Still lives

So far, the teatowel-a-thon has been fab! A nice steady flow of orders, getting us ever-closer to our goal of purchasing a sausage cannon, but not enough to make me overwhelmed, and leaving me time to work on my other projects like rag rugs and crocheted stubby holders and the platform for our wood-fired pizza oven. Balanced. Not insane. Just the way I like it.

And I've had some lovely folks making special requests for various teatowel themes for their boleros/cushion-covers/pinafores and frocks, which has prompted me to look quite thoroughly through my collection to take stock of what I have.

After posting the gorgeous still life last week, and finding a few more choice still lives in the rummagings, I thought it might be nice to do a still life themed post.

But what exactly is the plural of 'still life'? I've gone with still lives,  because I kind of like the thought of lives that are still. Not still in a stagnant, non-moving kind of way (no way! Not that!!), but still in a quiet, peaceful kind of way, if that makes sense...

In one of those kind of fortuitous/spooky/funny coincidence things, when I uploaded the photos I took today of a handful of still life teatowels, I also uploaded some photos from this week that are beautiful little still lives of their own. Just hanging out there on the camera, moments that I just found to be beautiful and so took a photo with no particular plan for them. They both feature goings-on from our big outdoor table. Even now, in (almost) the middle of winter, it's so central to our lives, every single day. It's bathed in sun all day, from the moment the sun comes up til the moment it ducks over the western hill, and I'm particularly in love with sitting out there in the sun stitching up the big coiled rag rug I've been working on for.. well... about 2 years. But that's another story.

The table is also our eating-place and our crafting place and a playing place and a place for the kids to climb up to escape from the neighbour's dog who's threatening to steal their bikkies out of their hands. It's where we wash and tie up our bunches of veggies each week before we take them into town to sell to the co-op. It's where we chop up food and do the dishes, and it's where I cut out and sew whatever clothes I'm working on.

And sometimes things look so beautiful on it (sometimes it just looks plain messy) we just have to take a photo. And I guess that action makes the life of our table be still for just a moment.

The still lives of the teatowels, on the other hand, are waiting to be given a new life! They're waiting to be unfolded, to be cut (sorry Kylie!) and re-made and worn by people who are going to the markets and out to see music and to have tea with friends. These still lives are waiting to be made into cushion covers to decorate and soften couches and sleeping nooks, and to see the light of day once more.

So if you like one, let me know! pearlandelspeth@gmail.com