• COVID-19 Resources
  • About
  • Subscribe
  • Promotions
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • June 1, 2025

Milwaukee Courier Weekly Newspaper

"THE NEWSPAPER YOU CAN TRUST SINCE 1964"

  • News
  • Editorials
  • Education
  • Urban Business
  • Health
  • Religion
  • Upcoming Events
  • Classifieds

Share:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Tweet
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print

Ella’s Patch Quilts has Been in Business Since ‘03

September 8, 2018

By Nyesha Stone

Each of Brooks’ quilts took about a week to
complete. (Picture taken by Nyesha Stone)

Quilting is not just a hobby for Ella Brooks—it’s her business, and she wants to make sure you know it. Brooks is a 72-year-old businesswoman, who back in “twenty o’ three” [2003], sat down at a sewing machine to make her first quilt. Now, she spends an hour at a time, crafting each one.

“Quilting is therapeutic [and] it’s good for the mind,” she said. “It’s relaxation.”

Over the years, Ella’s Patch Quilts has grown through word of mouth, with a small portion coming from social media, she said.

Her age hasn’t stopped this woman from enjoying life and spreading history, as she said.

Quilting has a history in the Black community, and by teaching the ways of quilting, she’s passing down a piece of history and a skill—all in one. She provides private lessons and will conduct larger classes, under certain circumstances.

Brooks holding up her latest project. (Picture taken by Nyesha Stone)

Brooks makes patch quilts, a variety of individual patches, usually the same size, stitched together to make one quilt. Back then, these types of quilts were wanted by upper-class white people, according to Womenfolk.com. African Americans quickly learned how to quilt and began to make a small profit to support their families. A 2004 National Geographic article discussed how African American slaves may have used quilts as a type of coding system to communicate. History shows how quilts are more than what they seem.

Brooks wants this type of history to be taught to the youth because you have to know where you come from to understand how to get to where you’re going.

She soon learned that the lines on quilts don’t have to be straight. Nothing has to be anything—meaning that the way a quilt looks from the stitching color to the patterns is all up the creator, and Brooks loves that.

One of Brooks’ door runners. (Picture taken by Nyesha Stone)

Usually, people begin sewing on a flat piece of fabric, but Brooks likes to fold hers over one time, so it can be thicker. All her quilts are double-stitched in a zig-zag pattern. She receives donated fabric for her patches. When she runs out of donations, she heads to Walmart to get more, but most times, she said, she’s usually doesn’t actually go because she receives other donations.

She makes quilts of all sizes, with some being big enough to fit beds. Brooks doesn’t use a measuring tape or tape ruler when cutting her patterns because she wants it to be “all natural.”
Brooks is a prideful business owner who’s attained awards, recognition and features in print and online publications for her quilting work.

“It feels like I’m doing something good,” Brooks said about creating quilts.

This wide-smile, round grey afro, dark-skinned woman will leave you smiling whether you buy one of her quilts or not. She has a lot to say, and not just about her work. Brooks was born in Greenwood, MS and eventually move to Milwaukee with her family for better work opportunities.

Brooks surrounds herself with her quilts, big and small, literally. When she has a fabric she doesn’t want to use for a quilt, she then uses it for a tote, runners for doors or something else—no fabric goes unused.

And in the words of Brooks, “quilts will never be forgotten.”

For private lessons or more information about Brooks’ business visit her Facebook page at Ella’s Patch Quilts.

Share:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Tweet
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print

Popular Interests In This Article: Ella Brooks, Ellas Patch Quilts, Nyesha Stone

Read More - Related Articles

  • Milwaukee News Company Secures Partnership with Amazon
  • The 3rd Annual Keeping It 100 Men’s Conference wants to Inspire Men to DOMINATE
  • Youth Came to Fight for their Future During International Climate Strike Week
  • Ascension’s St. Joseph Holds Second Round of Community Discussions
  • Local Mother and Son With Same Rare Congenital Heart Defect Share Story
Become Our Fan On Facebook
Find Us On Facebook


Follow Us On X
Follow Us On X

Editorials

Lakeshia Myers
Michelle Bryant
Dr. Kweku Akyirefi Amoasi formerly known as Dr. Ramel Smith

Journalists

Karen Stokes

Topics

Health Care & Wellness
Climate Change
Upcoming Events
Obituaries
Milwaukee NAACP

Politicians

David Crowley
Cavalier Johnson
Marcelia Nicholson
Governor Tony Evers
President Joe Biden
Vice President Kamala Harris
Former President Barack Obama
Gwen Moore
Milele A. Coggs
Spencer Coggs

Classifieds

Job Openings
Bid Requests
Req Proposals
Req Quotations
Apts For Rent

Contact Us

Milwaukee Courier
2003 W. Capitol Dr.
Milwaukee, WI 53206
Ph: 414.449.4860
Fax: 414.906.5383

Copyright © 2025 · Courier Communications | View Privacy Policy | Site built and maintained by Farrell Marketing Technology LLC
We use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our website. These companies may use information (not including your name, address, email address, or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, click here.