A good friend from work recently shared a photo of her holding a quilt saying it was her first one. The pride of workmanship was infectious. I immediately asked her to tell me more, ultimately, I knew her story needed to be featured as a creator spotlight on the blog!  Thanks to Ginger Price (check out pricegingerm on Instagram) for sharing her story with Hundred Percent Cotton! This post was written by Ginger.

It’s not the destination, it’s the journey.

It never occurred to me that finishing my first quilt would remind me of a favorite quote from Harley Davidson — “It’s not the destination, it’s the journey.” The process of tackling a quilt started well before choosing the fabric, the pattern or in my case not choosing the pattern, cutting, sewing… all building to that final moment when ‘ta-dah’ the quilt top was complete.

Nor did it occur to me that once that final moment would arrive how reflecting on the process would be a deeper process of what making the quilt taught me about myself, my heritage and some future desires of things to accomplish creatively. Most of these things had nothing to do with the technicalities of making a quilt.

Creativity has always been a part of me. It’s a gift, some days a curse, but mostly a gift.

I’m the fourth generation creative female on my mom’s side of the family. The curse comes from the frustration of trying to find my ‘thing’. There’s been something in me that has been struggling to find a way to produce some sort of art.

Growing up our house was filled with art produced from each generation—except me—unless you count refrigerator art from grade school. Expressing myself artistically has been a challenge. In part, perfectionism crippled me, intimidation crippled me and being a stubborn goat of a child my unwillingness to sit and learn from my mom also crippled me.

My quilting journey started when my mom made her first quilt. Literally she woke up one day and had the idea to make a quilt top and embroider over it and that it was going to be a gift to me. These early morning ideas are the best—I get them too. She hadn’t made a real quilt before, but she’s good on a sewing machine and an amazing embroiderer.

At the time she wasn’t feeling well and asked me to go pick out fabric for her—cringing on the inside and shaking in my Chucks—I set off to the local quilting fabric store—only to cheer my mom up—telling my mom no isn’t an option. My version of sewing is ‘fake’, in my life maybe five things have been attempted—none really great. So picking out quilting fabric was an overwhelming ask.

Being on a Journey Together

This first step taught me, we are on the journey together. Selecting the fabric in the end was fun, the owner of the store showed me a couple of options to get started and in no time fifty bolts were spread out in the back of the store. You never know how things in life will spark another step—being forced to go by myself for my mother made me realize how much fun selecting fabric can be—surprisingly she loved every piece selected, which made me feel confident.

My parents live in Oregon, for now Missouri is where I reside. My mother continued to quilt and when I’d go home, we would shop for fabric together for her projects. She would buy fabric and make something, my role was to find a few pieces that were attractive and add to my collection. My mother started to make a lot of quilts, she can finish a top or two in a month, in the last five years she has easily made more than 40 quilts and countless smaller quilted things.

One day while shopping she said, “Are you just going to collect fabric…or are you eventually going to make something?” Challenge accepted mom. That day we made an apron together and started the process of making my first quilt.

Planning?

It would be easier to tell you the better way to do things now that we’ve made a couple of quilts together. Mind you my mom is much better. Both projects that started did not have a real plan. Next time there will be a better plan, this lack of planning slowed me down. Decide what size quilt you want to make, decide what pattern you want to use.

Not having a plan made things more difficult—funny how that translates to life in general. We literally copied a pattern from etsy just by looking at a photograph. The journey taught me to slow down and listen, even though it’s painful for my personality—listening and planning make things easier. Mom kept nudging me on committing to a quilt size, and this girl wouldn’t budge.

A challenge faced in finishing the quilt was that my lack of sewing mojo made me want to work on the projects with my mother. Since we don’t live close this required working on it in during my trips home to visit my family. Lugging my quilt across the country four or more times was difficult.

My mom has an amazing community of friends who meet up to quilt. A few trips home it worked to be able to join them. It was so fun to engage in the ‘sisterhood’. They help each other, collaborate on ideas together and best of all just enjoy each other—all three text and encourage each other in quilting, art and life outside of their sew dates. They reminded me the journey, any journey is enriched by community. My suggestion is find a quilting group and join them locally. It was really hard to set out all my stuff and pack it up, then many months later set it all out again.

A Long Journey, Planning to Finish

Four years, multiple trips home this last year my goal was to finish my first quilt before the end of 2018. Christmas break was my deadline, my last shot before the year closed.

My original plan was for me and mom could hop on two machines and tear it up. My plan wasn’t her plan. Deep down she knew it was my mountain to climb. While piecing the quilt together it became VERY apparent that some pieces were not sewn or cut uniformly for size. This caused some heartburn. Making a hexi quilt, the hexis have to line up or it doesn’t work.

After piecing together three strips the thought crossed my mind to trash it. Literally in a rage my vision was walking to the dumpster and heaving it in. Having to take pieces apart, recut, resew and reposition was daunting. Next time attention to precision will be utilized when cutting pieces.

Thinking back to all the trips the quilt was drug home to Oregon, the countless time spent cutting and putting patterns together—tossing it in the garbage couldn’t be the solution. The journey reminded me that even if things don’t come together perfectly, it doesn’t mean the finished product won’t be beautiful.

Imperfect? Maybe. Still Beautiful.

As the final stitches were being made my heart welled up with so much pride and joy. It isn’t perfect, but was finished and just days before 2018 wrapped up.

There were many that helped me along the way, but doing the final piecing of the top gave me so much confidence that a future project solo is possible—don’t get me wrong, sewing with my mom will still happen and maybe buying fabric will too.

Working on the project locally will be very relaxing—cutting, looking at pieces, picking the fabrics, thinking through how to put it together are all therapy for me. Finishing was a landmark achievement—putting it together solo is the sweetest part for me. She was in the background if help was needed, but making me do it on my own was the best victory.

Next step is to finish the back and send it off to our longarmer Teresa Silva who is part of my mom’s sewing group. She is very talented and does all of our longarm work. You can see her on Instagram @quiltingismybliss along with my mom @cmpricefamily.

Plans for another quilt are being made…actually a couple of projects are in the works. My next goal is to not be a one hit wonder—there may be some other arty ideas in the mix, but right now my focus is on creating some beautiful pieces for my loved ones. Back to the Harley quote…the journey continues.

Know a Creator? A Farmer?

Know someone who creates with cotton or even someone who grows cotton and who’s story should be shared here? Please let me know by commenting here or sending a private mesage via the contact form.

The post Creating a Quilt is a Journey, not a Destination — Creator Spotlight appeared first on Hundred Percent Cotton.

As I started the series about creators doing cool things with cotton, I thought of a small company doing really cool decor with my favorite fiber. Then I decided to do some “farmer Friday” features so readers could get to know the people who grow the crop. Thinking of both of those, North Carolina’s Julius Tillery, the founder of Black Cotton, came to mind.

I haven’t met Julius in person, but over the years we have talked quite a bit on Twitter (he goes by @Mr_Black_Cotton). He’s worked on his business and I’ve watched as he clearly found ways to add value to the family’s harvest.

Farming for Generations

Julius is a “fifth generation, life-long cotton farmer. We raise a crop of cotton basically every year of my life since I can remember and planning to continue to crop cotton til my last years.”

The family’s farm in North Hampton County, NC is in one of the state’s leading cotton-producing counties. He said the fact that his family has maintained their small farm and are still growing cotton is a bit of a differentiator in the area.

“My cotton is from fields of the last remaining farmers of African American descendants. I had no idea it would be this few people of color producing cotton now when relatively every black farmer I knew raised cotton when I was younger,” he explains.

Creating Black Cotton

Not all farmers decide to sell their cotton as decor — in a vase, as ornaments to hang, etc. In fact, it is pretty rare other than some who have flower shops in the family or enjoy crafting.

Julius wanted to be part of the “new economy and pride for people in my rural poor community in Northeast NC. Thought the best way to make a change was to start with the asset my community has that I participate in every year in producing.”

Out of that vision, he created the company and has added products over the last few years. “The reach of BlackCotton.US in pulling in tourists and shipping out products across the USA.” He’s got a lot to be proud of too as the have sold products to over 30 states in nation! And it’s a lot of fun to see some of the nearby shops that carry the products as well.

Since I’ve already mentioned that I met Julius via his personal account on Twitter, you know he’s online. The company’s website (where they sell various products made from the Tillery’s family farm) is www.blackcotton.us. On Instagram it is blackcotton.us and on Facebook they are blackcottondecor.

You may also enjoy this video by Culture Quest, it lets you go behind the scenes with Julius for a few minutes.

The post Black Cotton — Farming and Creating All in One Place! appeared first on Hundred Percent Cotton.

As long as I can remember, people in my life would create incredible things, many of them with cotton. So as I met more cotton farmers, I would link it back to the things people make, clothes I enjoyed, etc. It seems a family affair as my youngest niece picked a few handfuls her first time in a cotton field and immediately thought about what should could make with it! With all of that in mind, I guess it was just a matter of time until a series on cotton creators got started here and I’m kicking it off with my dear friend Natasha Nicholes of Houseful of Nicholes who makes a range of handmade cotton bags including a great denim tote I have!

Learning to Sew

“I was jealous of my husband learning to sew before me,” Natasha says. “As the oldest child, a gauntlet was thrown (he didn’t know it) and I accepted the challenge. Now I sew and he inspects. It’s a marriage made in heaven.”

It’s funny that the competitive spirit is something I so identify with! And I also identify with her passion for cotton fabric. “From backpacks to purses and wallets, I’m using cotton in some form. Thread, fabric, interfacing, it’s all a portion of what makes me successful.” She says she makes “things to carry YOUR things.

Cotton Bags You’ll Crave

Natasha shares some of her creations with friends via Facebook but she also shares them via her blog Houseful of Nicholes and Etsy store Houseful of Stitches. From that she’s had the chance to see “people from all over the world wearing things that I’ve made. It’s really neat to see a creation of yours in a photo across the globe.” Looking at the Houseful’s creations on Pinterest it is easy to see why they go global!

Some of Natasha’s great cotton creations that come to mind include:

• Messenger Bag — There is a great campfire messenger bag she makes with waxy cotton to protect your belongings if you go out in the rain!
• A Super Tote — This tote has some really cool features and like all the bags, details are on point!
• Rucksack — I still remember the first time I saw this rucksack… it grabs your eyes and easily holds all your things.

Cotton As A Standout

As I asked her about what with cotton really stood out for Natasha, I smiled at her answer as it brought really clear images to mind for me.

“To be honest, I’m always drawn back to the cotton campaigns from when I was a kid. Then meeting Janice in the blogging community and realizing there was SO much more to it than I thought,” she says.

Adding, “I took a trip to Malawi a couple of years ago, and the village managed a cotton field together. I was able to see owners of land, raising crop on their own and benefiting from it, and it sealed the cycle. Knowing that once again, a seed produces clothes makes me all the more stoked to be as passionate about this field.”

Find Natasha Online 

You can check out more of Natasha’s great work with cotton in the folowing places:

• Houseful of Stitches on Etsy
• Houseful of Stitches on Pinterest

The family started the We Sow We Grow community garden which has a We Sow We Grow Facebook page and the We Sow We Grow Gardening Chat Group which is a great discussion area for people who are planning for their summer garden. For the photo lover, We Sow We Grow is also on Instagram.

She also does some other awesome stuff like sharing her family’s homeschooling, gardening, travel and more on housefulofnicholes.com, Twitter as @NatashaNicholes, Instagram as @NatashaNicholes, and I’m sure she can be found elsewhere too in the future!

[click_to_tweet tweet=”Love these handmade cotton bags that @NatashaNicholes is making. Which one do you want?” quote=”Tell your friends how to find these great bags! “]

Shine a Spotlight on other Creators

This is a new series but I have several other awesome people I plan to draw attention to…. if you know of a creator who uses cotton in their work or designs pieces that highlights the plant, etc, please send a bit of info via the site’s contact form.

The post Gotta Love Handmade Cotton Bags — Purses, Backpacks and Wallets appeared first on Hundred Percent Cotton.