Sometimes I embroider on scraps or on one of my studio shirts. This time, I looked around and saw a doll body hanging on the door hook. Last year, I made the body and a head, but since the body was large and cloth, with no armature, the head (clay over styrofoam ball) was too heavy. I removed the head and left the body for another time.
The body was just hanging there waiting--a blank canvas. Exactly what I needed to keep my hands busy so I could catch up on some of my shows. No design or purpose in mind, choosing thread and stitch at random, and loving the tactile feel of the threads on the cloth....
Eventually, maybe an idea will come, and I'll make a cloth head to fit on the body, but right now, it serves another purpose by giving me an excuse to watch my shows.
If nothing comes to me in the meantime, maybe I'll make more pom poms or do some weaving.
Speaking of pom poms, I'm not in the Christmas mood yet, but I love this idea from Aunt Peaches . She has the most cheerful and colorful home in blogland, and I completely adore her Christmas tree.
The dimension those pom pom branches give the tree makes me happy! If I decided to follow her tutorial and make the pom pom branches, I would buy the pom poms as Aunt Peaches suggests, rather than making them. My yarn colors are not too Christmas-y and ready-made packets would be so much easier and more efficient.
Which does not mean that I won't make more pom poms. I like making pom poms. :) Moodling with pom poms or embroidery soothes the hands and leaves the mind free.
moodling - “imagination needs moodling – long inefficient, happy idling, dawdling and puttering” -- Brenda Ueland: If You Want to Write: A book about Art, Independence & Spirit (and I'm very good at it--moodling, that is)
Linking to Off the Wall Friday.
I have never heard of moodling. Kind of doodling for the mind. Gosh I love that Christmas tree. Can you imagine what goes on in the mind of someone that would create such a festive tree! What a fun place to live!!
ReplyDeletexx, Carol
Isn't that the best tree? Aunt Peaches really does have the most colorful imagination! Her home looks so cheerful and happy. :)
ReplyDeleteOh, I LOVE that word!! Always happy to learn a new word - especially when it represents what I do a lot of *smile*!! What a great tree!! Hopefully she leaves it that way all year long (perhaps tucked away in a closet or something) because redoing it each year would very well take away a lot of moodling time.
ReplyDeleteI know, Penny, the word provides a perfect description of much of our activity! Aunt Peaches' tree is about my favorite tree ever, and I wouldn't mind living with it year round.
DeleteI love your embroidery! For random color picks-you sure picked colors that look well together. what a nice way to get inspired. I had never seen a pompom tree, but I do love the one you showed. I think all white ones would be pretty too....especially with old lace things draping the branches.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Debra! This kind of embroidery is soothing, kind of meditative. All white would look like snow, wouldn't it? I love the way the pom pom branches give that fluffy, dimensional look!
DeleteThat is a quite astonishing tree!
ReplyDeleteLike several other readers, I'm taken with the word "moodling". I make have to add it to my vocabulary!
:) Aunt Peaches has a colorful approach! My favorite parts are the pom pom branches.
DeleteI found the term moodling several years ago on a quilting blog and commandeered it to describe my favorite activities!
Moodling....seems like percolating--the word we used in a writing class I took. It means to do other stuff and let your brain sort run in the background till the "aha" moment finally arrives. I think I like moodling too. It implies that you aren't folding clothes or washing dishes or (ick no!) dusting or the other mundane things that need doing. I'd much rather lie in a hammock or under under a quilt and moodle through. Yes, that's my new go-to when I need some creative ideas.
ReplyDeleteAre you sure there's a tree under there? I really think it's a stack of diminishing size boxes with everything packed and piled and perfectly placed. (How about that alliteration?) Really, it would have to be an oak tree to handle all the ornaments, but I'll give her this much: it's stunning. It gives me the idea that using EVERY ornament I own may be something to try after all. The more I look at those pompom limbs, the more I want to make a few or 10.
I've used percolating and fermenting to describe that sensation of ideas that wait for the "a ha" moment! I like moodling to describe things like embroidery or hand quilting--hands engaged, but requiring little thought for the activity, so the mind just wanders around.
DeleteSince most of the ornaments on Aunt Peaches are from yarn, each of them would be perfect moodling activities. :)
recharging... that's what I need, And someone to clean up the studio for me. Leeanna
ReplyDelete:) Don't you wish someone would do all the mundane work of cleaning and de-cluttering? Making the choices of what to keep, what to throw away, and where to put everything?
DeleteMoodling is a great word - I'm officially adopting it as of now. I love what you are doing on the doll's body; a very pretty way to keep your hands busy. And yes, fantastic tree!!!
ReplyDelete:) When I found the word several years ago on a quilter's blog, I couldn't resist adopting it, myself! Although not originally intended for textile art, it so fits the way many quilters and textile artists go about their work. Of course, it would fit other creative endeavors as well!
DeleteI need to start a cloth for moodling! Great inspiration!
ReplyDeleteLong strips are great! Or just put something in a hoop and start playing. I play on my studio shirts (which used to be my husband's). You can practice different stitches or work in just one or two. :)
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