Figuring Out How To Finish My “Mystical Woods” Meditation Mat

When my friend Mandy asked me to make a  Meditation Mat, I though it was a nice idea.

It wasn’t until I started meditating for an hour each morning that I realized, I too, had a meditation mat.

My meditation mat is a sheep hide that Jon bought long before I knew him.  Since it’s an actual sheep skin, one side is soft and warm wool and the other is leather, which keeps the wet and cold from seeping though.

It’s perfect for using outside where I meditate most of the time.

The sheep hide had obvious meaning for me, since I keep sheep.   But sitting on it again and again,  while I meditate, it has gained even more significance.    It has become a part of my meditation practice.

So when I lay it under the apple tree or pine tree, or arrange it on the wicker bench on the back porch, I know I’m going to be sitting there for a hour with the intention of being present in the moment.

The first time I make something new, I know it’s going to take some time for me to figure out how to create it.

Last night I woke up thinking about how to finish off my first Meditation Mat.

Yesterday I thought I could make it the same way I do my quilts.   Sewing all the layers of fabric and batting together,  hand stitching the opening in the bottom, then tacking it with yarn.

But the four layers of batting plus the fabric was too thick to sew though or pull yarn through.   I tried a few different ideas, but the one that worked was to treat the mat more like a pillow and pillow case.

First I made a simple muslin covering for the four layers of batting.  Then I reworked the backing of the meditation mat so the opening was on the back instead of the bottom.  This way the batting can also be removed to wash the mediation mat.

Now I just need some velcro to secure the opening. I went to every store in town looking for velcro today, but couldn’t find what I needed.  So it’s on order and I hope to get it by Monday.

Tomorrow I’m going to work on finishing my Starling In The Paper Birch Potholders, but I will finish my Mystical Woods Meditation Mat next week and put it up for sale in my Etsy Shop.  It is 29″ x41″ and is $150 + shipping.