Mom had lots of computer files for a book that began with “50Sens,” but for some reason I thought that was a work in progress. They are actually the files for her last book, The Big Book of Patchwork, which is subtitled “50 Fabulous Quilts from Judy Hopkins.” The working title of the book was “50 Sensational Quilts” and Mom used that title right up until she sent out release forms to each of the quilters who contributed to the book.  The publisher’s marketing department is responsible for book titles – they try to choose a  title that will be most appealing to book buyers. There are several email exchanges between Mom and Martingale’s editor about the title. Marketing’s suggestion was Patchwork Prowess: 50 Sensational Quilts from Judy Hopkins. Here’s an excerpt from Mom’s response:

I like the idea of using the 50 Sensational… as a subtitle, though 50 Fabulous… might be better. The “‘sensational” is a holdover from when we were thinking about a 60-project book. I like alliterative titles, and I like the word Patchwork. Like you, I’m pretty tepid about Prowess. Among other things, it might make readers think it’s only suitable for quilters who can demonstrate prowess (high skill). So I will sit and think of “P” words after as I get the proofs sent off to Laurie tomorrow morning. All that comes to mind right now is Patchwork Pizazz, and I like this spelling of it–though it sounds familiar, so may already have been used.

Two hours later, Mom sent her list of suggestions:

The ones that resonate the most with me are in red….

Patchwork Parade
Painless Patchwork
Patchwork Panache
Panoply (a splendid or striking array. Pretty esoteric, though.)
Panorama
Parlor Patchwork (I don’t really know what this means or implies, but it sounds homey!)
Patchwork from the Parlor
Patchwork in the Parlor
A Passion for Patchwork
A Penchant for Patchwork
Piece Goods
Piece Work
Piquant Patchwork (sounds cute, but you’d have to stretch the definition!)
Judy Hopkins’ Big Book of Patchwork Quilts
Plainly Patchwork
Playful Patchwork
Patchwork A’Plenty (aw shucks…..)
A Patchwork Portfolio
Judy Hopkins’ Patchwork Portfolio
Patchwork for Posterity
Patchwork in Perpetuity
Practical Patchwork
A Profusion of Patchwork
A Propensity for Patchwork
Purely Patchwork

Fifty Phenomenal Patchwork Projects from Judy Hopkins

A variation of the final name was in the list above.