Thursday 28 February 2013

Patchwork


 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
We will survive - you see time heals wounds.
We will meet - light is the same on all...
Alive or dead, sober or drunk -
once again you will be my love.
Like damp grass, like grey-blue air,
like my own dying in my dream,
like the sea shore with the stone cornice
of the wave, like the solitary light at the window.
Like the wind at night loves the bottom of the ravine.
like that camel loves the eye of the needle,
like the body the final shirt
apart from which there is nothing.
And I will come to in the madhouse or the grave,
in this world or the next,
where wings rumpled in handshakes
will close secretly behind your shoulder.
And no, sadness is not a shadow, but a butterfly
of the night, whose flesh the mirrors multiply,
and it bursts the cobweb
and struggles down and floats then
to the cold flower of the table lamp,
and it is no more: the glass has melted.
You will realise that you are alone,
and that you yourself have been talking to yourself for a long time.
 
 
Without Addressee by Katia Kapovich,
from the anthology Poet for Poet edited by Richard McKane.
more from Katia here via 1
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 










 
The Outfit:
 
Flower panelled dress: from Oxfam online
 
Vintage 70s striped panelled skirt: my mother's

Black wool cardigan: charity shop

Blue belt: very old, from Topshop
 
Bracelets: late granny Penny's
 
Daffodils: from the garden, tight buds outside in the cold, their flowers open when we bring them indoors
 
Patchwork bedspread made from vintage material: made by late granny Kiki for me when she was in her 80s. It includes scraps of material from her couturier days, and also leftover fabric from her own and my mother's wedding dresses.


 
The Soundtrack:
 
Rimsky Korsakov: Scheherazade op.35



Photographs taken by me using the self timer on my little digital camera


20 comments:

  1. Makes a wonderful cape!
    I'm such a sucker for patchwork.....but who isn't?!

    XXX

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    1. Thanks you, it does! Am wondering if maybe one day I should turn it into a dress...

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  2. You theatrical post are such a piece of art, and a true delight, my dear friend. I love every single shot of uniqueness.
    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx

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    1. You're so kind Sacramento, thank you my dear, so glad you do!

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  3. What a treasure that quilt is! Very touching and poetic to think of your grandmother making it for you out of the remnants of her life's passion.

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    1. Thank you, yes every time I wrap myself up in it I feel so close to her again, particularly comforting on difficult days :)

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  4. Fabulous quilt. I used to do a lot of patchwork but haven't really bothered for the last few years.

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    1. So glad you like it! I've never made patchwork but would love to try sometime.

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  5. Great patchwork and the cat seemed to like it too.

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  6. What a stunning piece of patchwork. You know I'm a total addict and I'd happily rip that beauty off your back! xxx

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    1. I've seen your beautiful curtains and that wonderful skirt you've made from patchwork, that is a great compliment coming from you the queen of patchwork! Kiki would be delighted!

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  7. I fell in love with your skirt and of course the patchwork blanket. What a joy to have such a beautiful piece, all the more special because of who made it and where the scraps came from. You are wrapped in love!!!

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    1. That's just how it feels! It's a lovely way to still feel close to Kiki, I do miss her and all my grandparents a great deal. So glad you like the skirt too thank you, more posts of it to come in the summer...

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  8. Oh Emalina what a precious work of art Kiki has left behind for you!!! It's utterly glorious, look at all those beautiful swatches of precious fabrics, each one telling its own story!! I love these pics of you with the candles and spring daffodils (finally!) You are magical sweetie:) xoxoxoxoxo

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    1. Ahhh I'm so glad you appreciate it as much as I do, thanks so much for your lovely words dear Desiree!

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  9. You look so lovely! The patchwork bedspread history and significant is amazing.
    Thank you for sharing it with us. In a way you are keeping your grandmother and mother history alive by continue to use their possessions in your every day life.

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    1. Thank you Ofelia, I love the way you put that, yes I really do try to keep their spirits alive by staying close to their clothes.

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  10. I love the history behind the patchwork bedspread. My 1940's crazy quilt is one of my prized possessions, and I would love to know the origins of all the fabrics it is made of. (Many of them are beautiful floral rayons or luxurious velvets and silks, and I have to wonder if they were cut from old dresses!)

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    1. Ah imagine what those dresses would have looked like! I agree, patchwork is so irrestible and so full of soulful history.

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