Fabric Meditation Books
These soft books emerged out of a deep space of grief and overwhelm I found myself in at the beginning of the pandemic. I had just gotten divorced, lost the house I owned and many of my pets, had to close down the business I was running and moved back in with my parents in a different state. On top of all of that, I was in the middle of an intense healing journey I had begun a few years before and was struggling to figure out what was happening inside of me. With all of that, plus the pandemic and political stress and chaos, I retreated to the bedroom I had as a teenager where I set up a small table to make art. Every morning, I sat there and stared out the windows at the trees, trying to figure out what the hell was happening in my life. That was the landscape these books emerged from. One day, I was playing around with a linen curtain I had found at a thrift store, not knowing what I was going to do with it, and I discovered a hidden book structure inside of it. The idea to stitch by hand on it came intuitively. I hadn’t done much stitching or sewing at that point, so it was a new world for me to explore.
The books became and continue to be so healing. They are gentle containers for all that I am feeling and thinking about…they hold it all. I find that the slow hand stitching roots me in place while my mind processes so much. These books have emerged from a new relationship to stillness, silence and solitude that I didn’t have before. To make them, brings me so much peace. I feel like they take care of me as I make them. The process is intuitive and unplanned, I go stitch by stitch to build the story of each book and let it reveal itself to me.
The books have gotten quieter and deeper. At the beginning, they were cluttered and busy, like my mind and my heart. Now, they are spacious, quiet and full of subtlety. I didn’t plan that, it just naturally happened, which I find interesting.
“A Soft Place to Be Held”
vintage Indian kantha quilt remnants, naturally dyed cotton fabric, found stone, Japanese sashiko thread, cotton sewing thread
A page inside “A Soft Place to Be Held”
vintage Indian kantha quilt remnants, found stones, indigo dyed hand spun linen thread
A page inside “A Soft Place to Be Held”
vintage Indian kantha quilt remnant, naturally dyed cotton fabric, found stone, cotton sewing thread
A page inside “A Soft Place to Be Held”
vintage Indian kantha quilt remnant, naturally dyed cotton, found stones, Japanese sashiko thread
“A Book of Quiet Necessity”
vintage Japanese boro fabrics that were hand spun and hand dyed with indigo, I reused the threads I pulled out of the fabric to bind the book together.
“A Book of Quiet Necessity”
vintage Japanese boro fabrics that were hand spun and hand dyed with indigo, I reused the threads I pulled out of the fabric to bind the book together.
“A Book of Quiet Necessity”
vintage Japanese boro fabrics that were hand dyed with indigo, persimmon dyed Japanese sashiko thread, lotus seed meditation bead
“A Book of Quiet Necessity”
vintage Japanese boro fabrics that were hand dyed with indigo, persimmon dyed Japanese sashiko thread, found stone
“A Book of Quiet Necessity”
vintage Japanese boro fabrics dyed with indigo, cotton sewing thread, indigo dyed hand spun thread, persimmon dyed Japanese sashiko thread
“A Book of Quiet Necessity”
vintage Japanese boro fabrics dyed with indigo, cotton sewing thread, lotus seed meditation bead
“A Book of Humble Protection”
made from antique Japanese heel guard farmers made and used outside, indigo dyed Japanese sashiko threads
“A Book of Humble Protection”
made from antique Japanese heel guard farmers made and used outside, indigo dyed Japanese sashiko threads
“A Book of Humble Protection”
made from antique Japanese heel guard farmers made and used outside, indigo dyed Japanese sashiko threads
“A Book of Humble Protection”
made from antique Japanese heel guard farmers made and used outside, indigo dyed Japanese sashiko threads
“A Soft Companion”
made with vintage Japanese mosquito netting that was hand spun, woven and dyed with indigo, hand spun indigo dyed nettle yarn, bodhi seed meditation bead, indigo dyed linen thread
“What’s Held in Silence”
made with vintage Japanese hemp mosquito netting that was hand spun, hand woven and dyed with indigo, hemp thread
“Finding Doorways in Presence”
made with vintage Japanese shibori indigo dyed fabric, hand spun Tibetan yak down yarn, hemp thread, and cotton thread…the beginning of the process of feeling into the materials, the energies held there and beginning to respond and have a gentle conversation
“Finding Doorways in Presence”
made with vintage Japanese shibori indigo dyed fabric, hand spun Tibetan yak down yarn, hemp thread, cotton thread and a smooth stone I found
“Finding Doorways in Presence”
made with vintage Japanese shibori indigo dyed fabric, cotton thread
“Finding Doorways in Presence”
made with vintage Japanese shibori indigo dyed fabric, cotton thread, lotus seed meditation beads from India
“Feeling Into Subtle Energies”
made with secondhand indigo dyed with indigo that I weathered between stones outside, indigo dyed hand spun nettle yarn from India, indigo dyed hand spun linen thread, cotton thread
“Feeling Into Subtle Energies”
made with secondhand indigo dyed with indigo that I weathered between stones outside, indigo dyed hand spun nettle yarn from India, indigo dyed hand spun linen thread, cotton thread
“Feeling Into Subtle Energies”
made with secondhand indigo dyed with indigo that I weathered between stones outside, indigo dyed hand spun linen thread, cotton thread, lotus seed meditation beads from India
“Feeling Into Subtle Energies”
made with secondhand indigo dyed with indigo that I weathered between stones outside, indigo dyed hand spun nettle yarn from India, indigo dyed hand spun linen thread, cotton thread
“Slow Discoveries”
made with linen dish towel that I weathered in my hands, Japanese Kogin embroidery thread
“Slow Discoveries”
made with linen dish towel, avocado dyed linen scrap, that I weathered in my hands, naturally dyed thread, and a stone I found outside
“Slow Discoveries”
made with linen dish towel that I weathered in my hands, vintage kantha blanket remnant from India, cotton thread
“Slow Discoveries”
the back of a page…I love the energy and the language of the stitches that are revealed under the surface, on the back that I am creating but can’t see at first…
“Slow Discoveries”
made with linen dish towel that I weathered in my hands, vintage kantha blanket remnant from India, Japanese embroidery thread
“Slow Discoveries”
made with linen dish towel that I weathered in my hands, vintage kantha blanket remnant from India, Japanese embroidery thread
“Poetic Nature”
made with secondhand linen I weathered in my hands, Japanese sashiko thread, gathered hydrangea flowers from my mom’s garden in the summer
“Poetic Nature”
made with secondhand linen I weathered in my hands, cotton thread, gathered hydrangea leaves from my mom’s garden in the summer
“Poetic Nature”
made with secondhand linen I weathered in my hands, Japanese sashiko thread, gathered nasturtium leaves from my mom’s garden in the summer
“Poetic Nature”
made with secondhand linen I weathered in my hands, cotton thread, gathered hydrangea flowers from my mom’s garden in the summer
“Poetic Nature”
the back of the book…
“Held Close”
made with linen I weathered outside with stones and in between my hands, Japanese Kogin embroidery thread
“Held Close”
sitting outside in the summer, weathering the linen pages against the stone path in front of my house
“Held Close”
weathering the linen pages against the stone path in front of my house
“Held Close”
made with linen I weathered outside with stones and in between my hands, Japanese Kogin embroidery thread
“Held Close”
sitting and stitching at my little table in my bedroom
“Held Close”
made with linen I weathered outside with stones and in between my hands, rice paper weathered in my hands, walnut ink
“Held Close”
made with linen I weathered outside with stones and in between my hands, rice paper weathered in my hands, walnut ink
“Held Close”
made with linen I weathered outside with stones and in between my hands, Japanese Kogin embroidery thread
“Holding Space”
made with scraps from a pair of linen pants that I weathered outside between stones, Japanese Kogin embroidery thread
“Holding Space”
made with linen I weathered outside with stones and in between my hands, Japanese Kogin embroidery thread
“Holding Space”
made with linen I weathered outside with stones and in between my hands, Japanese Kogin embroidery thread
“Holding Space”
made with linen I weathered outside with stones and in between my hands, Japanese Kogin embroidery thread
“Holding Space”
made with linen I weathered outside with stones and in between my hands, Japanese Kogin embroidery thread
“Finding Spaciousness Within”
made with scraps from a secondhand linen curtain, hemp thread, cotton sewing thread
“Finding Spaciousness Within”
made with scraps from a secondhand linen curtain, secondhand wool yarn, Japanese sashiko thread
“Finding Spaciousness Within”
made with scraps from a secondhand linen curtain, cotton sewing thread, hand spun nettle yarn from India, sea glass found along the shore of Lake Michigan
“Breathing Room”
made with secondhand linen dyed with indigo, hemp thread, Japanese sashiko thread, and a stone I found
“Breathing Room”
made with secondhand linen dyed with indigo, hemp thread, Japanese sashiko thread
“Breathing Room”
made with secondhand linen dyed with indigo, hemp thread, Japanese sashiko thread
“Breathing Room”
made with secondhand linen dyed with indigo, hemp thread, Japanese sashiko thread
“Breathing Room”
made with secondhand linen dyed with indigo, hemp thread, Japanese sashiko thread
“Silently Releasing Emotions”
made with secondhand linen dyed with indigo, Japanese sashiko thread
“Silently Releasing Emotions”
made with secondhand linen dyed with indigo, Japanese sashiko thread, found sea glass
“Finding Solace”
made with secondhand linen curtain, madder dyed hemp twine, cotton sewing thread
“Finding Solace”
made with secondhand linen curtain, madder dyed hemp twine, cotton sewing thread
“Finding Solace”
made with secondhand linen curtain, birch bark from my yard, cotton sewing thread
“Finding Solace”
made with secondhand linen curtain, birch bark from my yard, cotton sewing thread