Hospital Corners (It's the Little Things)

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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?

Photo of Sarah Atlee's quilt titled Pockets. This quilt is made from various pants, shirts, and other repurposed garments. It includes many pockets. The fabric colors are mostly neutral, with spots of red, blue, and black.

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.

Three detail photos of Sarah Atlee's quilt titled Pockets. L-R: Detail of top left corner, detail of back including visible mending, detail of center.

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.

Animated gif featuring a choice line from the 1989 movie When Harry Met Sally.

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

Image of Sarah Atlee's patchwork quilt titled Omakase II, photographed against a white background. This quilt has a variety of fabrics, colors, and textures, especially blue, white, yellow, and orange.

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.

Close-up image of Sarah Atlee's patchwork quilt titled Omakase II. This quilt has a variety of fabrics, colors, and textures, especially blue, white, yellow, and orange.

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.)

Close-up image of Sarah Atlee's patchwork quilt titled Omakase II. In this photo there are two fabrics that come from reclaimed vintage garments. We can also see the quilting stitches.

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.

Photo of Sarah Atlee's patchwork quilt titled Omakase I. This quilt has a variety of fabrics, colors, and textures, especially blue and orange.

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.

Close-up photo of Sarah Atlee's patchwork quilt titled Omakase I. This quilt has a variety of fabrics, colors, and textures, especially blue and orange.

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.

Photo of a pile of folded fabrics that became a quilt circa 2015.

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.

Close-up image of Sarah Atlee's patchwork quilt titled Omakase II, showing the quilting stitches. There are fabrics in blue, white, and dark orange. One fabric has an image of a tiny eye.

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?

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

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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!