arriving with march

Emily Dickinson said, Dear March - Come In
So I invite you as well.  I've been gone a bit, I know.  But, I've been stitching away. I have finished fascicles 4 and 5. Only thirty-five more to go!  I will compose a separate blog for that but today I'm welcoming March. 

March cloth

Dear March - Come in - 

How glad I am -
I hoped for you before -
Put down your Hat - 
You must have walked -
How out of Breath you are - 
Dear March, how are you, and the Rest -
Did you leave Nature well - 
Oh March, Come right upstairs with me -
I have so much to tell -

and telling in the details:

detail

The cloth was first woven, ala cloth to cloth, and then stitched. The words on the cloth are there for me.  They are: 8th full moon, 3/14 pi day, 15th Ides, 2012, daffodils, after the Greek god of war, 31 days, Marze, Lentmont, 21 Spring and Ostara. Ostara is a Saxon/Germanic/pagan goddess that brings Spring. The swirls on the cloth are those March winds that have been blowing around. 

Ostara (1884) by Johannes Gehrts. The goddess flies through the heavens surrounded by Roman-inspired putti, beams of light, and animals. Germanic people look up at the goddess from the realm below.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ostara

 
Another day remembered on the cloth is 11:00 am, March 11, 2008.  That is for my dad.  
I got your Letter, and the Birds - 
The Maples never knew that you were coming -
I declare - how Red their Faces grew -         
But March, forgive me - 
And all those Hills you left for me to Hue - 
There was no Purple suitable - 
You took it all with you - 

I also am going to do a Ides of March cloth - seems to me each month has an Ides but we only remember March's... Still a WIP but even so:

The cloth is dyed with the indigo carmine and acorn.  It was folded during the dye process hence the lines.   

Who knocks? That April -
Lock the Door -
I will not be pursued -
He stayed away a Year to call 
When I am occupied -         
But trifles look so trivial 
As soon as you have come

That blame is just as dear as Praise 
And Praise as mere as Blame -

I also played around a little with weaving.  Jude has been talking about it over at Spirit Cloth here and here.  This brought back memories of when I use to rent a loom...about 35+ years ago when I first moved out on my own.   I would spend my evenings at a place called The Weaving Workshop weaving away.  It gave me great fun to tell people where I worked that I was going out to warp!  Anyway this is what I did.  It's about 3x5 inches. The brown thread is my walnut dyed thread.  The blue is purchased cotton.  

weave experiment

My father made the little "lap loom" if I can call it that, many a many years ago :

dad's touch

I found this a while ago, going through a draw in one of my old room's at my mom's.  It brought back more memories. 

The poems is Emily Dickinson's "Dear March - Come In"

I should be back by week's end with fascicles 4 and 5.  Thank you for welcoming March in with me.  Spring can not be too far away.  Cheers