Meet the Artist
Excellent choice of fabrics, aesthetically pleasing, nice scaling, historically honest, great workmanship, amazing to see such good interpretation in miniature, wonderful quality.”
- Jurors, Directory of Traditional American Crafts
When I started quilting, I began with the simplest block patterns—big pieces, and fabrics that looked “old.” My interest was in simple, graphic quilts of a traditional style. As the enthusiasm for quilting grew in the early 1970s, I started Nine Patch Studio to share these designs with a wider audience.
Gradually, the quilt pieces have become smaller and the time required to make them substantially greater, as I put a new twist on a traditional art. With miniatures, I focus on the design elements of an early quilt-its form, line, and color, and refine them with a 21st century perspective.
As I work, I sense a connection with the women who made those early quilts, with their creative choices as well as their lives and their historical context. In a way, each miniature is a joint project between two quilters. For my part, I hope to preserve and validate these singular, deeply personal works of artistic expression.
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Nine Patch Studio is in the National Historic Landmark village, Waterford, Virginia, where Kathie Ratcliffe lives and works. Her miniature quilts have appeared in the finest Americana shows and are in private collections nationally and beyond. If you're in Waterford, Virginia, during the Waterford Homes Tour and Crafts Exhibit (Waterford Fair), we hope you will stop by our exhibit.