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The artists in Gathering Blue have special objects—a cloth, a carving—that seem to communicate with their owners and let them see, or at least sense, the future. For Kira, and especially for Thomas, these objects remind their owners of a time when they were at their most creative—before the Council of Guardians took them in and controlled their art by ordering them to work on art for the Gathering. Lowry, a highly experienced writer at this point in her career, may see the cloth and carving as symbols of artistic inspiration and creativity. Artistic inspiration, or the daemon, as some writers have called it, is a strange thing: many great writers have reported that their daemons seem to know the right words or images before the artists themselves do. It’s as if there is a part of the artist’s brain that can predict the future. In many cases, the rules of society limit artistic creativity: we see this very clearly with Thomas, and later Kira—indeed, Thomas was more creative as a small child than he is as an “employee” of the guardians. The cloth and carving, then, externalize what all great artists (including Lowry) say they have: a voice in their head that tells them how to create and is always fighting to be heard.
Kira’s Cloth / Thomas’s Carving Quotes in Gathering Blue
The Gathering Blue quotes below all refer to the symbol of Kira’s Cloth / Thomas’s Carving. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 4
Quotes
Now, secret in her hand, the cloth seemed to speak a silent, pulsing message to Kira. It told her there was danger still. But it told her also that she was to be saved.
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Chapter 9
Quotes
"It's a lovely thing," he said, seeing the small cloth. Kira stroked it before she closed the lid.
"It speaks to me somehow," she told him. "It seems almost to have life." She smiled, embarrassed, because she knew it was an odd thing and that he would not understand and could perhaps find her foolish.
But Thomas nodded. "Yes," he said to her surprise. "I have a piece of wood that does the same. One I carved long ago, when I was just a tyke.
"And sometimes I feel it in my fingers still, the knowledge that I had then.” He turned to leave.
That you had then? No more? The knowledge doesn't stay? Kira was dismayed at the thought but she said nothing to her friend.
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Chapter 11
Quotes
The fabric gave a kind of answer but it was no more than a flutter, like a breeze across her that she would not remember when she woke at dawn. The scrap told her something of her father — something important, something that mattered — but the knowledge entered her sleep, trembling through like a dream, and in the morning she did not know that it was there at all.
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Get the entire Gathering Blue LitChart as a printable PDF.
Kira’s Cloth / Thomas’s Carving Symbol Timeline in Gathering Blue
The timeline below shows where the symbol Kira’s Cloth / Thomas’s Carving appears in Gathering Blue. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3
...signs of strength as a baby. In her pocket, she feels a small square of cloth she wove long ago, and how she came to be a great weaver without any...
(full context)
Chapter 4
...that exceptions can be made. As he does so, Kira feels the small piece of cloth in her pocket, and thinks about weaving. Katrina taught her how to dye threads; in...
(full context)
...change in the guardians’ behavior, in her favor. Vandara notices it, too. Kira clutches the cloth in her pocket, which suddenly feels warm to her. She wove the cloth when her...
(full context)
Chapter 6
...The rock feels small and cold, and doesn’t bring her any comfort. She touches her cloth, which she’s placed under her pillow. The cloth feels warm and comforting. Kira falls asleep....
(full context)
Chapter 9
...large place at the top of the ruin staff where Thomas will add his own carvings. He also gives Kira a gift: a small box, carved to resemble the plants Kira...
(full context)
...that she’s doing a good job. Her hands are tired, but when she takes her cloth out of the box Thomas gave her, she feels calm. When Kira goes to visit...
(full context)
Chapter 10
Later that night, Kira tries to explain how her cloth warned her about Matt, but finds it difficult to explain. Thomas suggests that the cloth...
(full context)
Chapter 11
...what could have happened to her father. As she falls asleep, she thinks about her cloth—the cloth tells her something important about her father, but when she wakes up she finds...
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Chapter 13
...Kira that she’s doing an excellent job with the robe, and leaves. Kira touches her cloth, but it brings her no comfort. She thinks she can hear a child crying.
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Chapter 15
...the future. She points out that she and Thomas have similar forms of “knowledge”: Kira’s cloth seems to speak to her, and Thomas’s carving speaks to him. Perhaps this is a...
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Chapter 16
...wait until night falls. Without knowing exactly why, Kira tells Thomas to bring his wood carving with him when they go to find Jo. Kira takes her cloth. To muffle their...
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Thomas and Kira quietly walk to the Jo’s room on the lower floor. Kira’s cloth tells her that they’re not in danger. Thomas uses his key to open the door,...
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Chapter 18
...quest to find blue, even though he’s been gone for many days. Kira touches her cloth, hoping for consolation, but she feels none. Sometimes, she hears Jo chanting repetitively downstairs. Occasionally,...
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