a single thread in nature (2)

If one pulls on a single thread in nature, you'll find it attached to everything else.
— John Muir (1838–1914)

Here's the second of the triad stitched around the Muir quote (see the first here). Again, mutsume ami—the basket weave—but with rows of three threads. The colors were inspired by a lithograph by Faith Ringgold, The Sunflower Quilting Bee at Arles (below). As with the first, the temari is divided into eight triangles; four are filled with the basket weave, and four are left unfilled for contrast.

Thread wrap in dusty mulberry, S4 division. Embroidery in 10 different colors. The quote by John Muir is in the bell box, along with 17 brass rings. Circumference: 9.5 inches / 24 cm; diameter: 3 inches / 7.6 cm. Completed 30 July 2012 (no. 133).

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Faith Ringgold, The Sunflower Quilting Bee at Arles, 1996. Lithograph. Philadelphia Museum of Art.

beginning year two of temari - a single thread in nature (1)

 If one pulls on a single thread in nature, you'll find it attached to everything else.
— John Muir (1838–1914)

I'm entering my second year of temari making—I finished my first three on July 26, 2011, and started this blog the next day. After about a month-long hiatus (read: too busy with the day job to work on temari), I finally have a new one, with a new-to-me stitch: mutsume ami—the basket weave (technically, "hexagonal weaving to create a triaxial design"). I learned this stitch form Barb Suess's new book, Temari Techniques: A Visual Guide to Making Japanese Embroidered Thread Balls.

This one is intended to be the first of a triad, stitched around the same quote. My current plan is to further explore variations of this weave, but I may get distracted and do something else . . .

(update, 7/30: see the second one here)

Thread wrap in dark blue-violet ("pansy"), S4 division. Embroidery in light violet blue, violet, and olive gold. The quote by John Muir is in the bell box, along with 17 brass rings. Circumference: 9.5 inches / 24 cm; diameter: 3 inches / 7.6 cm. Completed 27 July 2012 (no. 132).


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scissors hesitate

Before the white chrysanthemum
the scissors hesitate
a moment.
— Yosa Buson (1716–1783)

This temari was inspired by a pattern by Barbara Suess. Three four-petal kiku herringbone stars/flowers at each pole, layered. I wanted this to be very subtle and soft, and chose light colors, with the contrasting gray not too dark. Experimenting, the stars at the south pole are offset from those at the north pole resulting in an asymmetrical design. At the north pole the gray star has varying petal lengths, while at the south pole the thinner cream star has varying petal lengths, which results in a zig-zag appearance at the equator (which has no marking line or obi).

Thread wrap in ecru; S8 division in metallic silver; embroidery in cream and light silver-gray, with highlights and edging in metallic silver. The haiku by Buson is in the bell box, with seven brass rings. Circumference: 10.25 inches / 26 cm; diameter: 3.25 inches / 8.27 cm. Completed 5 October 2011 (no. 038).

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