Libby Lehman
Photos
Title
Libby Lehman
Identifier
QSOS-055
Interviewee
Libby Lehman
Interviewer
Eva Knight
Interview Date
10/23/99
Interview sponsor
The Nat'l Quilting Assn
Location
Houston, Texas
Transcriber
Pat Shaer
Transcription
Eva Knight (EK): Tell me about this quilt. Tell me about the pattern.
Libby Lehman (LL): Yes. This quilt is titled "Basking in the Limelight". It is made from hand dyed fabrics. I don't like to dye fabrics, but I like to use them. I purchased all of these. Some are South African fabrics, some are American, some were dyed were dyed in Germany by a woman named Heidi Stoll Weber. I love the colors of this quilt. This was really fun for me to make.
EK: You made it, obviously, tell me about the pattern.
LL: The pattern is an original pattern, and it uses a technique I call "potluck" appliqué. It is a reverse appliqué technique where you add the additional fabric from the bottom, stitch on the top, and cut away top layers to expose the bottom fabric. This is similar to how the molas were made by the Indians on the San Blas Islands, but an update on that technique. It has a lot of machine embroidery, couching, and machine work on the top of it.
EK: Tell me about the term "potluck."
LL: Well, when I usually do this technique, I never know what is going to show up. I'll just put two layers together, and stitch through both of them. I cut away the top layer and expose what is underneath it, and then go from there, and keep working on the piece.
EK: When did you make this quilt?
LL: I made this quilt in 1997 and I can remember that because I looked at the label. My quilts kind of run together.
EK: How many quilts have you made?
LL: Well, I make about-- [pause.] right now, I have been averaging about 10 to12 per year, but some of those are small quilts, and some are large quilts. It depends on the size. I don't know. I know I have sold 65 quilts. I did count that up the other day. I don't know many I have made counting my early quilts when I gave them away; used them as gifts and presents and things.
EK: When did you start quilting?
LL: I started in 1971. My mother signed us up for a basic quilt making class. We both took it. My mother is a Houstonian, Catherine Anthony. Then she and two friends opened a shop. I began to teach for them, and just gradually got more and more into the teaching, and more toward contemporary quilts, rather than traditional, even though I began with traditional.
EK: Tell me about the first quilt you ever made.
LL: Mother and I, after this basic class, we went out and bought every book there was, and there were five of them. They were called "Aunt Martha's Pattern Books." I made whatever she said to make. My first quilt, I don't know, whatever possessed me, it was a king-size quilt. I guess because we had a king-size bed, and I didn't know any better. So that quilt took me about two years, I would say, to hand piece. This was when you did not have Plexiglas templates. We had little index cards you would trace around. I had a lady at the time that hand quilted them for me for $25, if you can imagine that- a king-size quilt. So I made bedquilts for most of my family, until this lady got cataracts, and could not quilt them anymore. I moved on to smaller quilts after that. I began to change directions when Mom, at her shop, would bring in teachers like Nancy Crow, Michael James, or Nancy Halperin, and I began to take classes from those what I consider pioneers in the quilt world, and they really opened my eyes. It never dawned on me that you could draw your own pattern. I just was happily making whatever Aunt Martha said to make. So it just expanded from there, and I get excited about different things at different times. But right now, I am really into the thread play and doing contemporary art type quilts.
EK: Do you consider what you do more an art or a craft?
LL: I don't pay much attention. I don't worry about it. I just do it. I just feel like that is wasted breath. They have been arguing that for centuries, and if there was an answer, they would have solved it by now, so I just do my sewing, and let them call it whatever they want. I consider my quilts art having said that. But it doesn't upset me that someone else calls it craft. I just think that is not the most important thing. I just want to make my quilts.
EK: What are your earliest memories of quilts?
LL: Well I didn't have a lot of quilting history in my family. Neither one of my grandmothers sewed, particularly. My mother sewed, but she did utilitarian sewing. And she and I really took this class and got into quilt making together as adults, rather than having learned it as a heritage. The first teacher that taught us was Mary Woodard Davis. She came from Santa Fe, New Mexico. There was a shop here called the Bau House. They brought an exhibit of Donna and Bryce Hamilton's quilts from Minnesota and had those quilts hanging. Those are my really first memories of a quilt particularly, one hung more as art than as a bed quilt, although at the time I did not realize that. I just knew they were really pretty quilts.
EK: How do you use this quilt?
LL: I hang it in my home and display it. And I use it when I teach, lecture and travel around. I don't take all my quilts every time I travel, but I try to kind of rotate them around.
EK: What are your plans for this quilt?
LL: My plans are that it will eventually be sold. I do make my quilts to sell, so I know going into it that that is their ultimate final destination, hopefully. I don't become too attached to them. There are some quilts I like better than others, but, knowing that you are going to sell them, you don't get, you know, they are not like your children. They are just like a close acquaintance, maybe.
EK: Describe your quilt related activities.
LL: My quilt related activities. I travel, and teach about two to three weeks out of a month. This month I have been home two days. And I love doing that right now. I know I don't want to do it the rest of my life. But I like it, enjoy it, I love meeting the people I get to teach in classes and see at workshops and that kind of thing, as well as getting to see the other people that are doing what I do. It is kind of like a little sorority, we all get together, and you're so happy to see each other and sometimes you see them more often than you do your good friends at home. So it has been just wonderful and I have loved it. It's just something that I didn't plan for but I am so lucky I think to be making a living at doing something I love as much as I like making the quilts.
EK: Do you publish books?
LL: I do publish books. I have one book that I have written by myself called "Thread Play" and then my Mom and I co-authored about five books early on in quiltmaking. Those were more traditional quilt pattern books, and we co-authored them, although really Mother wrote them and I did the graphics for them, is what it amounted to. I have a second book in the works but it is about page 5 right now so I've got to write real quickly if I want to get another one out anytime soon.
EK: What do you find pleasing about quilting?
LL: One of the things I find pleasing about quilting is the camaraderie between quilters, their willingness to share with each other and quilters may be any age, any size or shape or whatever, and they are very accepting of each other and I find that very nice to have in this world, because so many times we don't tolerate other people, and quilters are pretty tolerant, as a group, of other people. Even though there seems to be a division of traditional quilters and contemporary, I think that gap is beginning to narrow, and if it is not narrowing, they are at least beginning to accept each other as a valid form of quiltmaking.
EK: What things displease you about quilting?
LL: I don't like basting very much, but the new quilt basting sprays are just wonderful, so I like those a lot, and there is always a point in your quilt where you get tired or you think, 'Oh, I am never going to finish this,' but if you can kind of just get over that hill then everything seems to go fine.
EK: What do you think makes a great quilt?
LL: OH, it can be anything. When I judge, and I do a lot of judging, what I tell people, and the first criteria is something has to make me want to look at that quilt again. And it can be anything. It can be design, it could be color, it could be a fabric, it could be a pattern and embellishments, but there has to be something that makes you want to look at it again. And then you go from there. Sometimes judging quilts is very easy, and sometimes it's very difficult. It just all depends, and I love the diversity of quilts. The show this year just blows my mind with the creativity and the talent that is in the quilts here. It is just almost beyond belief to me that people can have that many ideas and that much talent to produce them.
EK: Tell me about your technical when you judge a quilt, what kind of technical things do you look for?
LL: Well, it depends on the category. The first thing when I judge a show, I ask to see a see a set of the rules the participants were given, because a lot of times they will say, for instance, if it says 'quilts will be judged on workmanship,' then that is what you give the most importance. If they say 'no kits allowed,' then you have to determine whether it was done with a kit or not, which is getting harder, because there are more and more kits out. there, and patterns, good patterns. I am not saying there is anything wrong with them, except that it is hard as a judge to keep up with that and know every pattern and every kit that is out there. Having said that, I look for workmanship that doesn't detract from the piece. But sometimes, especially now, we see quilts that are, as Georgia Bonesteel says, 'stippled the stew out of them,' you know just kind of overdo it sometimes on that. So I think you have to kind of reach a nice balance, and that is what you are looking in a quilt when you are judging, overall balance, overall good design, overall good workmanship, overall good fabric and construction, and that kind of thing.
EK: What do you think makes a quilt artistically powerful?
LL: Artistically powerful, again, it could be many different things, and what's art to one person is junk to another, so you kind of have to keep that in mind as well. I would say overall, though, good design basically. If it does not have a good design, it doesn't matter what the workmanship is. A good design is a real kind of amorphous term. It's hard to describe to some what's good design. It's just like pornography. You know it when you see it. It is hard to describe in words what it is, but everybody, in their own mind knows what it is, and some people who do not think they are artists, can look at two quilts and tell which is the better design, even though they may not say it in those words. 'Oh, I like that one better than I like this one,' and usually it is because it has good basic design principles.
EK: What were the things in your life that helped you come to your conclusions about good design?
LL: About good design. I would say one of the biggest influences is I have taken a lot of classes with Michael James, and he teaches his quilt classes from an art school approach and most quilters have not been to art school. So I think it is very beneficial, at least it was for me. Now, I took from the man, his basic design class five times, because I did not understand a word he said the first time I took that class. First of all he speaks in Boston accent--you couldn't understand that being from Texas. And secondly he used these terms that none of us knew what they meant. But, eventually, sometimes even now, I will look at something and think, 'Oh that is what Michael was talking about.' I have also taken from Nancy Crow, and I try to take at least one class a year, and usually it will be not so much a quilt class a design class--maybe a technique class--usually overall design or some art type class rather than more quilting at this point.
EK: Would you describe some of your other areas of interest?
LL: Yes, one of my first was strip piecing and I think that was because I took Nancy Crow early on, and she was a very strong personality, and a very strong influence on a lot of people who are making contemporary quilts now. I took a workshop from her, I believe it was in 1980, and after the workshop she wrote me a letter and said, 'You are good at this. You need to pursue it seriously, and not just dabble in it as a hobby.' It was the kind of push I needed at the time to really get serious about doing this. I am also influenced a lot by fabrics. I went through a fabric period using really bright fabrics. I call them the Jam fabrics, when those California prints came out. I just loved those. That was something new. Then, now the hand dyed, working with the hand dyeds. I am currently; my latest interest is working with sheer fabrics, like metallic sheers and organzas and that kind of thing. So I am having fun doing that. I haven't worked all the problems out yet, so that is why the second book is only to page 5 so far.
EK: As you have toured today, what are the trends you see that you see coming in the quilt world.
LL: The trends that I see coming--rotary cutting is still real big. The quick, down and dirty type quilts, which worries me somewhat, because I think maybe people who take those kind of classes and get into quilt making from that angle, don't have the basic quiltmaking skills that we learned. For instance, how to use a template; how to trace around it; how to cut out with a pair of scissors. You know, we had no idea what a rotary cutter was at the time. I see a lot of surface embellishment in quilts. The art quilt movement is getting stronger and stronger. And then, on the other hand, appliqué is also really hot, and has been for the last couple of years. Really exquisite hand appliqué and true artistry in that field, which is reminiscent of the Baltimore Album quilts. So it is like both sides, the very traditional, and the very avante garde are both big right now.
EK: How did you learn to sew?
LL: I leaned in homemaking. Bless Mrs. Bogart's heart. Seventh grade homemaking on these absolutely awful machines, and I made just sort of basic clothing, I guess for a long time before I ever did anything decent with it. This is back when you made Muumuus. I can remember making Muumuus in two hours, getting those things done, out of polyester fabrics. So and Mother sewed utilitarian as well. We had four girls in our family and she made some things, but she never tried to make all our clothes or anything like that. We had a good old basic Singer sewing machine.
EK: What do you think makes a quilt appropriate for a museum?
LL: If they are willing to pay for it, for one thing. And, different museums have different qualifications. For instance, a textile museum in Washington D.C. collects historical textiles. They are not very interested in contemporary quilts. That is not the focus of that museum and I think that's perfectly valid. The MAQS [Museum of the American Quilt Society.] museum in Paducah [Kentucky.] is much more interested in what's being made today. It is called a museum for today's quilters,and they are not interested in buying historical quilts per se. So each museum kind of has its own focal point. I have just gotten on the acquisitions committee for the MAQS Museum, so I will be able to tell you more after February when we have our first meeting. Maybe I will know more about the inside workings of a museum. I am glad to see they are getting more interested in quilts, and I hope that especially contemporary quilts I am talking about at this point, and I hope that continues, rather than just collecting historical quilts.
EK: If you were to curate a show, what are the things you would look for? How would you describe your taste?
LL: The same thing I would look for in judging, and it would depend on the focus of the show. A lot of times they will have, for instance, in Visions or Quilt National, I feel like both of those are meant to be sort of an overview show, so I would not pick quilts that were very similar in style or technique, or whatever. Whereas, if I were just given free rein, I suspect the quilts would tend to be more homogenous 'cause I would pick what I like on my taste.
E.K.: How would you describe your tastes?
LL: My taste, oh, it is eclectic, and there are quilt makers that I just love. And it would depend on the focus of the show. I like art quilts, and I like some of the more traditional quilts. I think Sally Collins miniatures, which are about a traditional as you can get, are absolutely beautiful. On the other hand, I love my friend Beth Kennedy's [Austin, Texas.] work which is very, very abstract. It's very eclectic, and I don't know, maybe I am influenced because I like the people that made those quilts, so that could color my thinking as well. But you try not to let that influence you when you are judging. You have to kind of turn off that, not think about the person that made it. Most of the time you don't know who made it, but sometimes you can't help but know whose work it is. And most judges I have judged with try not to let that influence them; to let the work stand on its own.
EK: The people part of quilting has come up now several times. What groups do you belong to?
LL: That is my favorite part, and that is my favorite part of teaching is getting to know the people. They are just fascinating. I belong to the Quilt Guild of Greater Houston, although they have not seen me in years because I am never home when they meet. I belong to the Studio Art Quilt Associates, to AQS [American Quilt Society.], to IQA [International Quilt Association.]. I think that is about all the groups I belong to.
EK: Have you ever belonged to a bee?
LL: No, I haven't belonged to a bee per se. No I take that back, we had a contemporary bee in Guild several years, and I was active in that. We also had a challenge group that came out of that. There were about 13 of us that did a three year challenge, and you proposed your own challenge to yourself, and worked on it during those three years. That was very beneficial at that time. I wasn't teaching and traveling as much so I had more time to do that.
EK: Do you remember what you challenged yourself to do?
LL: Mine was called "Pushing the Envelope." That was the name of my project. It was to explore new techniques, and that's where a lot of the thread play techniques come out of that challenge. And it was a very supportive group, and still is. We don't see each other as often as we did back then, which still wasn't all that often, but I know that I could call them for anything and they would be there.
EK: Let's talk a little bit about "threadplay."
LL: Okay, this is a term I came up with for, I guess basically doing machine embroidery because for me it is play, and I just love playing with threads and using them and it was hard to write the book because I wanted to make quilts instead. But I am glad I have the book now. So, and I was not as hard as I thought, and that's why there maybe a second one, if I can stay home long enough to get it written.
EK: Well there have been many wonderful new threads--which come first- thread or technique?
LL: The thread came first, because Donna Wilder had asked to be a garment for the Fairfield Fashion Show, and she called and said, 'Libby, I noticed that you have not ordered any of these threads.' And I said, 'No, I like my garment just fine.' And she said, 'A lot of our designers really do like this thread, you might want to try some.' So I sent off for one spool of Sulky color 7020 metallic and that was all it took. I have just been hooked ever since, and have become fascinated with trying to see what all thread will do and make it a major part of the quilt, and not just an added embellishment or after- thought.
EK: What do you think quilting has taught you about life?
LL: It has taught me to be willing to try new things, even if you may not be good at it. I was the first born, and first borns do not like to try stuff they are not good at. And they do not t try it unless they think they are going to be pretty good at it. And quilting taught me that you can do this. I read a quote recently that really struck me. A woman named Ann Stam Merrill, who has died of breast cancer now, stated, several years ago when she was going through her treatments, and she said, 'Of all the really bad things that can happen to people, a mistake with a piece of fabric is not one of them.' And I think that is real valuable for us to know, sometimes, is to loosen up and being willing to play, and willing to make mistakes. Quiltmaking has given me so much. I have gotten to meet some wonderful people. I have gotten to travel all over the world through quilts. It opens a lot of doors. I was going through the xray machine at one of the airports, and this lady asked to see the inside of the suitcase was a quilter, and I we held the line up for about 20 minutes talking about quilts, and showing her the quilts I had in the suitcase. So it has just been wonderful to me. I can't imagine where my life would have gone if I hadn't been doing quilting. I might be teaching school somewhere, I don't know.
EK: How does your family react to the time quilting takes?
LL: Well I have a son who is 28 so he is essentially on automatic pilot, and my husband loves it. He told be one time that he was envy of all his friends being married to me. I was real flattered until he told me that it was because I was gone on the weekends, but I came home with money.
EK: How has quilting shaped your social life?
LL: It has shaped it in that I have some of the people that I am closest to are the other teachers that are out on the circuit teaching regularly. My husband fished anyway on the weekends, so our social life was always during the week. And it is wonderful because when I go home, we have something to talk about rather than just, 'How was your day?' 'Fine. How was your day?' 'Fine.' Any my family is very proud of me My husband is very supportive in that he lets me do whatever I want to do as long as he does not have to do much about it. I am not sure he really understands what I do but he did tell me one time that he knew that I was good at it and I worked real hard at it. I said, 'OK, that's all you have to know then. That's enough.'
EK: What do you think about the importance of quilts in American life?
LL: Oh, I think it varies, probably more by culture than location. I know that my in laws grew up in the era when you only made quilts if you couldn't go get the blanket at Sears. They were country people, and for them quilts were not anything very spectacular. Whereas, my family now, in particular now, a quilt would be the best present you could give them. And I think there are all different levels. There are bed quilts, and there are art quilts, and there are craft quilts, and they all have a place, thank goodness. So we can all be here doing our own thing.
EK: Have you ever made a quilt for a special occasion?
LL: Oh yes, I have made--Oh I have made a quilt for my mother's shop early on. I have made up baby quilts. I try not to do that for anyone that is going to have 15 children or something. We try to keep that to only children, or very special ones. I have made a couple of commemorative quilts, mainly because my husband asked me to. I don't want to get into the trap of--since I do this for a living I just don't want to be doing them to give away when I need my time to do my art quilts that I sell but I have made several like that.
EK: What kind of events were you asked to commemorate with a quilt?
LL: This was a roast of a man that started a charity. And my husband is president of the charity now, and they benefit children in crises so we did sort of an album quilt that people could sign then. But those are always sort of basic quick quilts. I don't want to spend a long time designing that kind of thing.
EK: At the turn of the century, what kinds of things would you like to tell quilters 100 years from now?
LL: Oh gosh, I can't even imagine what they will have. They will probably a machine that sews a perfect 1/4 inch seam without even having to think about it. There is so much you know the computer world is switching so quickly, I am sure they will have laptop sewing machines to sew on airplanes if they still have airplanes at that time. You know technology has come so far in just the few years that I have been quilting, that I can't even image where it is going to go from here on out.
EK: What is the best quilt tip that you have found?
LL: Don't take it too seriously. Have fun with it. If it is work, take up belly dancing or something that is fun, 'cause life is too short to do things that you don't like doing.
EK: How do you think quilts can be preserved for the future?
LL: I think we can do the best we can with the technology we have right now. I try to be careful with my quilts, but I try not to get paranoid about it. I travel and I teach so much that I can't just be worried the whole time about whether my quilts are going to get lost or stolen. As much as I ship them, and send them, and take them on suitcases, I know sooner or later something is likely to happen. But on the other hand, nobody died. They are just things, and the world will go on even if we don't have quilts, so I think we need to keep that in mind as well. So I try to take reasonable care of my quilts, but I don't think Michaelangelo worried about whether his paint was going to last. I think he just painted, and they are still around, so hopefully, our quilts will be too, and I am really glad there are people that are into the preservation and are looking after it, and getting the word out to us what are the best ways to try to preserve quilts.
EK: Describe your quilt studio.
LL: My quilt studio. I have a bedroom in the house that I have taken over. Actually I have two rooms, and I have one set up as an office, and one set up as a studio. This is really nice. I can do this because I use it as a business. I make a living at it. And I have no qualms about taking up that much space. I am a very organized person. I keep both of them fairly organized, although if you saw them at this moment, you would never believe this. Working one quilt at a time helps. I don't have too much of a mess out at one time. I find if I have it gets too messy, I cannot concentrate. I have to stop and clean it up and start over again. I have tons of thread as you can imagine. I use a modular storage system I use a Bernina sewing machine which I just love. I cannot imagine doing what I am doing now without that machine. And I love my studio. My husband will come right to the threshold of my studio but he will not cross over. It is like something is going to happen if he crosses over that line so he will talk to me but he will not come in. I kind of encourage this. This is okay with me. I don't particularly want people in there with me anyway and I try to go in there. If I am home, I try to go in and work every day, at least a little bit anyway, and I love having my studio in my home where I can do that. Go sew a few seams and put a load of wash in, and then come back and sew some more, and put it in the dryer, etc. That has been great.
EK: Would you like to reveal how much fabric you have?
LL: I have got tons. I have got tons of fabric. I consider it my duty to support all of these vendors that are here personally, by myself. I try to keep a running inventory of whatever fabrics I am using now, like the hand dyeds. By that I mean if I am working on a quilt, and I see that I am short on lights. I tend to be short on lights, I tend to like more saturated colors and then I know that I need to concentrate on getting more light fabrics. This doesn't mean that when I go in the store, if there is something wonderful I don't buy it, too, but and I do try to keep a palette of colors. I keep a variety of fabrics and colors, and values of colors, etc. because you never get in the mood until the store is closed, and then it is too late to go buy that perfect fabric. I very seldom buy fabric for a specific quilt. I just keep it stored and then use what I have on hand.
EK: What about thread?
LL: Thread? I have a ton of thread too and again for the same reason. I like having the option of having all the choices that we have. And sometimes, when I am not inspired, I'll just open the drawer and look at it, and see what jumps out at me and use that so I use all kinds of threads as well.
EK: What other equipment do you have?
LL: I have a Europro Iron which is a semi-professional iron. It's a very strong steam iron. It has like 10 times the force of a regular steam. I have a work wall that is a Celotex pressboard that is covered. I have a computer. I have a light table. I have a copier and a color printer.
EK: Do you design on the computer?
LL: No, I do not design on the computer. I like the computer to do all the dumb stuff that I don't like to do. I like for it to do the bookkeeping, and word processing and keeping the schedule straight, and all of that, but I like designing as I go, just kind of on the wing, so you can't do that if you are going to do that on the computer. I have found that if I design on the computer, then the design is done, that is the fun part, and then you are just like a human reproduction machine, just copying the design that is already done and that part gets boring real quick. I think that computer program was thought up by a first born that likes to be in charge, and likes to know what it looks like before she ever starts out doing anything.
EK: What inspires your designing?
LL: It could be anything. I just got through doing a lecture on that. Sometimes I am inspired by just a shape, sometimes it's an event. It can be the news. It could be a class I have taken. It could be I was inspired by the leaves falling in my swimming pool. I--whole series of quilts on that. So it can really be almost anything. Just need to be observant and watch what's going on around you. Usually when I talk to people about creativity, it is not the creativity that is the problem, it is the time to follow through on it that we are all missing.
EK: How do you go about naming your quilts?
LL: I keep a list of words. Sometimes if I hear a good word, and I kind of agree with Michael James in that a quilt should not be named something longer than what will fit across the top of the slide. I try to keep them fairly short. Some quilts name themselves, others you just have to pick something every once in a while. I do like a title for a quilt. I don't like untitled particularly. I once heard John McEnroe during Wimbledon describing the repartee between the players so, 'Ah, I've got to write that down on my list of possible titles.' Songs titles sometimes. There is a song out right now titled "Pouring Straight Tequila over Mixed Emotions" and I just think that would be a wonderful quilt title. So sometimes I have the title ahead of time, and sometimes I do the title after I do the quilt.
EK: Do you start with color or shape?
LL: I usually start with shape. I usually start with just piecing a background of some kind whether I piece it with squares, triangles, crazy piecing or just whatever. And I work from there.
EK: You are wearing a wonderful vest in a lime color.
LL: Thank you. This lime is my current favorite color, although it may change tomorrow, but I do like lime right now. I do make some quilted clothing, mainly to wear when I teach and lecture. But I enjoy that too.
EK: Add in anything else you'd want to add?
LL: I wish I had done this 10 days ago when I had some brain cells left. We are doing this at the very end of Quilt Festival and Quilt Market, which if you haven't heard of this is a marathon event for quilters, day and night, over saturation that none of us would miss a minute of, I guess I would tell quiltmakers from now that I hope quilting is still going as strong, I am sure it will change, I am sure there will be new ideas, and new techniques, but the core lure of quilting will always remain intact.
EK: Can you tell me a funny story that's happened with a quilt?
LL: Not off the top of my head. Not with a quilt. I have had some funny events in classes and things like that. Should have asked me 10 days ago. I want to thank you all for doing this. This is a super program and I hope that these tapes will be around for people to listen to. I think that would be a great benefit. There are quiltmakers in the past that I wish that I could have heard their voices, and know what they look like. I hope that technology will not take that human element out of things. I miss that already with email. I had much rather talk to someone on the phone and get a feel for who they are. Although I am not real sure about these phones with pictures. I am not sure I want that. Maybe not that much knowledge, but voices and human contact I think is real important, so I hope we always keep that as part of quiltmaking as well.
[tape ends.]
Libby Lehman (LL): Yes. This quilt is titled "Basking in the Limelight". It is made from hand dyed fabrics. I don't like to dye fabrics, but I like to use them. I purchased all of these. Some are South African fabrics, some are American, some were dyed were dyed in Germany by a woman named Heidi Stoll Weber. I love the colors of this quilt. This was really fun for me to make.
EK: You made it, obviously, tell me about the pattern.
LL: The pattern is an original pattern, and it uses a technique I call "potluck" appliqué. It is a reverse appliqué technique where you add the additional fabric from the bottom, stitch on the top, and cut away top layers to expose the bottom fabric. This is similar to how the molas were made by the Indians on the San Blas Islands, but an update on that technique. It has a lot of machine embroidery, couching, and machine work on the top of it.
EK: Tell me about the term "potluck."
LL: Well, when I usually do this technique, I never know what is going to show up. I'll just put two layers together, and stitch through both of them. I cut away the top layer and expose what is underneath it, and then go from there, and keep working on the piece.
EK: When did you make this quilt?
LL: I made this quilt in 1997 and I can remember that because I looked at the label. My quilts kind of run together.
EK: How many quilts have you made?
LL: Well, I make about-- [pause.] right now, I have been averaging about 10 to12 per year, but some of those are small quilts, and some are large quilts. It depends on the size. I don't know. I know I have sold 65 quilts. I did count that up the other day. I don't know many I have made counting my early quilts when I gave them away; used them as gifts and presents and things.
EK: When did you start quilting?
LL: I started in 1971. My mother signed us up for a basic quilt making class. We both took it. My mother is a Houstonian, Catherine Anthony. Then she and two friends opened a shop. I began to teach for them, and just gradually got more and more into the teaching, and more toward contemporary quilts, rather than traditional, even though I began with traditional.
EK: Tell me about the first quilt you ever made.
LL: Mother and I, after this basic class, we went out and bought every book there was, and there were five of them. They were called "Aunt Martha's Pattern Books." I made whatever she said to make. My first quilt, I don't know, whatever possessed me, it was a king-size quilt. I guess because we had a king-size bed, and I didn't know any better. So that quilt took me about two years, I would say, to hand piece. This was when you did not have Plexiglas templates. We had little index cards you would trace around. I had a lady at the time that hand quilted them for me for $25, if you can imagine that- a king-size quilt. So I made bedquilts for most of my family, until this lady got cataracts, and could not quilt them anymore. I moved on to smaller quilts after that. I began to change directions when Mom, at her shop, would bring in teachers like Nancy Crow, Michael James, or Nancy Halperin, and I began to take classes from those what I consider pioneers in the quilt world, and they really opened my eyes. It never dawned on me that you could draw your own pattern. I just was happily making whatever Aunt Martha said to make. So it just expanded from there, and I get excited about different things at different times. But right now, I am really into the thread play and doing contemporary art type quilts.
EK: Do you consider what you do more an art or a craft?
LL: I don't pay much attention. I don't worry about it. I just do it. I just feel like that is wasted breath. They have been arguing that for centuries, and if there was an answer, they would have solved it by now, so I just do my sewing, and let them call it whatever they want. I consider my quilts art having said that. But it doesn't upset me that someone else calls it craft. I just think that is not the most important thing. I just want to make my quilts.
EK: What are your earliest memories of quilts?
LL: Well I didn't have a lot of quilting history in my family. Neither one of my grandmothers sewed, particularly. My mother sewed, but she did utilitarian sewing. And she and I really took this class and got into quilt making together as adults, rather than having learned it as a heritage. The first teacher that taught us was Mary Woodard Davis. She came from Santa Fe, New Mexico. There was a shop here called the Bau House. They brought an exhibit of Donna and Bryce Hamilton's quilts from Minnesota and had those quilts hanging. Those are my really first memories of a quilt particularly, one hung more as art than as a bed quilt, although at the time I did not realize that. I just knew they were really pretty quilts.
EK: How do you use this quilt?
LL: I hang it in my home and display it. And I use it when I teach, lecture and travel around. I don't take all my quilts every time I travel, but I try to kind of rotate them around.
EK: What are your plans for this quilt?
LL: My plans are that it will eventually be sold. I do make my quilts to sell, so I know going into it that that is their ultimate final destination, hopefully. I don't become too attached to them. There are some quilts I like better than others, but, knowing that you are going to sell them, you don't get, you know, they are not like your children. They are just like a close acquaintance, maybe.
EK: Describe your quilt related activities.
LL: My quilt related activities. I travel, and teach about two to three weeks out of a month. This month I have been home two days. And I love doing that right now. I know I don't want to do it the rest of my life. But I like it, enjoy it, I love meeting the people I get to teach in classes and see at workshops and that kind of thing, as well as getting to see the other people that are doing what I do. It is kind of like a little sorority, we all get together, and you're so happy to see each other and sometimes you see them more often than you do your good friends at home. So it has been just wonderful and I have loved it. It's just something that I didn't plan for but I am so lucky I think to be making a living at doing something I love as much as I like making the quilts.
EK: Do you publish books?
LL: I do publish books. I have one book that I have written by myself called "Thread Play" and then my Mom and I co-authored about five books early on in quiltmaking. Those were more traditional quilt pattern books, and we co-authored them, although really Mother wrote them and I did the graphics for them, is what it amounted to. I have a second book in the works but it is about page 5 right now so I've got to write real quickly if I want to get another one out anytime soon.
EK: What do you find pleasing about quilting?
LL: One of the things I find pleasing about quilting is the camaraderie between quilters, their willingness to share with each other and quilters may be any age, any size or shape or whatever, and they are very accepting of each other and I find that very nice to have in this world, because so many times we don't tolerate other people, and quilters are pretty tolerant, as a group, of other people. Even though there seems to be a division of traditional quilters and contemporary, I think that gap is beginning to narrow, and if it is not narrowing, they are at least beginning to accept each other as a valid form of quiltmaking.
EK: What things displease you about quilting?
LL: I don't like basting very much, but the new quilt basting sprays are just wonderful, so I like those a lot, and there is always a point in your quilt where you get tired or you think, 'Oh, I am never going to finish this,' but if you can kind of just get over that hill then everything seems to go fine.
EK: What do you think makes a great quilt?
LL: OH, it can be anything. When I judge, and I do a lot of judging, what I tell people, and the first criteria is something has to make me want to look at that quilt again. And it can be anything. It can be design, it could be color, it could be a fabric, it could be a pattern and embellishments, but there has to be something that makes you want to look at it again. And then you go from there. Sometimes judging quilts is very easy, and sometimes it's very difficult. It just all depends, and I love the diversity of quilts. The show this year just blows my mind with the creativity and the talent that is in the quilts here. It is just almost beyond belief to me that people can have that many ideas and that much talent to produce them.
EK: Tell me about your technical when you judge a quilt, what kind of technical things do you look for?
LL: Well, it depends on the category. The first thing when I judge a show, I ask to see a see a set of the rules the participants were given, because a lot of times they will say, for instance, if it says 'quilts will be judged on workmanship,' then that is what you give the most importance. If they say 'no kits allowed,' then you have to determine whether it was done with a kit or not, which is getting harder, because there are more and more kits out. there, and patterns, good patterns. I am not saying there is anything wrong with them, except that it is hard as a judge to keep up with that and know every pattern and every kit that is out there. Having said that, I look for workmanship that doesn't detract from the piece. But sometimes, especially now, we see quilts that are, as Georgia Bonesteel says, 'stippled the stew out of them,' you know just kind of overdo it sometimes on that. So I think you have to kind of reach a nice balance, and that is what you are looking in a quilt when you are judging, overall balance, overall good design, overall good workmanship, overall good fabric and construction, and that kind of thing.
EK: What do you think makes a quilt artistically powerful?
LL: Artistically powerful, again, it could be many different things, and what's art to one person is junk to another, so you kind of have to keep that in mind as well. I would say overall, though, good design basically. If it does not have a good design, it doesn't matter what the workmanship is. A good design is a real kind of amorphous term. It's hard to describe to some what's good design. It's just like pornography. You know it when you see it. It is hard to describe in words what it is, but everybody, in their own mind knows what it is, and some people who do not think they are artists, can look at two quilts and tell which is the better design, even though they may not say it in those words. 'Oh, I like that one better than I like this one,' and usually it is because it has good basic design principles.
EK: What were the things in your life that helped you come to your conclusions about good design?
LL: About good design. I would say one of the biggest influences is I have taken a lot of classes with Michael James, and he teaches his quilt classes from an art school approach and most quilters have not been to art school. So I think it is very beneficial, at least it was for me. Now, I took from the man, his basic design class five times, because I did not understand a word he said the first time I took that class. First of all he speaks in Boston accent--you couldn't understand that being from Texas. And secondly he used these terms that none of us knew what they meant. But, eventually, sometimes even now, I will look at something and think, 'Oh that is what Michael was talking about.' I have also taken from Nancy Crow, and I try to take at least one class a year, and usually it will be not so much a quilt class a design class--maybe a technique class--usually overall design or some art type class rather than more quilting at this point.
EK: Would you describe some of your other areas of interest?
LL: Yes, one of my first was strip piecing and I think that was because I took Nancy Crow early on, and she was a very strong personality, and a very strong influence on a lot of people who are making contemporary quilts now. I took a workshop from her, I believe it was in 1980, and after the workshop she wrote me a letter and said, 'You are good at this. You need to pursue it seriously, and not just dabble in it as a hobby.' It was the kind of push I needed at the time to really get serious about doing this. I am also influenced a lot by fabrics. I went through a fabric period using really bright fabrics. I call them the Jam fabrics, when those California prints came out. I just loved those. That was something new. Then, now the hand dyed, working with the hand dyeds. I am currently; my latest interest is working with sheer fabrics, like metallic sheers and organzas and that kind of thing. So I am having fun doing that. I haven't worked all the problems out yet, so that is why the second book is only to page 5 so far.
EK: As you have toured today, what are the trends you see that you see coming in the quilt world.
LL: The trends that I see coming--rotary cutting is still real big. The quick, down and dirty type quilts, which worries me somewhat, because I think maybe people who take those kind of classes and get into quilt making from that angle, don't have the basic quiltmaking skills that we learned. For instance, how to use a template; how to trace around it; how to cut out with a pair of scissors. You know, we had no idea what a rotary cutter was at the time. I see a lot of surface embellishment in quilts. The art quilt movement is getting stronger and stronger. And then, on the other hand, appliqué is also really hot, and has been for the last couple of years. Really exquisite hand appliqué and true artistry in that field, which is reminiscent of the Baltimore Album quilts. So it is like both sides, the very traditional, and the very avante garde are both big right now.
EK: How did you learn to sew?
LL: I leaned in homemaking. Bless Mrs. Bogart's heart. Seventh grade homemaking on these absolutely awful machines, and I made just sort of basic clothing, I guess for a long time before I ever did anything decent with it. This is back when you made Muumuus. I can remember making Muumuus in two hours, getting those things done, out of polyester fabrics. So and Mother sewed utilitarian as well. We had four girls in our family and she made some things, but she never tried to make all our clothes or anything like that. We had a good old basic Singer sewing machine.
EK: What do you think makes a quilt appropriate for a museum?
LL: If they are willing to pay for it, for one thing. And, different museums have different qualifications. For instance, a textile museum in Washington D.C. collects historical textiles. They are not very interested in contemporary quilts. That is not the focus of that museum and I think that's perfectly valid. The MAQS [Museum of the American Quilt Society.] museum in Paducah [Kentucky.] is much more interested in what's being made today. It is called a museum for today's quilters,and they are not interested in buying historical quilts per se. So each museum kind of has its own focal point. I have just gotten on the acquisitions committee for the MAQS Museum, so I will be able to tell you more after February when we have our first meeting. Maybe I will know more about the inside workings of a museum. I am glad to see they are getting more interested in quilts, and I hope that especially contemporary quilts I am talking about at this point, and I hope that continues, rather than just collecting historical quilts.
EK: If you were to curate a show, what are the things you would look for? How would you describe your taste?
LL: The same thing I would look for in judging, and it would depend on the focus of the show. A lot of times they will have, for instance, in Visions or Quilt National, I feel like both of those are meant to be sort of an overview show, so I would not pick quilts that were very similar in style or technique, or whatever. Whereas, if I were just given free rein, I suspect the quilts would tend to be more homogenous 'cause I would pick what I like on my taste.
E.K.: How would you describe your tastes?
LL: My taste, oh, it is eclectic, and there are quilt makers that I just love. And it would depend on the focus of the show. I like art quilts, and I like some of the more traditional quilts. I think Sally Collins miniatures, which are about a traditional as you can get, are absolutely beautiful. On the other hand, I love my friend Beth Kennedy's [Austin, Texas.] work which is very, very abstract. It's very eclectic, and I don't know, maybe I am influenced because I like the people that made those quilts, so that could color my thinking as well. But you try not to let that influence you when you are judging. You have to kind of turn off that, not think about the person that made it. Most of the time you don't know who made it, but sometimes you can't help but know whose work it is. And most judges I have judged with try not to let that influence them; to let the work stand on its own.
EK: The people part of quilting has come up now several times. What groups do you belong to?
LL: That is my favorite part, and that is my favorite part of teaching is getting to know the people. They are just fascinating. I belong to the Quilt Guild of Greater Houston, although they have not seen me in years because I am never home when they meet. I belong to the Studio Art Quilt Associates, to AQS [American Quilt Society.], to IQA [International Quilt Association.]. I think that is about all the groups I belong to.
EK: Have you ever belonged to a bee?
LL: No, I haven't belonged to a bee per se. No I take that back, we had a contemporary bee in Guild several years, and I was active in that. We also had a challenge group that came out of that. There were about 13 of us that did a three year challenge, and you proposed your own challenge to yourself, and worked on it during those three years. That was very beneficial at that time. I wasn't teaching and traveling as much so I had more time to do that.
EK: Do you remember what you challenged yourself to do?
LL: Mine was called "Pushing the Envelope." That was the name of my project. It was to explore new techniques, and that's where a lot of the thread play techniques come out of that challenge. And it was a very supportive group, and still is. We don't see each other as often as we did back then, which still wasn't all that often, but I know that I could call them for anything and they would be there.
EK: Let's talk a little bit about "threadplay."
LL: Okay, this is a term I came up with for, I guess basically doing machine embroidery because for me it is play, and I just love playing with threads and using them and it was hard to write the book because I wanted to make quilts instead. But I am glad I have the book now. So, and I was not as hard as I thought, and that's why there maybe a second one, if I can stay home long enough to get it written.
EK: Well there have been many wonderful new threads--which come first- thread or technique?
LL: The thread came first, because Donna Wilder had asked to be a garment for the Fairfield Fashion Show, and she called and said, 'Libby, I noticed that you have not ordered any of these threads.' And I said, 'No, I like my garment just fine.' And she said, 'A lot of our designers really do like this thread, you might want to try some.' So I sent off for one spool of Sulky color 7020 metallic and that was all it took. I have just been hooked ever since, and have become fascinated with trying to see what all thread will do and make it a major part of the quilt, and not just an added embellishment or after- thought.
EK: What do you think quilting has taught you about life?
LL: It has taught me to be willing to try new things, even if you may not be good at it. I was the first born, and first borns do not like to try stuff they are not good at. And they do not t try it unless they think they are going to be pretty good at it. And quilting taught me that you can do this. I read a quote recently that really struck me. A woman named Ann Stam Merrill, who has died of breast cancer now, stated, several years ago when she was going through her treatments, and she said, 'Of all the really bad things that can happen to people, a mistake with a piece of fabric is not one of them.' And I think that is real valuable for us to know, sometimes, is to loosen up and being willing to play, and willing to make mistakes. Quiltmaking has given me so much. I have gotten to meet some wonderful people. I have gotten to travel all over the world through quilts. It opens a lot of doors. I was going through the xray machine at one of the airports, and this lady asked to see the inside of the suitcase was a quilter, and I we held the line up for about 20 minutes talking about quilts, and showing her the quilts I had in the suitcase. So it has just been wonderful to me. I can't imagine where my life would have gone if I hadn't been doing quilting. I might be teaching school somewhere, I don't know.
EK: How does your family react to the time quilting takes?
LL: Well I have a son who is 28 so he is essentially on automatic pilot, and my husband loves it. He told be one time that he was envy of all his friends being married to me. I was real flattered until he told me that it was because I was gone on the weekends, but I came home with money.
EK: How has quilting shaped your social life?
LL: It has shaped it in that I have some of the people that I am closest to are the other teachers that are out on the circuit teaching regularly. My husband fished anyway on the weekends, so our social life was always during the week. And it is wonderful because when I go home, we have something to talk about rather than just, 'How was your day?' 'Fine. How was your day?' 'Fine.' Any my family is very proud of me My husband is very supportive in that he lets me do whatever I want to do as long as he does not have to do much about it. I am not sure he really understands what I do but he did tell me one time that he knew that I was good at it and I worked real hard at it. I said, 'OK, that's all you have to know then. That's enough.'
EK: What do you think about the importance of quilts in American life?
LL: Oh, I think it varies, probably more by culture than location. I know that my in laws grew up in the era when you only made quilts if you couldn't go get the blanket at Sears. They were country people, and for them quilts were not anything very spectacular. Whereas, my family now, in particular now, a quilt would be the best present you could give them. And I think there are all different levels. There are bed quilts, and there are art quilts, and there are craft quilts, and they all have a place, thank goodness. So we can all be here doing our own thing.
EK: Have you ever made a quilt for a special occasion?
LL: Oh yes, I have made--Oh I have made a quilt for my mother's shop early on. I have made up baby quilts. I try not to do that for anyone that is going to have 15 children or something. We try to keep that to only children, or very special ones. I have made a couple of commemorative quilts, mainly because my husband asked me to. I don't want to get into the trap of--since I do this for a living I just don't want to be doing them to give away when I need my time to do my art quilts that I sell but I have made several like that.
EK: What kind of events were you asked to commemorate with a quilt?
LL: This was a roast of a man that started a charity. And my husband is president of the charity now, and they benefit children in crises so we did sort of an album quilt that people could sign then. But those are always sort of basic quick quilts. I don't want to spend a long time designing that kind of thing.
EK: At the turn of the century, what kinds of things would you like to tell quilters 100 years from now?
LL: Oh gosh, I can't even imagine what they will have. They will probably a machine that sews a perfect 1/4 inch seam without even having to think about it. There is so much you know the computer world is switching so quickly, I am sure they will have laptop sewing machines to sew on airplanes if they still have airplanes at that time. You know technology has come so far in just the few years that I have been quilting, that I can't even image where it is going to go from here on out.
EK: What is the best quilt tip that you have found?
LL: Don't take it too seriously. Have fun with it. If it is work, take up belly dancing or something that is fun, 'cause life is too short to do things that you don't like doing.
EK: How do you think quilts can be preserved for the future?
LL: I think we can do the best we can with the technology we have right now. I try to be careful with my quilts, but I try not to get paranoid about it. I travel and I teach so much that I can't just be worried the whole time about whether my quilts are going to get lost or stolen. As much as I ship them, and send them, and take them on suitcases, I know sooner or later something is likely to happen. But on the other hand, nobody died. They are just things, and the world will go on even if we don't have quilts, so I think we need to keep that in mind as well. So I try to take reasonable care of my quilts, but I don't think Michaelangelo worried about whether his paint was going to last. I think he just painted, and they are still around, so hopefully, our quilts will be too, and I am really glad there are people that are into the preservation and are looking after it, and getting the word out to us what are the best ways to try to preserve quilts.
EK: Describe your quilt studio.
LL: My quilt studio. I have a bedroom in the house that I have taken over. Actually I have two rooms, and I have one set up as an office, and one set up as a studio. This is really nice. I can do this because I use it as a business. I make a living at it. And I have no qualms about taking up that much space. I am a very organized person. I keep both of them fairly organized, although if you saw them at this moment, you would never believe this. Working one quilt at a time helps. I don't have too much of a mess out at one time. I find if I have it gets too messy, I cannot concentrate. I have to stop and clean it up and start over again. I have tons of thread as you can imagine. I use a modular storage system I use a Bernina sewing machine which I just love. I cannot imagine doing what I am doing now without that machine. And I love my studio. My husband will come right to the threshold of my studio but he will not cross over. It is like something is going to happen if he crosses over that line so he will talk to me but he will not come in. I kind of encourage this. This is okay with me. I don't particularly want people in there with me anyway and I try to go in there. If I am home, I try to go in and work every day, at least a little bit anyway, and I love having my studio in my home where I can do that. Go sew a few seams and put a load of wash in, and then come back and sew some more, and put it in the dryer, etc. That has been great.
EK: Would you like to reveal how much fabric you have?
LL: I have got tons. I have got tons of fabric. I consider it my duty to support all of these vendors that are here personally, by myself. I try to keep a running inventory of whatever fabrics I am using now, like the hand dyeds. By that I mean if I am working on a quilt, and I see that I am short on lights. I tend to be short on lights, I tend to like more saturated colors and then I know that I need to concentrate on getting more light fabrics. This doesn't mean that when I go in the store, if there is something wonderful I don't buy it, too, but and I do try to keep a palette of colors. I keep a variety of fabrics and colors, and values of colors, etc. because you never get in the mood until the store is closed, and then it is too late to go buy that perfect fabric. I very seldom buy fabric for a specific quilt. I just keep it stored and then use what I have on hand.
EK: What about thread?
LL: Thread? I have a ton of thread too and again for the same reason. I like having the option of having all the choices that we have. And sometimes, when I am not inspired, I'll just open the drawer and look at it, and see what jumps out at me and use that so I use all kinds of threads as well.
EK: What other equipment do you have?
LL: I have a Europro Iron which is a semi-professional iron. It's a very strong steam iron. It has like 10 times the force of a regular steam. I have a work wall that is a Celotex pressboard that is covered. I have a computer. I have a light table. I have a copier and a color printer.
EK: Do you design on the computer?
LL: No, I do not design on the computer. I like the computer to do all the dumb stuff that I don't like to do. I like for it to do the bookkeeping, and word processing and keeping the schedule straight, and all of that, but I like designing as I go, just kind of on the wing, so you can't do that if you are going to do that on the computer. I have found that if I design on the computer, then the design is done, that is the fun part, and then you are just like a human reproduction machine, just copying the design that is already done and that part gets boring real quick. I think that computer program was thought up by a first born that likes to be in charge, and likes to know what it looks like before she ever starts out doing anything.
EK: What inspires your designing?
LL: It could be anything. I just got through doing a lecture on that. Sometimes I am inspired by just a shape, sometimes it's an event. It can be the news. It could be a class I have taken. It could be I was inspired by the leaves falling in my swimming pool. I--whole series of quilts on that. So it can really be almost anything. Just need to be observant and watch what's going on around you. Usually when I talk to people about creativity, it is not the creativity that is the problem, it is the time to follow through on it that we are all missing.
EK: How do you go about naming your quilts?
LL: I keep a list of words. Sometimes if I hear a good word, and I kind of agree with Michael James in that a quilt should not be named something longer than what will fit across the top of the slide. I try to keep them fairly short. Some quilts name themselves, others you just have to pick something every once in a while. I do like a title for a quilt. I don't like untitled particularly. I once heard John McEnroe during Wimbledon describing the repartee between the players so, 'Ah, I've got to write that down on my list of possible titles.' Songs titles sometimes. There is a song out right now titled "Pouring Straight Tequila over Mixed Emotions" and I just think that would be a wonderful quilt title. So sometimes I have the title ahead of time, and sometimes I do the title after I do the quilt.
EK: Do you start with color or shape?
LL: I usually start with shape. I usually start with just piecing a background of some kind whether I piece it with squares, triangles, crazy piecing or just whatever. And I work from there.
EK: You are wearing a wonderful vest in a lime color.
LL: Thank you. This lime is my current favorite color, although it may change tomorrow, but I do like lime right now. I do make some quilted clothing, mainly to wear when I teach and lecture. But I enjoy that too.
EK: Add in anything else you'd want to add?
LL: I wish I had done this 10 days ago when I had some brain cells left. We are doing this at the very end of Quilt Festival and Quilt Market, which if you haven't heard of this is a marathon event for quilters, day and night, over saturation that none of us would miss a minute of, I guess I would tell quiltmakers from now that I hope quilting is still going as strong, I am sure it will change, I am sure there will be new ideas, and new techniques, but the core lure of quilting will always remain intact.
EK: Can you tell me a funny story that's happened with a quilt?
LL: Not off the top of my head. Not with a quilt. I have had some funny events in classes and things like that. Should have asked me 10 days ago. I want to thank you all for doing this. This is a super program and I hope that these tapes will be around for people to listen to. I think that would be a great benefit. There are quiltmakers in the past that I wish that I could have heard their voices, and know what they look like. I hope that technology will not take that human element out of things. I miss that already with email. I had much rather talk to someone on the phone and get a feel for who they are. Although I am not real sure about these phones with pictures. I am not sure I want that. Maybe not that much knowledge, but voices and human contact I think is real important, so I hope we always keep that as part of quiltmaking as well.
[tape ends.]
Collection
Citation
“Libby Lehman,” Quilters' S.O.S. -- Save Our Stories, accessed April 25, 2024, https://qsos.quiltalliance.org/items/show/1246.