The bliss continues. I am still working on my gypsy cloth. I chose this piece of shibori silk for the lining. Even though it won’t be seen much at all, it’s a fun piece of cloth and I’ll know it’s there.
I enjoy working with silk. This is a very simple shibori technique. I wrapped small stones in the silk and secured them with rubber bands, and then dipped the whole thing into the dye. I love the way the surface of the stone cools the dye and creates a pale area in each motif.
On the front of the gypsy cloth, I cut out a circle and put it back with a different orientation. There will be various circles incorporated into the cloth. Circles have a lot of meaning in my life. They are containers for energy and emotions. A circle happens when we join hands with the people we hold dear. So many important events in my life have taken place in a circle. The Shaker hymn, Simple Gifts, makes me want to dance in a circle.
To turn, turn will be our delight, till by turning, turning we come ’round right.
It will take some time until this gypsy cloth comes ’round right. I am still deciding about embellishments. Then there are all those running stitches to quilt the cloth and lining together. While I am thinking about all that, I am going back to the basics of cloth to cloth.
This woven block is so different. The colors harmonize, for a start. It’s also very shaggy, because these strips of waste fabric were from the places where the weaver was adjusting the loom or changing colors.
The little shibori moon is just resting there. It may join the fabric, or not.
Thus ends another year. May your new year be filled with color, texture and harmony. May the threads come together with meaning and the cloth speak the truth that is in our hearts.
What if I did combine handwoven wool and cloth-woven silk? Maybe not these exact pieces, but the contrasts of directionality and scale are exciting. Meta weaving juxtaposed with weaving…
