diaries, i checked out the space of the living room window and started taking down the curtain there so i could move this cloth there. leaving an open wall available for the Other Side.
    but then, like in the exchange with Dru, once i made the decision i decided to Un make it.
    just stick with how i am and continue.
    ….maybe

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  6. deanna7trees Avatar
    deanna7trees

    i just posted my dilemma with this same thing on ‘diaries’. putting all the elements on the large cloth is fun and exciting but getting it to look like one cohesive piece is not that easy. i don’t want the elements to be obvious. i want the edges to melt into each other so that the individual elements somewhat disappear. i guess part of it is to not use elements with ‘hard edges’ like rectangles and squares but to use irregular edges that overlap each other. just thinking out loud. but, you are not alone in your dilemma and i am not new to cloth so it’s not that. i think we’ll work it out slowly.

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  7. handstories Avatar
    handstories

    well, how you are is just grand.
    and about being ready…what would that look like to you?
    i think i’m coming at this diaries thing differently than everyone else (notice that i didn’t say i’m wrong, that’s new for me)- i’m just making possible centers & expecting/hoping that eventually, one of them will/may grow into something, evolve- or not. just enjoying the journey for a change.

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  8. Vicky Avatar
    Vicky

    grace i think it’s all super fantastic! looking at yesterday’s pix and today’s…i love your cloth! as soon as i read your words i thought of jude’s posts for today, about taking the cloth off the wall. how it looks on the wall, and off the wall draped over a chair/lap/cat can change the cloth completely!

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  9. nance Avatar
    nance

    just keep at it grace… everyone goes through this as you see from the rest of the comments…. its something you have to …. do… to get there… you can’t know ahead of time. you are doing great!!! really! like jude said… no rush!

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  10. deb Avatar
    deb

    Whenever I am working with a base of cloth that has majesty all it’s own an start “applying” things over it, all I can think about is the beautiful cloth that I am burying, covering up. Have you thought about Not using the Gray Grander as a base but perhaps cutting it into additional elements? Could that “covering up” be holding you back?

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  11. KaiteM. Avatar
    KaiteM.

    good morning Self, are you hot there?
    i agree with deb, too much covering up of the grey.

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  12. nance Avatar
    nance

    ok ms duh… i did it! and another thought… just want to suggest this here where you are still looking… and not leaving it alone yet…as if we can go back in time just by visiting the previous post!
    i was thinking….. since you love teh backing so much and it is really special…. you might consider the idea of positive and negative space. where you have some elements on the front could be negative space on back.. in other words you would leave it blank. and the blank spaces on the front would have pieces stitched on the back. that way the kantha stitching (or invisible stitching) on each element would show through to the other side of the backing cloth. there is a lot of ideas that can come from positive/negative and you could play with that as well…. am i making sense? i have read it several times and it makes sense to me…if not call me. xoxo

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  13. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    this is such a great question.
    What would ready look like to me?
    actually, i guess ready looks like what any of us looks
    like right Now…..
    i am thinking about this. it’s important.
    and maybe it’s the seeing so many things in my mind’s eye
    that things can be, and then not being able to make ONE
    thing be ALL of those things…at the same time? in the same cloth?????

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  14. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    yes. re defining. to define a different way. to look again and see different.

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  15. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    yes…i loved your thoughts over there. and i think
    what happens to me is i want the ONE cloth i am working on to be everything. i want the cohesiveness, but i want the space, i want things to touch but i want them to stand
    as they are. this is a Practice in cloth, and i should
    say that i love the problem solving even though it is
    a challenge.

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  16. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    yes…with Magic, yes. this one though is not at all
    ready for that.

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  17. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    Deb…i wrote about that over at Diaries and YES!
    that IS a part of it and a very significant part of it.
    this time though, it needs to be this way. the “Grander”
    is the significant world that all the other pieces live
    and breathe in.
    But you are brilliantly to the POINT…and i will not
    forget your thought from now on. it has been something
    that has been relatively frequent for me all along. i can be aware of that now from the beginning.
    Thanks!!!! for your thought…

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  18. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    days have passes but yes. we are still hot here….a little less though and at least it pretends to rain now.
    thanks for agreeing with Deb….
    xoxo to U

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  19. jude Avatar
    jude

    it is always different.

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