Pattiy Torno
Asheville, NC | Exhibiting Since 2002
Pattiy Torno’s bed-sized quilts start with hundreds of tiny triangles cut from old clothes and pieces of fabric collected over the past 30 years. She pins the triangles on a 12 foot wall, arranging and rearranging until she is satisfied with the color and pattern movement, then machine-pieces them together and hand quilts them until there is “enough quilting.” She loves having the feeling that, as a quilter, she collaborates with so many people she doesn’t even know: “All those textile designers whose fabrics I play with, all those little girls’, mothers’ and fathers’ dresses, aprons and ties I cut up.” Torno also produces a line of blankets, throws, scarves and hats made from pieced polar fleece in a wide range of colors and unusual patterns. “I always hope that my quilts will be used to keep the human body warm,” she says. “It is one of the true few luxuries in life.”