Placemat Commission: Every Shade of Blue

Click here to learn more about Sarah Atlee’s custom-made quilts. Book your Customization Call today and we’ll get started!

It Starts With Your Story

As always, this commission started with a conversation. My client was looking for new placemats to brighten up their dinner table. They requested lots of different shades of blue, with little pops of lime green.

This was the perfect opportunity to use some mini charm squares* that I'd overdyed with indigo.

* for non-quilter people: "charm square" refers to a common size of pre-cut fabric. See also jelly roll, layer cake, charm pack, and quilters' candies. Yes, we're a wild and whimsical bunch. [eyeroll]

I'd also been contemplating a pre-loved work shirt in chambray blue. I like to think that placemats would be a sweet retirement gig for a hard-working garment.

We started out with an order for 8 placemats. However, my client made an unforeseen move to a much smaller house, so we revised that to 4. (Really, though, it's 4 fronts and 4 backs, so kinda like 8.)

I constructed these using quilt-as-you-go techniques. This basically means that I sewed each piece of fabric directly to the batting (that fluffy middle layer). I also use this method to make potholders.

And yes, these are improv quilts! I started with a general plan and a palette, but no specific designs or measurements. Each composition evolved during the process.

I just happened to put the finishing touches on these while hanging out at my favorite coffee shop. Since it wasn't crowded, I took the opportunity to photograph these among the convenient sunbeams and actual grownup furniture.

AND, my client (a fellow artist) was kind enough to take some pictures in situ.

More Than Just A Quilt

If you're thinking about commissioning a custom quilt, here's something you should know: As part of your package, I will include swatches of all the fabrics I use in your quilt, with notes about their origin.

You'll also get a pair of custom potholders made from the scraps. You're welcome to keep them for yourself, or pass them on as a gift!

Elevate Your Space

What extra-special touch is missing from your home? Bed covers, couch blankies, potholders, table runners, placemats, mug mats, coasters -- these are all right in my wheelhouse. Let's talk about bringing some magic into your space.

Quilt Commission: Remember Us

In 2022 I opened my quilting practice to take commissions, and since then, I've had nothing but rewarding experiences with my custom quilt clients. To get started with your custom-made quilt, head over to my Commissions page.

Remember Us

A custom quilt begins with a conversation. I want to get a good idea of what my client's needs and goals are. With this quilt, the client wanted something big enough to cover a teenager on the couch. The quilt needed to be washable. This client was already familiar with my work, and they pointed out specific pieces they particularly liked, such as this one:

Here's my conceptual sketch. I love doodling quilty images, but I'm not big on the sketch-to-finished-quilt pipeline. Thus the design is pretty spare:

For colors, they requested black, and I decided to fill out the palette with neutrals. I also included some hand-dyed pieces in the blue/purple range.

My client is an artist friend whose family recently moved to a new state. He's a poet and a typographic artist, so this was a great excuse to pull all of my fabrics that had text on them. Including:

• commercial quilting cottons featuring text

• fabric that I printed using a letterpress during my residency at the OxBow School of Art

• fabric that I screen printed during my residency at [Artspace] at Untitled

• fabric on which I used an oil stick to take a rubbing of a commemorative plaque

We're both a little sad that they moved away, so some of those fabrics are Oklahoma-specific. Here are some more typographic fabrics that I used on the back:

Oh, you wanted more juicy detail shots of the quilting? Here you go:

Here's a shot of me stitching on the facing. A facing on a quilt is like a binding. It goes all the way around the edge, but it only shows on the back.

When you order a custom-made quilt from me, you get a few extra bonuses. During the process, I save swatches of all the fabrics I use. At the end, I sew those onto a piece of paper, and add notes about where the fabrics came from. I also throw in a couple of Color Catchers:

While I make an effort to use fabrics that will not bleed in the wash, it can sometimes happen. Color Catchers are great for soaking up any loose dye in the wash. (They're reusable, too.) Look for them in the laundry aisle at the grocery store, or if you prefer Amazon, there are several brands available.

Your Quilt Tells Your Story.

Let's talk about your custom quilt! Check out my Commissions page and book your Quilt Customization Session today.

Have Quilt, Will Travel

I typically travel with a quilt.* Hotel blankets tend to be too lightweight for my taste. Snuggling up under the weight & comfort of my handmade quilt makes sleeping away from home easier, even in warm weather.

Usually I take this log cabin quilt I started in 2006 and finished ...later. (Remember, quilts have no statute of limitations.)

It’s rumpled because it normally lives folded up in my car. You know, in case of snowdrifts.

When I made this queen-size quilt, I didn’t yet have access to a longarm quilting machine, so I tied it.

Also, I didn’t know a lot about seam allowances. We live and learn.

What If...

What if I didn't have to bring my own quilt?

What if I booked a stay at a gorgeous getaway, and arrived to find beautiful, one-of-a-kind quilts already there?

On the bed.

Draped over the couch.

Placemats on the table.

Potholders in the kitchen.

I can make this happen for you.

Whether you operate a vacation property or just want to feel that level of luxury in your home sweet home, I'm here to help.

Start your custom quilt project by visiting the Commissions page and booking your Customization Session with me today!

* I know I'm not alone. Luke Haynes does this too. Do you travel with a quilt? Tell us about it! #HaveQuiltWillTravel

The Fold: Better.

This first appeared in the May edition of my newsletter, The Fold. Want to get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up here, and be sure to check your email and spam folders for the confirmation.

We interrupt this newsletter to announce that Sarah Atlee is now accepting orders for custom-made quilts!

​This is the first time in a long time that I've been available for commissions. I'm really excited about making quilts for collectors, aka folks like you! If you have any questions, or would like to take your next step down the quilted path, please get in touch! sarah@sarahatlee.com

Invest in joy today. Click here to start your custom-made quilt.

Back to The Fold.

I'd like to thank you for joining me on this path. Writing an email newsletter hasn't always been easy for me, but this time around, I'm loving it. I get to share stories with you that matter to me, and you have been so generous in your reception. So pour yourself a hot cuppa and pull up a chair. There's pie.

Now, I'm going to ask you to indulge me, because I am having the most First World Problem ever.

I don't love folding laundry. People know this about me, including my musical friend Paris In Stereo. But I love having clean clothes. So. I learned that you can take laundry to a cleaner's and they'll - get this - wash it, dry it, FOLD IT, and give it back to you. (For a fee.) I don't indulge in this service all the time, but during a busy week, it's a huge help.

I like things folded the Konmari way. The service doesn't fold laundry the Konmari way.

So, do I spend time re-folding my laundry so it's more pleasing to put away? And does this cancel out the convenience of using the service? Or do I accept the folded laundry as-is and live with the daily irritant of my clothes not looking as nice when they're put away? And who even cares? Besides me?

Side note: Before I started The Fold, I asked my Facebook friends to name any associations they had with the word "fold." Angie LaPaglia said,

"I think about laundry. when all the towels are folded and stacked like soft terry cloth soldiers waiting for duty. I think about the act of folding my children’s clothes when they were little, how close to them I felt. I think about everything being folded and put in its place. everything is where it belongs. everything is in order. everyone is tucked in. everyone is safe. everything’s gonna be ok."

Laundry is a small problem that makes a big difference.

I get why we focus on small problems. They’re solvable. Controllable. Can I solve (huge problem affecting every living thing)? Not today, and not alone. Can I fold this t-shirt into its Optimum Form Factor? Watch me. Boom.

I have a challenge for you: Solve a small problem.

Identify something that irritates you, but that you’ve been living with anyway because it’s “too small” to spend energy fixing.

• Replace or upgrade a tool that’s worn out.

• Discard something that doesn’t fit any more.

• Clean that one thing that doesn't usually get cleaned.

• Set a boundary, with yourself or with someone else.

These two books will give you some great ideas: Set Boundaries, Find Peace by Nedra Glover Tawwab / The Lazy Genius Way by Kendra Adachi​

Please drop me a line and let me know what you fixed! I'm always open to ideas for small improvements.

There's a great recipe coming up, but first, I'd like to introduce you to Basic Split.

Basic Split​

Deconstructed garments and other cotton fabrics, machine pieced and quilted by Sarah Atlee.
60 x 43 inches, 2020.
$1,135 Click here to purchase.​

Basic Split is, in its own way, a series of small solved problems. The "problem" I set for myself was: take a rectangle, split it, insert a smaller rectangle. Repeat until the quilt is done.

Already have a crush on Basic Split? Wanna make it official? Click here to bring this quilt into your life.

As promised, here's a small improvement that's doing me a world of good:

Stupid Easy Chicken Tortilla Soup

Inspired by the cooking episode of How To ADHD (the salsa chicken starts at 8:59)

In a slow cooker or stovetop soup pot, add:

• 1 quart of broth

• 1 jar of salsa

• 1 packet of taco seasoning

• Any amount of chicken in any state (just be mindful of what “bite size” is for you)

• Brands don’t matter.

Add any/all of the following:

• Extra herbs & spices to taste

• 1 can diced tomatoes

• 1 can beans

• Potatoes, squash, greens, carrots, celery, onion, in either cooked or raw state (use up your leftovers!)

• ½ cup uncooked rice

Level 2: Roast the chicken and/or veggies before adding to the soup.

Level 3: Make your own taco seasoning.

Simmer until all the parts are cooked through. Then add 1 can of cream style corn. Wait until it gets hot again, then serve.

Toppings!

(Add these when the soup is being served, not when storing in the fridge/freezer.)

• Chopped fresh cilantro

• Chopped chives or scallions

• Avocado

• Shredded cheese

• Sour cream or Greek style yogurt

• Crunched up tortilla chips

• Lime wedges

Makes great leftovers, and freezes well.

Bonus for those who read this far:

​More ways to fold better.​

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Omakase II: Out On The Town

Above: Omakase II: Out On The Town. Deconstructed garments (new and vintage) and additional cotton fabrics, machine pieced and quilted. 42 x 63 inches. $1140

Omakase II: Out On The Town

Omakase II: Out On The Town is now available for sale! Click here to purchase.

Want your own custom-made version of Omakase II? Commissions are now open! Visit the Commissions page to get started.

Continue reading for the story behind this quilt.

Do you ever get decision fatigue?

Are you ever faced with so many choices, either good or bad, that your brain just wants to crawl under the covers and weep? We've all been there. Don't ask me to order from a case of baked goods because I want one of everything. And two of those.

Luckily, there's another approach.

Omakase Quilting

Omakase is one of my all-time favorite words. It comes from Japan, and has no direct translation into English. We can get kind of close by saying things like pre fixe, dealer's choice, or surprise me.

The phrase omakase, literally 'I leave it up to you', is most commonly used when dining at Japanese restaurants where the customer leaves it up to the chef to select and serve seasonal specialties. The Japanese antonym for omakase is okonomi, which means you are choosing what to order. In American English, the expression is used by patrons at sushi restaurants to leave the selection to the chef, as opposed to ordering à la carte. The chef will present a series of plates, beginning with the lightest fare and proceeding to the heaviest dishes. The phrase is not exclusive to raw fish with rice and can incorporate grilling, simmering and other cooking techniques. - Wikipedia

Omakase is an expression of mutual trust. I trust the chef to bring me the most delightful selections available, and the chef trusts me to appreciate the meal and pay whatever they charge. (Full disclosure, I've never actually done this at a sushi restaurant, but it's on my bucket list.)

I've been applying this principle to improvisational quilting. I dip my hand (literally or metaphorically) into the Cosmic Fabric Bin, pull stuff out, and make something with it. I trust the process. Enter the Omakase series.

Omakase I: The Blue One. I made this during the summer of 2021 and donated it to the Palliative Care unit of my local VA hospital.

Quilters call this a stashbuster. Most of us have more fabric than we will ever use (guilty). My rational brain wants me to use each fabric in a highly specific and planned way. My intuitive brain wants me to grab a handful and just go to town.

This fabric pull was mostly from donations, and became a quilt that I made and donated around 2015.

This is the essence of improvisation: I trust myself.

I trust my intuitive brain to make decisions and connections that I wouldn't otherwise make. I let go. I park my verbal brain in front of Netflix or an audiobook so it doesn't interfere with the creative process.

Omakase II includes bits that were trimmed off of Omakase I. Because food metaphors are my love language*, here's another one: It's like the pot of soup that never gets cleaned all the way out, so the soup's "secret ingredient" is the history of every soup it's ever held. Scraps from one quilt often go right into the next one.

* Think sourdough starter. Or a well-seasoned iron skillet. I could go on.

Like what you see, but want it in a different size?

Or with purple and green fabrics?

Or as a square instead of a rectangle?

Start your custom quilt order today!

Step 1: Click here to answer your questions about ordering your custom quilt.

Step 2: Ready to start the commission process? Click here for sizes, prices, and payment terms.

Step 3: Book your call with me and we'll finalize the details. After I receive your deposit, I'll create your custom, made-to-order quilt!