Looking inward and outward

Now is one of those times when I long for some time to sew and meditate. Time to be with just my thoughts and my thread.

Business - or busyness - either way, it corrupts me, encroaches on my thoughts, and erodes any creativity that may be available to me.

wandering and lost

Maybe I just need to step back and breathe. 

the blues

Maybe I need to get outside of myself.

world blues, going outside myself

Looking inward, looking outward. I always come back to myself. And I always return to stitch: needle, thread, cloth. Right now I long to stitch. Soon I will return to deliberate garment projects or other planned projects. But for now, I simply need stitch. Stitch with no real purpose.

So what is the Around-the-World Blog Hop, if not a chance to get outside of myself?

The Around-the-world Blog Hop is a way to link bloggers who are makers, wherever they may be. But only those who want to be linked. Here are two:

Let's start with Judy of Judy-in-the-Dyes blog. I met Judy at a workshop led by Cas Holmes. And I began to follow her blog right away. It's cheerful, colorful, and generous. 

Judy's work is meditative, I think. Or at least, that is how I receive her posts. Her work seems to spring from her heart. Her sense of color always raises my spirits. Hey, it just happened again, as I read her post from last week - the one where she links to my blog.

And now let me introduce you to Dixie of With Needle and Brush. Like me, Dixie is passionate about clothing art. We like many of the same pattern designers. But she is legions ahead of me in the area of artful touches, especially those involving paint. 

Dixie's work informs my own garment sewing. I see her creations and read the story behind the make and I think, I want to try that too. 

And Dixie works at one of my all-time favorite fabric stores - Sawyer Brook. So when I travel to the New England states, I try to see her when I visit Sawyer Brook.

As part of the Blog Hop, there are 4 questions each blogger is asked consider:

1. What am I working on? Just stitch.

2. How does my work differ from others in my genre? In order to answer that question, I would have to identify my genre. Garment construction, quilts, fiber art, and so on. My work is mostly an answer to an inward question. Sometimes, like now, I don't even know the question.

3. Why do I write? make? Writing helps me make. And making helps me write. And both help me remember today. 

4. How does my writing/making process work? Both are almost spontaneous. I occasionally sew with a purpose. I occasionally write with a purpose. I write just for me at times, just for specific others at times, and for publication at times. Years ago, as an academic, I discovered the joy of writing. I've known the joy of sewing for half a century or more. Each is a kind of making.

So that's me. On Monday November 17, I hope you'll have time to move back through the Blog Hop by following Judy and forward through the Blog Hop by following Dixie. Both inspire me.