The sack repaired …

Last summer a friend sent me a coffee bean sack in the post. Not so strange as it sounds as for many years now, I have embroidered sacks, so friends are inclined to gift me one or two from time to time. However, not all were suitable because I disassemble them, so I have a beautiful flat expanse to work on to make a ‘hanging’ and no longer any kin to a sack. So, I shamelessly disregard a damaged sack and wonder why anyone would open a sack with a knife and render it useless. When it is very easy to remove the stitching and therefore facilitate further use. So, when I opened the parcel, I disappointed that the sack had been opened with a knife and severely wounded and the sight was surprisingly overwhelming and my gut said ‘repair it and give it use’. Little did I know that as winter loomed, I too was feeling damaged. Not visibly like the sack but seemingly irreparable. So, while I began the repair in the late summer when the winter rains came with unending heaviness, the need for gentle repair became more urgent, almost with vengeance. Each day from 1^st December I stitched and stitched random colours and threads and as I greet the spring the job is almost done. It is still a sack, mended no longer containing coffee beans but filled with love, good wishes and hope. I have much to be thankful for.