We've Come To See The Tapestries!

I've been working a lot on my embroidery project and my left thumb is beginning to tell me about it. Bummer. Woke up with pain in it this morning.

I love doing embroidery, though. Absolutely love it. Actually, it's a big cross-stitch blanket again, not a true embroidery project.

There is something magical about taking a needle and colored thread, pushing the needle in and out of the fabric in specific ways, changing the colors here and there in specific patterns and ending up with a beautiful 'painting on cloth.' It's so simple. So beautiful. So easy. (So time consuming, written in a whisper.) And the results can last well past the life-time of the artist who creates the whole thing.

Reminds me of visiting Stirling Castle several years ago and seeing this:

We actually got to watch a woman work on one of the tapestries while we were there. This is part of what began my interest in weaving, although I know that tapestry weaving is very different than what I'm learning right now.

While in Izmir, Turkey 10 years ago, we took a tour and saw rug weaving. This flicker account has a couple photos posted of what we watched. Here is one of them:

The photographer posted a couple other photos on his account as well. Check them out! (I wish we'd had digital photography and flicker accounts when WE went to Turkey!) I guess that this was my first real introduction to this sort of craft, not the tapestries at Stirling Castle. Wherever it happened, I would love to do this myself.

Sometimes when I think about things like this I wonder if we'll be able to do these kinds of things in heaven. I've probably written about this before, if so, forgive me for repeating myself. But in the New Heaven and New Earth - will we do things like this? Perfectly, over eternity to learn our craft, practice our craft, become better and better at it? Do it all for the glory of God, our Father and Maker, rather than out of self-pride?

I wonder. And I hope.

God has given us so much creative ability, so many different mediums to work with. A needle and thread. A brush and oils. A stick of chalk. A loom and yarn. A wheel and fleece. A piece of ground and a group of plants. A wheel and a lump of clay. A few sticks and a few dried reeds or grasses.

In our perfected body and mind, completely sinless, no pain, no frustration, no anger - what will we be able to do, to create with our own hands?

And the greatest thing of all - no sin.

Ahhhh - how I look forward to that! No comparing my work to someone else's and being jealous. No fear of causing someone else jealousy. The ability to do it for God with a clean conscience, pure motives, child-like knowledge that He will be pleased with my efforts and love me, no matter how it looks! :)

Someone recently told me that they are not looking forward to heaven because it will be so "boring" doing the same thing all the time. Actually, I began to question that person's salvation, but understood the pressures behind that statement as well (death looming in the family). I look forward to heaven because I'll have all the time I need to do whatever it is that I want to do, to do what needs to be done, to explore, to create, to relax, to live!!!

(PS - the title of this post comes from:

. Whenever I think of tapestries, that quote, originally said by Harrison Ford with a really bad Scottish accent, comes to mind. hahahaha!)