I live on an island, no fabric store any where close. I agreed to teach a quilting class. The first class, lots of interest but no one could get out and buy fabric. I know in olden days, quilts were not made from new fabric but from shirts, blouses, dresses, sheets that were wearing out. I asked them to bring next class any of these, cotton and we’d make fabric. Also I suggested a sort of memorial quilt with dad’s or mom”s or grannies shirts, blouses etc. I brought all my stuff. We ended up with tons of “free” fabric. Mostly log cabin, way before rotary blades and plastic templates. But nearly every one in my class, still quilt.

Oh, Kate!! As I'm listening to you talking about the women of Gee's Bend, I'm working on a quilt for my mum who was born in the mid-30's in Mississippi. She was from a very poor family, and her mother baked biscuits for breakfast every day. I suppose she baked a lot of bread, too, to feed her family on a very tight budget. So she got her flour and other staples in the big colourful bags--flour sacks! After I moved to the UK and was working as a nurse in the NHS, I started buying as many flour and feed sacks as I could afford via E-Bay, US. See, my Mammaw would collect 3 or 4 identical flour sacks and when she'd saved up enough of them, she'd design a dress for my mum, cut it out, and sew it up. Mum's told me about that really often. So I've had these flour sacks for way too many years. Now Mum's 83 and her health seems to be declining. So I'm finally rushing to finish her flour sack quilt. It's not gorgeous. It's all pinwheel blocks with white sashing (it's hard to find white vintage fabric!) I even have an actual flour sack with the flour advertising on it as part of the quilt back. I'll try to send you a photo when it's finished. I have no idea who will want it when my parents pass. I'd be happy to have it back, but postage from the US to UK is so expensive! I hope it will stay in the family for a few generations though the fabric isn't all new and strong. A lot of it is used. It's a colourful quilt! But I loved hearing you speak of flour sack fabric just as I was working on my mum's flour sack quilt. Keep chatting. You're keeping me from the solitude of a too-quiet sewing room!

I just love how Norma appears and how you scoop her up and put her on your lap, carrying on talking whilst the cat's tail curls up around your neck. It makes me laugh because you don't flicker an inch!

I wish I could love and not just like on KZfaq. Kate I just love spending time with you! No matter what you are up to, you are just lovely!

I love her! She is as much a jewl as her projects are!

I live in Alabama and was fortunate enough to attend a workshop with some of the ladies from Gee's Bend. They are lovely and disregard any rules the quilt police try to enforce on everyone. Their stories are beautiful and we got treated with some gospel singing as well. It was a real experience and very inspirational.

One thing I like about you Kate, is you do your own thing. You do not worried if it is the way it should be done.

When I was very young my Grandmama, who raised me, pieced new pastel-colored wash cloths together and made a quilt top. The batting was an old wool army blanket, probably from the Korean War, so heavy you had to lift it up to turn over in bed😂. Beautiful and so very warm.

I also love the women of Gee's Bend, and their quilts. I was surprised you've been quilting only 12 yrs, if you'd said 30 yrs I would have believed it. Your work is always so perfectly done, maybe it's in the genes. Your Mum must have been delighted to see you take up her craft too. Thanks for this video, I really enjoyed it.

My mother made quilts for us (3 of them for my 2 children and myself and they were huge) from every fabric she had accumulated over the years in her sewing room. And, yes, she used blankets instead of batting. Sad to say we lost every quilt (and everything else) in the flooding after hurricane Katrina. I quilt now, love it and think of her when I quilt. I enjoyed viewing this video, Kate. Thank you.

I just watched you “taking a break from your Lime Green Sofa”. I will miss you. I hope you come back soon. You fill me with inspiration. I love all you do. Thank you.

Many years ago, The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston had a wonderful display of the Quilts of Gees Bend. I am so grateful to have seen those fabulous quilts up close in person. I love your own colorful interpretation of those very practical, creative quilts. Thank you for the journey down the rabbit hole.❤️

Love the colors in the pin cushion and the wonderful story of the Quilters of Gee's Bend in Alabama. I had not heard that tale before. Such a rich history in their quilts! TFS the inspiration, Kate, and have a great day!

The book is incredible, and I find the quilts much much more interesting than the the controlled patterning of many of the quilts today. So much more personality. Thanks for the video.

My Grandmother made concussions for gifts for her friends. She would crochet a heart, then sew a heart from scrap fabric, stuff it, apply the crochet heart onto it and give them to her friends and family. The sewing was done on the treddle machine.

January 27 2024 Maryland USA I am going through so many of your video’s. I would llove to hear more of you Mum. Handsitiching is so over look. In this world there is so much with quick responses. I am so glad that you are here. Stay as you are my dear llady.

Triple agree, Becky Weaver!

Just loved the quilt you made and the story behind it. Really interesting. Your video was the perfect antidote to a long day spent with my Mother who has advanced dementia and my head was on the verge of exploding when I returned home tonight. A spot of crochet, a cup of tea and this lovely video and I am feeling more human again. In addition - if my small comment helps your channel I am very happy indeed. Thank you Kate you really are a You Tube friend. 😊

That quilt reminds me so much of the quilts and sheets I grew up with. My grandmother made each of us a quilt, none the same, all scrap quilts. I remember her saying she did not have the time to waste making pictures, so she made quilts the way her mamma did. When my sister and I got our quilts, Dad would remark about different fabrics and the garment they were taken from (or a scrap left from sewing the garment) or some other memory that scrap brought back. That is something the "fancy picture" quilts of today don't have - the memories and family history every scrap contains.... I guess the sheets would be scrappy quilt tops... just all bigger pieces... for Christmas we could count on her giving us girls a piece of cloth (8-10 yds each). we would both get a new dress, or other garment from each piece of cloth.

This keeps me so entertained while I can’t sew myself with the broken arm. But more than that I just enjoy you!

Kate, I loved the "refresher" on the G Girls. I first learned about them from "Sewing with Nancy" on Public TV from Wisconsin iin the USA quite a few years ago. Nancy also did a tutorial on making forms for holding your cell phone or tablet just like you made your new pincushion with walnut shells. Thank-You for that idea, I have so many peices of fabric that I can use for that project. Today is a rainy, sleety, cold day in Minnesota, a Great Day for that sort of project, with some Classical Music on my radio. I am so Lucky to be able to start my day with your ideas. Appreciate your knowledge, we just need to keep sharing our ideas, Right? Nancy in Duluth, MN.

I adore your story behind your first quilt! I must find mine to see how far I’ve come along! Quilting is fantastic therapy! 💕

Gosh this channel is my new safe space 💕

Hi Kate, I'm a new subscriber, only watched about 5 so far. I am from Tacoma, Washington, USA. I was happy to know you know. about the Gee's Bends Quiltters. Their quilts came to our TAM, Tacoma Arts Museum. I went & was so fascinated by their story, I read anything & everything I could about them. I bought the big book. I must dig it out. Great story. Not many people know about them. I was so happy when you brought the story up. I recently retired after 36 years in hospital pharmacy, now I have time to sew, garden, & do what I like. I really enjoy your program. Thank you, kris

Hi, Kate! My very first quilt almost 60 years ago also had a blanket “batting.” It certainly did its job of keeping me warm and I also was very proud of it. My mother and I just tied it randomly with crochet thread, I believe. Our choices for battings today are certainly a great improvement. I love your apparent easy ability to mix up fabrics and shapes as my personality makes that very hard for me. You inspire me to work harder to relax with my fabric choices. I do so love the patchwork curtains in your bedroom, like the others in Liberty, but with larger squares. I am hoping to make some similar ones one day, but sadly not with those beautiful Liberty fabrics. Thanks you so much for your video visits. I enjoy each one so much!

Hi Kate, what a lovely video! I always feel like I am sitting across from you in your kitchen or garden and 100% involved in your story or tutorial. I think your subscribers are connecting with your authenticity 😊. Keep em coming Kate !

I love the women of Gees Bend....never a dull moment in beautiful colors sewn in a random poetic style. I love listening to you as your create your beautiful quilts.

Continue on from the starting comment: Homely House. If I was your neighbor we could sit and stitch things everyday. You are very talented and could teach me a lot. Thanks!😁

You’ve inspired me to run to my sewing machine and sew strips of my scraps together!!

You are so talented! I love your channel content and your personality. :) I wish I could show you some of the quilts my maternal Grandma made.....beautiful and mostly hand-stitched. I remember when I was little my Mom would buy discount bags of fabric or clothing from a small-town this-and-that store (called The Cotton Boll ) and she'd give those bags to my Grandma. Grandma was thrilled to have new quilt pieces. She made each granddaughter (there were about 15 of us) a quilt as a Christmas gift when we were around 16. I used to only use mine when I was sick....like a security blanket for adults, lol....but now I use her quilt often because, as I've gotten older, I see that keeping things (or people, for that matter) on a shelf, only to use or see once in a while, is mostly a waste of happiness. The quilt my Grandma made for me is a flower garden pattern...and my Mom can point out some of her own old clothes that were cut up to go into the quilt.

Crushed walnut shells are used in media blasting. It used to be called sand blasting, but they switched to walnut shell and such because can strip the paint without damaging the materials underneath. I'm the first person in my family to quilt in a couple generations. My mom says that my great-grandma was part of a sewing circle. They had a huge quilt frame that traveled from house to house. They would sit around it, work on someone's quilt, and socialize. I have cousins who sew, but they primarily make clothes or non-quilted blankets. My grandma, mom, and aunts all knew how to sew, but again they mostly made clothes.

Love having coffee with you in the mornings. Thanks for inviting us into your home.

I really enjoyed seeing your first quilt. My first quilt (made about 40 years ago, before i was aware of proper quilting supplies) was bits of fabric, sewn higgledy piggledy on to an old blanket. My mother told me that this is what my grandmother used to do. This quilt now lives in my mother's airing cupboard. Thanks for jogging my memory.

I love the idea of using old blankets in quilts. My mother-in-law passed several years ago and left us 2 ginormous wool blankets. Nobody in the family wanted them so I decided to use them for quilting. I was just getting back to quilting after a 30 year lapse (raising kids, a job, life etc). I cut up the blankets to make 4 Christmas tree skirts and 3 lap quilts. Everyone has a piece of Nana's life with them. I wash them too. Nothing bad has happened to them. Love your vlog!

I've always thought that Gees Bend quilts are like a warm hug. Just makes you smile.

I love your feeling of freedom to create. What a great inspiration those ladies are, too. You've enticed me to be more comfortable doing what I would like to create, rather than following patterns and conventions *all* the time. Love your work and presentation. Thank you so much, Kate, for sharing your videos. -Sally L Harris in Florissant, Missouri

Your home looks like a fabulous fiber wonderland!!! Thank you for sharing your time and talents!!!

That is so beautiful, thank you for your time!

Thank you for sharing your quilt and the Gee's Bend postcards! I know I'm watching an older post whenever I see Miss Norma!

9:17 Kate! I am binge watching all your lovely videos! Thank ❤🎉🎉🎉 BTW, I Love your first quilt! And I Love the Gees Bend quilt patterns!!!

I discovered the Gees Bend quilters about 12 years ago as well and love their work . I have a quilt I made in their style using old curtains and garments. It is a favourite andI l have named it Ode to Gees Bend . Generally scrap quilts are my favourite and what I get the most joy from making. Thank-you for another wonderful podcast, I am off to work on latest scrap quilt😊

I should be sewing but im fascinated by your stories and crafts! I subscribed to your channel.

I absolutely adore that little pin cushion. I also love the first quilt you made. It is amazing you would choose to do it with such tiny little blocks instead of bigger ones, which to me would be so much easier. It is kind of like my friend who took up knitting many eons ago and her first piece was a cardigan sweater with the reindeers and pine trees etc . knitted into it. (she was living in Alaska at the time) When she was finished a friend of hers there asked why she had chosen such a difficult piece to knit and her reply was"No one told me it would be difficult for a beginner so I just did it". Thank you for sharing your quilts and their stories with us, that is half the enjoyment of looking at them. Have a Blessed day Kate.

That's really awesome! I love it and the history. Ha! Norma. She's adorable. =)

Love the pincushion tutorial!

Dear Kate, while i am sitting, sewing my hexagons together, i was watching videos about the ladies from Gee bend in Alabama, and now ,randomly, i chose to watch this video!!!!! What are the odds???😊😊😊😊

Thank you for this video on the very special ladies of the South ❤

Yes ! Yess yes ,a thousand times yes ! The way quilting came about , my daughter asked me to make a quilt for her ,the only rule she wanted me to use was NO PATTERN , I was like oh my gawd how am I gonna do that ? I did figure it out and I absolutely loved it and so did she . Even the quilt shop perfect corner quilters admired it . I don't think I would have tried it if she hadn't asked .you never know what you can do and learn by trying something new eh? Still can't get those perfect corners tho. LOL

I am so very glad to have discovered you, Kate! Your projects are always lovely, and your demeanor so warm & welcoming that I "visit" daily now. It's a wonderful way to wind down and end my day with a smile! 💖💯💫🥰

Hi I’ve only found your videos a few days ago, I’m a really, really novice at quilting and admire all these lovely ideas. Thank you. I’m really only a dressmaker for all my family. So I’m going to try my hand at a new, for me, technique.

The Gee's Bend Quilts are terrific - just my cup of tea. Thank you so much for sharing this and particularly the new pin cushion. I'm going to get on that right away. I love the shape.

Love watching you, your like visiting an old friend. 🪡🧵

I’ve made two throw size quilts and for each of them I used an old cotton mattress pad. I cut off the sides and the elastic and used the main part of it. They work wonderfully - very light weight but warm

I love you. The way you teach is so sweet. Thank you.

I totally enjoy watching your videos and look forward to them and at times binge watch old ones when I am having a slumpy kind of a day. Slumpy is that even a word? 😂 ! I like your enthusiasm for the things you do and you are a very good teacher. Thank you kate!

Dear Kate, I love your first quilt so much. I have been fortunate to get to see several exhibitions of Gee's Bend quilts, including OOOOLD ones -- amazing! I have long been hoping to make a quilt and you make me feel like finally making that leap. Thank you for that. I am doing a week-long icon writing course at the moment and enjoying being immersed in it but as tired as I am at the end of my day of painting, your video makes me feel recharged! BTW our cats use a walnut shell litter -- 100% ground shells. I think I will copy your pin cushion design! 💜

Enjoyed your chat today, with the lovely pincushion 💖

I absolutely love it! And how warm it must be with the wool blanket inside.💕🥳

Such a pretty quilt and fun quilting. I like how you welcome us with, "Hello KZfaq friends!" Always pleasant and something pretty and colorful to show us.

Nice to see your smiling face and listen to your soft voice. I had a hectic day and enjoyed this very much before going off to bed. Good night, and Good morning Kate! Love from Canada!

I love gees bend . I was lucky several years ago to visit their display in Boise, Idaho. Ir was marvelous. They sang songs, and told their stories. A few years later i came across a catalog and purchased hand dyed fabrics and a pattern of one of the quilts. It was so much fun. If i can figure out how to send you a picture i will. Love everything you do and Thank You for all the information you share.

This is what quilting should be! Random and using up, I do find the use of really new wonderful fabrics being made into confetti extremely extravagant!

I had just tried "scrappy" last week. Thought it was too messy or time consuming or that I'd need more practice. But, after watching this wonderful video, I've made 3 even larger quilt squares just today. Funny how after watching this, I feel so much better about my work!!! You Ms. Kate, are a true inspiration💕. Thank you

Absolutely love that pincusion, Kate! And I love the story of the American quilters. Such rich history.

I adore your rabbit hole stories!! Makes me feel like I’m stitching and listening to stories from family… so thank you!!

I enjoy watching your work and I am learning so much. So thank you for sharing. Barb may

To me, the most beautiful quilts are the scrappy ones! Yours is lovely. I love my scrappy quilts the best. They are memory albums of past quilts and projects. I so enjoy your serene chats and of course the happy appearance of a cat or two!

Hello! Kate. What a beautiful video editing. My feeling is that I am sitting in this environment watching you speak. Watching you flip over each sheet of this wonderful old book was a charm of information. Patchwork blocks deconstructing that richness of detail. Thank you for sharing. Loved it! Have a beautiful day! 💕😘🇧🇷🇧🇷

Thanks for showing us the Gees Bend quilters....so good

PPS: And the cats are so funny, how they always have to get between you and the camera, like they are determined to be the star of the show and keep you all to themselves! And the one bathing in the background, lol. 😂🤣🙃😆 Cracks me up!

Kate you are a breath of fresh air on KZfaq love all your videos you have such a sweet spirit God Bless you xx💖

Love Gees Bend quilts. I lucked out one time and got to see their exhibit at the Cleveland Art Museum. We happened to be visiting family and the show was there. It was marvelous. I get my crushed walnut shells at the pet store in the reptile section of the store.

Any one of those quilts would look brilliant on the wall of a modern art gallery. As always, a wonderful walk through the world of quilting with you.

❤️I don’t quilt, but I’ve always appreciated them. I have my grandmother’s quilts in my living room.

Simply Creative! Going to make one of those. Thanks Kate

On a show about restoration of metal, the owner used crushed almonds to polish off old paint and rust. The machine works like a tumbler. I buy small bags of crushed almond shells from pet shops that cater to reptiles.

This was a lovely pin cushion tutorial and chat. Hello to the kitties, too!

I love your first quilt and the quilting is an inspiration for me to not be afraid and explore. Thank you, as always.

Loved this little trip down the Gees Bend rabbit hole!

A beautiful video in the women of G’s Bend. What a story. A man Bill found them. The quilt you made with the wool blanket inside is lovely. You can look at the fabrics and think about it’s use in another project. I love the items you make. I Love your curtains.

for a beginner like me, this was great! Thank you so much.

The first thing I noticed when you finished your scrappy squares and your kitty got on the table was that the colors match your kitty. Maybe you should make another pin cushion in the shape of a cat... I think she'd like that! lol

Hello from across the pond in Maryland, USA. I am so glad I found your channel. There are too many things to mention that I find so mesmerizing each time I got to your channel. Have been kicking around quitling and you have inspired me to give it a go. I have a ton of quilt squares that my aunt made by hand back in the 1930's. I am going to give ago at putting them together. Thank you for sharing your life, interests and cats.

And the pincushion became a hedgehog at the end.....My favorite line repeated twice by Kate: "....And it makes me happy." I say that myself often, especially when you share something like this....It makes me happy, too.

🥰💕Great video Kate! 💃🏻🧵More rabbit hole ideas! 🥰💕

Hi Kate Beautiful quilt 👍👍👍👍have a Blessed day💜💜💜💜

Love your place. Love you and the cats, and all that you show us.

Hi Kate, I have been a Subscriber for some time and also a Patreon so have seen this vlog before but I am just flicking through your older stuff in case I missed something. I love the history of those women hand stitching all their quilts out of flour sacks etc. I also love your first quilt, it looks like the “flags of the World” from a distance to me xx

Your first quilt is beautiful Kate! I so much enjoyed hearing you tell about the Gee's Bend quilting story. I have no "live TV" anymore; I'm content watching ROKU You Tube videos. All of a sudden 3 documentaries come on, one right after the other, about the women quilters of Gee's Bend. I cried as I watched their beautiful story. What a history lesson. The next time I'm worried about my scrappy quilt edges not matching perfectly, I'll remember what these women had to work with and what their end product was. Thank you for once again bring your life into my living room!

Love to watch you . You're so inspiring 💗 Thank you

I can’t wait to do a scrappy quilt like the fabulous one that drapes your couch in the bedroom, I have loads of little scraps that are calling out, no, shouting out to be randomly squished together into loveliness. Love you Kate 💖.

An old wool blanket is just right for a winter quilt in my mind. Reuse, reduce and re cycle is the order of the day.

Kate, you are a gentle lovely person. Enjoyed your conversation about Gee's Bend quilts. Amazing what can be done with a bit of cloth and a free will.

So nice to finish my work in the quilting studio this afternoon and then find you had posted this. Thank you!! Oh, and I was fortunate enough to see the Gee's Bend exhibit here in my own hometown at the Speed Museum (Louisville, KY) all those years ago. I was a new quilter then and it was quite a revelation.

Crushed walnut shells are used for "sanding" cars, old refrigerators, old old toys to prepare them for painting. 😃

I saw something like this but the lady attached a comb and a beak and made chickens - very cute.Thank you - you keep me company and inspire me.. thank you

Lovely first quilt . Now I'm curious to find more about the Gees Bend quilters. Remarkable piece of history. Great pincushion.

love the pin cushion that's one thing I don't have, now to find crushed walnut shells to make myself a pin cushion

What an awesome project for scraps of fabric! I’m going to make me 2 or 3 of them because I have multiple sewing stations and am always in need of a pin or two at any given station...thank you Kate.👍🏻💕👵🏻

Love your first quilt. I do like the way the Ladies of Gee's Bend made their quilts, anything goes xxx Love your video. Hugs Avril xx 💕🦋🦋