Tag: poetry

Yes, I Have Been Mending

Posted on October 11, 2016September 3, 2018 by Mary Vaneecke

My latest art quilt, Yes, I Have Been Mending was inspired by 2 ideas. One is Hazel Hall’s poem, Mending. I recently discovered her poetry through Poets.org’s Poem-a-Day program. It is great to have a poem delivered to my in-box every day. I don’t always read it, but it is there! Hall used stitch imagery in several of her poems, so I was delighted to read her work.

The second idea that inspired me was the visible mending trend. It’s a lot like it sounds, but check out the link or Pinterest for some examples. ‘Yes, I Have Been Mending’ uses several gorgeous layers of hand-dyed silks, which I layered with eco-felt. And then I took an Exacto knife and sand paper to it to create holes. A bit of a travesty, but that is part of the poem! I then patched the red quilt with green thread and some more hand-dyed silks.

My favorite line in Mending is the last. The complete text of the poem is below:

Mending

Hazel Hall

Here are old things:
Fraying edges,
Ravelling threads;
And here are scraps of new goods,
Needles and thread,
An expectant thimble,
A pair of silver-toothed scissors.
Thimble on a finger,
New thread through an eye;
Needle, do not linger,
Hurry as you ply.
If you ever would be through
Hurry, scurry, fly!
Here are patches,
Felled edges,
Darned threads,
Strengthening old utility,
Pending the coming of the new.
Yes, I have been mending …
But also,
I have been enacting
A little travesty on life.

art quilt 'Yes, I Have Been Mending,' 2016, 38'' x 23.5'' — ‘Yes, I Have Been Mending,’ 2016, 38” x 23.5”

'Yes, I Have Been Mending,' detail — ‘Yes, I Have Been Mending,’ detail

Haiku III

Posted on August 31, 2016May 2, 2023 by Mary Vaneecke

Haiku III

The silk remembers

The loom, the folds, the needle,

The thread, and the flame.

Shibori is a Japanese word for creating pattern on fabric. In the shibori process, many items can be used–folds, clamps, string, needle and thread. Haiku III is a visual interpretation of the poetic literary art form. Translucent silk fabrics were dyed using the itajime and machine-stitched Katano shibori. They were layered and machine stitched with burned raw edges. While the four complexly dyed fabrics relate to one another, each is beautiful in its own right. Photo by Jack Kulawik.

Haiku III, 2016 by Mary Vaneecke, 38'' x 46'' — Haiku III, 2016 by Mary Vaneecke, 38” x 46”

Haiku I

Posted on August 30, 2016September 3, 2018 by Mary Vaneecke

Haiku I became a study of sorts for a larger work (Haiku II) and launches a new series. Both feature hand-dyed sheer silk fabrics over-layed with synthetic sheers, and machine stitched. This allows for a fascinating interplay between colors, values, and repeating shapes. Haiku I is more intense, and reminds me of a Rorschach test, if you had double vision. The namesake poetry, and the dyeing technique, shibori, are both Japanese.

Of course, I had to write a haiku to celebrate this new series.

Haiku I

Two colors: red, black

Layered to affect the mood–

Simple yet complex.