a small cloth for a new year

at work on thursday morning, the idea for this piece popped into my head. it stitched away in the back of my mind all day, and when i arrived home i was more than ready to play with real cloth. i started with a 10.5" x 17.5" rectangle from an old sheet, wonderfully soft, torn so the edges had a soft fray. i'm noticing an increasing trend toward raw edges in my work. i wove together strips of denim, linen and cotton for the sky, and then began to overlay a soft blanket of snow. snow snowy trees rounded out the tiny landscape.



along with the blue and white thread i used, i stitched in some gold and silver for a bit of sparkle, as any winter night should have. there are many layers of stitches everywhere, a meditation of sorts for me as i sit in the dark evenings.



there are four words stitched on the snow - calm, still, pure and new. i may add a few more, but i like it like this as well. these words led to the title of the cloth - "mind of winter", as i contemplated the cold days, an old year coming to a close, and the new year coming in.



above is the label on the back - my first piece of 2011! i was happy with how quickly this piece came together, and think i might try some other small pieces soon. i'm not aiming for fast work when i hand stitch, but i do like how much easier it is to keep focus on smaller cloths. with this shot of the label you can also see all the stitching on the back - there is no batting in between the layers, so it is a thin, delicate piece. it was also a bit of practice to keep my stitching on the "wrong" side as tidy as possible.



i have hung it on a piece of found driftwood from one of the beaches nearby, just as with my other hangings. while this piece seems a bit of departure from what i've been working on so far, i liked branching out a bit. i owe much inspiration to the stitching of jude hill and ger, two lovely ladies who constantly wow me with their stitches. here's to continuing to stretch myself this year.