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Brave New Quilts (Weekend Reads)

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Brave New Quilts is the latest and last book by Kathreen Ricketson. Inspired by Twentieth Century Art movements it speaks to inspiration and translating that inspiration to a quilt.

Kathreen died earlier this year. I woke up to the news one morning during Quilt Market. I'd woken early to actually answer some emails for her, only to get the news. Many others had the same story. And we all walked around in shock. And we were just fellow quilters and writers, colleagues and friends from online, not her family reeling from the tragedy.

Now, her book is out and travelling the world without her. A final legacy to her work.


Kathreen and I were working on our books at the same time, clearly with very similar deadlines. We would exchange tweets and emails about our status on the work. We knew what the other was going through. So, even though our books are quite different from a content perspective, they parallel each other in the timeline of my mind. That leads me to what I want to talk about today on this last stop on her Legacy Tour.

For all the book reviews, Amazon reviews, and social media comments it is important to remember two things. One, there are people behind these books. And two, these books are a creative enterprise as much as a quilt is, they are a work of art too.

The author of any book pretty much gets all the credit, or critique. But they are team efforts (unless self published). But for any and all credit and critiques you have to remember that these are real people. They have feelings, thick or thin skin, and real emotions. It seems easy to think of the book as an independent entity, free from its creator. That makes it easier to dismiss or criticize. I get that, it is a part of human nature to complain. But it is important to remember that these books do not exist without the people behind it.


That leads me to the second point: these books are a creative expression of the author and designers. When someone is writing a book they aren't just thinking, "Hey, I'm going to make a bunch of quilts and someone else will take pictures and we'll put them all together in a book and then people will read it." No, we think about themes, and details like illustration style, layout, styling of each quilt photo. We agonize over fabric selection more than you ever have, we tinker and run out of ink on red pens, we obsess over a block that won't lay flat. For the authors and designers, the quilts and their patterns are only just a part of the book, not the be all and end all.

Every author has a different reason for writing a book. Some want to translate their teaching to the written page, some want to share inspiration, some are looking to collate patterns, some love to write. All of them are coming to the book as a form of creative expression. Writing the book is as much that as designing and making a quilt.

Now I'm not saying that we authors are immune to critique and I, personally, welcome comments and constructive criticism. But when you make any comments on a book - good or bad - remember that there are people behind it and we put a lot of personality and creativity into that book. (Keep all this in mind as well if you are contemplating writing a book.)

That's why, when I read Brave New Quilts, I think of Kathreen. I think of her frantically sewing to make deadlines, photo shoot styling flying through her head as the stitches go in. I think of her cleaning and organizing just so for the shot to be exactly as she wants. I think of her spending an hour on a single paragraph to make sure her intentions and directions are as clear as they can be. I think of her anxiously anticipating the Pages for review to see how the designer put together everything.

Perhaps I am projecting my own experience onto Kathreen's, I will admit that. But we did speak of the process together. And now that I see her book I have a bigger picture of her own process. More importantly, I have a picture of Kathreen, a glimpse of her inspiration and translation, and of her creativity that goes beyond 12 quilts and beyond the emails and tweets we shared. I'm glad to have this bit of her in the world. A legacy to her creativity indeed.


To read more about the book and other takes on it, make sure you visit the other stops on the Legacy Tour for Brave New Quilts.

Stash Books
Heather Jones
Kristin Link
Maya Donenfeld
Alexandra Smith
Sonya Philip
Ellen Luckett Baker
Andrea Jenkins
Shannon Cook
Mimi Kirchner

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Friday Favourite - Molasses Butter

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There are a ridiculous number of happy moments and miniature squeals of glee in my head on repeat since my latest trip to Nova Scotia. They keep me happy. One moment, one memory that I've acted on nearly daily since then is the molasses butter.

Never heard of it? Neither had I. Pictou Lodge served up little bowls of molasses butter with their biscuits instead of your average, boring bread basket. And it was awesome.

So awesome that I accosted the Chef Thomas one morning on his way into work and begged for some at my breakfast in an hour and he kindly obliged me. So awesome that I've made it three times in the 10 days I've been home. So awesome that it takes all your power to not eat it straight from the bowl with a shiny spoon.

I have no idea how they made it, but here is what I've been doing.

Molasses Butter

1/2 cup salted butter (unsalted if you prefer, but I like it better with salted)
1-2 TBSP Blackstrap molasses (use fancy if that is what you have, but you will probably want more molasses then)

Whip the butter. Add the molasses. Whip until evenly incorporated.

So far our favourite way is indeed on biscuits. But I can tell you that it tastes just fine on a muffin or some fresh bread. And, in case you were wondering, it makes a wicked grilled cheese sandwich. Substitute for regular butter on the outside of your sandwich. The edges caramelize and the molasses bring a depth of unreal flavour to the table.
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Pillow For a Friend

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The rumours started flying before Christmas. A new kid was joining the kindergarten class and he was moving from the other side of the world! When would he be here? Where was he coming from? What is his name? The kids were giddy at the thought of a new kid like a vampire would be of virgin blood. I too was excited for the potential of a new friend.

The first day of school came after the holidays and I immediately picked out the new dad. During hearty introductions I found out that they were expecting a baby, as I was at the time. With razor like focus I narrowed in on the mom the first time I saw her on the playground. I know, it sounds like I was stalking. Perhaps I was a lot like that vampire. But sometimes instinct takes over. Then really pays off.

We hit it off immediately, with a similar brand of sarcasm and humour. She is much kinder than I am though. And she lives a lifestyle that not even I can aspire to. On paper we shouldn't click, but in real life we have a great time. I trust her as a friend, as a mother. I know that she's looking out for my kids. I adore her boys and despite his vegetarian eating habits her husband is pretty great too.

It was her birthday earlier this week. Like most of us she deserves special treats. After we'd spent a morning rearranging furniture in her living room (Yeah, we go for long walks, drink tea, then redecorate each other's houses) I decided she needed something else in the room. Something cozy, something that worked with her momentos from travels in the East, something homemade.


I pulled out the Indian cottons and raided the stash. I also grabbed the bits of Carolyn Friedlander's new line, Botanics, that she'd sent me when I was working on something else. They all went together so well. With this quilt in mind from Quilting Happiness I started slashing and sewing. This is a colour combo I've been wanting to play with for a while and now I want to do more with it.

What I forgot is that my friend is on Instagram. So I posted my fabric pull and mentioned I was making a pillow for a dear friend. When I did not get the pillow done in time for her birthday she hid her disappointment. So when I shared the image of my stellar wrapping job she tried not to get too excited. I was happy to share the pillow with her on the playground yesterday (and not worry about keeping secrets from her).


With fabric from family and friends, inspiration from another quilty friend, sewing while chatting with a friend online, and making it for a friend this little pillow is full of love. But it is missing a zipper, I still lack that skill. So a quilted back with an envelope closure, highlighted with a contrasting fabric, is what it gets. And it works wonderfully.

Just like our friendship.