Old cloth and new stitch

There's a lot of this 

stitching-together of  venerable, memorable bits of fabric ever-so-wistfully 

thing about, isn't there?

I'm feeling pulled into it too...

a way to gather memories

honour the people we knew

show respect for cloth and the processes that produced it

prolong the life of already-mended cloth

add a personal mark

fill time with personal meaning

It's a way to gather oneself ... 

to wait for charring to fall off the burnt edges ... 

to wait for bruises to fade, wounds to heal

using cloth as a bandage

using cloth as a slate and stitch as chalk

etc

BUT ............. I'M  RESISTING...................because.................

I have nothing special to say - nothing important to communicate

and

I still can't, amid the ever-emerging chaos of my studio
of my current life
find the RIGHT fabric, the right thread

sometimes there has to be other work behind the scenes

and

sometimes that work is all there is

SO - what's the plan? After a life in theWorld Of Work (I rather miss that...) I'm happy with timelines and deadlines and lines of reporting ... with responsibility and accountability and 

ABOVE ALL 

with a certain level of productiveness.

Until the Purposefulness and Productivity Fairy waves that magic wand
I shall
instead of sitting in my chair on the sunporch of a frosty morning, cradling and sipping my cup of herb tea amid still-waking reverie, musing on the night's dreamscape and the day's promise
I shall
continue, at intervals, with 

Clearing The Decks

making space

putting things away

throwing things away

clearing and re-clearing my workspace

making handy places for things needed constantly

making a list of where the infrequently-used items are

This needs to happen gradually

...and will never be completed...

But first I'm sneaking away for a few days' holiday

with sketchbook and ink, brush and pen
with needle and thread

and a few other necessities

by Karen Hollingworth (via here)