Process...

Happy Friday!

I can hear thunder as I sit and write this blog on this beautiful, rainy day in the studio. Here in North Carolina we are in dire need of some rain, so today is a welcome change. The facet that some people have too much rain, while we have too little rain is not lost on me. The devastating flooding this week has been heart wrenching.

My little studio is busy at work, though today I may have to do none machine tasks…I do not run the long arm while there is a high probability of lightening or power outages. I could do real damage if I kept going while Lenni stopped from loss of power! I can use my domestic machines, though, and I have plenty of hand work and prep work that can be done even if the electricity goes out. Sewing is so versatile that way!

Blogs will likely become shorter here at the end of the year, but I will do my best to check in each week. I am currently working on a blog about the process I go through to make a quilt…what steps I follow and the order of operations, and the idea that I often have a lot of choices of what to tackle next in the studio, which I know I have discussed before. As you know, I always have several orders on the go…right now I am working on at least five quilts in varying stages. I have one to bind, two to piece, one with applique to sew and HeatnBond, needle turn applique for handwork, and several quilts already in my brain, mulling ideas quietly. My work is never far from my mind, even when I am not aware of it!

Have a wonderful week,

Ginger

Reading now: I am nearly finished with East of Eden…I am holding my breath. I remember loving this book the first time I read it, years and years and years ago, but I do not remember what happened. This second reading has been a wonderful rediscovery. I am into the next chapter of Trembling Hands, and I am still learning a lot. I might begin an Agatha Christie Anthology I have, but I might start the Slow Horses series, too…as always I have lots of options.

I’m so pleased to see so many people voted and made a resounding statement. NPR is still a great place for news and information. Fridays are especially interesting…Embodied and Science Friday here!

Color: What is best for a T-Shirt Quilt or Memory Quilt?

Happy Friday! As you can imagine, color is everywhere in my studio…bolts of fabric, my color coded stash, quilts in progress, thread, paperweights on the window sill and hanging colorful art. I love color, and picking out colors for a quilt is one of my favorite parts of the process. I can see a quilt coming together in my head when I am picking our fabric, and my ability to see the quilt in my mind’s eye is very helpful because clients cannot always see the possibilities in their heads. So you may ask: How do I choose?

I am fond of saying to clients that really any fabric will work as long as the parts are coordinated. The parts I am talking about are the sashing (if you have it), the fabric around each shirt piece, the cornerstones for classic quilts, which often match the outer border, the inner border, which matches the sashing, the outer border fabric, the back, and the binding. We can get away with two fabric choices, or we can go all out and have four or five! But what is most important to remember is that most t-shirt quilts have an eclectic color pallet amongst the shirts and the colors may vary dramatically. Plus there are colors in the graphics, too. You may feel overwhelmed with choices, but you can choose almost any fabrics to go with those shirts!

An NCSU themed quilt with NCSU shirts. Black sashing and inner border are sharp with the NCSU fabric in the outer border and corner stones. The black binding helps hold it all together.

The fabric…sashing, borders, binding…are what will bring all of those possibly disparate t-shirts together. Of course if we have a themed quilt, college shirts, favorite team, or organizational shirts, then we can pull fabrics to match the theme. NCSU fabric (Yay for NCSU for licensing fabric this year!), along with black, red, and gray solids to create that NCSU theme.

Even variations on one color can create a beautiful quilt, like in this teal colored quilt. The sashing and inner border are a light teal/green, and the outer border is a lovely darker teal blender. The back is a medium teal blender. The Navy binding adds a nice dark border to this quilt.

For those t-shirt and memory quilts that have eclectic shirts/clothing, I start with favorites: colors, teams, college, and then I move on to the room in which the quilt will live and the usage of the quilt. In quilting we tend to think dark to light, so we often use light to medium sashing colors to darker outer border and binding. The back can honestly be anything as long as it coordinates with the binding! However, no rules are set in stone. We can use the same color for the sashing, inner border, and outer border and have a middle border. Or we can use dark sashing with a large print outer border. I do recommend a solid or blender fabric for the sashing and inner borders, so that the fabric does not compete with the shirts. A blender fabric is a fabric with a small print or movement, like a marble effect, that reads more like a solid when you see it at a distance.

An example of that middle border idea. Black sashing, inner border, and outer border with a pink middle border creates a wonderful quilt. And the pop of pink in the binding adds to this dramatic, but simple colors scheme!

I am also open to great suggestions for quilt colors, too, because the possibilities are endless, and when presented with a color combination, I can tell you if it will work or not. Remember I can see the quilt in my head! I had a client who wanted his Hard Rock Cafe shirts made into a quilt, and he picked out the most vibrant fabrics to go in his quilt…fabrics I would not have immediately chosen myself…but his ideas were fabulous, and so is his quilt!

The Hard Rock Cafe Quilt in all of its gorgeous glory! And it has a brilliant paint splashed fabric back, too! I love how the colorful graphic fabric captures and highlights the brilliance of the graphics in the shirts. I used the tiny Hard Rock Cafe logos from the front of the shirts for the cornerstones, too!

Don’t be afraid of color…your quilt should reflect what you love and your memories, and you should love it when it is finished. If you have old t-shirts or clothing languishing in a drawer, then just imagine what they can become!

Have a brilliant week,

Ginger

Reading Now: I am nearly finished with East of Eden, and I am about halfway through The Trembling Hand…that book makes me so angry and sad, and it calls into question my steadfast belief that reading and knowledge can give people empathy…I still believe that, but an open mind and a willingness to let go of one’s fears are necessary, too. I am learning a lot, though, about Coleridge and Wordsworth and the slave trade. How do they write such beautiful pieces and have so much prejudice and hate in their hearts? All of it shocks me. Unfortunately so many of their ideas about the slave trade mirrors arguments I hear today about immigration, native rights, and racism. Right won out then. I can hope for the same today and vote appropriately. I will need a cozy mystery next, I think…or a Victorian novel. Luckily, I have lots of options.

NPR is an excellent unbiased news source. Please always choose to be kind.

Am I a Luddite? Probably...

Happy Friday!

I hope your week has been fulfilling and restful. The new AI statement by Etsy has been floating around, and I have been thinking about the need to make a statement myself, which really does feel counterintuitive. I mean, I sew; where does AI fit into that activity? To be honest, I really, personally don’t know. I do not use AI. When I work on a new pattern, I use the books I have on hand and graph paper. I might use a Youtube video or two for specific techniques, but my work entails the use of my hands mostly…not technology. Of course I use my domestic machine and my longarm. I also use my laptop for email and maintaning this website, but AI does not compose emails for me and I write all of my blogs myself. I find the weird AI tools unsettling in email, so I have turned them off.

I have an English degree and years of practice writing, and I enjoy it. AI is not for me, and I do not have a desire to use it. I also see the harm AI is causing people, artists, books, and the environment…I’m pretty sure the list goes on. I hear the arguments that AI can be used as a tool and a good one, but I worry that it is already being bent to ill intent, and I worry about AI diminishing people’s ability to think they can do things themselves, like write the hard email or essay. I’ve also read a lot of science fiction, and it rarely ends well for either side…the AI or the people.

Design wall with crazy quilt blocks; no pattern, just me playing.

AI is another thing in the world that feels cloudy and dank…I do not know what the future will be, but the fabric and materials in my hands everyday are firm and solid and real. The tactility I spoke about in last week’s blog sustains me, along with my books with pages. I may be old fashioned, but I am real and substantial, and I make real substantial things. I hope you get time to pay attention to the real, substantial things in your life this weekend.

Have a brilliant week,

Ginger

Currently Reading: A critical text about the Romantics. The Trembling Hand: Reflections of a Black Woman in the Romantic Archive by Mathelinda Nabugodi is fascinating, heartbreaking, and necessary. I am learning so much. I often say I like the way my brain works when I read certain authors, and this book is one of those. I have so many questions. I am also almost halfway through East of Eden. I love Samuel Hamilton. I might pick up an Agatha Christie…I need a mystery read, I think.

Voting early is open in NC. You can go to early voting sites in your county now until October 31, I think. Election day is Tuesday, November 3. Please vote; NPR is an excellent resource for unbiased information.

Texture

Happy Friday!

I hope you have had a wonderful, fulfilling week. Recently I have been thinking about the magic of quilts (Yes, they are magical!), and for me, the texture is really what excites me. I am quite a tactile person…food textures are important to me, I always want to touch things and experience the feel of an item. Luckily for me, my job is a plethora of textures that I get to experience and create.

I recently put a quilt that I hand quilted onto my bed, and this quilt also has embroidery and embellishments. The back is a lovely floral flannel (I know right…when do you see a floral flannel?) that is so soft and full of whimsy. The quilt brings me joy each time I walk past it, and I adore sleeping under it!

I think T-Shirt and Memory quilts are just as magical, too. The inherent weight of a T-Shirt quilt makes it already cuddly, and t-shirt fabric has its own squishy, soft texture. Plus, as you know, I enjoy adding in all the bits that make those quilts special. Pockets that can hold tissues when someone is ill or pass along sweet little love notes. Buttons and placards that are tactile and lovely. (I know I have mentioned my button bowl in the studio…)The memories seem embedded in the very fiber of the quilts, too.

Everyday, I get to explore textures as I quilt…I love to run my hands along the fabric and over the quilted area and as I sew, cut, and fold. I also love to feel the hot fabric as I press a piece. I love the textures of sewing thread, quilting thread, embroidery floss, pearl cotton, and yarn.

I hope you get to explore texture in your world and can find interest, curiosity, and comfort there.

Have a wonderful week,

Ginger

Reading Now: I devoured the last Chief Inspector Gamache novel, and I am sad now. I have to find the next one, but I am going to take a break. I have an Agatha Christie compilation I procured in my second hand book excursions recently that might be a nice diversion. I still love Samuel Hamilton, and Lee in East of Eden. Cathy…well Cathy is Cathy. I am still enjoying the critical text about the Romantic poets; I am learning so much, and unfortunately seeing a lot of parallels to our current culture in terms of race relations.

Early Voting has begun in NC. You can vote at any early voting site in your county now through October 31, 2026. Please vote. Every vote counts. And listen to NPR for unbiased important journalism. Please vote keeping kindness for everyone in mind.

Technique and Aesthetics

Happy Friday!

A sneak peek of the Home block from HMAQ project. Aren’t my pretty teal embroidery stork scissors lovely? This block is hand needle turn applique.

I hope your week has been lovely. I was listening to someone talk about the quilt police earlier this week…one quilter criticized another quilter’s work suggesting that she had “done it wrong.” I am a firm believer that there is not really a “wrong way” to sew generally. I tend to feel that as long as a person gets to the same quality end that technique can vary widely, and the “quilt police” or those overly, sometimes aggressively, critical quilters are really talking about a difference in technique, which may result in a difference in aesthetics. Both ways are perfectly acceptable and just as sturdy construction wise, but they are different in appearance. I could spend this blog discussing what goes through the mind of the quilt police: are they really insecure about their own work, so that they feel the need to tear others down? Do they really believe their way is better and feel superior enough to say so? Are they just simply mean and unable to control themselves? I’m not sure I want to spend a lot of time in the mind of someone who makes a point of picking apart someone else’s work. I am interested in the technique and aesthetic idea, and that idea made me think about my own work this week because applique is a great example of technique leading to a difference in appearance.

A closeup of the needle turn applique in the Community block for HMAQ, in this case a flower and leaves in a pot topped by a ribbon lip edge.

As you know, I have been working on needle turn hand applique for the HMAQ Project. Applique, by the way, is the layering of fabric most often to create a picture or attach a piece. Usually the shape of the picture is cut out of the appropriate fabric and them sewn onto a background fabric. In my hand needle turn applique, I do not use any adhesive. I trace the shape of my pattern and cut it out a fourth of an inch larger than that. Then I use my needle to fold under the seam allowance and carefully sew down the turned under edge. I love the lightly puffy look with the tiny stitches just nipped into the fabric. You can see all of the lovely hand work.

I have also been working on a quilt with machine applique this week. For this application, I use HeatnBond to affix the fabric pieces to their background; there is no turning under because the adhesive helps keep the fabric from fraying. And then I machine sew a blanket stitch around the piece. I love this version, too, where the pieces lay flat and have the lovely stitched border.

Machine applique of three black pieces onto a white background.

Both of these techniques are applique, but they produce a different look. I love both and different projects call for different processes. I gave my customer for the needle turn applique a choice, and I sent him examples of both types of applique, so that he could see the visual difference. Both of these techniques are labor intensive (Some quilters are not interested in applique!), and hand applique does take longer, though machine applique is not fast by any means! We could talk about price here, too, which is different based on the technique.

Hand quilting in a border.

Hand quilting and machine quilting are another great example. Hand quilting is lovely with all of its tiny stitches, and the stitches read to the eye as separate. Whilst machine quilting creates a more continuous line to the eye. Again, both are very valid techniques that simply offer a different look. And no, it is not valid to say machine quilting is not real quilting. Hand, machine, or tied, the end result is a quilted product. And there is validity in saying that you don’t like one technique over the other…as a quilter whether that means the act of doing the technique or the final appearance, but commentary that one is inferior to another is not valid.

Freemotion, longarm quilted loops on a heart quilt.

I realize I am an odd ball…I tend to love a variety of techniques and the aesthetics they produce. I find a lot of joy in machine sewing and hand sewing; they each artistically and tactilely offer me something different. I am sure my quilts benefit from my versatility, too. I feel like the “quilt police” are missing the point and missing out on the beauty right in front of them.

Have a great week,

Ginger

Reading now: Whew, I really love Samuel and Olive in East of Eden…Cathy is still a sociopath. I am also way back in the far reaches of Canada at a monastery in the latest Louise Penny mystery. And I started a critical text about the Romantics called The Trembling Hand, which I love so far. Mathelinda Nabugodi brings a fresh, much needed voice to the conversation of the literary canon of that time. I’m also reading more Wonder Woman!

I thought you might like a picture of my currently reading pile!

NPR is in the middle of their fall contribution drive. I am an NPR sustainer because I believe their unbiased, clear journalism is necessary now. If you are not and think you can contribute, then please do. If you are not a listener of NPR, then I suggest you listen for a few days.

Scenes from the Studio

Happy Friday and Happy October!

Where did September go? I feel like it just started; alas. This week has been a busy one in the studio. I have been working on the gallery here on the website along with finishing two quilts and getting a great start on three more quilts. Plus I have been working on the hand work for the How to Make An American Quilt Project. Yes, six quilts in the works!

The back of a post card quilt. The quilting is lovely, showing the outline of a tractor and meandering around it.

I have been working on adding pictures to the gallery on the website because I tried to have it connected Instagram, but that link consistently breaks. And I have been trying to make the website the main seat of my business with everything a customer will need to navigate having a quilt made. Instagram is nice, and I will continue to post once a week there, but I would prefer to depend on the platform I control and pay for rather than a platform I have no control over.

If you visit the gallery, then you will see the pictures I have added, and I will continue to add photos…I have eleven years of quilts, bears, pillows, and custom quilting to share! I am considering having two galleries; one for the quilts and quilted items I make and one for the custom quilting I do. So far I do not put captions with the pictures, which makes it hard to distinguish. Maybe I should just make the gallery more in depth…I will have to explore that idea.

I have felt like I was working good consistent hours and working hard, but things have been taking me a long time. I worked on prepping two classic t-shirt quilts, and they have a lot of fun details…bits appliqued to blocks, overlay applique, fussy cut blocks, and special pockets…which all take some time to do. Details are important to the custom work I do; each detail is important! I have enjoyed the work, too, and I am excited to see all of those little details come together. I have one layout on the design wall, and the details are all worth it!

Flowers from a sheer curtain cut out and appliqued to the background fabric, which is from a dust ruffle.

Well, let me know what you think of the gallery in progress, and what else you might like me to discuss here in the blog!

Have a brilliant week,

Ginger

Reading Now: I finished My Life in Middlemarch, and I am pages away from finishing my third Juneau Black mystery. East of Eden is still so good, and I am excited to decide what to pick up next…you know I have a good TBR list, which is lovely! Come by next week to see what I decide.

Midterm elections are right around the corner; NPR is an excellent resource for news and information. Please vote.

Embroidery

Happy Friday!

I was watching fiber artist Clara Nartey on Youtube the other day, and she asked a great question that I have often wondered myself about the Bayeux Tapestry. Why is it called a “Tapestery” when it is embroidery? I always thought the title had something to do with the size of the piece, I think, but I decided to look up the words embroidery and tapestry in the OED to see what I can find. Of course the tapestry itself is ancient, so maybe the name meant something different when the work was stitched. If you read my blog about the definition of a “quilt,” then you know I love a good definition and word hunt in the OED!

A crazy quilt block with the center embroidery worked on the surface of a stamped letter “I.”

The first definition for tapestry is, “A textile fabric decorated with designs of ornament or pictorial subjects, painted, embroidered, or woven in colors, used for wall hangings, ..” The definition goes on to say the fabric can be used for window treatments or festive balcony banners, and it discusses the nature of the woven fabric used for the banner itself. So I was right in my surmising that the name derives from the size and intended use of the textile. Also, the actual banner or what we call “background fabric” for the embroidery is probably woven in a specific way. I think the Bayeux Tapestry is worked on a fine linen making it a perfect tapestry and medium for embroidery. Embroidery is defined as “The art of ornamenting cloth and other fabrics with figures of needlework.”

A sampling of white work in bullion knots, french knots, button hole stitch, lazy daisy stitches, web work, and wheat sheaf stitches.

I believe Clara was questioning the evident missing element of embroidery in the name of the tapestry, and she is right to question that omission. Embroidery has long been marginalized as “woman’s work,” and The Subversive Stitch is an excellent discussion of the history of embroidery and its place in the art world. Perhaps embroidery was left out of the name to elevate the work, sadly. However, those of us who embroider by hand and by machine know that the embroidery is equal to or far surpasses the tapestry of the work. The embroidery is superb and the working of those stitches took years and probably several embroiderers. By not mentioning embroidery, that work is not given its due, especially in a modern world where we think a tapestry is woven.

Close up of the bird and “I” block in the center of the crazy quilt block. Stem stitches, satin stitches, fill stitches, and french knots help highlight the stamped design.

Embroidery is such a wonderful art form and it is so expressive, and the skill and artistry should be elevation enough for any piece. I’m proud to say I am an embroiderer, and I think I will start calling the Bayeux Tapestry the Embroidered Bayeux Tapestry. The nuns who stitched and worked the piece are artists in the full sense of the word. They reimagined a real battle in wool thread! I’m pleased the piece is receiving so much attention, too!

Hand embroidered pin cushion in crazy quilt pattern with each seam embellished with embroidery stitches.

Have a brilliant week,

Ginger

Reading Now: East of Eden…still beautiful. I am reading third Shady Hollow Mystery again to refresh myself and I am working on the middle of My Life in Middlemarch. Marianne Evans is fascinating! I am eyeing Margaret Atwood’s autobiography (of which I have a copy), on the heels of purchasing a beautiful used copy of The Robber Bride. I also found a book like My Life in Middlemarch except about Jane Austen novels called A Jane Austen Education: How Six Novels Taught Me About Love, Friendship, and the Things That Really Matter by William Deresiewicz. I have often argued that Austen is not Chick Lit, so I am intrigued, and it might give me an unneeded excuse to reread and read her novels….I love a full to be read pile!

Please listen to NPR for unbiased news and vote in the upcoming elections.

Quilting: The Stitching Together of the Three Layers

Happy Friday!

Whew, where is September going? I feel like time is flying far faster than my needles. Alas. Today I thought I would talk about quilting, the actual process of stitching the three (or more) layers together. My APQS Lenni is my longarm, and I do not have a computerized unit with it. A lot of long armers have computerized units that allow them to set up a pantograph (the quilting design) digitally, and then the computer guides the long arm through the stitching process. Computerized long arming is a wonder to behold and if set up and monitored by a skilled quilter, is very precise and error free.

I did not get a computer with my machine because it was not in my budget when I purchased my long arm, and because I had plans to quilt predominately T-Shirt and Memory quilts with my machine. T-Shirt and Memory quilts benefit from hand-guided quilting because I often add bits and bob (buttons, placards, pockets,..) to them, and I need to be able to easily sew around them. I usually use a meander pattern because I like that it is free motion and works well for quilting around items, and that it is a good background pattern. Meandering will likely never be the star of the show in quilting terms, so it is perfect for quilts where the clothing used is the star!

The picture shows a Classic T-Shirt quilt where all of the blocks finish at the same size in a grid pattern with sashing and borders. This quilt is a 9T. There is also a matching pillow, and both the quilt and the pillow feature the meander quilting I usually do with T-Shirt and Memory Quilts.

Becoming an expert at quilting my T-Shirt and Memory quilts led to me experimenting with other hand-guided techniques like ruler work, and now I also do Custom quilting for clients and myself. Custom quilting is when more than an edge to edge design is desired for the quilt, and I really enjoy working on a custom quilt where I use rulers and outlining, and thread color changes. I enjoy hand-guiding my long arm!

A custom quilted quilt I made from a vintage quilt pattern. The quilting adds so much texture to the sweet simple leaf applique.

A combination of hand guided freemotion loops with custom hand guided ruler work outlining the star applique.

Will I ever get a computer? Maybe…I am not against computerized quilting…I could set it and work on other things while it runs, but right now, I enjoy my Lenni’s capabilities as they are. Now if I had two long arm machines….

Have a brilliant week,

Ginger

Reading now: I am about half way in My Life in Middlemarch, which I am enjoying. I am learning so much about Marianne Evans! I started the second Shady Hollow mystery…it is cozy and fun. I started East of Eden, and wow…I forgot how lovely and beautiful Steinbeck’s writing is. Those first chapters where he is describing the Salinas Valley are sumptuous. Of course Steinbeck is very like Orwell…beautiful language that is so good even when it is describing horrible things. Jarring, emotive, and so damn good. The language, sentence structure, diction…all tickle my brain in good ways. Having just finished Eliot, I find myself comparing the styles and they are both excellent and a joy to read, but they are different. Eliot likes full, complex sentences, but Steinbeck tends more towards Hemingway…or maybe he is a good in between. Simple, stunning sentences that punctuate his longer more complex words. I have to think about it more. Maybe I should diagram a favorite sentence from each…that sounds fun! Have you ever diagramed a sentence…now that is a brain tickler! What are you reading?

NPR and PBS News Hour are excellent news sources. You can find unbiased even truths.

How to Make an American Quilt Update

Happy Friday! Whew…I don’t know about you, but my studio has been hopping this week. Are you busy, too? I sometimes feel like I am caught in a big project I am moving at a snail’s pace. I have been feeling like a snail this week because I have several big projects on the go at the moment. Though, I am making progress! Daily I see the fruits of my labor, but I still feel slow. I have to remind myself that my work is not meant to be fast paced…rushing only leads to disaster! I do try to keep a few smaller tasks and lists at hand, so that I can reach a finish and mark things off my lists, which helps.

Design wall view…I will have heart blocks to put up there soon!

One project that I can really see progress on lately, but is work that moves at a snail’s pace is the How to Make an American Quilt Project. I have referenced it before in this blog..it is a quilt I am making based on the 1990s movie of the same name, which is needle turn applique and hand quilting. A lovely customer tasked me to make this quilt, and he decided on the hand sewing route, which is employed in the making of the quilt in the film. I am finishing up the “Community” blocks, which have 39 pieces in each one. There are eight of those blocks. I am going to finish the last two blocks this weekend.

All eight community blocks; the last two are in progress…can you see my needle and thread in the left bottom one?

The blocks are so satisfying to make, and I look forward to my hand sewing time daily…I think I mentioned how much I enjoy that seeming indulgence. As you are well aware, I thoroughly enjoy all of my work in the studio…planning, cutting, pressing, machine sewing, stitch ripping an error, quilting, binding, photographing, writing…all of my work makes my days thoughtful and soothing. Rarely do I encounter a day where I would rather be doing something else. Hand sewing is especially sweet.

I’m looking forward to finishing the “Community” blocks, though, because the eight remaining blocks are all different, and they have different techniques in them that I am itching to do! I have been trying to decide where I will start…I’ll let you know!

Sending Happy Stitches,

Ginger

Reading Now: I am well into My Life in Middlemarch, and I am enjoying it…reading Middlemarch first was a good idea. I am halfway through Shady Hollow, and that cozy mystery does not disappoint. I am almost finished with Mozart’s Starling, and I have so many thoughts about that book…I read a lovely section about murmurations and our own souls last evening. I am awaiting the arrival of a copy of East of Eden in the post today…My reading life is as full as my sewing life…what are you reading?

All people deserve kindness. NPR is a great place for news and information. Unbiased, thoughtful reporting.

Happy September!

A lot has been going on in the studio this week: quilting some custom orders, binding those orders; tiny 5”x7” tractor quilts, fabric washing, binding making, pattern matching, t-shirt prep and hand sewing. I spent quite a bit of time hand sewing for the How to Make An American Quilt project. I almost have all of the “Community” blocks finished, which I had hoped to finish in August, but those blocks have 37 pieces that are needle-turn applique, and between the cutting out of the pieces and the sewing, the block takes hours to finish. I really have not timed myself (Because that exercise is never fun!) to see how long one block takes, but I think I might time the last two blocks…I’ll let you know! I think I will do an update next week for that project anyway…you might like to see all of my hard work.

Design wall sneak peeks of blocks…

I also spent a little bit of time, 10-20 minutes, each day sketching. I took a quick free Medieval marginalia dragon drawing class, and now I am imagining what all could be drawn in the margin of things…you know borders and sashing. I also love to sketch quilting patterns, and I have a new feather book that I am looking forward to drawing from for sketching and quilting ideas.

Daily sketches…

Orders are progressing, and this weekend, I am going to experiment with using a projector to scale my hand drawn quilt designs…I am really becoming quite high tech, even while I am hand sewing everyday! I wanted a vintage opaque projector (I used them early in my teaching career!), but we already have the modern, fancy projector, thus…I will adapt. I actually used a projector in the last few years of my teaching career, so I think I can manage!

Quilting and a tiny peek at a tractor tire from the tiny little quilts I have been working on.

I hope you have had a productive and fulfilling week! Have a brilliant three day weekend!

Sending Quilty Comfort,

Ginger

Reading Now: I am so close to finishing Middlemarch…that will happen during my lunch reading session! I am halfway through Mozart’s Starling, and I have many plans for my next reads. A new version of East of Eden by Steinbeck is coming out this month, so I may have to reread that…I absolutey loved it the first time I read it, but that was a long time ago! What are you reading?

The world is a very scary place and our democracy feels porous and vulnerable. Listen to NPR for the best most unbiased news.

Work...

“That depends,” said Caleb, turning his head on the side and lowering his voice, with the air of a man who felt himself to be saying something deeply religious. “You must be sure of two things: you must love your work, and not be always on looking over the edge of it, wanting your play to begin. And the other is, you must not be ashamed of your work, and think it would be more honourable to you to be doing something else. You must have pride in your work and in learning to do it well, and not always be saying, There’s this and there’s that—if I had this or that to do, I might make something of it. No matter what a man is—I wouldn’t give twopence for him”—her Caleb’s mouth looked bitter, and he snapped his fingers—”Whether he was the prime minister or the rick-thatcher, if he didn’t do well what he undertook to do.”

Middlemarch by George Eliot

I read this quotation this past week, and it started me thinking about my own work…plus I love Caleb Garth; he is one of my favorite characters in Middlemarch! Of course Finished Fibers, LLC is my job; I am a business owner and artisan for my pay, but I always hesitate for a fraction of a second when I say “my work.” I don’t consider what I do in the studio as a job usually or work…a grind that I have to do daily. I have come to believe “work” for me is more akin to an artist’s work or oeuvre than the daily place where people go to earn money. I do have to meet deadlines, and I work with clients and their projects, not my own individual work, though, I do consider each project my own. My work is very personal both for my clients and myself.

Custom Quilting echo design on someone else’s applique.

So I find myself hesitating when I call what I do “work” because someone could easily misunderstand what I mean. My work is a job…as I said, I have a queue and deadlines and clients and marketing and bills and…work, a daily job that I do to earn money for my family and myself. My work is also my creativity and skills, all of the things that I love to do…planning, designing, fabric pulling, cutting, piecing, quilting, binding, hand sewing…I have the long term project of the “How to Make An American Quilt” quilt that I work on everyday, and it is all handwork, right now it is needle turn applique, and I usually reserve that hand work until the last hour or two in the studio (It finds its way to my TV time, too!), and I still feel a little indulgent when I sit down to hand sew. It is my work and I am being paid to make the quilt, but I also get so much joy from sitting down and hand sewing.

More custom quilting…

I am so lucky to have the joy of work for money that is so deeply intrenched in what I love to do. When I was teaching I often dreamed of my own studio space where I could work for hours, uninterrupted, on a sewing project, and now that is my work in all of its meanings. My work is my play, and I am so proud of it! I think Caleb Garth would be pleased.

Sending Quilty Love,

Ginger

Reading Now: I had to tape the front cover of my Middlemarch book back on…it is an old pocket paperback (791 pages which makes it a hefty little brick!) that I have read more than once, and I am almost finished…whew, so much is happening! I am also still reading Mozart’s Starling, and it is so interesting and thoughtful. I’m halfway through the book. What are you reading?

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Studio Upgrade and Reorganizing

Happy Friday! Whew…have you had a busy week, too? Of course lots of sewing, planning, cutting, quilting, and finishing has been going on this week, but I also finished up a studio upgrade, and a couple of weekends ago, I spent the weekend cleaning and reorganizing after adding a new piece of furniture to the office.

The image shows the new cedar trunk below the front window of the office. The trunk is brown with faux drawers and detailing on the front and graceful Queen Anne legs.

I have been looking for a desk to go between my two vintage desks that flank the front window of the office, and early in July I actually found a cedar trunk that would fit beautifully between them and that is a similar style to desks. The trunk has beautiful Queen Anne legs and lovely front details, and it does smell so lovely inside. It is a Lane Cedar Chest, and based on the serial number (Apparently reading the serial number backwards tells you the date of the piece.), my trunk is from 1937! And even better than a desk, the trunk could provide storage space, too. I found the trunk at the local ReStore, but it was a bit out of my budget, but the longer it stayed at the store, the price would go down. So, I waited. In early August I went back to the ReStore, not really believing the trunk would still be there, but it was! I brought it back to the studio and polished it up. Lee fixed a couple of legs that had come loose, and it is a perfect fit! I mean it is so pretty!

Vintage bits, wool, and special fabric are stored in this beautiful trunk. I wish you could smell its lovely cedar smell.

Plus my beautiful, glass bowl I found at the Dorcas Thrift Shop for some of my buttons is beautiful on top. Now I can run my fingers through the buttons anytime I want! Yes, I do have more buttons than the ones in the bowl…buttons are simply wonderful.

Having the trunk allowed me to store some pieces in it that I had stacked up in bins, and moving those bins out of the studio gave me more room to reorganize the customer order storage bins. The office really does flow better now, looks busy and full, and it is a space I love to use. I love my vintage desk chairs and my view of the birdbath from my desk. I really do love working in this space! It is warm and beautiful.

Flannel design wall made with white flannel and bound in a pink floral fabric. The design wall is hanging from a decorative rod with clips.

The studio space with the longarm, sewing machines, iron and work table has been nearly perfect, but I knew when I moved into this space that I wanted a design wall. Well I finally finished it. I started out thinking I would use foam board and flannel for a design wall, but after trying that I found some references to basically creating a flannel quilt sandwich and hanging that from a bar. That plan was far easier for me to do than the other foam board plan. We also had a lovely curtain rod set with clips that was not being used, so this week I finished installing the holders and hung the design wall. I used white flannel with a blue backing fabric, and I bound it with a sweet pink cone flower print. I have already laid out several quilts with the design wall, and I love seeing my work in progress displayed there. No more crawling around on the floor working on a design!

Next up, shelves for the fabric bolts…

All of our spaces should make us smile and be a warm, comfortable, inviting place to work and think. Creativity needs to be fed and making a space beautiful can help creativity and productivity bloom…even if that space is busy and often messy with projects. I’m so lucky to have an office space, a work room, and a foyer of fabric, and I am lucky to have wonderful clients who bring me the best projects to fill those spaces!

Sending Quilty Love,

Ginger

Reading Now: I forgot how angry Middlemarch makes me, but I am enjoying it! Mozart’s Starling is so thought provoking…I spent a whole walk meandering around in my thoughts related to invasive species, diaspora, native, not native…I’m looking forward to the music, too. I found some cozy mysteries on a jaunt last weekend. I might start one of those. What are you reading? My “To Be Read” pile is so exciting!

Be kind to everyone, even people different from you. Listen to NPR for balanced news coverage.

What's Going On....

Happy Thursday! What’s going on? Here in the Finished Fibers studio I have been working on studio updates….a new old trunk (Cedar, 1937) to help with storage and desk space, reorganizing order storage, and a design wall! OOOh, and a new bowl of buttons! I will have pictures and more information once I get everything finished…I still have to rework the pole for the design wall, but I am excited and organized. I spent last weekend working on these studio changes, but what have I been up to all week?

This week I have been prepping two orders, a baby memory quilt and a few bears, while I have been custom quilting a custom memory quilt and planning several future quilts. Of course I cannot share photos of those until the owners receive them! In addition I met with a few customers to finalize plans for new orders and to deliver a few finished quilts. I have also been working on the hand applique for the How to Make an American Quilt quilt. I visited both Cary Quilting Company and Bernina World of Sewing…I have had a full week and it is only Thursday!

You may wonder how a self employed business owner structures her day, and I mentioned in the “Flexibility” Blog that I am a person who likes a schedule, but I am also very fond of building variety and choice into my day as well. I cannot and should not stand all day and quilt on the longarm, nor can I or should I cut and prep all day or hand sew all day (though sometimes that sounds so so lovely!), so I try to build variety of tasks into my day, and I try to have six to eight projects on the go at once. Haveing a variety of tasks allows me to choose what suits me best to do that day, and it allows me to work for a resonable, healthy amount of time on particular tasks. Interestingly, variety also allows me to get lost in a task…I don’t feel guilty about not working on something else because the task in front of me is best at the moment.

I am rather regimented about studio time and lunch time. I like to be in the studio working by 8 or so, and I like to eat lunch around 12:30. Of course there are days when those times shift and move…I might be later coming back from a walk or busy finishing a task at lunch time, so I finish it and then eat. I feel very lucky to get to dictate my day this way, especially after years of ringing bells and prescripted time tables.

I am also careful to pay attention to my best work times. I am best in the morning, especially for thinking tasks, so I usually try to put those first in the morning. I leave more zone tasks…ones I know by heart…to the afternoon.

A sneaky peek…

I would love to hear how your day is structured and how you make the most of yourself in a day. I haven’t mentioned it yet, but I do take rest seriously, too. Sometimes taking some time to stare at a wall in silence is the best thing I can do for my creative and busy mind. The studio is full of exciting projects, and I am excited about them all…I’m going to keep sewing!

Sending Quilty Love,

Ginger

Reading Now: I finished the third Lockwood and Co. book, and I picked up Mozart’s Starling by Lyanda Lynn Haupt, and I am enjoying it thoroughly! I am deep into the middle of Middlemarch, and I am totally invested in Dorothea and Ladislaw…I have read the novel before, but just like A Tale of Two Cities and Sydney Carton, I get invested every time. I think it may be time for some Sydney Carton…sigh. I found a biography of Wilfred Owen at the ReStore; yes, I bought it. Dulce et decorum est…What are you reading?

Destruction of books, destruction of individual and personal rights, and destruction our democracy is happening in real time. Please stay informed with unbiased sources like NPR and PBS News Hour. Don’t let anyone take away your ability to think and consider.

Quilt Care

Happy Friday and Happy August! I have spent most of the summer using this blog to discuss the qualities of a quilt, so your next question might be, “Okay, I understand the characteristics of my quilt, but now how do I care for it?” So much time, skill, care, and memory goes into the quilts I make, and I want them to be a family heirloom. I also want you to feel comfortable using your quilt in the way you wish with all that life brings. If you would like to hang your quilt, then I will talk with you about options like a hanging sleeve and curtain holders, but I also encourage snuggling with your quilt on the couch or sleeping under it at night (or for a nap!), even with your favorite pet.

I always think quilts bring warmth, both emotional and physical, to a room, and they should be snuggly and comfortable. I believe every space can benefit from a quilt, and I would prefer quilts are displayed and used. Recently I had the joy of sleeping under my youngest son’s T-Shirt quilt I made for him. We were staying at his apartment for a few days, helping his older brother move in with him, and he likes his apartment cool. He is also 6’3”, so I made his quilt large and long. Sidney gave me his quilt to use at night, and I thoroughly enjoyed snuggling under it. I also love that he keeps it on the back of his couch to use and share with friends, and that it is his go to quilt. I’ll have to find a picture of it!

I have to find a picture of Sidney’s quilt, but this one is similar!

I also know quilts sometimes need to be stored for whatever reason, so I try to offer advice about storing quilts in pillow cases or acid free paper and box. I always give customers quilt care instructions, which of course, are not all inclusive. Some quilts have special parts and need special care, but I am always available to ask! You can also go to the tab “Quilt Care” on this website to see the instructions that I give out.

Please use your quilt!

Sending Quilty Love,

Ginger

Reading Now: I am still in the texts I was, though I am almost finished with The Hollow Boy (Too Scary to read at night, so I didn’t finish it before bed!), and Mr. Featherstone’s will has just been read in Middlemarch…I reallly think all the people involved are pretty awful except for Mary and her father! In a different part of the book, I love the description of the Doctor falling in love with Rosamund…so sweet. What are you reading?

Be kind to everyone and get your news from an unbiased, trusted source: NPR or PBS News Hour.

Flexibility...

Happy Wednesday! I’m early you say? I usually post on Friday? Yes, I usually post on Friday, but I knew when I started working on blogging once a week that I would need to be flexible. Now I could write this blog and then set a timer to publish it on Friday, and no one would be the wiser…except me, but I think building flexibility into a practice is very important. So I am blogging today, and I am blogging about being flexible!

I am a practical doer kind of person, and I have lived a lot of my life with a tight, set schedule. I taught for nigh on 15 years, and as you know, school is definitely a schedule, and in the schedule department it does not lend itself to flexibility…inside the classroom flexibility is key, though. These days, I am queen of my own schedule, but I have to remind myself that I can move things around and be free to do things how I see fit…there aren’t bells to send me to the next period of my day. However, I am a pretty regulated person, but I am learning to be less rigid in my thinking.

My daily walks are a great example, and they are one of my favorite practices in my life. I walk five times a week, usually Monday-Friday, and I didn’t commit to walking everyday on purpose, even though I think I would enjoy that! (Yes, I do walk extra if I like!). By making five times a week my standard, I can move days around if I need to do so. If I cannot walk on Tuesday for some reason, then I can walk on Saturday or Sunday. I have flexibility when I need it. Plus, limiting exercise to five times a week offers my body a respite or time to relax and recover, which we all need.

I try to practice the same flexibility everywhere in my life. I wanted to blog once a week, and Friday seemed like a good day to post…I could work on the blog all week, but I also knew I might be busy on a Friday or have a shortened work week or something would come up, as it inevitably does. I wanted to know I could be flexible…even if it meant missing a blog…as long as I returned to the practice. And I should not feel bad about needing to make changes to an otherwise consistent practice.

This week I am helping my boys for a few days, which is a lovely reason to shift my schedule! I’m excited…the studio is a creative, working mess that will be here ready to start again when I step back into it. Plus the change will give my brain time to work through a few things I am pondering for projects in the studio! A change in schedule can be a great way jump start creative thought and renew creative energy…my regimented mind just needs a reminder once in a while!

I hope you find the time and will to offer yourself more flexibility, too.

Sending Quilty Love,

Ginger

Reading Now: I’m further along in Middlemarch…Dorothea has married Casaubon, and she is feeling the weight of her decision and the juxtaposition of her dreams and the reality. Lucy is frustrating me in Lockwood & Co., but she is frustrating herself, too! I have not settled on a nonfiction book yet, but I think I am getting closer…By the way, I am quite flexible when it comes to reading…I really don’t set parameters for myself in my reading…I don’t worry about the time it takes to read a book and any time is fair game for reading!

Read well, wide, and deeply and be kind. NPR is a great source for unbiased news.

Thread: What holds a quilt together...literally.

Good Rainy Morning!

We have been in extreme drought conditions here in North Carolina for the better part of this year, so the last few days have been very welcome. The steady, dark, rainy weather has been a balm, and I love rainy days anyway, so the studio has been especially cozy. Truth be told, I love all kinds of weather, and I enjoy what is happening any particular day, but my soul has been feeling a bit parched. These rainy days have gone a long way to sooth that need with the sounds of the rain, cooler weather, walking under an umbrella, damp scampering squirrels and brilliant wet bird plumage. I hope your weather has been comforting for you, too.

For the last few blogs, I have spent time discussing what makes a quilt—all of its layers, and this week I want to highlight what literally holds a quilt together: thread. I use thread in every part of making a quilt, but I basically use two types. I use Aurefil cotton thread for piecing, applique, and binding, or for all of the parts of making a quilt that are not the actual quilting, and I use SoFine polyester thread for the quilting. Of course, I use both of these threads because I trust their quality, they have a good range of colors, and my machines like them. Yes, the machines do have a say in thread!

And a good range of colors is very important, too. For basic piecing, I usually use a gray, light or dark, depending on the project colors. I match colors for applique and border piecing, including miters. For quilting, color is important because the thread is visible. Thread used for piecing is mostly hidden in the seams, but quilting thread sits on the fabric. Effect—aesthetics—becomes important. Is the quilting merely background or is it going to highlight? Thread choice matters, then. For T-shirt quilts and memory quilts the quilting, for me, should be background; the shirts and clothing are the stars. I often try to blend the color of the thread to make the quilting textural. Though, sometimes the quilting needs to highlight some aspect of the quilt and thread color can help create contrast and shading. Too, sometimes thread color depends on the quilt’s desire—will a soft rose thread create a lovely texture and provide a nice punch of color?

Thread choice is as fun to work out as fabric choice, and I love laying out threads against fabrics and quilt tops to decide what will work best. And thread is magic…I am often surprised by what color will blend best and how well colors work against fabrics. Often, I have contemplated thread colors for quilting as I am piecing the quilt top. My beautiful thread holders are wonderful inspiration and are pieces of art in the studio as well as making my thread easily accesible. Can you tell I love thread? I haven’t even talked about embroidery thread or yarns, either!

Sending Quilting Love,

Ginger

Currently Reading: Middlemarch by George Eliot, and it is as wonderful as the other times I have read it! I am also reading the third book in the Lockwood & Co. series by Jonathan Stroud…super fun, well-written, and well paced. I’m still contemplating my nonfiction options…I’ll keep you posted. These rainy days have been brilliant reading weather, too.

Be kind to everyone. NPR is a trusted news source with no political ties; fact based news in an ever biased landscape.

Finally: The Back

The backs of quilts, the third layer of the quilt sandwich, are traditionally one fabric made or cut large enough to fit the needs of the quilt top. The back should be larger than the quilt top because the actual quilting still has to done. Since I use my APQS Lenni to longarm my quilts, I add six inches to both measurements of the top of the quilt. The leaders and the quilting process often makes the back “creep” or inch a little bit, so if the back is exactly the same size as the top, when you get to the bottom of the quilt, you will find the back shorter than the quilt top. No one wants that to happen! So for a 66” x 66” quilt top, I will make the back 72” x 72.” Anyone getting quilts professionally quilted should make their backs with the same formula. Even when I hand quilt or use my domestic machine to quilt, I make the back larger, so that the quilt can be trimmed and finished appropriately.

The back of a quilt can also be a different fabric type from the front. Flannel and Cuddle or Minky backs are popular, making the back so soft and cuddly. This Custom T-Shirt quilt has a gray Cuddle fabric. The Cuddle fabrics also have such a pretty loft, showing off the beautiful quilting stitches and design.

108” fabrics are perfect backs because they are 108” in length and can be torn to fit the needed width, thus making the back one solid piece of fabric with no seam. No sewing or pattern matching need happen in this instance. 40”-45” fabric is pieced to create the back, usually with a horizontal seam(s), and pattern matching will need to happen on larger print fabrics.

Backs can also be more than just one fabric. some quilters like to use leftover fabrics, or scraps or remnants to create a scrappy back, which we like to call a “party in the back!” Pieced backs can be fun and useful in using fabrics, and they can be helpful in a memory quilt that has a piece or pieces that don’t fit on the front. Of course a quilt can be double-sided, too, meaning, either side of the quilt can be the “top” and both sides are decorative and pieced.

Practice quilting on blue fabric with my quilt sketch book on top of it. You can see here how quilting can really be seen on solid or one fabric without pieces.

Backs may seem to be less important than the top layer of the quilt, but the back is seen, too, and coordinating fabrics and having a lovely back makes the whole piece more beautiful. Plus, the back of the quilt, especially with single fabric backs, often shows off the quilting from the front better! The back is also the home of the quilt label…offering a place for a message and a place for the quilter’s information. We should all label our quilts!

The back of this quilt has a beautiful hot pink blender and a lovely navy label. I love the embroidery here, which adds to the sweet recognition of the piecer and the quilter.

A quilt is so special because it is layered and nuanced in so many different ways beyond the three layers of the quilt sandwich, and memory and T-Shirt quilts are especially evocative. What layers would make up your quilt?

Sending Quilting Love,

Ginger

Reading Now: I finished another Louise Penny mystery, and I am well into Middlemarch now. I am also reading the third novel of the Lockwood & Company series…a ghosty, fun world. I might pick up a nonfiction to add to the mix, but I am not sure which one yet….Margaret Atwood’s Memoir? Mozart’s Starling? Something by Annie Albers? Some literary criticism? I have lovely options…What are you reading?

Always be kind. Listen to NPR, and avoid biased news sources. My little studio is a small haven; I hope you have a haven, too.

What is inside my quilt? Batting!

Batting or wadding is the middle layer, and it provides that layer of warmth to a quilt. However, batting is important in other ways, too. Batting can affect the weight and utility of a quilt, and it can affect the loft or how the quilt stitches sit in the quilt. There are a lot of different types of batting: cotton, polyester, wool, cotton/polyester blend, bamboo, bleached, unbleached, and batting choice can affect the overall feel and look of a quilt.

The image shows an A-Frame wooden shelf with batting off cuts rolled up and prepackaged batting.

I use an 80/20 cotton/polyester blend, unless a client asks for a specific feel or weight or even loft to the quilt. 80/20 is 80% cotton and 20% polyester, and I use it most often because it has the good qualities of cotton batting, but it is a little bit lighter than a 100% cotton batting.

Image shows a batting roll with batting off cuts on top. I usually buy batting 108” wide on a 30 yard roll because I make a lot of different sized quilts. All of this batting is 80/20 and bleached.

T-Shirt quilts tend to be heavier simply because of the t-shirt fabric, so the 80/20 allows me to eliminate adding more weight. Plus I like how the quilt stitches respond to the blended batting and the loft it gives the quilt. Wool and polyester batting can be fluffier, and the quilting is more pronounced…meaning the loft of the stitches is higher. I want the T-Shirts to be the star of a T-Shirt quilt, so I like the lower loft I get from the blended cotton/polyester batting.

Of course we can also go all the way back to the definition of a quilt to see that batting or wadding is an integral part of what makes any quilt a quilt instead of a blanket, comforter, or coverlet. A quilt is really a quilt because it has a middle layer of batting!

Sending Quilty Love,

Ginger

Reading Now: I finished You Can’t Go Home Again and The Jane Austen Book Club. I have picked up another Chief Inspector Gamache Mystery, and Middlemarch by George Eliot. I also have to finish my Wonderwoman compilation, and I have another of those to read. Bleakhouse is waiting in the wings along with Daphne Du Maurier…maybe I will wait until fall for that one. I once read The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway by the ocean, which is just the best reading experience. The waves lapping the shore while the boat rocks in the book. Maybe one day I will read Ethan Frome in a cabin in the depths of winter in New England. Do you have a book you would like to read in its place? OOOH….Bleakhouse in England….

Be kind. Kindness is everything.

The Quilt Top

Last week, I discussed the three (usually) layers that make up a quilt top, and as I said, as I was working on that blog, I had planned to expand on each layer there. Four pages (Yes, I do like to compose on paper often!) later, and I wasn’t even finished yet with what I wanted to say. So, I decided to dedicate a blog to each layer of the quilt because apparently, I have a lot to say!

The quilt top, sometimes called a flimsy, is usually the pieced portion of the quilt. Though, scraps make great backs to quilts…so backs can be pieced, too. The top consists of blocks and possibly borders, unless it is a wholecloth quilt. a wholecloth quilt is a quilt that has one fabric on the front and the quilting is the star of the show, creating the beautiful designs in the quilt. These quilts may have one or two seams, but they are not considered pieced like other quilts.

It is only appropriate to show a Hurricane’s Towel quilt, since they are NHL Champions! This quilt has a fantastic top with the white spirit towels surrounded by black sashing, and the Hurricanes’ fabric is wonderful as the outer border!

In T-Shirt Quilts, the T-Shirt blocks, sashing, and borders makeup the quilt top. They don’t always have to have sashing or borders, either. Often the quilt top is the most intricate part of the quilt, and it takes the most time to make. The top is the show piece, and the number of skills and aesthetics in those tops vary widely and beautifully! Applique, curved piecing, embroidery…the list of what can make up a quilt top are immense, which is the fun part!

This close-up of a Classic T-Shirt Quilt top shows how lovely the simple block design can be.

Quilts can be double-sided, though, too, meaning both the front and the back are equally as important; either one can be the “front of the quilt”, and both sides are pieced and decorative. T-Shirt Quilts and Memory Quilts can be double sided, too, and work especially well if you have a lot of shirts or clothing to use.

Actual quilt top alone before the layering and quilting takes place…this rainbow pixel quilt is so beautiful and made with Cherrywood fabrics, which are wonderfully rich in color.

Sending Quilty Love,

Ginger

Reading Now: I think I will finish You Can’t Go Home Again this next week…I am still enjoying it over 600 pages in, and I have learned a lot about Thomas Wolfe, too. The novel is the last one he wrote and was published posthumously. I am also reading The Jane Austin Book Club, and now I am adding more Austin to my To Be Read Pile and The Mysteries of Uldolpho, which might be a good fall book to read during the gothic autumn. I am also reading Wonder Woman: Blood and Guts, which is a compilation of that series of comics in the new smaller graphic novel format of Compact Comics put out by DC. My reading plate is over flowing, and I am happy.

NPR is a great place to get unbiased, factual, honest news. Kindness is everything.

So It Is a Quilt, Not a Blanket: What Makes Up the Three Layers?

Well, I’m not sure I can top last week’s absolute banger of a blog, which I thoroughly enjoyed writing, and I hope you enjoyed reading. I mean who doesn’t love a bit of dictionary talk?!? Okay, Maybe just me!

This week I want to discuss the three layers of a quilt, which is the typical quilt sandwich. Of course, quilts can have more than three layers. Some patterns, like crazy quilt blocks are built onto a layer of foundation fabric making that quilt, whether quilted (all three layers sewn together with continuous stitches) or tied ( the layers are held together with thread ties all over the quilt), four layers. Or some carefree quilters leave their papers in a foundation or English paper pieced top, offering up a fourth, crinkly layer.

Usually, though, three layers suffice:

The image shows a quilt laying top up. The quilt has navy borders and intricate Zinnia blocks with a barn and tractor with birds in the air blocks, too.

Top: typically thought of as the front of the quilt and is the top layer; usually the most intricately pieced and takes the most time; the show piece of the quilt.

The image shows the back of the quilt shown above. The back is blue and white bird and flower fabric.

Batting: the middle wadding layer that adds the warmth and loft (the thickness and texture of the quilting) to the quilt

Back: As the name suggests, the back of the quilt; often one fabric.

The image shows the quilt from above with the left corner folded onto the top of the quilt showing both the backing fabric and most of the front.

Once the three layers are made or cut, then the layers are sandwiched and quilted. In my studio, I load the back and top seperately onto the longarm leaders and add the batting layer between. The three layers all come together on the top leader of the quilt frame, and as I quilt them, they become one quilt. Then I trim and bind it, so that the edges of the quilt are neatly finished and protected.

The whole process of making a quilt layer upon layer is magic! Beautiful fabrics cut up and sewn into new shapes, while the quilt stitches hold the layers together and add dimension to the design. And always the utility—layering and quilting fabrics adds strength and longevity to the whole piece of art.

Sending Quilty Love,

Ginger

P.S. I worked on this blog and wrote a lot about each layer of the quilt, and in the interest of my readers, I decided to split the blogs up into two or three instead of one long one. I didn’t realize I had so much to say about quilt layers!

Reading Now: I am still happily working on You Can’t Go Home Again, and I picked up The Jane Austen Book Club from the 25 cent shelf outside at Reader’s Corner. And I read The Hangman, which I picked up at the bookstore, too. I actually picked up a lot of books…maybe I should do a blog about my TBR pile(s)? Let me know if that is something you would like to read.

Kindness is everything. Listen to NPR for balanced, well researched news.