Anita Peach explains the lure of quilt music, and how quilting
has taken over one woman's life
Cathy Miller is dual talented; not only is she capable of
stitching together a stunning patchwork quilt, but she
also writes and sings at festivals, clubs and concerts
nationwide. Whats more, she sings about quilts!
The Canadian singer songwriter has primarily been a
folksy type of singer nearly all her life; even at school she
was singing and composing songs. She began her singing
career as a member of the group Trilogy, touring a successful
Christmas show called Two Thousand Years of Christmas.
In 1991, she wrote the music for a play about quilting,
spending months with the playwright, Peggy Sample.
Together they read every book they could find which drew
reference to quilts, forming a fascinating history of quilting
tales. Cathy took these weird and wonderful stories and
turned them into songs.
In September 2000 she released One Stitch at a Time,
the first of three albums of quilting songs. They range from sad
tales about real quilting events to comical stories about quilters
and their habits. Cathy delights in finding and writing songs
about real stories, such as Australias Rajah Quilt, made by
female convicts aboard ships bound for Van Diemens Land in
1841. Its the only known surviving convict ship quilt, sent back
as a thank you to Elizabeth Fry and her ship committee at
Newgate Prison. Theres also another true-story song, Quilt of
Names, recounting the story of a WWII Red Cross quilt from
Canada that travelled the world with a young man called Harold
Bloomfield from Lewisham, London, until his death. His last
wish was to have the quilt sent back to Canada. On a lighter
note, the song entitled 100 Ways to Hide Your Stash should hit a
chord with most quilters, and would bring a smile to any listener.
Cathys own quilts are also sewn with history. Many were made while on tour. The 130 fish around the border of So
Long, and Thanks for all the Fish! were sewn on as they toured
Australia. Postcard from the Other Victoria - Ogden Point
toward the Olympic Mountains was made for the SCQuilters
New Zealand Retreat in April 2004. The postcard depicts where
Cathy lives. "We live in a beautiful part of the world, and I'm
proud to show it off", says Cathy. The Star and Plume Quilt
tells a happy-ending story about the quilt pattern, Sunbonnet
Sue, who eventually finds true love. It uses 46 quilt block
names to tell the story, says Cathy. I made it after I wrote the
song (of the same name) on my third quilting CD A Quilters
World. It is machine and hand pieced, and appliquéd then
machine quilted. Each block is 9 inches. We finished it in the
car on our way to Texas, January 2005, added Cathy.
Gradually, quilting has taken over Cathys life. As part of
her research in the early days, she took up quilting classes and
became hooked. Today Cathy travels the world, singing for
quilting events, guild meetings and shows. So far they have
performed some 250 events on two continents, and make
their first tour of the UK between September and October. If
you're interested in booking the singing quilter for your event
or would like to see Cathy performing in your local area, visit
her website, www.singingquilter.com for further details
First published in Popular Patchwork Volume 13 Issue 9 - August 2005