A Button Quest

Lately I've been on a button quest.  Not just any buttons will do -- they must be at least 1-1/4" diameter -- they must look contemporary -- they must look like they came from the earth, carved or sculpted from wood or stone or any manner of natural material.

Luckily for me - I found some of these treasures locally.  One source was a surprise to me and that was Hancock Fabrics.  I knew they had a lot of buttons there, but they are now carrying some lines that feature larger, natural looking buttons - just what I've been looking for.  Another local source is Waechter's Silk Shop - a wonderful fabric store in Asheville where they have a whole wall of buttons. 

Now that I have this lovely pile in front of me, my fingers are itching to create more abstract punchneedle pieces where I can attach a little 'piece of the earth'.

"If one way be better than another, that you may be sure is nature's way". - Aristotle

"Pathways"

In creating "Pathways" I was able to use and experiment with different levels of loops.  I happily went from level 1 to 2 to 3 and even up to 4.  I thought I was being quite adventurous going up to level 4 but as I look at my needle I see that there is the capacity of level 12!  I'll have to do a test of that one just to see what it looks like.

As I worked this piece I was drawn back to all the stitching pathways my life has traveled. Sewing: my grandmother showing me how to use the sewing machine after my mother died.  We made a cloth doll using old sheets. Embroidery: taught to me by my husband's grandmother.  We embroidered tiny night shirts in preparation for my son's birth.  Needlepoint: Stitching at lunch breaks in a room where smoking was allowed (yuck).  Cross stitch:  I did so much of this that I'm sure there were several relatives who groaned upon receiving a package from me ('not another one')!  Primitive dolls and Santa's: For several years I made enough of these to sell at craft shows.  One year I made over 60 Santa's while working full time.  Bookart: I started out using paper but soon went back to my beloved fabric and stitching.  Beading: encrusted beading which involved thousands of teeny, tiny seed beads.  Punchneedle: my latest stitching passion.  My hands have always been busy with some form of stitchery and for that I am so very grateful.  What would it be like to not ever have picked up that first needle and thread?  

Each path has brought me to where I am today and I hope that each day will bring new paths to forge.  Isn't life wonderful!

"I dreamed a thousand new paths. . . I woke and walked my old one". - Chinese Proverb

Spring Has Sprung

A sunny afternoon - a walk around the yard - the marvel of flowers where it seemed not so long ago snow lay on the ground.

Some are quite showy, others are small and easily overlooked.  

Some look like small lavender lanterns.

Some look like small white orchids.

All of them beautiful and the answer to nature's promise that spring will follow winter.

"Deep in their roots, all flowers keep the light". - Theodore Roethke

"Spring Fling"

I'm taking to the skies with "Spring Fling".  I picture this bird floating along, beneath a puffy cloud -- aqua, turquoise and coral against the blue sky.  There are absolutely no grey, drizzly days with this fellow flitting around.

"Be like the bird that, passing on her flight awhile on boughs too slight, feels them give way beneath her, and yet sings, knowing that she hath wings". - Victor Hugo

Connecting the Loops

I am beginning another abstract punchneedle.  I have created the design, I have figured out the color scheme and I have transferred the pattern to Weaver's cloth. 

The process of punchneedle, especially abstract, is still new to me and I am just getting used to it.  When I begin an abstract punchneedle piece it is really an 'unknown'.  I can gather up my threads of many colors, I can create and prepare the pattern design but I cannot really 'see' how it is going to turn out.  When beginning a piece of punchneedle the design itself looks awful.  In fact, beginners often ask their teacher 'what am I doing wrong, it doesn't look like anything'.  Until I punch several rows or even a complete section of a design I try not to even turn the frame over because if I do, all I see are disconnected loops just standing there, not making any sense whatsoever.  Until they connect, until they rest against each other they are just standing there looking funny.

This connection makes me think about how I am, as an individual, connected with so many other individuals.  Sometimes, we look like the individual loops - not making any sense and looking slightly forlorn.  When I think about it, I realize how very much we need our connections to each other in order to have our lives make sense and in order for each of us to be a 'complete picture'.  Just some random thoughts as I punch this day...

"Without a sense of caring there can be no sense of community". - Anthony J. D'Angelo