In Stitches

A discussion by quilting superstar Kaffe Fassett kicks off a new season of classes at Spool.

by Josh Middleton

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Published: Apr 6, 2010

Courtesy of Kaffe Fassett STRONG KAFFE: The quilting legend, who will lecture at the Ethical Society this week, models a Cosby sweater.

[ sew what ]

Author and international quilting sensation Kaffe Fassett likes to stop and smell the roses. But while down for a whiff, he's evaluating those bad boys to find the colors and shapes that will arouse inspiration for his next quilted creation. The notion of keeping your eyes attuned to life's minute details is at the heart of his new book, Simple Shapes, Spectacular Quilts (STC Craft, $35). If he heeds his own advice, we may be seeing elements of Philly creeping into his assembly of patchwork soon.

Fassett is teaming up with local crafting hub Spool for a book signing and discussion about how to be a fantastic quilter. "Any idiot can sit down and sew two pieces of fabric together," he laughs, but the key is to not let your brain get wrapped up in the process. "The people who are spontaneous get the most out of it."

His appearance is timely to the students taking part in Spool's spring classes, happening now through June. On the curriculum are tutorials geared toward first-timers like introductory sewing and beginning quilting, and ones for the learned, such as how to create a snazzy zipper pouch, a smocked sundress or a piano key quilt. (For a full list, visit spoolsewing.com/spoolclasses.html.)

Most students won't begin their journey with quilting as triumphantly as the San Francisco-born, London-based Fassett (his very first design appeared in Vogue Knitting in 1971), but if you ask him, there's more to this art form than fame and fortune.

"[Bonding with others] is a huge part of it," he says. "If you're painting a serious painting or writing a poem, you can't gossip with your friends, but there's something very communal about sewing and knitting." Unity, coupled with the frugality of quilting, he suggests, makes it an ideal hobby for gals and yes, even guys. "The male mind looks at things in an architectural kind of way," he says. "We like patterns and how they play with each other. That's half the battle with quilting."

The other half is searching daily for elements of color and repetition and then figuring out how to meld those ideas into a quilt that grapples with the mind. Some of his most stimulating inspiration comes from the most unexpected places. "I love old parts of town that haven't been fixed up very much, so you get the old crumbling paint, fading fabrics and old tiles. [Decaying surfaces] teach me more about color than anything else."

And what would a quilt inspired by his trip to Philly look like? "It would be full of amazing murals, that's for sure. And I could see doing an amazing quilt on the rows of houses," he says. "There would be no lack of inspiration there."

(joshua.middleton@citypaper.net)

Kaffe Fassett | Sat., April 10, 1 p.m., $16, Ethical Society, 1906 S. Rittenhouse Square, 215-545-0755, spoolsewing. com

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