This past fall, Asheville-based maker Heather Adcock got a nod from the queen bee of makers herself, Martha Stewart. Stewart and team selected Adcock’s Patch Design Studio as an American Made finalist, honoring her commitment to homegrown and handmade. Patch’s line of hand-printed organic baby clothes and home accessories — including cloth napkins, kitchen towels, and pillows — is produced within 70 miles of Adcock’s studio.
Take us on the journey of one of your sustainably produced towels, from field to…
The cotton I’m getting is grown mostly in Texas, organically, so it’s all grown in the U.S. Then, it’s spun and woven at mills in the Carolinas. I get the fabric and then work with a cut-and-sew company in Morganton called Opportunity Threads, who sew the towels for me. I’ve been excited to make these connections, especially with local mills. There’s so much going on here in terms of fibers and textiles. There are people trying to revitalize the industry, and it seems like it’s happening.
Speaking of the field, a lot of your patterns are of fruits and veggies. Where do you get your design inspiration?
I love cooking, and I’m inspired, especially in Asheville, by the local food movement and area farms. I get a lot of inspiration from going to the farmer’s market. For my more geometric prints and floral patterns, I get inspiration from vintage fabrics and ancient textiles and Indian block prints.
You use a block printing process yourself. Why block printing?
Block printing is something I did when I was younger, with my mom. Every year, we would block-print Christmas cards for our Christmas party. My sister and I would draw little pictures, and she would help us carve them. It’s one of those things that, over the years, I would pick up as a project. Then, one Christmas, I made block-printed towels for presents … and one thing just led to another.
I really enjoy the process. I’ll start with a sketch, an idea, an image. When you carve the image into a block, it changes it so much. It adds all this texture and line weight. That’s really fun for me. I’ve also been screen-printing.
What’s next for Patch?
I’ve always wanted to do yardage of fabric. And, I’m talking to a company about licensing art for wallpaper. That’s a direction I’m exploring, licensing designs, because it’s the part I love the most: the designing!
Find Patch’s home goods locally at Nest Organics (51 North Lexington Ave., Asheville, www.nestorganics.com) and Grovewood Gallery (111 Grovewood Road, Asheville, www.grovewood.com), and online at www.patchdesignstudio.com.