finished ?

so the dad cloth is finished, i think - over the holiday i hung it on a salvaged wardrobe hinge and added details to the fringe:

I remembered the rescued hinge when trying to work out how I was going to hang this – the distressed brass caught my eye and was so appropriate, dad did a lot of DIY and often used scavenged materials – when I put the hinge next to the piece I realised that the spacing of the screw holes matched the position of the eyelets almost exactly, they were meant for each other

the fringe needed more weight and I had lots of nuts, washers and scraps from dad's hoard, so I added a few complementary bits and pieces from my own stash – our shared collecting habit confirms that blood is thicker ….....

there is a slideshow of the finished piece and some details here

working this piece has been both a learning and healing experience – it's the first time i've really paid attention to the process rather than concentrating on the end product – so much of it has been very satisfying:

• working out how to combine jude's 'cloth to cloth' and boro techniques with mementos and memories

• creating embellishments from my father's stuff which reflect aspects of his life and character

• combining adornment with function in so many ways

• the way the writing on the handkerchief in the background weave has faded along with some of my negative feelings

i'm not sure that it's finished yet - not happy with the name at the moment, we've been brainstorming it a bit but haven't found quite the right thing - the best fit so far is 'PHC on Cloth', so a bit more thinking to do ....... and i can always add more if i want to - meanwhile it's time for a new project!