Aaaack! It's Friday!

“As John Ruskin put it in 1859, in our hands, we have ‘the subtlest of all machines’.”

Cræft: An Inquiry Into the Origins and True Meaning of Traditional Crafts

                          Andrew Langlands

Hello and Happy Friday!

Better late than never, I guess?  I know I usually post the blog promptly at 8am each Friday morning, but...Alas...I thought today was Thursday!  Hahahahahahahaha!  :) I was sewing along this morning, thinking about things that need to be done and contemplating the blog when I realized that I have been thinking a day off!  I have been doing this all week.  I find it odd, too, that I have had such a hard time with the day of the week because we are getting back to more set schedules.  My husband returned to full time on campus at the University this week...why have I been so off?  I cannot tell you why.  I just have been. As I say: Alas.  I did giggle quite heartily at myself, though!

My subtle machines have been busy, though!  I have pieced more quilts, consulted more clients, made plans for studio organizing and shifting, done more mask work, and I have sewn half square triangles...just not enough to be finished yet.  I know.  I am slow, but I am also acutely aware that I will likely continue at my current pace until my oldest gets back to his campus.  Once I take him back, I think I will be more on track.  Hopefully, I will at least know what day it is!  

I do have a lovely item to share this week, though!  I went to visit my parents last week, and my mom gave me a beautiful business anniversary gift.  You can see a picture of it below.  

My mom is so sweet and talented!

My mom is so sweet and talented!

Now you know from where I get my love of sewing! I love it!  Now I just need to find a great place to hang it in the studio, which is part of my studio organizing plan!  I will try to take photos of it once I get the studio worked out (I have enlisted the help of my boys!) and the quilt hung...maybe studio organizing will be a whole blog post.  Don’t worry I will not abandon our Anniversary Quilt!

Have a great week. Stay safe.

Sending Quilting Love, 

Ginger

Coming Next Week:  Whatever comes...I won’t make any promises until I make sure I have my days straight!  Still Friday, right?

I am Reading: Cræft: An Inquiry Into the Origins and True Meaning of Traditional Crafts by Alexander Langlands (I told you it would be a good source of quotations!) and The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (unabridged).  I love Edmund Dantes...he is in prison right now and I mourned when he was so wronged, but things are looking up!  I am also reading various poetry---Anne Sexton mostly still.  What are you reading? I would love to know!  I haven’t started Mozart’s Starling yet, but I am still thinking about it.  

A Reminder...

“There’s just this for consolation:  An hour here or there when our lives seem, against all odds and expectations to burst open and give us everything we’ve ever imagined, though everyone but children (and perhaps even they) knows these hours will inevitably be followed by others, far darker and more difficult.”

The Hours

Michael Cunningham

One of ten beautiful quilts I made for a family after a loved one passed away.

One of ten beautiful quilts I made for a family after a loved one passed away.

Hello, Everyone!

This week I was reminded how important my work is to my customers and to myself.  Sometimes I get caught up in the administrative parts of my business...taxes, bills, supply orders, appointments...and I get caught up in deadlines and other responsibilities of being a custom commission based business.  And in getting caught up in those aspects of my business, the real heart of what I do slips into the background. 

I met with a long-time customer this week.  She gets t-shirt quilts made for each of her children as they graduate from college, and I have had the honor of making two quilts previously for her, and making a third for her this year. This particular customer came to me based on a good friend’s recommendation.  Her friend was also having t-shirt quilts made for her children as they graduated from college.  I made two quilts myself for her, and I helped make two earlier quilts for her when I worked for Patchwork Memories.  She and I had planned for me to make her youngest child’s quilt in 2019 when he graduated from college.  I did what I usually do, and put her on my calendar to contact in February 2019, so that she could get in my graduation quilt line up.  I emailed her in February, as promised, but I didn’t get a response.  She had mentioned that her son might take a little extra time to graduate, so I didn’t think too much about it.  I put a note to contact her later, and I thought about her this spring when I started thinking about graduation quilts in February. 

When I met with her friend this week, she informed me that her friend had suddenly passed away a few years ago, and she asked me if the final quilt for her friend had been made.  I told her I didn’t think so, but I would check my records to be sure.  After our meeting I went back to look at my records, and found all that I said above about trying to contact her in February 2019.  My customer who passed away was a wonderfully kind person, and her friend and I realized the importance of the quilts she had made for her children. Her friend is going to see if we can get the final quilt finished for her.

I often deal with the aftermath of death in my work.  I work with grieving family members, and I have the honor of building and designing quilts to remember lost loved ones.  Every year I make quilts for Carolina Donor Services from the quilt blocks families make to memorialize their loved ones who donated organs upon their death.  I just delivered this year’s quilts last week.  All of these quilts are so special and comforting.  The Carolina Donor Services blocks always give me pause to think about the people missing from other people’s lives, but the blocks are always so joyful and full of life.  Each block is lovingly put together by the family, and each one celebrates that life lost and the life given with the organ donation.

The quilts I made for my long-time client and her friend were quilts of joy, too ...moving from childhood and young adulthood to adulthood.  These ladies saved shirts all through their children’s lives, and I was stunned and saddened to hear that my customer had died.  However, I was also glad to know her children have a wonderful reminder of their mother’s love and joy in their accomplishments and lives.  Each of their quilts show her love and care, and I feel glad to be able to be a part of that process.  My long-time client and I will do our best to get that last quilt made if the family would like to have it done, and I will once again be reminded of how important the quilts I make can be for people.

Anniversary Quilt Update:  I am still sewing and trimming blocks...how about you?

Have a great week.  Remind your loved ones they matter.  Stay safe.

Sending Quilting Love, 

Ginger

Coming Next Week:  Finished Half Square triangles?  I really do hope so! :)

I am Reading:  Elantris by Brandon Sanderson and Man in the Blue Scarf: On Sitting for a Portrait by Lucien Freud by Martin Gayford.  The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (unabridged)  I am also reading various poetry.  What are you reading? I would love to know!


Sewing Balm and Quilting Ideas!

“For if the artist love the medium enough to submit himself to its actual qualities, resisting exaggerated notions of what the  medium can do at his beck and call, then the result will likely be something recognizable as a work of art, a transaction between the mind and the world that is played out in the material reality of the medium.”

How Poems Get Made

James Logenbach

Medium stipple or meander I use for quilting t-shirt quilts.

Medium stipple or meander I use for quilting t-shirt quilts.

Hello, Everyone!

Where is July going?  I feel like we just started the month, and now we are half-way through it.  So many unknowns this month, too...will school start?  What will it look like?  Is it safe?  What will be missed if students stay at home?  I have a sophomore in college and a junior in high school, and all of the options look weak and unsatisfactory.  We are still waiting for the county to make decisions about school, and the university still insists school will begin, but they have not offered any details about move-in or specifics about classes.  I do not envy anyone having to make those decisions, either.  If I am worried, then I am sure school/university staff are having sleepless nights!

Right now I do not control any of those decisions, so I am trying (unsuccessfully sometimes) to not worry about them.  Today I cannot affect any changes regarding school...by the way my husband works at a university, too...so school questions abound in our house...so I will not let those concerns niggle my mind--at least not much. If I keep saying that will I begin to practice it?  I hope so! 

I do find a lot of solace in my work.  Sewing has always been a balm, and I try not to take for granted the quiet hours I spend in my studio.  Today’s quotation reminds me of how sewing really takes hold of me...I really do submit myself to my medium, and I love what arises from that willing submission.

Besides working on custom orders, finishing four quilts and delivering them, this week, I worked more on half square triangles...I hope to finish next week, so that we can begin laying out the quilt!  I’m so excited to get to that part!  How are your squares going?  Please don’t hesitate to ask questions or send me pictures!  Do we need a hashtag to follow on Instagram….hmmm…that sounds like a good idea! 

As I worked piecing squares and dreaming about the top as a whole, the inevitable happened:  I started thinking about how I want to quilt the Anniversary quilt.  Do you think about quilting as you are piecing?  I always do.  For t-shirt quilts, I almost always use a medium sized stipple for quilting because it allows me to meander around heavy paint, buttons, placards, or other odds and ends one finds in quilts made from clothing.  So as I am prepping shirts or pieces of the quilt, I think about how I will need to quilt around and within that block.  I think that forethought helps when the top actually gets loaded for quilting.  

For memory quilts, often also made from clothing, I sometimes quilt something special but it usually incorporates a meander, so that I can still have the freedom to avoid trouble spots.  All of my quilting is hand-guided, too, so my patterns are limited to what I know how to do.  Though I am always trying out new things!

Small stipple and meandering heart quilting samples. I should finish these even though they are small—-I have been using them for my mug rugs! The meandering heart has lush minky on the back of it. I love to cuddle it!

Small stipple and meandering heart quilting samples. I should finish these even though they are small—-I have been using them for my mug rugs! The meandering heart has lush minky on the back of it. I love to cuddle it!

I’m wondering if I want to do some custom quilting on the Anniversary quilt or if it should reflect my most common quilting pattern?  Do I want to custom quilt the larger half square triangles?  Do I want to do one meandering pattern in the solid spaces and a different one in the scrappy spaces?  Do I want to quilt a fancy border design...I mean it is a celebration quilt!?!

I have not made any decisions yet, but I am thoroughly enjoying thinking about the options!  What kind of quilting do you like on a quilt...a dense pattern, lose pattern, all over or custom quilting?  Do you quilt your own quilts or will you give your top over to the trusted and capable hands of a longarm quilter?  Leave me a comment or send me a DM.  I would love to hear your ideas and thoughts about quilting!

Have a great week! Be kind. Stay safe.

Sending Quilting Love, 

Ginger

Coming Next Week:  Finished Half Square triangles?

I am Reading:  Elantris by Brandon Sanderson and Man in the Blue Scarf: On Sitting for a Portrait by Lucien Freud by Martin Gayford. (I am really enjoying this book---I read a little each night before bed, and I am fascinated by Freud’s mind and artistic thinking.  I also love the view of the sitter!)  The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (unabridged)  I am also reading various poetry.  What are you reading? I would love to know!

How Versatile are Half Square Triangles?

“The mind I love most must have wild places, a tangled orchard where dark damsons drop in the heavy grass, an overgrown little wood, the chance of a snake or two, a pool that nobody fathomed the depth of, and the paths threaded with flowers planted by the mind.”

Found on Myth and Moor (https://www.terriwindling.com/) 

A blog by Terri Windling

From Katherine Mansfield 

Notebooks: Complete Edition

Happy Friday!

I hope you have had a wonderful week...restful or busy or lazy or productive...I hope the week has been what you need.

I have had a productive week, though, I feel like things have been slow going.  I finished piecing a few quilt tops--one is a 36T, so it measures about 104”x104”.  I also quilted a 36T, and I am ready to quilt another 36T today.  I’m working on getting into a good piece, quilt rhythm, but since the pandemic started I feel like I am always out of step.  Anyone else feel that way?  Alas, I will keep working, and I will eventually find a rhythm...probably right as school starts for my men, whatever that looks like.  Then I suppose I will have to find a new rhythm.  Maybe I should embrace the odd, rhythmless days?  Probably!

I did manage to get more half square triangles cut and sewn while I was completing some embroidery for a few quilts I am making.  I still have a lot to do but I am enjoying the process.  How are your triangles coming?  Any troubles?  Questions?  Leave me a comment to let me know how you are doing or if you have questions.  You can also send me a direct message on Instagram if you like!

This week I thought I would talk about how versatile half square triangles are.  As I was piecing my squares, I laid out a few block designs that can be made with half square triangles.  Take a look at the configurations below.  

The configuration of half square triangles for the anniversary quilt.

The configuration of half square triangles for the anniversary quilt.

A Diamond using four half square triangles.

A Diamond using four half square triangles.

A Pinwheel with four half square triangles.

A Pinwheel with four half square triangles.

An arrow or stripes if you add triangles and expand the design!

An arrow or stripes if you add triangles and expand the design!

Larger triangles or a flying geese like block.

Larger triangles or a flying geese like block.

Stripes using six half square triangles.

Stripes using six half square triangles.

Half square triangles offer a lot of neat options for making blocks, so if you have fabric you want to use, but you aren’t sure of a pattern, then maybe you can make a pattern of your own!  Sometimes experimentation can lead to really fun and beautiful results! I know there are even more half square triangle options, so if you have one of your own, then be sure to share it in the comments. I would love to see what you make!

Have a great week.  Stay safe.

Sending Quilting Love, 

Ginger

Coming Next Week:  More small half square triangles...I’ve been thinking about the quilting I want to do for this quilt, too.  Maybe I will talk about that!  When do you start thinking about how you want to quilt a quilt?

I am Reading:  Elantris by Brandon Sanderson and Man in the Blue Scarf: On Sitting for a Portrait by Lucien Freud by Martin Gayford.  The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (unabridged)--I haven’t read it in years, so I decided to revisit it!  I am also reading various poetry.  What are you reading? I would love to know!

Happy July!

“It’s a good thing to turn your mind upside down now and then, like an hour-glass, to let the particles run the other way.” 

The Haunted Bookshop

Christopher Morley

Small half square triangles in progress…did you make some?

Small half square triangles in progress…did you make some?

Hello! Happy July!

Not a sewing quotation today, but I thought this one was interesting...I like the idea!

How is your sewing going this week?  Did you make more half square triangles?  I did...probably  not as many as I should, but I did make some!  I don’t know how many I have finished, but I am cutting 20 or 30 scrappy squares and sewing as I go.  I will keep cutting and sewing until all of my solid squares have been pieced into half square triangles. So far it is a good process for me, and I like the feel of progress. Do you have a different process for cutting and sewing so many half square triangles?

Please share your progress with me...leave a comment or send me a DM!

Be safe this holiday weekend....stay home, social distance, and wear a mask.  

Sending Quilting Love, 

Ginger

Coming Next Week:  More small half square triangles...forging on!

I am Reading:  Elantris by Brandon Sanderson and Man in the Blue Scarf: On Sitting for a Portrait by Lucien Freud by Martin Gayford.  I finished Emma by Jane Austin; I was right after all! :)  What will I read next...

Small Half Square Triangles!



“It was an act of courage to take the scraps of life provided and stitch them together, wrestling the chaos into order, taking what had been cast off and creating something from it, something useful, beautiful, and strong, something whose true value was known only to the heart of the woman who made it.”

The Secret Life of Bees

Sue Monk Kidd

Happy Friday, Everyone!

I hope you have had a lovely, productive week.  I had sewing machine issues this week, but I have rectified those---just in time to bring the week to a close.  Alas.  Well, I did manage to be productive on Thursday, and I will likely work this weekend--I will make up time that way!

I did cut all of my solid 5 ⅜” squares for my small half square triangles for  the Anniversary quilt this week...I didn’t have to sew anything to cut those! :)  I needed 128 4.5” half square triangles, or 64 of each solid for the interior part of the quilt.  I needed 34 squares of each solid for the border half square triangles.  So I needed a total of 98 squares.  I cut 103...giving me five extra so that I have more options when I am thinking about the layout of the blocks.

My stacks of solid squares…now I have to cut the scrappy squares!

My stacks of solid squares…now I have to cut the scrappy squares!

Now I will start cutting my scrappy squares...I need the same amount as the solid squares, and I think as I cut those I will begin to piece them, too.  I think breaking up the piecing will help make the process easier!

How far did you get this week?  Remember, I would love to see your work.  Leave me a comment, tag me on Instagram, or send me a DM!

Sending Quilting Love, 

Ginger

Coming Next Week:  More small half square triangles...I am so excited!

I am Reading:  Elantris by Brandon Sanderson and Man in the Blue Scarf: On Sitting for a Portrait by Lucien Freud by Martin Gayford, and Emma by Jane Austin.  New Poetry didn’t happen...I will find time soon!  I am addicted to Emma.  I thought I knew what was going to happen, but maybe I don’t.  Now I have to find out!

Half Square Triangle Tutorial

Happy June, Everyone!

The weather has really warmed up here in North Carolina this week, and the studio has been a busy place.  I have been working on graduation quilts, and I narrowed down my fabric choices for the Anniversary Quilt.  What sorts of sewing have you been working on?  Did you decide to sew along with me?

This week I am going to discuss half square triangles:  how to sew, cut and trim them.  This tutorial is for finished 4” squares, but you can use the techniques in this tutorial for any size half square triangles.

The formula for half square triangles is side of square + ⅞= the size to cut the squares.  So for instance, we want finished 4” squares, so we need 4.5” squares to sew because of the ¼” seam allowance.  So our formula is:  4.5+.875=5.375 (41/2 + ⅞=5 3/8)  You will need to cut your squares 5 ⅜.  For this quilt we will need 196 4” half square triangles.  98 Solid and 98 scrappy for me.  

If you are going to start with the 8” squares, then your formula would be:

8.5+⅞=9 ⅜, so you will need to cut your squares 9 ⅜”.  For this quilt you will need 32 8” squares, so you will need 16 solid squares and 16 scrappy squares. (When I say scrappy, I mean that I am going to use 16 different fabrics for these squares.)

As I said this tutorial is for 4” finished half square triangles, so I am going to cut strips of fabric at 5 ⅜” wide, and then I will cut 5 ⅜” squares from those strips.  

Once you have your solid and scrappy fabric squares cut, then put solid and scrappy squares right sides together.  Draw a line on the diagonal of each square stack.  For darker fabrics I use sew line chalk and for lighter fabrics I use a pencil.

Draw a line on the diagonal of each fabric stack of solid and scrappy fabric.

Draw a line on the diagonal of each fabric stack of solid and scrappy fabric.


Sew ¼” to the left of the line you drew (it will be used as the guide).  Turn the square and sew another ¼” line on the other side of the drawn line. You do not have to backstitch to secure the ends.  If you mark all of your squares, then you can chain stitch them.  Since you need so many 4” squares, you might want to batch them...maybe do 20 at a time?

Sew 1/4” seam on each side of the drawn line.

Sew 1/4” seam on each side of the drawn line.

Place a ruler on the drawn middle line and cut.  Press each seam to the darker fabric.  In this case I pressed towards the beige because it is slightly darker than the cherries.

Use a ruler to cut on the drawn line.

Use a ruler to cut on the drawn line.

Now you have two half square triangles.

Now you have two half square triangles.

Press to the darker fabric. In this case I pressed towards the beige.

Press to the darker fabric. In this case I pressed towards the beige.

Now to trim each one to the 4.5” size we need for sewing the quilt.  I have a 4.5” square I will use to trim, and a square will be very handy!  I will use a 9.5” square to trim my 8.5” squares later.  Lay your square out in front of you with the solid fabric in the left corner.  Place the diagonal on the diagonal of the square and line the sides up with 4.5”.  Trim the right and top of that square using a rotary cutter.  Now turn the block so that the scrappy fabric is in the upper left corner and the solid fabric is in the right corner.  Match the diagonal and 4.5” on the square again.  Trim the right and top of the block.

Beige or solid is in the left corner; match diagonal and trim right side and top.

Beige or solid is in the left corner; match diagonal and trim right side and top.

Turn the square so that the scrappy or non solid is in the upper left corner; match the diagonal and trim the right side and the top.

Turn the square so that the scrappy or non solid is in the upper left corner; match the diagonal and trim the right side and the top.

Congratulations!  Now you have 4.5” squares that you can use to piece your quilt!

So!  In terms of my fabric choices.  I think I am going to use Kona Meringue for the solid in one quilt and Kona Geranium for one quilt...Yes, I think I am going to make two quilts.  I have plenty of scraps!  Here is a picture of my pull so far!

20200604_141035.jpg

Please let me know if you have questions! Leave me a comment or go to instagram and send me a DM!

Sending Quilting Love,

Ginger

Coming Next Week:  Checking in on half square triangle cutting and sewing!

I am Reading:  Elantris by Brandon Sanderson and Man in the Blue Scarf: On Sitting for a Portrait by Lucien Freud by Martin Gayford, Mrs. Bennett Has Her Say by Jane Juska, and Emma by Jane Austin...Wow Emma should really stay out of other people’s love lives!