Consolation cloths

I canceled our solstice party today. I was really geared up for it, crossing off to-do lists, cleaning house, soup and bread in progress. But it was getting far too complicated due to Covid. People not wanting to be around other people who had been traveling, etc. High rate of transmission locally even if not traveling. So it seemed easiest to take everyone, including me, off the hook and cancel.

I’ve been wishing for downtime, and now that I have it, I’m at loose ends.

I went into my workroom to look at the cloth that was piling up on my ironing board (temp storage location). It felt friendly and consoling. It doesn’t really care if I use it, make something from it, or just let it sit around.

The last piece I worked on is this six inch square. Four nine-patches backed with an ecoprinted scrap of thin cloth, so the mat is two-sided. The thin cloth came from a lightweight purchased scarf which was garishly colored, a gradient of blue to acid green. It was much improved by bundling with some plants and iron liquor. Now I’m quilting the mat, just a simple stitch in the ditch. I’m not totally liking the result. There’s a lot of stitching, but the four parts are not very firmly held together, there are gaps. It was going to be a gift, but I’m hanging onto it to work on it some more.

There was socializing before the Covid scare truly kicked in. I went to nearby Belfast last week for lunch with female relatives-in-law. I had fun in spite of an aching jaw due to dental work that morning. I stopped in my favorite shop, Fiddlehead Artisans Supply. I almost always find remnants I have to have. And they stock fat quarters of duppioni silk, which I like to dye. Here’s my pile from Fiddlehead’s, a self-gift. Two remnants – one cream Nani Iro cotton, very soft. One double gauze, probably also Nani Iro, dark indigo on the right side and pale white/blue on the back. One cream and one blue-gray square of silk.

And last, my stack of linen squares dyed this past year with mostly plants (one with cochineal). They were all first soaked in soy milk. I really like how they turned out. The dark reddish avocado amazes me. I laundered them, just a rinse and spin cycle. Most of them are still quite stiff – I thought the soy sizing would rinse out. More to be done with these.

PS – snow fell last night. It’s beautiful. More in forecast for Christmas Day.