A Grit mini quilt.
Grit: perseverance and resilience. Grit: Courage and resolve; strength of character.
However you define it, I think we all agree that a bit of grit is a good thing. A lot of grit, even better.
This topic comes up often in our home of late as we negotiate mathematics, French, musical instruments, etc with our kids. These things are hard and they can’t be learnt overnight. In the case of music, they can’t even expect to be competent after a year.
We talk a lot about unrealistic expectations, persistence, coping with frustration/feeling inadequate and just doing the work.
I thought, hey, why not make a reminder of this to hang on the wall, because that’s what us crazy craft ladies do.
After I cut my 1.5″ squares and sewed up my 1.5″ HSTs, I used a heavy weight fusible to give it some body and keep all those little intersections nicely lined up.
Once sewn together the squares and HSTs measure 1 inch. The piece is 12″ x 21″.
Once it was basted I matchstick-quilted the letters vertically, then all the black squares horizontally. For the low volume fabrics I quilted out radially from the centre. Binding is a white Lizzy House bracelets fabric.
My Grit mini quilt now resides in the study with its hand made friends, ever ready to point at when my kids (or I) need a reminder to keep at it.
In other news, I broke my fabric diet and bought some Carolyn Friedlander Doe because I am only human.
I am also super close to putting out a second pattern in my shop. I had some fun with purple on this sample, definitely not one of my go-to colours.
And finally, I will have another newsletter out soon – so if you’d like free instructions for this lap-sized quilt then you know what to do!
Until next time, happy sewing and grittiness!
P.S. For those interested, here’s a good little TED talk on grit and success and kids.
It’s a cliche, but … no grit no pearl.
Loving both your grit and your new look (although the text in this comment field is really light and hard to read, sorry!)
Great piece AND story!!!!
Hillary
Your “Grit” mini is just perfect as is the musical ode to the 80’s. And I know in our national anthem that we are “girt by sea” but it could also be “Grit” as us Aussies are a tough bunch, especially those of us who happen to be military brats!
Your design and fabric choices for your GRIT wall hanging are amazing. I enjoyed your comments about grit as well. The thing that stood out for me in the TED talk was that both passion and persistence were identified as components of grit. So if the natural talent and passion coincide, then the persistence part is easier. However if a person is not passionate about developing the natural talent, guilt can sometimes set in when he/she is considered to be under-performing. Life’s a tricky business, isn’t it?.
Yeah! That grit mini is awesome! (I am going to steal the mentality and start using it for my own kids. It sums up a lot of my nags into one easy, clean concept!) I love the detail that went into the quilting. It is such a special piece. I’m really looking forward to seeing all of your latest projects. Do you have something in mind for the Doe fabric? Or are you just going to stare at how pretty it is for a while? I do that a lot, myself, with various purchases! So happy to see you back in this space and with teasers of more to come. Now I am off to watch the recommended TED talk and draw a butterfly on the back of a quilt! ;)
Nicely done, mom. I love the design and the fabric gradation out from GRIT. I couldn’t agree more about hard work, however as a self-diagnosed procrastinator I know that my kids suffer the same hesitation to get right to it, hunker down and get ‘er done. I’m looking forward to watching the TED talk later tonight. If I tuned in now, that would just be procrastinating the dinner prep I need to do…..
Looking forward to seeing your new quilt pattern! I love your style ; )
A great post Kirsty, and a very good visual reminder. I absolutely love your use of neutrals and the low volumes for the background. Thanks also for the reminder of that great 80s movie and Billy Ocean, hadn’t seen or heard those in a looooong time. I’m really looking forward to your new pattern and, wow, purple!, what next, you crazy thing!
I really like the quilt as a quilter and as a military wife. But what I like even more is that you guys continue learning French. I am so glad you are still capitalizing on those years you spent in my home country. I miss your beautiful pictures of the part France you know better than I do! Compliments et bonne continuation.
Loved that video clip – makes me want to see that movie again and I LOVED the 80’s vibe!! The GRIT wallhanging is awesome. Your work is amazing. Thanks so much for the post. It really brightened my day. BTW, my fabric diet lasted 2 days. Yo yo dieting at its best LOL.
Wonderful!!
Absolutely wonderful my friend!
First, your message of grit is absolutely essential in this world. I have raised 3 children, each very different both in school performance as well as personalities, but each seemed to grow with that “grit” in tact and have each applied it to their careers as well as life choices. They are not rich in money mind you, but they have great outlooks and are wonderful individuals as well as proven leaders in their fields. I am a true believer that “grit can be contagious to us too, therefor inspiring others around us to join in and get a job done. An excellent message for All of us, not just our children, don’t you think?
Second, your quilt is stunning! Both in color choices and quilting design. You are my inspiration Kirsty!
Your Grit quilt is so visually interesting….love it. Ah, homework & kids…….I must say I was so happy when my kids had left school, no more arguments about getting homework completed & assignments in on time! Then our son went to Trade school for 4 years and the homework started all over again!
Beautiful fabrics from the Doe range….can I asked where you bought them from? I have recently bought one of Carolyn Friedlander’s patterns and now that I have seen your fabric, I would like to purchase some too.
Hi Jenny, I got my Doe at Hawthorne Threads, but it’s quite a popular range so you’d no doubt find it just about anywhere that stocks modern fabrics. Fabric worm has some precuts too, if that’s what you prefer.
So much to take in visually and also food for thought! :-) Your fabric purchase looks lovely, such unusual and useful basics! I also love the purple floral fabric in your quilt! I’m looking forward to seeing more! And the lap quilt looks lovely, too. So calm and still a lot of visual interest in the different rythm of the stripes! Happy sewing and a lot of grit! In Finnish the word would be “sisu”, I guess. It’s something that’s considered to be integral to Finnish identity and I guess you need with all that darkness and cold … ;-)