introduction: mapping my beginnings as a quilt artist

I became interested in quilting quite by accident. I read an article in an academic journal that described a design project in which architecture students were asked to design a museum for quilts. Maybe the voice of my maternal grandmother, a home economics teacher, whispered to me as I read every word in the article. Perhaps it sparked a memory of learning to sew during hot and humid summers while on vacation at my grandmother’s home in Tuscumbia, Alabama, during the 1960s. Whatever it was, I feel fortunate to have found the kernel of possibilities the day I read the article.

From that day onward, I began a journey that has taken me in many surprising and unexpected directions. It also created an interesting tension—could aspects of quilting transfer to the way I teach architecture? The core question for me was, should a real architect quilt? Would I still be taken seriously as an architect? I received my architectural education in a male-dominated field in a male-dominated world. My exposure to the women’s liberation movement during the late 1960s and 1970s created a feeling that quilting was somehow counter to the advancement of women in our society. There were all sorts of reservations spinning around in my brain. Deep down, though, I think I knew I might be onto something.

Despite these reservations, I plowed ahead with the determination I inherited from Mother Scruggs, my paternal grandmother. I thought about many things she instilled in me. She was a force of nature.

Mama Steele, my maternal grandmother

Photo by Valerie S. Goodwin

The next semester I created a number of design exercises for my beginning architecture students. They studied the design principles and elements seen in traditional patchwork blocks such as Nine-Patch, Flying Geese, and Log Cabin. As part of the project, they designed quilt blocks made from colored paper. The students then created small works of architecture that would display their quilt blocks.

Project by Donald Gray, architecture student, 1999

The students seemed to respond well to this unique way of learning about architecture and design. At times I now incorporate quilting into other architecture classes. Quilting is indeed like building; one constructs a quilt like one constructs an architectural design. Wherever I can, I weave ideas about art and craft into courses I teach across the curriculum.

LEARNING TO SEW AND QUILT

Many years earlier, I had abandoned my interest in sewing, partly in an effort to conform to peer pressure in high school. As I grew older, the desire to cope in a male-dominated profession left me with the feeling that working with bricks and mortar was a more noble goal than working with fabric and thread.

But fortunately, memories of the fun and satisfaction I felt when my grandmother taught me to sew spurred me forward.

Mother Scruggs, my paternal grandmother

Photo courtesy of Valerie S. Goodwin

I also thought about Cousin Hattie, who lived with my mother’s family during the 1940s and 1950s. This remarkable woman made hundreds of quilts that she pieced during the summer and quilted during the winter. Many family members who are lucky enough to have her amazing quilts cherish her legacy. It was hard to ignore this deep-rooted heritage of working with fabric. These feelings and experiences prompted me to take a quilting workshop.

In 1998 I learned to quilt by enrolling in a six-week class in quiltmaking at a local community college. I made a sampler quilt totally by hand. It is hard to describe what this experience did for me—all I can say is that it set off a series of light bulbs in my creative psyche. Shortly after this, a friend shared with me a copy of the 1999 Quilt National exhibit catalog. A whole world of possibilities was revealed! From then on, my goal was to discover how I could combine my love of architectural design with the medium of quiltmaking. The answer to my initial question is overwhelmingly apparent: Yes, real architects can and do quilt!