At least a dozen reasons why

Seems I have a bit of a problem.

Time for true confessions and since this blog is mainly my online journal,

today I'm setting down in black and white [sort of]

what I intend to do about it.

You see, the issue is, I never seem to actually

finish

any of my textile pieces ...

it's a mystery really ... all these piles of un-dones, everywhere.

I'm not sure why I keep putting them down & skip off to something else

before I can say, "Finito"

and pass them along.

Friends have asked to buy, and trade ... I have even wished for one or two pieces on hand

for special gifts.  

The whole sorry subject has been bugging me for quite some time.

Can I blame it on being a Gemini?

How about the little issue of not having a  "proper"  studio/work space?

Yeah right.  Those sound like excuses to me, too.

Truth is

I'd dearly love to see them completed and then

go away

out into the world so that I can

free

my

mind,

my shelf space,

and venture forward, unencumbered.

Amen.

I ask ya, have you ever seen so many pins?  Once, I called these cloth components

"landscapes for beads"

but most are either partially beaded

or have become pin holders instead ...

So I've pulled out twelve of these unfinished stories - twelve favorites

that I'd love to see completed

[please don't ask

how many more are lurking about] 

because I am going to do again what I did two years ago

[which helped me  focus  in the very best way]

and that is

I am going to choose 

a word

for this year.

An ever-present reminder of intention.

I know the whole word thing has fallen out of favor for many

but I'm game to stick with any thought process

that culminates in fruitful results ...

isn't any positive movement forward better than

all this un-doneness begging for a turned edge,

or a bead,

or a dye pot to dive into?!

So there you have it ...

my twelve good reasons

why I need to

finish

what I started.

You are all welcome to hold me accountable.

And as a small treat for embarking on This Road to Completion,

I signed up for a year of advertisement-free Pandora ...

have been enjoying the most glorious - uninterrupted - listening pleasures.

The best part

has been discovering musicians I'd not heard of before

 like this splendid pianist, Ludovico Einaudi.

I was learning to play the piano once but didn't finish that either.  Nevermind.

If I still played, I would want to play this.

[tis splendid with the volume turned way up ...]

Dietro Casa  =  Back Home

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... the making of 'Summer Rain'

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Directional flow...

Sometimes, you just have to roll with it...

drop everything and try something you've never done before.

It's one of best things about the Web (for me),

this inspiration that comes from people so openly sharing their handiwork...

I've been following the beauteous progress of Karen's circle work over on Stitching Life. 

When she stitched this one,

I was upstairs within five minutes pulling out materials to give it a go.

It just happens that way sometimes.

My couched spiral didn't end up quite as solid...in fact, it went quite cattywampus.

It's not symmetrical, nor tidy, and all the couching is very uneven.

But this is who I am with cloth.

One of the most appealing aspects of the couching technique is the wide range

of materials one can use/re-use to "couch."   This spiral is recycled sari ribbon but think of the possibilities

for upcycling old clothes, worn linens...

Go over here to see Judy Martin's eleven months of couching obsession.

She even stitches in her car.

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Waiting for calm...

Had a lot of words about this once, but I am feeling more quiet at this moment.  I first spoke about this story cloth in a July post when I was working on a raggedy fabric collage for a workshop that Jude Hill of Spirit Cloth was teaching...now it is September and like the season, "Waiting for calm..."  has come to fruition.  Finished for now...words in place, beading done. 

I am grateful for teachers that encourage by their own doing/making/marking.  While I stepped out of anything comfortable for me on this one...pastels, PINKS!, newly learned stitches and soft combinations...it is exactly where I needed to be.  Calm was there.  So I followed it.

Started here...

journeyed this (other continent) direction...

ended here...

Hesitation can be an enemy.  It certainly is for me (let me count the ways).  I'm thinking we shouldn't underestimate the POWER of teachers to inspire!  At the risk of sounding trite, follow those pure notes (they give) that can make your heart sing.  Those notes have stories yet to be told...

Tell them.

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