Saturday 24 March 2012

~Thoughts Captured on a Magic Cloth~Butterflies~Bees~and a Talking Stick~


Our camera in six years old now, and has had an incredible amount of use. 
The photo of the butterfly was taken with auto focus!!! 
I am selling my treatment couch and buying a new camera!

 My first day of butterfly sightings this year. I saw one flying rapidly, with the assistance of a brisk breeze, in the bootsale this morning, and when we came home this Peacock was beating a tattoo on my shed window ~ ready ~ like all of us ~ to be out in the warmth of the sun. It made my day by pausing for a count of five on my hand before flying away.




I am continuing with the idea, as I wrote over on sew, of ~
a year, in a nine-patch design, with most likely the moon in the centre, and the eight celebrations around it :~ samhain, winter solstice,  imbolc, vernal equinox, beltane, midsummer, lammas and autumnal equinox. 
I am finding that I am making each one as a separate small cloth....
.......Winter Solstice........

Captured Thoughts
As I sew ~ applique ~ the oak leaves around the sun, the needle picks up the first layer
of skin on my middle finger, and I literally become a part of my Magic Cloth.
I find myself holding my breath, wondering if this next stitch will be a 'good' one,
and having to remind myself to breath ~ for that too becomes part of the cloth
~ in and out ~ like the needle, like the stitches.


The 'ghost' oak leaves inside the sun ring ~ green thread? ~ to represent what they 
will become in summer? ~ grey thread? ~ more representative of ghost leaves?

Winter Solstice Cloth ~ the oak leaves are placed in a spiral pattern around the cloth as:
1. They chase the holly leaf away
2. The spiral represents the high 
winds we invariably get on the 
solstices ~ and equinoxes ~ 

The inner spiral of leaves ~ not ghost leaves ~ do them in green, for they are a dream,
~dream leaves ~ dreaming of what is going to become.

Still lots of stitching to do, and the holly leaf to make.




I have long loved the story of the oak and the holly kings
 battling for supremacy on the summer solstice and again on the winter solstice. 




......Vernal Equinox....

this is supposed to be a hare for Eostre. 

My drawing skills are really poor, so this looks more like a donkey gone wrong! I don't want to rip it out yet though, but try Jude's trick of filling in with stitch, the same colour as the cloth, to see if I can get it more hare-like. We'll see. If successful, it will be the centre panel of the small cloth representing the Vernal Equinox. 

The brown patch, is a piece of silk I had tried to paint on and did not like, so it went into the acorn dye pot. It is gorgeous.....almost a bronze sheen to it.

Two years ago, my walking friend...another Jude.....gave me a most beautiful gift, knowing that I love such things.


a bumble bee nest she found while gardening.
Isn't it an architectural work of art. All those little 
'cells' look like acorns or hazelnuts, but they build 
them using wax secreted by their abdomens and 
mixed with pollen
  It has kept me company in my shed for these last eighteen months,
but nature reclaims her own, so this week....


this is all that is left.

Something I made ten months ago....and I could not believe it was so long ago, when I found the date...

My Talking Stick
: :

driftwood, leather, copper wire, clay beads, holey stone 
and welsh crystal wand

33 comments:

  1. oh but i love your hare just the way he is...a free spirit. i find wasp nests that are dried up sometimes in my garage. similarly shaped cells made out of mud.

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    1. Ha....I've just sent you an email reply :~)))

      Thank you for liking my hare....I think it might grow on me...and I like 'free spirit'.

      Most of our wasps create their nests out of wood, which they chew up....they like my shed!!! They make incredibly delicate and beautiful homes for themselves.

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  2. I so love your creations...your talking stick is amazing.
    Welcome Spring.x

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    1. Hey Trish...thank you. YES....Welcome Spring....it was SUNNY today :~)))

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  3. so glad you picked up your talking stick & created this post full of wonder! your cloth & words capture earthiness and magic. i've got an old camera too, missing the front circle around the lens & needing duct tape to hold together!

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  4. I was snorting (most inelegantly) when I put that talking stick photo on Cindy, and thinking I'm still no more sociable than when I made it ten months ago!

    Thank you for liking my post....I love the words you used :~)

    I hope we both get new cameras soon :~)))

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    1. confession- you're not alone. i love writing words, but struggle using them out loud. i'm as socially awkward as they come!

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    2. Thank you Cindy,,,,yes, me too....and yet, I love smiling at people! Like you, I love writing words, but I am finding that more of a struggle these days too...totally blaming the menopause for that (it gets blamed for everything :~)))

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    3. i'm blaming pre-menopause for everything over here! ha! no hot flashes yet, just general global warming & forgetfulness.

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    4. Ha! Yes. The hot flushes have finished for now...I am told they will be back! :~( The forgetfulness thing is driving me crazy :~) I'm working on persuading myself to see the funny side....

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    5. me, too. those around me are having a good laugh.
      i used to be the one who remembered everything, now, over & over, i say things like, "i like that idea" & am told it was mine.

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    6. Isn't it terrible....that's why I carry a notebook and pen with me wherever I go.....reading back is a revelation....as if the ideas were written by someone else! Pregnancy did this to my brain too :~))

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  5. Your cloths are coming along beautifully. And maybe a tail for the hare? They do have tails, right?
    Love your talking stick! Reminds me of my 'power sticks'. Glad your 'talking' here again :)

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    1. Thank you Nancy :~) I had included a tail, but it was too small when I was turning under for the applique, so had to be turned under too....does that make sense??! I will need to stitch one :~)

      Would love to see your 'power sticks'.

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  6. Everything feels so earthy... springtime in every medium you touch.. You truly are in touch with the Mother.

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    1. Oh! Thank you so much Gwen. Yes, very much of the Earth and the Mother.

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  7. Helen, this was heaven to read and see and think about, thank you. I lovelovelove your cloth, it will be enchanting, charged by the mystery and magic of the Goddess you are. In my circle we are each making altar cloths woven with a strip from each celebration onto a warp of 10 strips representing the women in the circle. So far gold for Brigid and green for Ostara. Closer to the paper weavings our children made when they were little than woven cloth, but in the end they will be beautiful. BB. I almost hate to leave here. xo

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  8. What a beautiful thing to say....thank you so much Peggy. Your woven alter cloths sound gorgeous....and I am sure they will be beautiful, as anything heart~made always is.
    BB x x

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  9. Wow, Helen, what beautiful work ~ the embroideries (I love the indigo) and that talking stick!

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    1. Brooke ~ hey :~) thank you. I cheat with the indigo....it is cyanotype. I will get indigo seeds and plant them, but I'm not sure when! Cyanotype I already have in a fair abundance, and I _need_ blue with all my being!!

      I visited you last week, but words would not come :~(( Will come over again and at least say 'hi"

      So good to 'see' you x x x

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  10. so glad to come here, slowly moveing through these
    photographs of your life/world/life/world
    thank you ~

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    1. Thank you Grace ~ I am so glad to see you here ~

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  11. Love the hare and the bumblebee nest-never seen one of those before.

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    1. Thank you Charlie....aren't they amazing. They nested in one of our compost bins two summers ago, but the nest was in bits when I checked later that year.

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  12. A lovely collection of things. I really like the bumblebee nest the most. Do you have other photos? It would make a great time lapse collection.

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  13. Thank you Dean....oh! why didn't I think of doing that???!!! Like Fleur-Ange did with that mushroom a few years ago. I loved that. Oh well...if there is a next time, and I will keep it in mind for other things now too :~)) Much love to you and Fleur-Ange.

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  14. i want to secrete wax from my abdomen

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    1. that made me laugh Grace....but wouldn't it be so cool if we could.....

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  15. hi helen- just thinking about you. hoping you're well.

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    1. Hi Cindy ~ and thank you :~) Been feeling rather quiet, but it is all good here....taxes done!! I have a new blog post brewing, but not quite ready yet....many dyeing experiments been happening in our kitchen! Take care...will be over to visit you soon. xxx

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  16. Brilliant post! Really inspiring! I love to hand sew but mostly utilitarian (but still beautiful) things, such as aprons, a quilt cover and head scarves. You inspire me to try something more artistic, putting feelings into a fabric form. Hmmmm.....thoughts are brewing.... x x

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  17. Hi Hawthorne and thank you :~) I like beautiful utilitarian too :~)) This will eventually be a quilt collaged together. I follow and take classes with Jude Hill

    If you have not come across her yet you are in for a huge treat...inspiration galore.

    Enjoy the manifestation of your brewing thoughts ~ x x

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