Wabi Sabi for Barcelona

Tomorrow I'm off to Barcelona for a week-long cruise on the Mediterranean with stops for Rome, Naples, Florence, Marseilles and Cannes.  Can't beat that!  It has been a busy week finishing up things here at the studio so that Sonja can manage while I'm away.

Today I finally had a chance to do a little for myself.  Whenever I'm traveling one of my main concerns is making sure that I have books to read and a stitching project.  For me, true luxury is time to sit and read or stitch.  Tonight I will load up my e-reader with some new books.  This afternoon I prepared a new stitching project.

I don't know if I've mentioned it here, but Sonja and I are working on a joint exhibit for February 2013 at the public library in Topsfield, Massachusetts.  The theme for the exhibit is Wabi Sabi.  One of the things that this theme says to me is timeworn elegance.  We are incorporating a variety of well-aged textiles into our art.

I started looking through a fabric bin a bit ago looking for a fabric to use as a base for what I thought would be a piece incorporating some of the sari ribbon we got recently.  This is what I found instead:

It's an old table-runner (?) that we bought at a flea market years ago.  It's a thin, very soft cotton (?) with some holes and stains.  When we bought it I figured that we'd cut it up and use the good parts in something.  When I saw it today, it immediately cried out Wabi Sabi to me.  The fabric is certainly timeworn, but I think the design is very elegant.  So, I've basted it to a length of flannel and I'm going to pick out some new threads and so I'm ready to stitch tomorrow.  We'll see where it goes.