THE LAST WORD
Kate Basti has been digging up memories as she rifles through her sewing stash, to curate a bundle of fabrics reminiscent of her very own home sweet home
Kate Basti has been digging up memories as she rifles through her sewing stash, to curate a bundle of fabrics reminiscent of her home sweet home
Home. By definition, it’s a residence, a dwelling, the address on your junk mail.
A place you retire to at the end of a long day, a place of comfort and warmth. More profoundly, it’s a place of origin.
If I were a betting woman, I’d wager that each of you conjured up an image upon reading that word. Perhaps it’s a childhood home, maybe a home town. For me, it’s a half-acre patch of land in rural Indiana. On it sits a charming 1860s farmhouse nestled between corn and wheat fields, where the breeze carries the sound of distant farm work and the sweet scent of the earth.
I left that home following my college graduation and have now settled in Ohio. Each summer, I make the trek from the big city I now live in back to Indiana, and sadly, a sewing machine never makes the packing list. Thankfully, I’ve found a way to indulge in my sewing hobby while on the go: EPP. English Paper Piecing is the perfect solution for long car rides, soccer games, you name it. Pack some fabrics, a pair of snips, a spool of thread and some papers and you're set!
In preparation for my trip to Indiana this summer, I’ve curated a bundle that not only reminds me of my home, but also includes great fussy cutting opportunities – perfect for EPP. Typically, when curating a fabric bundle, I find a hero print from which I build the rest of the bundle. However, in this case, I chose to simply pull fabrics with a nature or farm theme that will also allow for ample fussy cutting. I began by pulling Apples in Red from Heather Ross’ Kinder line for Windham Fabrics, a playful chicken print – Crossing in Oatmeal
– by Alexander Henry Fabrics, and the wonderfully adorable Sheep print in Mustard from Cotton+Steel’s Panoramic line. I then added a carrot print by Dinara Mirtalipova for Windham Fabrics, and a gold metallic moon print from Sarah Watts’ Santa Fe collection for Cotton+Steel, reminiscent of a harvest moon.
Now for blenders. Blender prints, while typically simple, can still provide great fussy cutting opportunities. They can also effectively play up a theme in a nice, subtle way. For example, I chose Chevron Brush in Steel from Erin Dollar's Arroyo range for Robert Kaufman, because the print is reminiscent of tractor tracks – perfect for my theme. Another example: Wood Grain in Gold by Joel Dewberry for FreeSpirit Fabrics, which reminds me of old, wooden barns, a familiar sight in the flat lands of central Indiana.
That half-acre patch of land that I called home now belongs to someone else. It was sold in 2015, three years after my father passed. My annual trip home no longer includes a visit there. Instead, I make the trek to deliver quilts to a hospital in the small town nearby, a donation made in memory of my father. And while it may no longer be my home, the sights and smells are comfortingly familiar. Home now lives on in my stitching.