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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My Hand Sewing Kit

I've just delivered a stack of newly finished quilts to a professional photographer. To get ready for that delivery, I spent most of last week sewing labels and sleeves onto quilts. That's a lot of time hanging out with my hand sewing kit.

How about a little tour? It really does all fit into that mini metal lunchbox pictured above. (Except for those two spools of thread. Choices were made.)

Top row, L-R: Needle threader (unused), sake cup pincushion with pins and wonderclips clipped around the rim; Liberty of London pincushion for backup pins (made by my friend Elizabeth)

Row 2: Scissors, spools of thread in various weights

Row 3: 2 bobbins with more thread (I try to keep a range of light to dark colors handy), lip balm*, hand balm, heavier threads for hand quilting, measuring tape

Row 4: Bandages (not so much for stab wounds, but for when my fingers get too sweaty), mini-mint tin with needle grabbers, sticky thimble patches, and other aids, adorable needle holder that looks like lipstick, another needle grabber, one button, magnetic needle minder, roll of washi tape, thimble (unused), backup scissors, one paper hexie

* Lip and hand balm because who wants to get all snuggled in to their hand sewing nest with the tv on and realize oh crap, my skin is dry, I have to get up to get the stuff? No one, that's who.

Here's a closer look at my beautiful sake cup pincushion. (I think the cup was made by Ty Illgen, please correct me if I'm wrong.)

What's in your sewing kit? More importantly, why do you keep it in a cookie tin? :)

Hospital Corners (It's the Little Things)

UPDATE: The Fold is now weekly!

This is an excerpt from my monthly newsletter, The Fold, originally published in March 2022. Sign up here to receive The Fold every month in your email inbox. (Be sure to check your email and spam folders for the confirmation.)

It's The Little Things

You know how we have these pet peeves that seem relatively insignificant compared to *gestures around*, but they become that thing you would go to the barricades for?

Mine is pockets. I would plant my flag on the hill of All Clothing Should Have Pockets. As long as we're still segregating clothing by gender (unnecessary, see Degendering Fashion), those clothes should have places to put things.

Hence the title of this quilt, Pockets, aka Can You Hold This For Me?

Pockets / Can You Hold This For Me?
Deconstructed garments and other fabrics, machine pieced and quilted. 57x59 inches, 2021. $2575

To purchase, visit my web store.

L-R: Detail of top left corner, detail of back including visible mending, detail of center

For the backing, I used a vintage bedsheet - yummily soft, faded and worn with time. As you can see in the photo above, there was a spot that needed repair before quilting. I'm a fan of visible mending.

Pockets is one of several pieces I've just added to my web store. (Click here to see what else is new.) You can read more about the process of creating Pockets here.

Hospital Corners - Still a Thing?

I used to think hospitals were scary places. But after a few inpatient stays (shout-out to autoimmune disease!) and sitting with my mom through some procedures, I've changed my tune. Hospitals are where we go to get the care we need. They have snacks, and socks, and warm blankets, and really really nice people helping you to get better. It's no suite at the Hilton, but there can be unexpected niceties.

Picture this: January 2021, pandemic, I'm in a hospital bed, and patients are not permitted to roam the hallways (for good reason). Late in the evening, a sound travels down the hall. It's warm, and warbling... it's a human voice. It's a man, and he's singing.

I thought, oh, someone's listening to a church service (it was a Sunday), or there's an opera special on TV. The next morning, there it was again. Again I thought, TV, or a video online or something. That afternoon, again.

My fellow sick person was singing. Like, trained, operatic style. A tenor. He continued to serenade us over the next few days. I didn't find out if he took requests, but he did get around to O Sole Mio the day I went home.

You just don't know where you're going to find beauty.

You know what I didn't find at the hospital? Hospital corners. Maybe they still do this in the military, but apparently it's not a thing in hospitals any more. They use the sheets with the elastic corners like us normal folks. Easier, and more practical.

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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!

So You Want to Donate Some Fabric

Above: deep thoughts. deep fabric-related thoughts.

Too Much Fabric

If you have any quilters in your life, you've probably heard them joke about how much fabric they have in their stashes.

When a quilter passes away, dollars to donuts they're leaving behind some fabric and unfinished quilt projects. Their loved ones may be tasked with cleaning out their home and dealing with the miscellaneous items that make up a life. I've been through this more than once. I know how difficult it is.

Maybe you are a fellow quilter, or just a fabric lover, and you're taking the opportunity to downsize your collection. Bravo!

For whatever reason, you are rehoming fabric. Excellent! There are a few different ways to go about this.

Maybe you already know a quilter and want to offer the fabric to them. This will probably do the trick, because it's hard for us to say no!

Don't know any other quilters? Buckle up, because you will soon. No matter where you live, there is a quilting guild within driving distance (probably within spittin' distance). Here's a worldwide directory of Modern Quilt Guilds. Here's a directory of other Quilt Guilds within the U.S.(Not in the U.S.? Fear not! Google quilt guilds in your area.)

Quilters tend to get together for monthly meetings, and there's often a "Free to Good Home" table! Contact your closest guild and ask if they're accepting donations. We love to share!

There are also charities that accept fabric donations, such as local chapters of Project Linus or Quilts of Valor. Google "donate fabric" and you'll get lots of options. Different charities have different guidelines, so again, it's best to ask what they need and can use.

Be a Mindful Donor

You may be going through a period of grief and stress. I understand, I've been there. Maybe rehoming these fabrics is difficult for you for emotional or logistical reasons. If that's the case, try and recruit a friend for help.

It's a good idea to at least look at each fabric before you donate. Are they clean and undamaged? Is there water or smoke damage? Mold? Do they come from a home with cats, dogs, or cigarette smoke? Is there any evidence of pests? (Just think how embarrassed you would be if you gave someone fabric that had mouse poop in it.)

Think of it this way: If you wouldn't want the fabric touching your body, it may be best to throw it away. (I know, we try to keep fabric out of landfills as much as possible. If you know of a good fabric recycling source, please tell me!)

If the fabric has that "long-term storage" smell but is otherwise undamaged, run it through a washer and dryer. Did the colors run? Did the fabrics fray a bit? Don't worry about it. Quilters are creative.

Flat fabric is happy fabric.

I’m going to say that again for the folks in the back.

Flat fabric is happy fabric.

If you're not able to iron the fabrics yourself, just fold them into stacks and put them into bags. If you're feeling ambitious, you can even sort them into prints, solids, by color, etc. The recipients will thank you!

Sarah, would you like my fabric?

My answer to this question used to be an unconditional "Yes!" Since then, my boss (me) has had to impose a few rules to keep the stash under control.

These are guidelines for my own quilting practice. Others' mileage may vary.

I will take a look at your fabric if:

• It's 100% cotton. (Some wool is okay.) Denim is okay.

• It's been washed and pressed.

• There is no evidence of pests like moths or mice.

• I especially love blasts from the past, i.e. vintage prints!

I'm not able to use:

• Fabrics that are stretchy or slick.

• Lace, crochet, or knitwear.

• Fabrics with a loose weave that will fall apart if I cut into it.

• Upholstery fabric.

• Fabric that has been damaged by water, smoke, pests, etc.

• Unfinished quilt projects with "traditional" patterns, such as Sunbonnet Sue (check your local guilds for this type of thing).

You Are Doing A Good Thing.

If you donate mindfully, you are doing your fellow person a kindness. You are about to make a quilter very happy! Thank you.

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