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a Forever cloth

this is what can happen when i get to stay home three days in a row

002

SO.

will see how this feels as the day goes along.   it all began by really looking at that "room" where "things get born",  the one with the ghost/spirit butterfly from yesterday.  and began there by snipping away the crooked stitching.  which i will replace in a minute.  but then, still thinking about what that room IS,  there came an urge for another Eye.  ok. 

then quite suddenly, but maybe not really at all,  the urge to just see what things look like without those two vertical pieces, followed by the beautiful piece that i love but it all of a sudden just stood away from the rest.  gone. 

then…the beautiful lace piece, under the woman,  that connected so perfectly to the dark line in the Arlee cloth,  the magnificant square above it.   snip snip snip.

so, now i am staring at it thinking that it is becoming  a Forever Cloth.  that i will NEVER finish it even to some point where i will be able to let it rest for a long time.  i have referred to it as the Cloth of Next.   having meant that it is where i've gotten to, before continuing on to what's next in my life.    and maybe i just misunderstood.  maybe IT is what's next.  and next and next and next.

?

AND i wish i could learn how to put this in the side of this blog, that the lizard at the center top of this cloth is a Jude Hill, was gifted to me at a point when the encouragement was critical.  it is NOT my lizard.

 

 

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32 responses to “a Forever cloth”

  1. jude Avatar
    jude

    it’s your lizard now. it is home. i will visit it one of these days.
    they are all forever cloths to me. if they are near to me, they always change, i add i stitch i look, i hold, i wear them out. and if they are not near to me, they change as well. i imagine that.

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  2. handstories Avatar
    handstories

    endlessnessing…

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  3. Eva Ucgatwork Avatar
    Eva Ucgatwork

    Hi Grace,
    I’m still angry about whoever grabbed your christmas card – well, let’s presume, he/she/it was lonely and longing for a kitschie card from Germany…odd things do happen!!
    Anyway – another letter is on its way – so this is a notice to everyone waiting to get their greedy hands on Grace’s letter:
    “Be aware, evil doers, whereever you are…” (“Radio Days” by Woody Allen)
    Hey, back to the real important things:
    amazing progress on your cloth…
    I’ve found something I was looking for…a piece about the deserts of the Southwest by Edward Abbey
    “”May all your trails by crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing views…where something strange and more beautiful and more full of wonder than your deepest dreams waits for you.”
    Have a great weekend,and if you can spare a second: wish me luck!
    all the best,
    eva

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  4. glennis Avatar
    glennis

    it definitely looks like it’s at home. i had the same thought by visiting here today. it’s been a while!

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  5. deb Avatar
    deb

    every time I see this panorama it gets better. my libran eyes love all the balance points between things happening, things being and just space.

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  6. Valerianna Avatar
    Valerianna

    With the vertical pieces gone, it seems the arcs of the grasses are more evident. I like that. I know at a certain point in paintings that I must sacrifice a precious part in service of the whole. If I don’t the painting loses “it”. Interesting thought of a forever cloth. Cloth stories and a kind of archeological map of your inner or creative process.

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  7. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    well…it’s one of the parts of the cloth that is
    for sure.
    it feels different today…i think i need to get those
    two other grasses in place. that might do it.

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  8. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    yeah. endlessnessing.

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  9. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    Eva…what am i wishing you luck FOR? i am already
    wishing, but what FOR?
    i love that Abbey quote. he loved the desert in a
    way it deserves to be loved.
    the mail, well, bummer that i didn’t get the card, my
    first and only christmas card in german, but what i
    was most sad about was that it’s the first time the
    mail service failed me. i hope it’s not a sign of the
    times…..
    SO….yes!!!! much much LUCK for anything and everything,
    love,

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  10. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    glad you came and i am really anticipating the workshop.
    i am in such a better place this time than the first
    shibori class so long ago. i was way new to using the
    computer for such things…
    i have faith in myself this time…

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  11. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    deb…at first i thought you said “my librarian eyes” and
    i thought…she’s a librarian TOO?????
    i learned a lot today. i can want to be all kinds of a
    clothmaker but i end up falling back into certain patterns.
    thinking if that’s necessarily a bad thing?, or just how
    i do things.
    and the space. yes. love love love the space.

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  12. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    yes…that’s it. i keep changing this cloth’s “mission”.
    once it was a place to “keep” favored cloth pieces. but
    now…..
    and
    it might change AGAIN!
    archeology. yes. like that thought a lot.
    and…back to that thing i have about Diorama.

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  13. Michelle in NYC Avatar
    Michelle in NYC

    Well what can I add after such insightful and heartening comments. I just love your process seems inadequate, though it’s true. And true is what you are par excellence! The snip snipping worked well to clarify the whole picture. Although stitching is it’s own wonderful, applique serves a purpose often, like a large brush vs a tiny one. In my case, stitching itself is difficult (physically-my right thumb has a problem at it’s base-overuse I think, since I use that hand for everything.) In any case, your cloth is your canvas and the painter always knows when enough is enough. I look forward to the next installment. 🙂

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  14. Deb G Avatar
    Deb G

    Well…all my blankets are forever cloths. Mostly due to the need to mend them! 🙂 P.S. I danced yesterday…

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  15. Tricia Avatar
    Tricia

    I love the expression ‘a forever cloth’… I wish I lived nearer so that I could visit this cloth…:)
    I’m working on ‘a forever coat’… at the moment… trying to add a feather that I got from Jude a while ago… which has not found a home yet…!
    I will watch with your progress with interest…

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  16. nance Avatar
    nance

    i put the two images, before and after up on my desktop to be able to really compare… wow! i liked it before of course but now i like it even more… not that whether i like it or not is important…. its what you think that matters. but its the space that makes the difference as many have noted already.

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  17. Eva Ucgatwork Avatar
    Eva Ucgatwork

    Thank you, too complicated to explain here!
    But thank you – it helps to know friends are thinking of each other.
    I think you will love the letter I posted yesterday…some silk scraps inside.
    Have a wonderful weekend,
    eva

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  18. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    i AM. your name is on the Thinking Cloth. i pass it
    many times a day. always stop and send good vibes.
    i haven’t been to the mailbox in these three, now four
    days…the Christmas Card is probably finally there.
    Be Well

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  19. glennis Avatar
    glennis

    everything takes practice doesn’t it? glad to have you along-

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  20. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    thank you for your good words…and do you try Arnica cream on your thumb?

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  21. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    ahhhh. danced. this is good. with your self?, or
    your kids?

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  22. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    i wish i lived nearer so i could come with it and walk
    the edge of your Staithes world….so beautiful. you
    have such a good life there.
    and i could take your natural dye course..am interested
    in earth pigments. i know there must be these to harvest
    in the mountains and canyons here. i need to just try
    things i think. and the sea slugs…what a gift of purple.
    how beautiful a color from some rather plain creatures.
    nice.
    Thank You for coming and i’ll look forward to it now….

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  23. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    Good, then! and as i begin the grasses this afternoon, it
    is obvious that they needed the space. wouldn’t have
    worked otherwise.
    amazing that you could get both pics sidebyside…i’ll
    never get that skilled……
    thanks for the thumbs UP!

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  24. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    well, me too. VERY much looking forward!

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  25. Jacqui Avatar
    Jacqui

    I know its probably because I live inside one but I love how the grasses provide an oval frame (the shape of an eye?)to everything inside/outside them. What if the outside edge of the cloth mirrored this? What I mean is what if the outside edge of the entire cloth shape was oval too instead of a rectangle?
    Love to you Grace.

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  26. Michelle in NYC Avatar
    Michelle in NYC

    Its the thumb joint where it joins the hand–only the right hand–I use a wonderful homeopathic compound cream called ‘Traumeel’–it’s for strains–my thumb joint is strained from overuse.

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  27. Eva Ucgatwork Avatar
    Eva Ucgatwork

    My doctor usually prescribes “Traumeel” for similar symptons. It’s also available as tablet and as injection.
    Don’t underestimate Grace’s advice to use arnica. Another German homeopathic brand, Weleda, has a remedy on the market.
    I like Tiger Balm,too.
    Hope you’ll get better soon,
    eva

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  28. Nancy Avatar
    Nancy

    Been busy last few days, only a comment here & there. But last night as I fall to sleep, I thought of you and this cloth and how I love it so. I thought that it seems like a lifetime/forever cloth. I thought I would be very content with one, just one as grand as this and that I would not need the quantity, but I would instead prefer to dwell in the quality. The quality of one.
    Good comments here from all, love reading them.

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  29. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    Jacqui…at first, i imagined the oval to be vertical and
    thought…oh, that wouldn’t work, but then i thought of
    it as horizontal, and
    IT MIGHT!!!!
    and yes, i can imagine very well that your home would
    overtime create an oval view of Life…which would be
    such a beautiful view….
    i need to come over and see how the potatoe competition
    came out….
    love back to your world….

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  30. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    what a thing to say…
    it WILL be the only one, in a certain way. i don’t need
    more. and my best guess is that small details will
    continue forever. AND
    there’s the Other side……………
    Thank you, Nancy….xoxo

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  31. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    Jacqui…how DID the potatoe competition go???????

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  32. sk8 shoes Avatar
    sk8 shoes

    Buy some detergent. It has to be a certain kind. I use a cheap Target detergent that doesn’t have any additives, scents, etc.

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