The Patchwork Path

The Patchwork Path. . , The Patchwork Path by Bettye Stroud is the story of a young slave girl, Hannah, who, after the sale of her sister and death of her mother, escapes slavery with her father. She takes along a quilt sewn by her mother, who explained the "special meaning" of each pattern when Hannah was 10. When Hannah and her father steal away from the plantation they rely on the code hidden in the quilt to find their way to Canada., The story told by Hannah's mother goes: ,

The monkey wrench , turns the wagon wheel , toward Canada on a bear's paw trail , to the crossroads. , Once they got to the crossroads, , they dug a log cabin on the ground. , Shoofly told them to dress up in cotton , and satin bow ties and go to , the cathedral church, get married, , and exchange double rings. , Flying geese stay on , the drunkard's path and , follow the stars.

, The quilt squares on our fence, from right to left (south to north), are the squares of Hannah's quilt and correspond to the highlighted quilts named in the story. Painted by Cathy Rivas and her art students.