the World of Webmistress Ming

... is worth two Cynthias in the sack.

So here I am. Hanging out at 6:15 a.m. in the cruise ship library/coffee shop. MacBook Pro is getting major male attention from the early rising contingent. I've already met a man who worked on operating system development pre-Windows--cool!

The satellite feed is thready and weak, so more later:
ming in the library

The second row has just been added to the patchwork, piddly-squat corners and all--and I've reached a decision.

This is a Daoist vestment, and so I will heed Master Li's advice: I will create this garment slowly and with mindfulness.

Sure, my Western mind had the notion of "just go all-out this weekend and get it done before you leave on vacation!"

But negotiating those acute corners--most important, because of the high contrast between the black and the lighter fabrics--brought home to me that this was a Bad Idea.

Bad for my body, but more important, bad for the effort.

And here they are: the first blocks of the patchwork:

The beixin uses three colors: white, yellow and black. The arrangement is similar to a "tumbling blocks" quilting pattern, but the color scheme and placement don't follow the dimensional effect most often seen with that pattern.

Brighid, you might add a comment explaining the liturgical meaning of the colors and their placement.

As for this seamstress, I've replaced my concern for grain with an obsession with the quilter's "scant 1/4th seam".

Did I mention that quilting is not my strongest point? Nowhere does it hit me more than the "cutting out" phase, when it comes to patchwork.

I am not one of these people born with a whizzy-whacker in her hand--but with a background in construction sewing, I am obsessive about grain.

The challenge: cutting three colors' worth of 4.5-inch diamonds, while maintaining straight of grain.

I'm beginning the beixin project with the pattern.

As a starting point, I'm using a Simplicity pattern for a Japanese haori--but only to get a feel for the fit required at the collar. The beixin differs from the haori in several particulars, including the shape of the coat and the length of the collar, but the general construction is quite similar:

haori pattern

Somehow this is more than sewing: I will spend the day tomorrow creating a "beixin" (pronounced bay-SHEEN) for my daughter. It's a liturgical garment, a Daoist nun's vestment. A knee-length vest, it is quilted in a pattern composed of three specific colors, and includes significant images on collar and trim.

This photograph was taken on my daughter's 30th birthday, and marks her acceptance as a novice Daoist nun. This is the first time she has worn ritual garments:

Sister Miao Deying

Message to my daughter:

Brighid, I just want to say this to you, and it's important.

We can disagree.

I still love you.

I worry about you.

I still love you.

I think you are one of the most amazing people I've ever met.

We will still have disagreements.

So what? We will disagree, but I have loved you from the day you were made, and I will love you forever.

You are a pearl of great price, and it has been my privilege, honor and delight to be your mother.

Thank you for letting me have a real relationship with you.

Thank you for letting me fight with you.

Not that it's any secret where Ming falls on this scale, but what IS it with the dreamers among us?

I feel another wild-woman insight coming on.

Martini Boy and I had a pre-dinner confab over drinks this evening. Subject: the pending/possible/maybe book offer that's on the table from my publisher.

Me, I am panicked.

You see, publishers--and ESPECIALLY mine--think of writers as necessary evils. It's not about "Hey, let's publish this great manuscript!". Instead, it's "Oh, gosh--we have a hole in our autumn booklist, how can we fill it?"

Awwww .... that was my fishy. He's all I wanted for my third birthday.

ming's third birthday