Why I LOVE Textiles

Fair Warning- It will be difficult for me to write this post without rambling. I could go on about fabric entwining and influencing culture forever.

I love fabric. I love the color. I love the feel. I like sewing. I like threads and yarn too. I like weaving. I like spinning cords. I don't know how anyone could look at fabric and not see art.

It is said the Goddess Isis civilized the world when She invented weaving. In case you are wondering how that works, people have to settle to weave. It takes a great deal of time to farm cotton, then to pick it, card it, spin it, weave it, and THEN dye it, sew it, or embroider it. While you are busy making clothes, you don't have time to get into trouble.

What astounds me are the textiles of desert dwellers. Look at this rug. It's huge. I can't even count all the colors in it. Now think about living in Arabia and nothing but sand as far as the eye can see. How do they feed the sheep for the wool? And then they get enough fiber to make this?!

The Navajo do the exact same thing.

And so do Mexicans. If I could study anything, I'd go to the Middle East for the rugs, robes, and tents. They craft their whole lives into fiber in a place where fiber should be damn hard to come by.

I love weaving. I find it very meditative and soothing.

I also love quilts. I have always loved geometric patterns. My grandmother's quilting was for necessity. My Granny made her quilts pretty.

Now it is almost an insult to make a quilt that is less than beautiful. And it's not just quilting-

Cross stitch has become fine art.

I thought this dragon was a painting when I first looked at it and I was wondering why in the hell an oil painting came up in machine embroidery search results.

Even plastic canvas

has evolved way beyond geeky tissue box holders.

Know what's hard to find now? Plain white tea towels. Now we want them with firm words and bold sayings.

Actually now, if it's a textile, it should be as beautiful as possible. Plain anything won't do. The artist's skill and personality must shine through. What's covering your bed? Will you dream better wrapped in beauty?

I think this is a subject I'll have to come back to. I will try to narrow my focus in the next textile post. If anyone has a subject they would like to know more about, leave a comment. Otherwise you can just read whatever I post.