For me this little book is a real treasure. All the pieces that made it were found on the ground literally in the dirt at a local morning market somewhere on the road from Mahabalipuram to Puducherry. The fabric was all twisted around and had clearly been used as a lead for a cow and disgarded, maybe when the cow had been sold? I saw a glimpse of gold picked it up and shoved it in my bag. It wasn’t until later back in my room I unravelled it and washed it thoroughly to discover it was an incredibly beautiful section of a sari. Most of it now dangles in my flat with a large bell attached that I bought from the same market.
On the same twisted cow lead was some red and white gingham and some yellow and pink plastic threads…it really was quite a find. I also discovered one side of an A4 book cover which was very battered but a lovely turquoise colour with some great images on it, some tickets and a little scrap of note paper.
I took some of the book cover to make a little draw for the matchbox as it didn’t have one anymore. I also used this material as my book cover which holds a selection of the fabric and paper stitched in valley folds to create a semetrical look. I used some extra gingham and sari fabric to line the box and strengthen the valley folds after I had stitched the little pieces in. I love how this became such a beautiful little memory and it really brings to life the frase ‘beauty from ashes’ at least I think so!
