As I lead a rug hooking workshop, I bring in the subject of meditation. I ask the group to leave outside the rest of the world, and make our time together a true retreat from care. Meditation leads us to concentrate on breathing, to the exclusion of all our cares. In, out, in, out, concentrate on what you are doing.
Can you hear the weaver speaking through this? Do you hear the rhythm of the loom?
Can you hear the quilter speaking through this as she plies her needle?
Can you feel the rug hooker’s concentration as she works the hook in and out, over and over, to the joy of the present, the feel of the fibers in her fingers and the glory of color on color as the work builds in her hands? Our fiber arts are a rich heritage that have enhanced and sustained our lives from time beyond counting. Just as much today as ever!
My 11 year old Elizabeth who weaves and knits and crochets and asked for a grown up sewing machine for Christmas is a joy to me! The apple does not fall far from the tree. Happy New Year, Edyth
Welcome to My Red Cape. Long ago in another time my husband Jack and I lived in a little old red house. It was the stuff of dreams to us for the few years that we were there. I live there still a number of hours every day in imagination, with old dolls and paintings and fabrics and feather trees. I draw inspiration and happiness from the memories of that space in time and share some of it here with friends who remember how to step with Alice through the looking glass and take delight in whimsies and antiquities.
~Edyth O’Neill
