Busy Week!

“Chloe reached out and touched a branch of cottonwood. ‘It’s so beautiful here. Hearing what you’re saying, the stuff that never makes it into the history books, I wonder how you can stand to associate with anyone who isn’t Indian.’

‘You forget I’m not full blood.  Lots of people feel the way you’re describing. That’s part of what AIM was about.  Where I live in Massachusetts was Indian land, once.  There isn’t any place you can walk in the US that doesn’t fit that description.  The Indian part of me alternates between feeling conquered and murderous, but the white part of me, my mother’s blood, can’t quite rest easy there.’

‘I don’t see why not.’

He shook his head. ‘It’s a tribal thing.  It’s tribal, and I’ll never be part of that.”

Loving Chloe

    Jo-Ann Mapson

This image is from a month or so ago when I was repairing a well-loved comforter.

Happy Friday!

I hope you are having a super week!  Again this week I have been busy with prep, fabric choices, cutting, and communicating with customers.  I have two quilts ready to piece, three ready to quilt, and a bear finished along with a small quilt finished!  Whew!  

I posted a fun walk through the bear making in my stories on Instagram this week...would you like to see more of that?  I plan to post more of those as I feel inspired.  Sometimes I get so busy and involved that I forget to share, which I don’t necessarily consider a bad thing.  Focus and diligent attention are always good!  If you don’t follow me on Instagram, then go over to the gallery and click on the camera icon or search for finished.fibers. Also let me know what other types of process pictures you would like to see!

The Anniversary quilt is still in the works...I am trying to get enough pieced to take good photos!  Hopefully I will have an update next week. 

I may have to move to a blog every two weeks with my holiday work load kicking in, but I’ll try to at least drop a note each week!

Have a great week. Stay safe.

Sending Quilting Love, 

Ginger

Coming Next Week: That depends on you...what would you like to hear about?  Leave a comment by next Tuesday or Wednesday! I write and set the blog up on Thursday evening!

I am Reading: Cræft: An Inquiry Into the Origins and True Meaning of Traditional Crafts by Alexander Langlands and The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (unabridged); I am getting so close to finishing! 910 pages finished...the end is 1243, so only 333 to go...those plot lines tightening!  Maybe Agatha Christie soon?  I am also reading various poetry.   

Truth and Creative Process

Happy Friday!

I hope you had a super week!  I have had a really busy week with prepping orders and working out designs for quilts.  When I am busy with layouts, I sometimes have to prep the shirts/clothing and then I have to lay it out and think about what has to happen.  This week I actually began working on a layout before I even prepped the shirts!  I do love a design that makes me think and allows me to be creative!  

I am right in the middle of a super, interesting bear, so that layout is fun to do, too!

What does your creative process look like? I often lay things out, and then I let it ferment in my brain.  Some of my best ideas come from looking through a project, taking it to a certain point, and then setting it aside for a day or so.  I also tend to look through a project a few times before I start, so that I can let it snuggle into my brain where the ideas will quietly work themselves out!

I also worked on the second set of half square triangles, too!

Have you worked on anything creative this week?  

Have a great week. Stay safe.

Sending Quilting Love, 

Ginger

Coming Next Week: I’m not sure yet! :)

 I am Reading: Cræft: An Inquiry Into the Origins and True Meaning of Traditional Crafts by Alexander Langlands and The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (unabridged); I am getting so close to finishing! 868 pages finished...the end is 1243, so only 375 to go...those plot lines tightening!  Maybe Agatha Christie soon?  I am also reading various poetry.   

Anniversary Quilt Layout!

“I stand here on the summit of the mountain.  I lift my head and I spread my arms.  This, my body and spirit, this is the end of the quest.  I wished to know the meaning of things. I am the meaning.  I wished to find a warrant for being. I need no warrant for being, and no word of sanction upon my being.  I am the warrant and the sanction...Whatever road I take, the guiding star is within me; the guiding star and the loadstone which point the way.  They point in but one direction.  They point to me.”

Anthem

Ayn Rand

Happy Friday and Happy October!

I hope you have had a productive and fruitful week!  I certainly have!  I finally finished the small half square triangles for the Anniversary Quilt, and I worked on a layout.  I am still working on the second version, but I hope to have those half square triangles finished next week. (I also hope to piece some rows, too!)

So here is my progress:

The full layout…except the final rows. I ran out of space on the table. Then, a close up of the final rows and my cute socks that I had to wear because of the cool fall weather!

I would love to see your quilts if you are working along with me, or if you have a quilt you are excited to be working on!  Send me a DM, tag me on Instagram, or leave a comment. 

I have been thinking about how I want to quilt this quilt...any ideas?

This week has been busy and productive, but it has also been very sad.  Several people in my community have died from Covid 19, and a student from Appalachian State University has died from the virus, also.  Please don’t take the pandemic lightly.  Wear a mask, wash your hands, stay home when you can, and be socially vigilant and distant when you cannot stay home.  

Have a great week. Stay safe.

Sending Quilting Love, 

Ginger

Coming Next Week: Anniversary Quilt layout.  

I am Reading: Cræft: An Inquiry Into the Origins and True Meaning of Traditional Crafts by Alexander Langlands and The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (unabridged).  I am also reading various poetry.  

Can You Tell I Am Feeling Bookish Today?

“He’s more myself than I am.  Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.”

        Catherine of Heathcliff

Wuthering Heights

Emily Bronte

Happy Friday...the last of September!

I am having trouble believing October starts late next week.  Alas. Well, I promised you one of my favorite quotations from Wuthering Heights, so I began with it this week. I did not, in fact, start rereading it (The Count and his revenge are really keeping me busy!), but I think I will take it up again soon.  I realized yesterday, again, mind you, that I crave books like most people crave food, and I mean that about reading itself, and the composition of books themselves.  I sometimes long for a certain style, era or author...turns of phrase or familiar friends...a difficult wordy maze or soothing pastoral.  The Count of Monte Cristo is interesting because it is a translation from the French, so I find myself going back to the French to see how certain phrases or looks were originally written.  I have thought about buying a French copy, so that I can match and read them.  I want to do the same thing for The Lover...what a beautiful book it must be in French.

Honestly, I don’t spend all of  my time reading, though.  I really only spend about 15-30 minutes on weekdays reading, usually right before bed.  This week, though, I had several appointments, so my book went with me.  And my appointments, both business and personal, have dominated the week.  I almost think they have dominated more of my time than the studio has this week.  Probably not, but it feels that way.  I will try to make next week a much quieter week where I am in the studio all day! 

I did make some progress yesterday between appointments, and I hope to have a final Anniversary quilt layout for you soon!  

I realized yesterday that I forgot I am making two quilts…I have just been making half square triangles…no wonder I have so many!

I also prepped orders a lot this week; I have one quilt on the quilting frame and several others waiting for that one to be finished!  I also delivered a beautiful quilt to its owner!  All in all a productive week.  What did you do this week?  Did you make progress on something you have been working on?  I would love for you to share in the comments...and it can be anything, not just quilting or sewing things!  Obviously books are fair game here, too!  You might have other passions, too, so tell me about those! 

Have a great week. Stay safe.

Sending Quilting Love, 

Ginger

Coming Next Week: Anniversary Quilt layout.  

I am Reading: Cræft: An Inquiry Into the Origins and True Meaning of Traditional Crafts by Alexander Langlands and The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (unabridged).  I am also reading various poetry.  

Business News!

“The goal, in being cræfty, is not to use as much as possible of the technology and resources you have at your disposal but to use as little as possible in relation to the job that needs undertaking.  This is the resourcefulness in cræft.  Having physical adeptness, strength, and fitness represent the power in cræft.  And finally, understanding the materials, making critical decisions about how to approach the work, and factoring in wider financial and time constraints represents the knowledge in cræft.”

Cræft: An Inquiry Into the Origins and True Meaning

                                                                  of Traditional Crafts

                                                                  Alexander Langlands

A little hand work I have been working on in the evenings.

Happy Friday and almost Fall!

The equinox is next week, and I can already feel the changes in the weather.  I have been busy on a quilt this week that reminds me that I am often astonished at what I get to make. This particular quilt is made from something other than t-shirts or cotton fabric, and I have marveled at how lovely this very colorful quilt is!  I will share it with you when I have shared it with its owner!  As usual, I have thoroughly enjoyed my work this week! 

I promised you information about my secret plan...so...here goes:  I have hired a contractor to help me piece t-shirt quilt tops!  I know---exciting and nerve wracking all at once---I realized I am a total control freak (I already knew, but sometimes I forget!), so giving over some parts of my work to another person has been a huge step for me.  I feel very grateful that my contractor is an award winning quilter, who I have known for longer than I have been in business, and she is always one of my best supporters.  Carrie Hauser is a wonderful addition to Finished Fibers, and I am so pleased to welcome her!  Carrie has finished her first Finished Fibers quilt top, and she did a beautiful job.  I am excited to have her help on future tops!  Carrie is not just a contractor for Finished Fibers, she is also a business owner herself.  She is a Longarm quilter, and you can see more of her work on Instagram @lovebulongarming and on her website here: https://www.lovebuglongarming.com/.  I meant to get a picture of her when she dropped off her first top, but I was so excited that I forgot!  You should visit her website and Instagram, though, because there are pictures there! (By the way, she is going to laugh when she reads this!)

Have a great week. Stay safe.

Sending Quilting Love, 

Ginger

Coming Next Week: An update on the Anniversary quilt.  

I am Reading: Cræft: An Inquiry Into the Origins and True Meaning of Traditional Crafts by Alexander Langlands and The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (unabridged).  I am also reading various poetry.  I haven’t started Mozart’s Starling yet, but I am still thinking about it...still...Edmond Dantes still has me spellbound at the moment...at once tragic and beautiful...he is terrific and I am frightened for him, still. Don’t worry---the Count is moving every closer to bringing his revenge to fruition!  I have been eyeing The Witcher books, too.  I remembered Wuthering Heights this week...I think I may need an iconic love story.  I love Wuthering Heights...the language, the angst, the love, the torture, the...well everything.  OOh, maybe I will use my favorite quotation from the novel next week.  I actually have it printed on a pillow. :)  

Quick Studio Tour!

“Women have served all these centuries as looking-glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of man at twice its natural size.”

“A Room of One’s Own”

Virginia Woolf

Happy Friday!

I often revisit Virginia Woolf’s “A Room of One’s Own” because it is not only a wonderful essay about women and society, but it is a beautiful essay about literature and its importance.  I also thought “A Room of One’s Own” fitting today because I am sharing a video of my studio space...my own room where my work and creativity shine.

You can find the video here: https://www.instagram.com/finished.fibers/ once you get there, click on the sleeping dog! Enjoy!

Don’t worry I have not forgotten the half square triangles...they will get to shine next week!

I know today is September 11, but the more than 190,000 deaths in the US from Covid-19 seems to overshadow that to make me immensely sad.  Wear a mask and take precautions.

Have a great week. Stay safe.

Sending Quilting Love, 

Ginger

Coming Next Week: An update on the Anniversary quilt.  I did say I have a secret plan, right?  I need to get a picture for that blog post! :)

I am Reading: Cræft: An Inquiry Into the Origins and True Meaning of Traditional Crafts by Alexander Langlands and The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (unabridged).  I am also reading various poetry.  I haven’t started Mozart’s Starling yet, but I am still thinking about it...still...Edmond Dantes still has me spellbound at the moment...at once tragic and beautiful...he is terrific and I am frightened for him, still. I have been eyeing The Witcher books, too.  I spent most o

Fall Plans and a Busy Studio

“A light wind swept over the corn, and all nature laughed in the sunshine.”

Anne Bronte

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

Some of the quilts that were delivered this week!

Happy Friday and Happy September!

A lot of people seem to be talking about fall this week...the weather changing, or not changing as the case is here in North Carolina, fall decorations, Halloween...so I thought today’s quotation was lovely.  The summer is waning, and pretty soon the corn will rustle dryly in the fields and pumpkins will be found everywhere.  Hopefully all of nature will continue to laugh in the sunshine.

My week has been very busy.  I delivered eight quilts this week to three customers, and I had a happy reception from them all.  One lovely customer said:

“You made magic!  You were able to bring together a grandmother and granddaughter and create a wonderful memory...through your talent and skill they created a timeless quilt TOGETHER!  The quilt honored both of their styles-I love it.”

I really do love making my clients happy by creating lovely, warm, special quilts for them!  

I have also been working on my secret plan that will be finalized today in an exciting meeting...so you will have to wait until next week to learn more about it!  In addition to that I have been prepping and piecing three more quilts for next week!

The studio reorganization is fantastic...as you can tell the studio is a happening place, and now everything (almost) has a place of its own!  I have really enjoyed working in my space this week.  I am plotting that video tour…I might use IG TV...I’ll let you know!  I will try to link the video here in the blog when I make it, too!

My half square triangles are still coming along, but they are not finished...I know, I know...but really, I am working very hard!  My secret plan will hopefully help me with time...I am so excited! I think you will be, too!

Have a great week. Stay safe.

Sending Quilting Love, 

Ginger

Coming Next Week: An update on the Anniversary quilt.  The reveal of the secret plan! :)

I am Reading: Cræft: An Inquiry Into the Origins and True Meaning of Traditional Crafts by Alexander Langlands and The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (unabridged).  I am also reading various poetry.  I haven’t started Mozart’s Starling yet, but I am still thinking about it...still...Edmond Dantes still has me spellbound at the moment...at once tragic and beautiful...he is terrific and I am frightened for him, still. I have been eyeing The Witcher books, too.  Hmmm.

Organization can be key!

“He was a great teacher, Mr. da Silva.  He treated us with complete seriousness, as if we eighth graders, during fifth period, might settle something scholars had been arguing about for centuries.  He listened to our chirping, his hairline pressing down his eyes.  When he spoke himself, it was in complete paragraphs.  If you listened closely it was possible to hear the dashes and commas in his speech, even the colons and semi-colons.  Mr. da Silva had a relevant quotation for everything that happened to him and in this way evaded real life.  Instead of eating his lunch, he told you what Oblonsky and Levin had for lunch in Anna Karenina.  Or, describing a sunset from Daniel Deronda, he failed to notice the one that was presently falling over Michigan.”

Middlesex

      Jeffrey Eugenides

Happy Friday!

I hope you are well and have had a super week.  I chose today’s quotation in homage to the best teachers I know and to all of the teachers who are working to make places of learning wherever they are.  I know this school year is a challenge for everyone.

Last week I told you I was going to work on organizing and cleaning up the studio, and I feel very successful in that endeavor!  I have a few things left to do, but overall everything is neater and better organized, especially my orders.  Prior to the reorganization, orders were in either one of six stackable laundry baskets or they were in giant ziploc bags.  You can see how that would be cluttered after a while.  I now have all of my orders in containers (save one, but it is neatly tucked away), and I am so pleased with the room it created in the studio.  

New bins for orders creates more space in the studio!

My embroidery machine along side the big stackable laundry baskets. Do you spy the six quilts all packaged and ready to go?

I also dusted and organized shelves.  My husband had some books on shelves in the studio, and I packed those up and made space for fabric scraps.

My steam press and new fabric scrap shelves!

Shelf under my cutting table…everything within reach!

I also reorganized all of my thread and personal projects.  Now everything has a place and I feel like the studio runs more smoothly!  I will try to create a video for my stories or do a live video on Instagram of my studio, so that you can see how it is organized better!  Would you like that?

Thread and personal quilts. I have a new thread holder for my longarm thread…it is waiting to be hung on the wall.

I have also spent time binding, piecing, and quilting this week.  I have six quilts ready to deliver!

I am still chugging along on my half square triangles---I am getting so excited to see them come together!  How about yours?  Can I see some pictures?  Leave me a comment or send me a DM or tag me in your stories on Instagram.  

Have a great week. Stay safe.

Sending Quilting Love, 

Ginger

Coming Next Week: An update on the Anniversary quilt.  Definitely news on my secret plan I mentioned last week!

I am Reading: Cræft: An Inquiry Into the Origins and True Meaning of Traditional Crafts by Alexander Langlands and The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (unabridged).  I am also reading various poetry.  I haven’t started Mozart’s Starling yet, but I am still thinking about it...still...Edmond Dantes has me spellbound at the moment...at once tragic and beautiful...he is terrific and I am frightened for him. (Yes, I have read the book before, but I am the person who always cries at the end of A Tale of Two Cities...even though I know what is going to happen...and the person who hopes 1984 will end differently, even though I have read it a hundred times.)  Please let me know what you are reading...it really doesn’t matter what it is as long as it is giving you pleasure!

Studio Reorganizing!

“But our dreams are the anterooms between quickness and death---where we divest of meaning’s demands.”

“Conversations with Sleep (IV)”

Lines 19-21

Kyle Dargan

Happy Friday!

May I ask:  Where has August gone?  I can hardly believe we are so close to September.  Well, school has resumed for all of my boys (husband included both teaching and learning), and it has been an eventful week.  NCSU began classes a little over a week and a half ago with a hybrid in-person schedule and this afternoon (I am writing this Thursday evening!) undergraduate classes were moved to all online.  ASU looks like its Covid numbers are good so far, so we will hope Sam can safely stay on campus.  High School classes for my youngest have been underwhelming, but I think this week has been, really, just an acclimation week.  I think everyone is trying to settle in before major work starts.  I seriously want to give Sidney some work, though! (Can you feel the eye roll?)  Teachers, professors, administrators…everyone trying to school has my deepest sympathy and respect right now.

My week has been busy and enlightening...I have been wanting to move things around in my studio for a while now, and I have a pretty solid plan.  My business, five years in, is beginning to outgrow my little studio above the garage, so reorganization has become a necessity.  This week I started moving things around, and I think I have decided to dig in and finish the shuffle tomorrow.  Otherwise my head might explode!

Earlier this summer, I moved my desk, where I do paperwork and answer emails, completely out of the studio.  I now have a sweet, very organized desk in our dining room, and I love that set up.  (I am typing this blog there right now!)  In the studio this week, I cleaned off one bookcase, so that I can store fabric in it, and I moved my bolts of fabric to the corner where my table used to be.  The bolts are now more accessible, and they are organized and neat!  

Easily accessible and organized…I am so motivated and excited to finish more reorganizing for you to see!

I plan to move my embroidery machine to the corner where my bolts used to live, and I have acquired new bins to keep customer orders in.  I plan to get all of that squared away tomorrow, so I should have good pictures for next week.

The cleaning and organizing so far has been at odd times built around the work I am currently trying to complete, but I decided today that I need to just get organized.  My work-flow and my mind flow will appreciate and benefit from the studio being cleaner and more organized.  I hate to halt production of quilts for even one day, but I know that getting the studio finished in a day will be better for me.  And every little bit helps these days!

I am also looking at another big...and excellent...change for the business, but I will have more information about that later.   I have also been spending a lot of extra hours on this plan!

All of that being said, you know my half square triangles have been in tiny bits of production all week!  I will continue to work on those, but the Anniversary quilt is only one facet of this five year celebration!  I will not lose sight of it, though! How are your quilts going?  Can I see some pictures?  Are you struggling to get all of the half square triangles finished?  Let me know how things are going in the comments below.  Are you super peeved that I am taking so long?  Let me know! I would also love to see your work!

Have a great week. Stay safe.

Sending Quilting Love, 

Ginger

Coming Next Week: Okay...definitely studio pictures.  I’m sure an update on the Anniversary quilt, too.  And who knows, my other plan may be ready to be revealed, too! 

I am Reading: Cræft: An Inquiry Into the Origins and True Meaning of Traditional Crafts by Alexander Langlands and The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (unabridged).  I am also reading various poetry---Kyle Dargan’s Honest Engine lives on my nightstand--beautiful, timely, and important.  What are you reading? I would love to know!  I haven’t started Mozart’s Starling yet, but I am still thinking about it...still.  

Five Years on Saturday!

“I’ll walk where my own nature would be leading: It vexes me to choose another guide.”

Emily Bronte

I found the quotation in my quotation journal, which is a Bronte journal.

Hello and Happy Friday!

Well, I remembered the days correctly this week...I actually compose the blog earlier in the week in my head, and I type it up on Thursdays.  You understand my trouble last week, right?  So as I am writing this my oldest son is turning 19!  My youngest son turned 16 two weeks ago.  Where did the time go!?!  My oldest is also returning to his college campus on Saturday, and as I said last week, my extra work, like the anniversary quilt, would be relegated to the back burner of my very hot stove until that move in happens. 

I got a lot of work finished this week.  I currently have two large quilts and four wall hangings to bind. (Yes, I was piecing and quilting up a storm!) I also quilted, bound, and embroidered a label for another quilt.  Two or three other jobs are in my brain, percolating.  I delivered a quilt and consulted a number of clients.  

Outside of the work to keep my queue moving, the bits of time I usually allot to half square triangles, lately, has been taken up with finishing masks for said oldest child.  I want to make sure he has enough.  I let him choose the fabric, and I finished all of those yesterday. 

A satisfying stack!

I am also trying to finish more for my husband, who also works on a college campus, but I am still working on a good fit for him.  Once I get that done, his masks won’t take long because his masks are all black.    

How has your week been?  

On Saturday, while I am helping Sam move in, my business will be turning five!  I have been celebrating all summer, and I plan to continue until October, when I actually was completely up and running.  If you happen to think of me or the business on Saturday, then leave me a comment or send me a DM on Instagram!  I would love to hear from you!

Have a great week. Stay safe.

Sending Quilting Love, 

Ginger

Coming Next Week:  Okay, everyone in the house will be back into school and work full time, so I should be finding a new more expansive schedule.  I’ll let you know how that goes next Friday, but I hope to have pretty pictures of my triangles!

I am Reading: Cræft: An Inquiry Into the Origins and True Meaning of Traditional Crafts by Alexander Langlands and The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (unabridged).  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.  

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!

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.  

Busy Week and Good Reads!

‘I always thought,’ says LF, ‘that an artist’s was the hardest life of all.’ Its rigour--not always apparent to an outside observer--is that an artist has to navigate forward into the unknown guided only by an internal sense of direction, keep up a set of standards which are imposed entirely from within, meanwhile maintaining faith that the task he or she has set him or herself is worth struggling constantly to achieve.  This is all contrary to the notion of bohemian disorder.

February 24, 2004

Man with a Blue Scarf: On Sitting for a

 Portrait by Lucian Freud

      Martin Gayford

Hello and Happy Friday!

Whew!  I feel like I have had a busy week.  I did a little Research and Development in mask pattern making, since I need to make masks for two of my men returning to their respective Universities. I made masks for the entire family early on in the pandemic, but I want to make more solid masks for the long term.  I think I like the process and pattern I have made; I just need to make sure I get the fit right.  Prototypes abound!  I did make two pretty masks that fit me, so that is progress!

Two pretty masks! I think the boys will prefer elastic ear pieces instead of the tie.

I also pieced four wall hangings, a Queen sized t-shirt quilt, quilted two King sized quilts, and cut and sewed more squares for the anniversary quilt.  I did not get any pictures taken of the half square triangles, and I know you are probably ready to move to the layout phase of this project. Don’t worry, I will be there soon!  

Four pieced wall hangings ready for quilting!

How has your week been?  What did you sew?  Please share pictures and your progress...also feel free to complain in the comments about how slow I am being! Honestly, I set aside the month of July to work on half square triangles, so I’m not really behind in my plan; we will see if I can stay that way on track!

Have a great week. Stay safe.

Sending Quilting Love, 

Ginger

Coming Next Week:  Finished Half Square triangles!

I am Reading: I finished Elantris by Brandon Sanderson and Man in the Blue Scarf: On Sitting for a Portrait by Lucien Freud by Martin Gayford.  Both excellent reads!  I am reading Elantris with my oldest son, so I was trying not to get too far ahead.  I got really excited and devoured the rest in one sitting, though, and now he will have to catch up!  I loved the Lucien Freud book so much that I ordered The Yellow House, the book Martin Gayford wrote about Vincent Van Gogh.  I ‘m so excited!  I have already read Vincent Van Gogh: The Life by Naifeh and Smith, which was a lovely read.  I highly recommend it!  I started Alexander Langlands book about Craft: Cræft: An Inquiry Into the Origins and True Meaning of Traditional Crafts, and I am going to really like that book!  If you don’t know, I am a medievalist.  My concentration in college was Anglo Saxon and Medieval literature, and I love to read both in their original English.  Langlands is a Medieval scholar, and as I read the preface and the first few chapters, I realized how much I miss another medieval mind.  Plus...I think the topic of crafts is interesting, too!  I’ll keep you posted about that one---I think I will get good quotations out of it!  ! I am still reading The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (unabridged)  I am also reading various poetry---Anne Sexton mostly this week..  What are you reading? I would love to know!  My hand is also hovering over my copy of Mozart’s Starling...I might delve into it soon.  Do you read more than one book at a time?

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.

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.

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!

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!

Large Half Square Triangles for the Anniversary Quilt: Complete!

Happy Friday!

Today’s quotation comes from Tuck Everlasting, by Natalie Babbitt, and it is a description from “the homely little house beside the pond,” and the busy sewing spot of one of its occupants:

“...patches and scraps of bright cloth; half-completed quilts and braided rugs; a bag of cotton batting with wisps of its contents, like snow, drifting into cracks and corners; the arms of the sofa webbed with strands of thread and dangerous with needles…”

I love this quotation and think of it often when I am sewing!  When I hand sew at night, I invariably stick my needle in the arm of the chair, while I fetch some thread or move my hoop.  Of course, I don’t leave it there, and I should probably get a needle minder, but “the homely little house beside the pond,” really holds a lot of charm for me.  I think the house’s “eddies of dust” and “the silver cobwebs” speak to the importance of priorities...yes, read the book, and you will see what I mean.

I have been feverishly trying to keep my priorities in strict order this week, and I think I have accomplished a lot.  I finished another quilt and two pillows...I will share those on Instagram soon.  I also completed all of my 8” half square triangles for the Anniversary Quilt...for both quilts!  Don’t worry if you haven’t finished your squares yet...we are all working through this at our own pace, so no need to rush or feel hurried!

Kona Meringue and Kona Geranium with my scrappy fabric squares.

I cut 16  9 ⅜” squares of each solid fabric and 32 9 ⅜” squares from my scrappy fabric.  I started by cutting four 9 ⅜” strips from each solid fabric.  (By the way, I am using Kona Meringue and Kona Geranium for my solid fabrics for my two quilts, and I am in love with both!) Then I cut four 9 ⅜” squares from each strip. 

When I cut my scrappy fabrics I decided to stack and whack them. I stacked them to cut the strips I needed and then to cut the squares.  I specially picked these scrappy fabrics for these larger half square triangles because I like the patterns, and I remember the quilts I made with them.  The fabrics will also be the first ones I cut for my smaller half square triangles, and then I will supplement with other fabrics in my stash, too.  We have a lot of 4” half square triangles to cut, so I think variety will be good.  

Stacking fabrics to make cutting easier! 9 3/8” strips ready to cut into 9 3/8” squares.

After I cut my squares, I stacked them, marked them, sewed them, pressed them to the darker fabric, and then I trimmed each square to 8.5”.  I used my 9.5” square to trim each one.  I just lined the square up on the 8.5” mark, making sure the diagonal line matched the diagonal in the half square triangle.  Then I trimmed and trimmed! Whew!  Don’t forget there is a tutorial for half square triangles in the June 5, 2020 blog if you need it.

All of my finished 8.5” squares…now on to the 4.5” squares!

Don’t feel like you have to do everything at once, though.  You can break the process up for yourself, and you only have 32 squares to make!  I am making two quilts, which is why I made 64. 

I would love to see your work...leave me a comment or send me a DM on Instagram.  Or post something to Instagram and tag me!

Sending Quilting Love, 

Ginger

Coming Next Week: Progress Check in...hopefully some 4” half square triangles and maybe a few words about how versatile half square triangles are!

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.  I read more of the same poetry this week, but I think I am craving some Middle English...a little Chaucer maybe...hmm...yes.  I’ll let you know what I read next week! I’m thinking a visit with Dorigen and Arveragus in “The Franklin’s Tale” is needed... those black rocks...I love to read it aloud.   Have I told you I love the smell of books, yet? Well I do...love the smell of books.   My copy of Emma is a copy from 1957 that I bought at Reader’s Corner in Raleigh, and it smells just like that book shop.  My Elantris copy is new, and it has that beautiful newsprint smell.  My Chaucer book has a lovely smell, too.  Yes, smell is a part of my love of reading, and yes, I am aware how weird I am.  But I am also unashamed to admit that I have taught my boys to be weird about book smells, too!

Happy Friday and Fabric Information for the Anniversary Quilt!

Happy Friday, Again, Everyone!

I hope your week has been lovely!!  I have been busy working on graduation orders.  I have finished three quilt tops and prepped another for piecing, which means I have had a pretty productive week!  I am excited to quilt today, and I will share some of that in my Stories on Instagram, so be sure to go visit over there this weekend!

Well, I didn’t get any comments or real feedback about my Anniversary Project, but I am going to forge ahead!  I figure there are people coming around the blog to read and observe, people who are not interested in interacting...I tend to be that kind of person myself!  I have several blogs that I follow on a regular basis, but I only rarely comment on them.  So, I will continue to share my project work, and I will try to give you all of the information that you will need to sew along with me if you like.  And if you feel like commenting at some point, then do so!

This week I thought I would try to give you fabric amounts, so that you can be thinking about what you have and what you might want to get. I hope you can use a lot of your own stash for the quilt because that was really the impetus behind this project for me.  I have a lot of scraps left from the quilts I have made over the last five years, and using those scraps will be a great way of celebrating my business birthday!

Anniversary Quilt Layout

I will be using a ¼ inch seam allowance.  The quilt will finish at 72” square including the border.  I will be making 32 8” (finished, so 8.5” before sewing) half square triangles with solid and scrappy fabric for the larger squares in the quilt.  I will be making 196 4” (finished, so 4.5” before sewing) half square triangles to make the four patch squares and the border of the quilt.  

Here it is in non-paragraph form:

32: 8” half square triangles

32: 4 patch squares using 4 4” half square triangles for a total of 128 half square triangles

32: Side border 4” half square triangles (16 on each side of the quilt.)

36: Top/Bottom border 4” half square triangles (18 on top/bottom respectively)

I will need close to 3.5 yards (115”) of the solid fabric I choose, and I will need about 3.5 yards of scraps.  For the back of the quilt, two cuts of 78” (156” or 4.5 yards) should work, especially since I will be putting this quilt on the longarm.  For binding, I will need about 21” or I could find a yard of fabric to use.  I’m not sure what I want on the back yet or what I want for the binding either.  I might use the solid for both the back and binding...I don’t know...I will get back to you on that!  

Next week I will talk about half square triangles and try to give a little tutorial for those.  I will also let you know which solid fabric I plan to use...I have two in mind. :)  If you want to follow along with me, then you can work on picking your fabric and gathering scraps.  You can use any scrap that is at least 5.5” square for the smaller half square triangles or at least 9.5” square for the larger half square triangles.  Again, I hope you will search your stash for this quilt! 

I will also try to be clear at each stage how I figured the math and how I plan to cut my fabric, so that you will get an idea how you can plan a quilt for yourself!

Leave me a comment if you have any questions or just to say, “Hi!”

Sending Quilting Love

Ginger

Coming Next Week:  A solid fabric choice and 8” half square triangle tutorial.

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 I am 9 chapters into Emma by Jane Austin...yes I finally decided!

Counterpane Comfort

“Upon waking next morning about daylight, I found Queequeg’s arm thrown over me in the most loving and affectionate manner.  You had almost thought I had been his wife.  The counterpane was of patchwork, full of odd little particolored squares and triangles; and this arm of his tattooed all over with an interminable Cretan labyrinth of a figure, no two parts of which were of one precise shade--owing I suppose to his keeping his arm at sea unmethodically in sun and shade, his shirt sleeves irregularly rolled up at various times--this same arm of his, I say, looked for all the world like a strip of that same patchwork quilt.  Indeed, partly lying on it as the arm did when I first awoke, I could hardly tell it from the quilt, they so blended their hues together; and it was only by the sense of weight and pressure that I could tell Queequeg was hugging me.”

Chapter 4; The Counterpane

Moby Dick

Herman Melville

Counterpane:  The outer covering of a bed, generally more or less ornamental, being woven in a raised pattern, quilted, made of patchwork, etc. a coverlet, a quilt.  OED definition. [Melville is one of the examples in the OED]

I often think of this quotation when I think about my work making quilts--one because it is beautiful writing--two because it really gets to the heart of quilts for me.  The juxtaposition of Queequeg, the so-called “savage,” warm-hearted, preternatural, heroic, and the homespun, patchwork quilt is a lovely picture that ends with that unconscious hug at the end.  For me quilts are all of these things.

Quilted items date back centuries, and their utility, comfort, and beauty are deeply embedded in our human consciousness.  Knights wore quilted garments for protection and padding under their armor.  Fabric scraps and worn out or out-grown clothing found their way into quilts that were the only defence against a particularly harsh winter.  Crazy quilts, featuring hours of hand embroidery, have been lovingly created simply because the process and the finished product are beautiful.

Quilts are the very essence of humanness---the base of who we are.  Our need for protection, comfort, and beauty are all found in a quilt, which is, I think, the reason why I find so much joy in my work.  I love making lovely, meaningful pieces for people, and  I love the process and the meaning in the quilts.

I think today, more than ever, quilts can be a beautiful balm for our souls.  Even with spring slipping into summer, when we won’t necessarily wrap up in a quilt, simply having a quilt in a room---on a bed---over the back of a couch----draped over a chair---or spread out over the grass---can be pleasing and comfortable.

I love a good quilt (or two or three or in a stack!)  Quilts remind me of what is important and essential:  Love, comfort, security, and hugs.

Sending Quilting Love,

      Ginger

P.S. By the way, I love Moby Dick---It is a viscerally written catalogue of a horrifying industry used as a backdrop to a close study of the patchwork that is humanity.  There is so much beauty amongst all of its ugliness...and who doesn’t love a novel with a whole chapter devoted to a quilt. 

P.S.S. I love the OED, too.  I used to spend hours pouring over it at NCSU’s DH Hill Library.

Coming Next Week:  My Favorite Kind of Quilt to Make!