Stitching a Story

I believe that there are subtle messages that are being sent to us all of the time. From where or whom, I know not.

But I do know, that if we are listening...if we are open and receiving the signals...then we just might receive a little cosmic push that sends us down a new path...down a road less traveled that we may not have otherwise taken.

Well, this morning I felt a cosmic "push". I was sitting at the lab waiting to have my blood drawn for a routine test and was reading the latest issue of Inspirations magazine.

And in the latest issue there is an entire article on the beauty of Kantha embroidery. I couldn't believe the coincidence.


At the end of the article there are stitch guides for the stitches used in kantha embroidery -- many of them variations of the running stitch -- new stitches to me like the chatai stitch, kaitya stitch and the kantha stitch...providing more substance to my exploration of kantha embroidery.

Stitches that, just days ago, I had searched for on the internet trying to find stitch guides to help me better understand the methods of the kantha stitched by the Bangladeshi women that I posted about the other day in telling Surayia's story. And here it was, all laid out before me this morning in black and white.


And this is the same embroidery that just happens to be on display at the Philadelphia Museum of Art where I can easily make a day trip and go see the many nakshi kantha up-close-and-personal. There's no doubt in my mind now that I have to go.

And, all of this information landed in my lap within one week. What to make of it?

I have always been attracted to needlework that tells a story. Participating in the Bead Journal Project taught me the power of combining my love for embroidery with my love for my own life.
Each one, individually, is beautiful in and of itself...but put together, the combined result is an art form that speaks to...and from...my very soul.

Surayia said "Life tells the Story." And I think perhaps that is my message this week.

Where will I go next with telling my story in my needlework. I have decided that I cannot participate formally in the bead journal project this year because I cannot meet the monthly deadline...the schedule. But I will take what I learned from that journey and apply it to what I make in the future.

Interestingly enough, I picked up this book at the Quilt store this past Saturday. It is chock full of quilts that tell the stories of the makers...whether it be an event or a person or a feeling. It's journaling with textiles...just like the kantha...and it encourages the reader to tell their own stories with cloth. If you can find it...it's worth a look over with a cuppa just for the gallery pictures alone...dozens and dozens of quilts that tell stories...

Today, I have to finish Cate's jean jacket but all the while I'll be thinking about stories I want to tell with my needle and thread.

And I think that maybe I have become a student of Surayia even though I live hundreds of miles away and we have never met...