After working a bit on my potholders, I sat on my floor and painted the back of my Raven. I tried to follow the stitches that another woman made years ago to create this quilt that I’m using as a canvas.
Jackie wrote to me saying…”My grandmother quilted with those tiny stitches- such patience and thrift in the early 20th century. Love how you’re honoring that with your art.”
I’ve become very used to working with old quilts and linens, but I still think of the woman (it was mostly women who made these) who created them. I know each one is very personal and most have been passed down in families for many years.
I wrote to Jackie that I felt like bringing attention to the hand stitching in this way was very powerful. The designs it creates remind me of the symbols on the pottery that I see in my Language Of The Goddess book.
It feels ancient.
In the past I’ve taken some of those stitches out and resewn them. But now I’m highlighting the stitching.
I’m excited to have discovered this way of working. For me, the meaning of the Raven has to do with altering reality, with a kind of magic. That’s what this feels like to me. There is something magical in the way the stitches appear.
It’s really about seeing what is already there.
