Meet Ginger Cherry | Fiber Artisan

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ginger Cherry and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ginger, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?
I am in a really interesting season in my life. My studio is in my garage, so I am home most days, and both of my sons are in college, which means my husband and I are experiencing an empty nest. Did I say it is also a lovely season in my life? Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed raising my kind, intelligent, funny boys, and especially the last few years, they are very easy to have in the house. They cook and care for themselves, but true to “mom” form, when they are home, they take up a lot of brain space. I want to make sure there is enough food in the house and myriads of other concerns that plague a mother’s brain. So, now that they are not home most of the time, my work/life balance has definitely shifted. I began my business when one boy was entering high school and the other boy was entering middle school, so you can imagine that I had a finite amount of time to work, and it was time dictated by the boys’ schedules. Now, I dictate my own schedule and my work/life balance is more mine to decide.

I am a naturally scheduled person, and after fifteen years of teaching, prior to my move to a sewing career, schedules feel ingrained. Though, now, I definitely revel in the ability to go to the bathroom whenever I want! Working for myself has allowed me to explore my schedule, find what works best for me, and to allow some flexibility and grace, which my past career and life lacked. I do love a plan, but I am also learning to embrace less actual time constraints. So much of my life flows together. I do not have strict boundaries between work and life–they are balanced fairly well. Though, I do set some limits.

The weekends typically remain weekends, even though I check emails on Saturday and answer customer calls periodically. Sometimes I do sew professionally on the weekend or meet with a client, but usually I will have taken time off or shifted time during the week. I get to choose how to structure my time, and I try to listen to my body. I usually make ambitious lists for items to finish or tasks to work on in a given week, but I also prioritize those lists. I don’t berate myself for not completing them, and I celebrate accomplishments. I also set specific times to work that suit me. I am a morning person, so I try to work on designing or more complicated sewing in the morning. I save less brain taxing or calming sewing for the afternoon, when my energy and brain power wain. I’m lucky, too, because my work is soothing and I enjoy it. Sewing can calm my nerves or pick me up when I am feeling down, so I can flow with the ups and downs of life . I suppose the heart of my job doesn’t feel like a job to me, which helps make me feel more balanced, too.

I think the important question to ask in work/life balance is what do I need to be productive and healthy? And that question has to be revisited often. Work /life balance is so personal and rarely perfect. It requires shifts and alterations to stay in balance or close to balance, especially when bosses, coworkers, and family members are involved. I try not to be afraid to flow with the movement of life and to stop and ask for what I want and need from others, and more importantly from myself.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am a Fiber Artisan who specializes in custom quilts, pillows and bears made by commission. The heart of my artistic practice is memory and t-shirt quilts. The tag line for my business is “Making Quilted Memories,” and it is also the truth of my work. I want to make quilts that my clients will love and cherish for years, and I am honored that they trust me with clothing and items special to them. I enjoy taking these items that hold such special memories and sewing them into a useable art piece. My studio is always interesting and challenging because of the variety and uniqueness of each project.

Sometimes I get to finish a quilt started by another quilter. I always try to remain true to the quilter’s original intention, so I get to walk around in her sewing brain a little bit.

I also complete custom quilting for quilters who need/want their quilt tops quilted beyond a regular edge to edge quilting design. All of my quilting is hand-guided on an APQS Lenni Longarm. I enjoy planning the quilting and the sewing itself, which are both artistic endeavors!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
My favorite spots in the Raleigh area revolve around fabric, books, and food, which I enjoy best in natural spaces. We are so lucky to have a number of brilliant quilt shops to visit, and each one has its own style and warmth. My favorites are Cary Quilting Company, Bernina World of Sewing, Sew There!, and Sew Happy Fabrics. Of course, my friend and I would want to visit each one, and we might even participate in the All Carolina’s Shop Hop that is going on this fall through the end of October and is a yearly event. In addition to our fabric frenzy, we might visit Craft Habit for all of our crafty needs, like yarn for crochet!

I don’t eat out a lot, but my friend’s visit would definitely warrant a grocery run to The Grand Asia Market, where we can get food for meals, all sorts of Asian sweets, and we can grab some boazi or Asian steamed buns for lunch. On another day, we would certainly visit Boulted Bread and leave smelling of cinnamon with a bag full of so much baked goodness. We might also visit The Golden Krust Caribbean Restaurant; their spicy beef patties are delicious and easy to carry on a hike.

Reader’s Corner and Pauper’s Books will satisfy our book lover’s sensibilities by offering a cornucopia of genres and shelves bursting with treasures. Certainly we would pack our sumptuous snacks, a bit of hand sewing, and a book into a bag and hike in Raven Rock State Park. One day may be spent exploring the North Carolina Museum of Art and its campus, and our feet would certainly find themselves enjoying the easy, beautiful trails of Historic Yates Mill County Park.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have to thank the past and the present. My business is built on my love of sewing and sewing acumen, and that deftness comes from years of practice and joy instilled in me as a child. My parents always encouraged me to be independent, curious, and diligent. My mother let me explore fabric and crafts with impunity; she would often hand me fabric and a needle and encourage me to sew, never worrying about whether or not I would make a mess or mistake or “ruin” something. So I grew up thinking sewing is exploration, problem solving, and skill. My mother comes from a long line of sewists, and this beautiful tradition of sewing sets the foundation of my work and makes me a fearless creator, who can take on complicated projects successfully.

My sewing bedrock is reinforced by the artistic support I receive form my husband and sons. They are all three artists and kindred spirits, who champion my work, applaud my successes, and bemoan my errors with just the right amount of humor! I can talk about quilting and sewing, and they understand and use the lingo with almost as much ease as I do. They see my potential and encourage me to continue to grow. They believe I am an artist, which reminds me to believe in myself and allows me to build and preserve this beautiful quilting tradition.

Website: www.finishedfibers.com

Instagram: @finished.fibers

Facebook: Finished Fibers, LLC

Image Credits
Lee Cherry (Photo of me) All other photos taken by myself.