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My version of Elizabeth Hartman's "Patchwork City"


When I began planning my version of Elizabeth Hartman's "Patchwork City," I thought about the cities in which I've lived and worked: Chicago and Manhattan, NY. One image was dominant. Taxis. My quilt had to have taxis. But where to find taxi fabric. I didn't want yellow cabs, just black and white ones. I finally decided I had to make my fabric. The beauty of this was that I could make taxis of various sizes to fit each block. And I decided there must be at least one taxi in every block.


Clockwise from top left, "Patchwork City" blocks: Museum, Drawbridge, Rose Garden and Clock Tower



When I first saw Elizabeth Hartman's "Patchwork City" book (C&T Publishing, 2014), I had to have it. I fell in love with the energy of the blocks. Next came my fascination with her use of three sizes of blocks that can be organized in a variety of grids. (More on my love all things grid in a future blog post.)


Most exciting about this book is that it doesn't say make this quilt this way. It says, here's 25 patterns for each of three size blocks. Make as many of these 75 blocks as you want then put them together as you want.


Elizabeth Hartman offers six settings for these blocks. I made her "Metro Area" setting, which uses all 75 blocks. Since I will be teaching this quilt, I wanted to have made all the blocks so I can lead students in making any that they choose. Her other five settings use fewer blocks. Three use only blocks of one size. Rarely have a seen a book that is such an interesting mix of clear instructions for how to make blocks yet leaves so much room for personal choices to create quilts unique to each maker.


It was fun putting finishing touches on this quilt, which is loaded with memories of my 16 years working and living in Uptown Manhattan and six years working in the Chicago Loop, as snow was falling outside my Rocky Mountain home/quilt studio. We got at least three feet plus deeper drifts. After more than two days of continuous snow falling, I've been dug out by a neighbor who plows our driveway and a very snow-competent county road crew.


I will teach "Patchwork City" from 1-4 p.m. Saturdays, June 5, 12, 19 and 26, and July 10 for Holly's Quilt Cabin in Centennial, Colorado. It will be via Zoom so wherever you are, you can enroll. I'll post the shop sign-up link soon.


Snow at my home in rural Gilpin County,

Colorado, Sunday, March 15, 2021



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You won't read Virginia Postrel's The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World in one sitting. If you're like me, you won't even read one chapter in a sitting but you will panic when you can't find where you last set down this book. It's that good. If you've been bugged by the idea that fabrics are a woman's thing, not very important, it's time for an attitude adjustment.


From chapters on fiber, thread, cloth and dye to those on traders, consumers and innovators, this book will enlighten, surprise and transform your appreciation of all things fabric even among those of us most addicted to it.


I was struck by the role of consumers. Postrel writes:


"Again and again, textile consumers remind us that cloth is more than just stuff. It is desire and identity, status and community, experience and memory embodied in visual, tactile form."


Wars have been fought over textiles. Peoples have been enslaved over textiles. Wealth and power have been reordered by textiles.


"Textile consumers change the world," Postrel writes.


So how do you consume fabric? My first response: In quantity every chance I get everywhere I go. I have mailed home boxes of fabric from Asia and the Philippines. I have traveled to Europe, India, Japan and Palestine with near empty suitcases so I could fill them with fabric for the flights home.



German vintage fabric


My dear friend, Elisabeth, brought me this vintage blue and white German fabric a few years ago. Her mother, now a grandmother, purchased it to make something for her home when she was a young woman, but she could never cut it up. Indigo and white always make my heart sing. This fabric calls to something deep in my being, perhaps something from my distant German heritage about which I know very little. A truly amazing gift. What might it mean that this fabric now lives on the other side of the Atlantic?



Gorgeous woven yardage made by a Burmese refugee woman displaced to Thailand along its western border with Burma.


When I had the opportunity to travel to Thailand with my husband for a Rotary International meeting, we decided to search out a community along the Thai/Burma border where friends travel annually to work with Burmese refugees. We visited a center where refugee women were making bags from the stunning fabrics they weave in a rainbow of colors.


When I've shown these fabrics to friends, they think they are from Central America. Postrel writes of how similar yet unique weaving traditions have developed around the world and how trade has influenced materials, colors and patterns used. What might it mean that this fabric now lives on the other side of the Pacific?



Brilliant screen-printed canvas from Bathurst Island, Australia.


On a trip to Darwin in Australia's Northern Territory, my travel advisor recommended I visit Bathurst Island. I spent two days on the island meeting Aboriginal Islanders who are artists, including those who worked at a center for those with disabilities where they produced screen-printed fabrics for home dec and clothing and more. When I see U.S. quilters creating Zentangles, I am reminded of the Bathurst Islanders' patterns.




I have shared a few textiles from other nations that have grabbed my attention when traveling. Each inspires my quiltmaking in some way. Each makes the drawers of fabric in my studio alive with color, pattern and texture.


I don't know that the textile consumer in me has changed the world but I know consuming a vast array of textiles from a range of traditions has changed me. Take a walk through your stash remembering textile consumers rule for good or bad. Carry that thought as you head out on your next road trip wherever it may take you. And don't forget to brake for quilt shops and fabric stores.

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I'll Be Teaching March 20 Class Via Zoom

for The Stitchin' Den in Estes Park


When I heard Alex Anderson speak a few years ago, I was impressed at how many shout outs she gave to fellow quiltmakers. As a quilter, I am indebted to many others. I expect to be giving a lot of shout outs in this blog.


Cheryl See's award-winning "Star Struck."


My first goes to Cheryl See — https://www.facebook.com/CSeesQuilts/. As I prepare to teach English Paper Piecing 101 at The Stitchin' Den in Estes Park, Colorado, Cheryl is on my mind. I took my first EPP class with her when she was teaching for Colorado Quilting Council. I loved her teaching style. She taught us multiple ways to prepare hexagons (hexies) for a grandmother's flower garden then shared two ways to join the hexies so each person in the workshop could discover her favorite methods.




From left, a grandmother's flower garden, a layered grandmother's flower garden and a pieced grandmother's flower garden — all techniques that will be introduced

in my English Paper Piecing 101 class.




With Cheryl's permission, I adapted her teaching method adding a few more ways to prepare hexies as I learned them and a third way of joining them. It's always fun to see which methods my students like best, and there's always a variety of what they like. My preferences? I can't tell you. I don't let my students know until the end of class. I never want to sway them with my choices or quote me as saying one method is best. If you want to know if I prefer thread, glue or starch basting of my hexies, you'll have to sign up for class — https://thestitchinden.com/collections/current-classes/products/introduction-to-english-paper-piecing-class.


The class will be from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time Saturday, March 20. It will be via Zoom so you can join from your home wherever you live.

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