Carol Doak

Carol Doak

QSOS-061

Carol Doak

Jana Hawley

11/3/00

The Nat'l Quilting Assn

Houston, Texas

Karen Plummer

Jana Hawley (JH): Do you want to share the quilt you brought with us today? I will help you since you are one-handed? Would you like for me to put gloves on? Are you sure?

Carol Doak (CD): No, I am not that sensitive with my quilts. I handle them all the time.

[opening bag.]

JH: Do you want to tell us about the quilt that you brought today?

CD: Well, actually the star block designs are designs that I created for the "50 Fabulous Paper-Pieced Stars" book which is my latest book. It is based on the morning star. As a teacher, I was looking for a better way to teach beginners how to do a morning star eliminating the set-in pieces so by dividing into a triangle they are able to make identical "a" and "b" triangles then that's when the idea of breaking the triangles up into bigger piece units surfaced and I was able to get these really intricate designs in the star.

JH: Okay, now, you said, "paper piecing" and for the record, can you tell us who you are in terms of paper piecing?

CD: I have written seven books on paper foundation piecing. I started in 1994 with "Easy Machine Paper Piecing" and that was the first book based on four inch blocks and quilt designs and over the last six years now it has evolved into wearable art with the vests and other projects --miniatures and this star block was just another extension by bringing it into larger blocks in a twelve inch size. I was excited because up to that point it was small blocks and also the new designs were exciting. Now beginners can create these really intricate stars. I was so excited about the star designs that I could not wait to make a quilt so I decided to take some of the ones that are based on floral designs like these in the corners and the ones that had a circular design. Each of the star blocks is dedicated to the quilters in each of the fifty states so there are fifty stars.

JH: That you have created?

CD: That I have created.

JH: How many are represented in this quilt?

CD: There are nine star blocks.

JH: How old is this quilt?

CD: It was made in 1999?

JH: Okay and you made it?

CD: I made it.

JH: You pieced it and quilted it?

CD: No, I did not do the machine quilting. Ellen Peters did the machine quilting.

JH: Okay, can you tell us about the materials used in this quilt?

CD: It is a variety of cottons. Mostly, it is the white; the red and then scrap reds and scrap greens and then the greens are the constant colors. But, then all the rest of them are a variety of reds and greens-- kind of a scrap effect and the golds add just a little bit of glitz. This is a knit fabric and you can use these types of fabrics on paper foundation piecing because the paper supports the fabric.

JH: Okay and other than the metallic pieces, everything else is 100 per cent cotton?

CD: Right.

JH: Okay, is the backing 100 percent cotton?

CD: YesX JH: Okay, do you know what the batt is?

CD: Cotton.

JH: Okay, does this quilt have a name?

CD: [laughter.] I had to think for a minute. I don't think I actually did name it. I think I called it "Star Medallion."

JH: "Star Medallion" and it appears to me that it has a Christmas theme. Was that the intention?

CD: No, it is just that I like red and green quilts so I thought that would be a good way to use the two colors.

JH: It is certainly a beautiful quilt. Does the quilt have special meaning to you?

CD: Yes, actually it does because one of the very first award winning quilts that I made was this one which is called, "Fine Feathered Friends" and it is based on feathered stars and it was hand pieced and hand quilted by me.

JH: So not paper pieced?

CD: Not paper pieced. This is traditional piecing. The star blocks are based on Marsha McCloskey's, "Feathered Star Sampler" and then this was the setting that I put it in. It has been widely published and won best of shows. It has been one of my favorite quilts because it is very graphic and when I decided to do the stars in this quilt I wanted to go back and do the same setting so there is a connection between this quilt I made back in 1986 and this quilt setting with traditional star blocks, pieced traditionally, and this now paper foundation pieced.

JH: Now tell me; apparently you have done several quilts, why did you pick this one to bring to the show with you for this interview?

CD: I think when I thought about it, I thought this quilt reflects my beginning quilting and also reflects a transition to what I am doing now.

JH: Now this is your first award-winning quilt and how long had you been quilting before that?

CD: This is 1986. Well, it was not my first award-winning quilt. I would say it was my first major award, best of show blue ribbon and it was widely published nationally so this was from the AQS [American Quilter's Society.] calendar so it was my first national type award quilt. Now what was the question you asked?

JH: I want to come back to that question in a little bit. How do you plan to use this quilt?

> CD: In the classes that I teach to show students--creative ideas when teaching the star class. I taught that here when doing the Texas Star and showing them the transition--what they can do with these star blocks in their quilting--combining--having them different creative avenues for putting the stars in quilts.

JH: So it will be a teaching tool for you. Do you ever plan to put it in a show?

CD: I might as a teacher exhibit as an example of the work I am doing.

JH: Tell me about your personal interest in quilting? When you began and how long you have been doing it?

CD: Well, we moved our family in 1979 from Connecticut to Ohio and I met a neighbor who invited me to a quilting class at the high school adult education and I really resisted because I didn't like to sew. I said, 'No, no, I don't wanna go,' but she convinced me to go to meet people. I had only been in town two weeks so I went to sign up for this class just to meet other people in town and initially. It was seven week basic quilting class and I walked in announcing that I was going to make a Double Ring Wedding Quilt because that was the only quilt I had ever heard of and my teacher told me to go sit down. [laughter.] The first couple of weeks were rocky. I thought this is not going to be for me. I really resisted.

JH: What year was this?

CD: 1979.

JH: Okay, now back to your story. [announcement over the loudspeaker.]

JH: Okay, I am sorry.

CD: Where was I?

JH: Your quilt class.

CD: Oh, right, so after about three weeks when we started to get into the design aspect--I had a fabulous teacher who taught us to draw on graph paper and if you draw these grids--connect the lines then the sky is the limit. That is what hooked me. Sitting there and being able to create something--never having considered myself an artist and never taken an art class and I saw these designs evolve. Not only could I mimic what had been done before and create them but I could create my own designs and I think it was that ownership of seeing a design I created and then working in fabric that I became, oh, like, I am possessive now. [laughter.] I ended up teaching that class the following year. The teacher could not teach the class. Once I was hooked then we got this little group together and they appointed me the teacher. Don't ask me why. And I just kept investigating and exploring more. I guess it was because I was hooked on the design aspect so I ended up teaching that seven-week class the following year and I have been teaching ever since. I loved getting people excited like I was and giving them the tools to do anything they wanted.

JH: So a lot of--you are empowering the other people to create and do the same thing.

CD: Right. I think that is so important. I often explain in the beginning quilting class that you can go buy a car and if it breaks down or you want to change it you have to bring it back to the garage and have somebody else do it. You really don't have ownership of that car but if you go and build a car from scratch and you hear a funny noise or you want to modify it then that gives you control so it is that control that I want to empower quilters.

JH: That is wonderful. What is the first memory of a quilt that you ever have?

CD: Actually, my mother's grandmother was a quilter. The only memory that I have was her having some quilt tops from her--not a clue what to do with them. She didn't either. When I started quilting that first year, I quilted those tops for her and that was so spooky because never having met this woman and they were done out of very, obviously, clothes that had been used. Her husband worked for the railroad so they had the railroad pin stripes where she had matched triangles to make the pin strips match with the small scraps. And I thought she was a very frugal woman but she was also a very proud woman because she wanted to make those strips to match. It gives me the chills to thinking about it now because I feel that I made this connection with people in my family that I never had the opportunity to meet. [laughter.] Those quilts to this day are on my mom's bed. She has two beds in her room. One is an Ohio Star and the other one is a nine patch and she sleeps under those quilts so the label that I made that it was made for her...'Made by her grandmother and quilted by her daughter.'

JH: Now speaking of labels, I am sure that we will come back to this but do you label all your quilts?

CD: Yes

JH: How do you feel about labeling quilts?

CD: I think it is so important.

JH: Tell me why?

CD: Well I was involved in quilt documentation and we would sit there and try to think about the maker and what she had in mind. Having the information on the back of the label is so important and so having the name; who made it; the date; place, you know. I think is very important. For future generations, I think most quilters not only quilt for themselves, but it is a way to leave a piece of themselves, to the generations that are going to come. I made a wedding quilt for my son when he was eight years old. It was actually the second quilt that I made then I decided after spending nine months on it if he married the right woman he would get the wedding quilt.

JH: And you were going to be the person to decide?

CD: He knew he was getting a split rail tied if he didn't marry the right woman. They got married a year ago last June and the quilt was sitting at the bottom of all the stacks of quilts in the guest room and he didn't get the quilt because I just didn't think about it with all the wedding things going on so at Christmas time, I wrote on the label when I made it; that it was made for him upon the date of his wedding and I extended the label to say it was presented to him on that day when he was married to Lisa. When he saw the back of the quilt, he looked at his wife and said, 'I guess I married the right woman.' [laughter.] So I think you instill that love of quilts in your family even though they may not be quilters.

JH: Have any of the men in your family quilted?

p> CD: No. No. But they certainly appreciate them.

JH: So you are married? Does your husband support your fetish?

CD: Yes and he is going to be supporting me a lot when I get home with this broken arm.

JH: Are you a right-handed quilter? And you broke your right hand?

CD: I broke my right arm.

JH: Okay, do you do the actual quilting itself?

CD: Yes. Most of the quilts that I make are hand quilted. Right now I am writing one to two books a year so in case of this one--I was already getting ready to work on the next book so I just didn't have the time to hand quilt this one which is why I went ahead and had someone else machine quilt it but I would say up until the last four years of all the quilts I have made have been hand quilted.

JH: Where do you do your quilting?

CD: AT home. I quilt in a hoop because it is portable and most of it is done at home in the evening sitting watching TV but if I am going to my quilt group, I will grab a quilt and go quilt there.

JH: Describe your other quilt related activities? You just mentioned the quilt group but can you talk about some of those activities that you do.

CD: Well a lot of my activity is designing, writing books, teaching. I travel quite a bit to teach.

JH: Are you a full time quilter? You don't do another job outside the home?

CD: Oh no. There is no time. [laughter.] Actually, even for fun--if I decide today to do something for myself it might be making a new vest, starting a new quilt or sit down and play with a new design. I mean, that is still fun for me that has always been my goal even though this has always been my job and never want to abuse it to the point where I am not having fun.

JH: So, earlier you mentioned that you sit down with graph paper. That was in your early days. Now when you design what--[announcement over the loudspeaker.]

CD: I use a draw program on the computer now to draw the designs--draw the blocks.

JH: Which design? Is it a specific quilt drawing?

CD: Well, I use [a.] McIntosh computer so I use the Claris Draw that allows me to design the blocks and color them in and put them in different quilt settings.

JH: Among your family, other than your son and your husband who don't quilt, but are there other family members who quilt? You talked about your great grandmother.

CD: Not any that are living now. I keep encouraging my mother. Actually the latest book, I dedicated to my mother. She just absolutely loved the South Carolina star, which is where she was raised. She said, 'You know, that's what you can make me for Christmas. You can just make me a wall quilt with that star block.' I said, 'You know this is really easy and I can show you how to do this,' and she said, 'Not when I have you for a daughter, you can't.' So she does not want to learn but she certainly appreciates it.

JH: Tell me, what is your favorite thing to do about a quilt? I think I know the answer because you have been talking about it. Maybe not.

CD: I think designing. I think designing designs.

JH: So once you design, you think, 'Oh my gosh, now I have to make it.'

CD: Oh yes. Oh yes. Oh yes. I can hyperventilate in a heartbeat. I mean that is exactly what happened here. You know the book went off and I was like, 'Okay, the work part is done now. Now I can make something from these designs.' You know, I made all the sample blocks in the book but I couldn't wait to take all those block designs and create a quilt from them.

JH: Okay, good. What actual aspect of the quilting, do you enjoy?

CD: I would have to say it is probably two things. I love to paper foundation piece. I love accuracy that I can achieve. You know when the block is done you stand back and admire it-- worked in fabric and it is so perfect. The second is hand quilting. Hand quilting to me is so relaxing and coming up with quilting patterns that really add to the quilt is enjoyable. I have always really felt that quilting is half the quilt. When we talk about quilting designs in class, I say the quilt is one part and the quilting design are the other 50 per cent so you have all those creative opportunities to add different designs to the quilt or lead the viewer of your quilt into another direction. I did one Amish style quilt with a total medallion style quilted pattern on top that crossed through the patchwork and now you have two design avenues to appreciate.

JH: I would agree with you. Now what do you not like about quilting?

CD: Marking. [laughter.] One of the reasons these triangle are in here is because by breaking up the middle of the side, when I am hand quilting a really intricate design, I only need to mark a corner at a time. I don't need to make sure it is continuous, because it is stopped and I can mark the next one so I play head games. I say, 'You know, if you mark this, you get to quilt this.' [laughter.]

JH: What do you use to mark with? Pencil?

CD: Pencil if it is a light fabric and in a quilting stencil pattern but if it is a straight line I will use the Hera marker to make a crease and if it is dark fabric I use a chalk pencil

JH: What do you think makes a great quilt?

CD: The story behind it. You can have a beautiful quilt, but when I hear a story behind the quilt that makes it special, then you are going beyond what you see. You are going into someone's soul.

JH: That is really interesting. So what makes a quilt artistically powerful?

CD: Graphic impact. When something grabs you--I love medallion style quilts as you can imagine. I am always designing quilts that have that central impact and so I think impact, overall impact, is just going to grab hold.

JH: Okay. What makes a quilt appropriate for a museum or a special collection? How would one decide--who should be the decider and what makes it appropriate for a museum or a special collection?

CD: Who should be the decider? I think the person who is running or managing the museum should relate to the people who are coming to the museum so if it is a quilt museum then that person should be looking for a wide variety of quilting techniques; not just one avenue. There are so many things--wearable art, art quilts, things that stretch people's imagination so I think they should be looking for a variety of different types of quilts. I don't think the workmanship is as important as the story behind the quilt and the soul that it touches. Not that excellent work shouldn't be in the museum but I think the whole picture should be looked at.

JH: That is interesting. What makes a great quilter?

CD: What makes a great quilter? These are such interesting questions. I think somebody who puts their heart and soul into it. I had two gals in my class yesterday--a mother and a daughter and I could hardly keep them in their seats. I mean, they were just so excited and so thrilled and the daughter was working in very bold colors, black, primary colors and the mother was working in fairly traditional colors. They were totally opposites but they were equally excited about what they were doing and the enthusiasm was just spilling out of both of them so I think enthusiasm makes a great quilt.

JH: So when the great quilters are learning the art of quilting, how do you think--obviously you like greens and reds together and you are a great quilter but how does somebody learn the process of color, learn the process or is it inherent in the person?

CD: I have been asked that a lot lately--Sample from "50 Fabulous Paper-Pieced Stars" I had taken the blocks and put them into six quilts. Last spring, for Market, they said, 'Can you make a quilt? And we want them in Carol Doak colors.' And I thought, 'What do they mean by that?' And I had to look back and say, 'What is it that I do with color?' I hear from people a lot-'You are really good with color.' So you have to sit and analyze-'Well, what is it that I am doing?' And in a class when I teach color, I first say, 'Lay your fabric pieces out, in the way you are going to use them in a block so you get a visual image of what your end results will be. Don't just think about color and try to imagine what they are going to look like together. Actually lay them out and position them.' If we were doing this block, I would tell them to start with the background color or the main player color; a fabric that would draw a bunch of colors together. Your vest has a lot of colors in that top piece--to me that is a main player. They could use that to inspire their combination of colors. They already know that they really like that fabric and they are passionate about it so they pull their colors from that fabric to then lay them out in the way they are going to use them in the quilt. That way, they get a visual image of what it is going to look like. I say, 'Don't talk yourself into and don't talk out of it. It is not right or wrong. You will immediately react to it.' And when you have twenty people standing around as you are laying fabrics down and you have these three people going, 'Oh, no, no, no,' and these people going, 'Oh, that is great, as they react emotionally to the colors. And, I say, 'That is the right way to chose colors. There are some games you can play like dark colors recede and light colors come forward and warm colors advance and cool colors recede but with a little bit of color information you don't have to study colors in order to react to them emotionally.'

JH: Do you think some people have a knack for it while others need to be taught?

CD: I don't think it is a knack as much as confidence and that's what I am trying to instill in students --that they need to trust them selves. People have a lack of confidence in their color so therefore they feel they have no skill and they really do have skill because skill is in the way they view their quilts. So I just see you putting fabrics down until you go, 'Oh, I like that.' So it not right and wrong, it is how you react to it and if somebody else over here says, 'I like that.' 'Well, you are not making it.' [laughter.] So giving people the confidence to believe in themselves.

JH: Why is quilting important to your life? Can you verbalize that for us?

CD: Well, obviously, it is important to me for the quilts that I make personally because I get such joy out of making a quilt not only from the design and carrying it to the fabric, and then actually doing the quilting patterns and the finished quilt. You know, I have been thinking about it--having the quilt afterwards is not as important as the process as making the quilt but the other aspect from a teaching perspective is getting people the tools to be able to do what I enjoy. I wrote a book called "Your First Quilt Book" and I probably received more responses from that book because I started them out. I received a letter from a woman in Texas about two years ago when the book came out and it was the most unbelievable letter because she said, 'Thank you for giving me this world. I have always wanted to make quilts and I was able to make a quilt with the use of your book and like you suggested I found a quilt guild and I have all these wonderful friends and my life is so much fuller now.' And when I can give people the tools to do that and have as much fun and enjoyment as I have that is important.

JH: For the record, can you tell us where you are from?

CD: Windham, New Hampshire.

JH: W-I-N-D-H-A-M?

CD: Right. About 40 miles outside of Boston, I am barely in New Hampshire. Okay?

JH: Okay, now saying that, can you tell us if your quilts reflect your community or your region in any way?

CD: I don't think so. I mean, I travel so much and if I am in Hawaii I might come home and make a vest out of bright jewel tones because of the beautiful flowers that I saw there. I spent a couple of weeks in the Mid-west and the next thing you know, I am thinking about sunflowers, and plants and--[laughter.] I don't think so. I don't think there is any New Hampshire in my quilts.

JH: Okay, I am going to break this next question into two parts. How do you think quilts or what kind of impact have quilts had on American life and I want you to think of it historically and as it reflects to contemporary life?

CD: Historically. I think it was a practical art. I think it was something that served a need. I think the evolution of creativity occurred in Victorian era and as fabrics became more available, and as women had more time, it created a sense of community among women. I think it gave them an opportunity to connect with each other sharing with patterns. And I think today, it has empowered women to say, 'I have something to contribute. I have been able to create this piece of work.' Whether they are giving it to their family or making a quilt for their grand daughter. They are contributing something of themselves. I think every quilter puts a little bit of themselves into their quilt whether it is their choice of color or their choice of pattern. They are often not making something utilitarian. They are making something that has a bit of emotion and soul in it--they are giving to a family member because it is something special.

JH: Do you think it is an art or craft?

CD: I think it is both. You can't have art without craft or craft without art.

JH: Okay and how do you think men in America see it? I don't want to put words in your mouth. How do men in America see women and their quilts?

CD: Because I sit on airplanes a lot [laughter.] with men who say, 'What do you do?' or 'Are you traveling for business or pleasure?' Then I say, 'I write books about quiltmaking.' Usually the first reaction is, 'Oh, my mother made quilts or my grandmother made quilts.' I think for them unless they are involved in the quilt world and have seen what has evolved in recent years, to them, they think of it as a craft because they think of women as doing craft type projects. But I think any man, like my husband, who sees what type of work is being done in the quilt world today--he has actually been to quilt shows--he looks at it as an art so I think it depends on how involved a man has been in the quilt world. If they become aware of what is going on I think they see it as art.

JH: When you think about women and history, and I am not talking quilts as they evolve but women--their place in our society. What role has the quilt made to the woman's life?

CD: I don't know how to answer that. Can you ask it again?

JH: Women's role in our society. What impact has the quilt had to her as a woman?

CD: Well I think it has given her a voice. It has given her a way to express her art form. It is an art form, a way to express her emotions if it is an emotional quilt, in a way to express her creativity.

JH: How do you think quilts should be used?

CD: Anyway you want to. [laughter.] Sitting in that luncheon the other day, I was cold as all get out and I wanted to come back in here and grab a quilt. No, I think quilts should be used as the quilter wants to use them. Do I use white gloves? I use my quilts. I travel with them. I share them. To me when I make a quilt and I show it in class I hope to inspire students. In my house, we just built a house and the builder says, 'What color do you want your walls?' 'All of them the same color.' There is a large medallion Mariner's Compass quilt that's on the landing that is filling up that wall and everybody who walks in the foyer the first thing they do is look up to that quilt. It adds such warmth to the room and color and impact. I think a quilt should be used on the bed, on the walls, on your body, to wrap a baby, to cover a car seat to keep it warm, however you want to use it.

JH: Do you worry when you hang it on the wall that the sun will damage it?

CD: Yes, I do take precautions because I think it is important. We have low windows and that particular wall is recessed away from the windows. Even light, not just window light can damage a quilt so I plan to rotate the quilts.

JH: With regard to that, how should quilts be preserved for the future? If you are letting the dog lie on it, or do whatever, how will we preserve them for the future?

CD: I don't think we should abuse them. I think we should use them and love them and I am not a real purist in that respect. Most of my quilts are stored flat on a queen size bed in a room with a sheet over them so I am preserving them so they are not wrinkled and light is not getting to them, for the quilts not being used but for the quilts that I am using, I rotate them. I won't keep the same quilt in the same place but if you make a baby quilt for a baby, a baby should use it. A quilt has no value if it is not being appreciated and used. Lots of time people will call me and say, 'Oh I have this old quilt and it is falling apart, what should I do?' [announcement over the loudspeaker.] And they will say, 'What shall I do?' I will make suggestions like putting crepoline [a fine, stiffened silk gauze.] over it so that it doesn't deteriorate more but should I put it away? Well if you are putting it away in a box, you are not appreciating it. Not that you should hang it on a wall increasing that kind of damage but certainly you could at least fold it and put over a quilt rack and enjoy it. It you are not enjoying it, it has no value.

JH: That's good. So you mentioned earlier about the quilt you made for your son as a wedding gift, do you give other quilts away as gifts?

CD: Just about all my family members have quilts as gifts.

JH: Have they mostly stayed in the family?

CD: Mostly. I have made quilts occasionally and given them away. One funny story is that I have twin brothers and the wife of one twin brother was a quilter so I made them a quilt and I hand quilted and it was a pretty elaborate quilt and I gave it to them for Christmas one year. Now, the wife of my other brother--wouldn't have a clue about a quilt and so the thought of making and spending a year on a quilt that she might not take care, not that she shouldn't use it but it might get thrown in the washing machine with Wisk, you know, so I decided what would I would do is rotary cut machine pieced Double Irish chain still a pretty quilt but I was not going to make the investment in this quilt. I wanted to give it to her freely because I didn't want to assess whether or not she was going to be taking care of this and when I gave my brother that quilt, they both cried. [announcement over the loudspeaker.] and that made me feel that where I had made the decision not to put the investment in that quilt that I should have because it was so meaningful to them. She didn't see the difference between the two quilts that was even more meaningful to her so it was not the workmanship; it was the fact that it was the quilt. [laughter.] [announcement over the loudspeaker.] They probably appreciated it for different reasons which is wonderful.

JH: Well, first of all before I move to this next step, do you have other stories that you want to share?

CD: Probably the most meaningful quilt and I say the story behind the quilt is probably the most important thing is that I made a quilt with my best friend, Sherry who invited me to that very first quilting class. We decided spontaneously after I had moved from Ohio to make a quilt together when she came to visit me. We chose the silhouette of two quilters facing each other and it is hand pieced based two inch squares and each of those squares is pieced and it looks like an appliqué quilt but it's pieced in units of two-inch squares with shades of black fabric for the silhouettes of the quilters facing each other then there are six inch pieced blocks that go around the perimeter. We each made half of them and they each represented something to do with our friendship. It is called "Forever Friends" and we made it for the quilt show that was the following year. The theme was called "Quilts for Today, Tomorrow and Always." We won Viewer's Choice. We went to the show together and saw the impact of that quilt. People would look at it and in the silhouette they would see themselves, and their best friend, or themselves and their mother or themselves and who ever taught them to quilt. And people would just stand in from of it and tear up and it was very emotional because it was not a pictorial of she and I but the fact that we were two quilters quilting together and we share the quilt. And everybody would say, 'Who is getting the quilt?' And we both said that we felt as if someone else had made it because I don't how to describe it. We could view it as not, 'I made this quilt. I have ownership to it,' but that quilt just became a part of both of us and the label we put on the back, 'What is a friend - a single soul dwelling in two bodies,' and that quilt is very special to me because it represents this friendship. She is with me here and when I broke my arm she ended up teaching my classes with me so she is special.

JH: I can tell she is. Last year we had a box of Kleenex. [laughter.]

CD: It has been a rough week.

JH: One thing that I forgot to do because we are about to run out of time-- would you please go over a physical description of the quilt? If you would just define it verbally for us so that we can--we have to get tissues. Last year we had box of Kleenex.

CD: I don't think I have tissues.

JH: It happened all the time last year so you are right on target.

CD: It is a medallion style quilt with ten paper foundation pieced star blocks from the book "50 Fabulous Paper Pieced Stars"-[JH being handed a tissue and saying, "Oh bless you."] worked in red, shades of red and green scrapes with one red fabric for the border. It is machine quilted by Ellen Peters and machine paper pieced by me. Is that good?

JH: That is good. Thank you very much. Anything that you want to say? [CD shakes her head.]

CD: Okay. For the record, this is Jana Hawley, interviewer and our interviewee today was Carol Doak #61. Today is eleven two, eleven three, the year 2000.