Marian Daniel

Marian Daniel

MI49016-034

Marian Daniel

Eleanor Wilkinson

2011-02-18

Moda Fabrics

Battle Creek, Michigan

Eleanor Wilkinson

Eleanor Wilkinson (EW): This is Eleanor Wilkinson. This interview is being conducted for the South Central Michigan Q.S.O.S., a project for The Alliance for American Quilts. Today I'm interviewing Marian Daniel at the Lakeside Presbyterian Church in Battle Creek, Michigan.

Marian Daniel (MD): Westlake.

EW: Westlake. I'm sorry, Westlake Presbyterian Church. Today is February 18, 2011, and the time is 10:18. Now, you brought two quilts in for us to talk about today. Would you like to tell why you selected those quilts?

MD: My Civil War Quilt was made with reproduction fabric of the era, and I really was intrigued by fabrics, old fabrics, from that era, and so I brought that quilt. I won a third-place ribbon with it, my only ribbon. And an antique quilt that was either made by my grandmother or my great grandmother, I found it with my mother's things after she passed away. It was just the top so I thought I would complete it, because having a quilt top made by your grandmother and then you finish it and complete it was something I felt was rather unique and that made it special to me. Because I didn't know my grandmother or my great grandmother on my mother's side. So, I couldn't decide so I brought both of them.

EW: We'll talk about both of them. Did you tell me that the fabric in there has been something that you could date back to a particular time?

MD: The antique quilt? Yes, I went to the Chicago [Illinois.] quilt show several years ago, and I dated the antique quilt fabric. It was in the late 1800's, early 1900's. So that's how I'm pretty sure the quilt fabric in that is well over a hundred years and to think that it is still in good condition--

EW: Very good condition.

MD: I was absolutely amazed.

EW: Was that the I.Q.A. show in Chicago?

MD: Yes. The Civil War Quilt I brought because I like it.

EW: What is the name of the block pattern in that quilt? The Civil War Quilt.

MD: Churn Dash. And that was a pattern that was used in that era, too. I have misidentified a relative. He's buried in Kalamazoo [Michigan.] in Mountain Home Cemetery. He was a general and I was sure he was a general in the Civil War. And I thought, 'Oh, I'll make it for General Moffett.' Then I discovered, no, he wasn't a general in the Civil War. He was a general in the Revolutionary War. So, I thought, 'Oh, well. The label's on the quilt. I'm going to just let it stand.' [laughs.]

EW: That's very interesting. And what do you think that someone viewing your Civil War Quilt might think about you?

MD: That I had a strong interest in that era, because as a child it wasn't that long ago. Because I was born in 1924 and there were still gentlemen and wives that were still alive when I was a very young child. And, the fact, too, that my mother's family fought in the South and my father's family were in the North. So, I thought, well that is very interesting. So that's why Civil War fabrics, and I still collect Civil War fabrics and hopefully, will make more Civil War quilts.

EW: Well, that is very interesting. I expect there were a lot of families that were mixed in the North and the South like that and formerly fought against each other.

MD: Of course, all that was kind of way back in history and it wasn't discussed, probably, by my mother or my father.

EW: Probably all was forgiven.

MD: Yes. Although my mother said that the Yankees did sink one of my relative's boats on the Mississippi River and it was a shipment of cotton. So, I always thought, 'Hmm, those darned Yankees.' [both laugh.]

EW: How do you use your Civil War Quilt?

MD: Oh, I use them. I put them on my bed. All my quilts, I sleep under every quilt I've ever made. I figure that way it makes them mine. You know, it's hard to give away quilts. I have many quilts and people say, 'Well, what do you do with them?' Well, I look at them. They're mine and if I make a quilt for somebody, I can give it away. But if I make a quilt just for me, I can't give it away.

EW: That's interesting.

MD: It's like it's part of me and I just can't give it away.

EW: It is interesting how quilts become part of you.

MD: Oh, you spend hours and hours. I think people that don't quilt, but admire quilts, have no idea the time it takes to complete a quilt if you hand quilt it. And I love hand quilting.

EW: You feel like it becomes almost a child?

MD: Yes. It is.

EW: It's your creation.

MD: It's my creation.

EW: And so you probably don't have any particular plans for this quilt, eventually.

MD: No. I'm sure that my children--I have a daughter and a son--they will inherit these and what they do with them I can't imagine. They'll probably think, 'Oh, my gosh. What are we going to do with all these quilts?'

EW: They might appreciate them just like you appreciate your grandmother's or your great grandmother's work.

MD: I hope they do.

EW: Yes. What age were you when you started quilting?

MD: I lived with my grandmother on a farm. There was no one to play with so I watched her quilt, and I would sew with her, or crochet. But my first quilt that I completed by myself, I was probably in my fifties. I still have it. My, it is a sad looking quilt.

EW: It shows you how far you have come.

MD: I guess.

EW: And from whom did you learn to quilt then?

MD: My grandmother and her daughter, my aunt. They both would quilt, and they lived close by. In fact, the fabric for my first quilt came from my grandmother's stash.

EW: How cool.

MD: Yes. I said I was going to make a quilt and I said, 'Which pattern should I use?' And she thought and she says, 'You can make a Double Wedding Ring.' Everybody says, 'Your first quilt was a Double Wedding Ring.' I say, 'Yes.' I think she had more confidence in my ability than I deserved.

EW: A Double Wedding Ring is a challenge, isn't it?

MD: Yes, it is.

EW: And have you taken classes?

MD: I joined a quilt circle right after my husband died in '99. And those ladies are so talented that really, they became my teachers. And that old, what is, 'You've come a long way, Baby.' [both laugh.]

EW: How many hours a week do you quilt?

MD: Oh, my gosh. I quilt every day. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't pick up something and work on it, whether it's piecing blocks or cutting out blocks.

EW: Do you suppose you spend two or three hours?

MD: Oh, yes. Sometimes all day. Housework, hmp.

EW: You decide which is important, don't you?

MD: Yes.

EW: What is your first quilt memory?

MD: I think my first quilt memory would be quilting bees that my grandmother would have when all the neighbor ladies would come and work on quilting the quilt in the living room. All the furniture was pushed aside because you had this big rack.

EW: Everybody worked on the one quilt?

MD: Yes. My grandmother was very particular. If the stitches weren't quite right, she would go back and redo them. I thought, 'Oh, dear.' [laughs.]

EW: Did they do each other's quilts in turn?

MD: Yes, they would go. It was out in the country, farm and quilt. When somebody had a quilt to be quilted, why, the frames would go up. Everybody would come and they would spend the whole day. They'd bring a dish to pass, and they'd have dinner, because at noon it was dinner. And sometimes the men would come then at mealtime and eat.

EW: Sounds like a fun thing.

MD: Oh, it was. The kids all played under the quilt.

EW: Of course. Another person has told me that their first memory was sitting under the quilt.

MD: Oh, yes. It was. It was interesting under there. [both laugh.]

EW: I bet it was. Are there other quiltmakers besides your grandmother and her sister, or her daughter, that were quiltmakers in your family?

MD: No.

EW: Okay, then now you have lots of friends who make quilts.

MD: Oh, yes. Dear friends.

EW: How does quilt making impact your family?

MD: They're happy for me because I'm doing something at this time in my life I thoroughly enjoy.

EW: I think that's wonderful. Have you ever used quilts to get through a difficult time?

MD: Oh, yes, after my husband died. The circle met at the Burnham Brook, a senior citizen center [Battle Creek, Michigan.] and my daughter, she said, 'Mom, you've got to go down there. They're wonderful ladies.' So, I screwed up my courage and my fabric and went and they got me through a very hard time, with the loss of my husband.

EW: Was this the first quilting organization that you joined?

MD: That's right.

EW: It does take courage, doesn't it, to go the first time.

MD: Yes, because I'm not that much of a joiner. So, it was hard.

EW: And so, you felt that it helped your feelings at that time to be occupied in this other way?

MD: Oh, yes. It's very therapeutic. It really is. When you are working on a quilt, thinking about it, you can't worry about other things. It occupies your mind.

EW: Are there any amusing experiences that have come about your quilt making?

MD: Let me see. It's related to the circle. One of our senior members whose quilting is just fantastic, at one of our meetings, one of the newer quilters was starting and she showed her project to Rosemary [Kimball.] and Rosemary said, 'Oh, that will be lovely when you get it quilted and you can take out the basting.' And Joyce [Ashley.] said, 'That is my quilting. That's not the basting.' And it's been a standard joke with us ever since when someone shows off their quilt that's been hand quilted.

EW: Now is that basted or quilted? [both laugh.]

MD: In other words, her stitches were a little large.

EW: Takes practice, doesn't it? Was that Rosemary Kimball?

MD: Yes, and Joyce Ashley.

EW: What is it that you find especially pleasing about quilt making?

MD: That you have created something. Something that's going to last. It's useful. You can always find a home for a quilt. And if you're doing ceramics, how many statues can you make and find a place for? But a quilt you think at some point it's going to keep someone warm and comfortable. And the fabrics, oh the fabrics. You don't even have to buy any fabric at the quilt store. You just go and feel of them.

EW: So, it's just a pleasurable experience to go into the quilt store?

MD: Oh, yes.

EW: Do you find that you have to buy something there that really takes your eye?

MD: Oh, yes, you have no idea what you're going to do with it, but I have to have it.

EW: I hear that if you don't do it, you'll always regret it.

MD: Oh, yes. You'll think back for weeks. I should have got that; I should have got that. [laughs.]

EW: Are there any aspects of quilt making that you do not enjoy?

MD: I think probably the least enjoyable is cutting out the pattern. That's stressful, because sometimes you've only got just enough fabric. You know, if you make a booboo you're just dead in the water.

EW: And what advances in technology have influenced your work?

MD: Oh, the cutting tools, the mat, the rulers. You know, the first quilt I made I cut it out with the shears, and you were not very accurate with shears. And the pattern I drew out on a piece of brown paper bag. And, of course, as you would use it and pin it, it would get snipped here and there and so you couldn't be as precise as you can now.

EW: [coughs.] Excuse me. Do you have a favorite technique or material?

MD: Oh, I love a hundred percent cotton, good cotton. Just because its cotton doesn't necessarily mean its good cotton. Some of is just as smooth as silk and some of it you feel like when you washed it, it would look more like cheesecloth.

EW: And it usually relates to the cost of the cotton, doesn't it?

MD: Oh, yes, it has gotten very, very expensive. To say it's doubled in price, I would say it would be more like it has tripled in price.

EW: And it's only beginning now?

MD: Yes.

EW: Do you have a preference between piecing and appliquéing?

MD: No, I love both.

EW: Is most of your work a mixture?

MD: Yes. I wish I had more time to hand quilt because I love hand quilting. Machine quilting is nice, but it's not as nice as is the hand quilting.

EW: There's a quality that's just not the same?

MD: That's right.

EW: Let's talk about the place in which you do your work. Where do you create? Do you have a studio or sewing room?

MD: No, I live in an apartment, now. I used to have a sewing room when I had my own home, but now I live in an apartment, so I sew in the dining room, the living room. The sewing machine is in the bedroom.

EW: Do you always leave it up?

MD: Yes, you never know when you're going to need it.

EW: Do you have a design wall?

MD: Oh, no. The top of my bed.

EW: I understand that's very serviceable.

MD: Yes, it is.

EW: How do you balance your time?

MD: If I feel like quilting all day, I quilt all day, and the dust bunnies, poof, become friends.

EW: [both laugh.] That's cool. Do you generally make traditional designs in your quilting, or do you make any of your own designs?

MD: No, I'm not talented in that respect. I use patterns and you get ideas from other people. The one I'm working on now, one of the other girls, Beth Howard. I guess her name was Payne when she--she instigated the guild and she's making a quilt now, and I saw it and I just loved it. It's got little tiny hexagons and it's a full-sized bed quilt and I think there are over 2,300 of those little, tiny hexagons in this quilt.

EW: She makes very intricate quilts, doesn't she?

MD: Oh, she does. She's a master of the art. Fast, too.

EW: What do you think makes a great quilt?

MD: Just the colors, whether it's pleasing, and whether it's well done. If it's well done, you know the person really loves to quilt. If the points are off and it's kind of skeejaw, why you know they really don't care that much about it.

EW: I see. How about what makes a quilt artistically powerful?

MD: I think the colors. The colors.

EW: And what would make a quilt appropriate for a museum or a special collection?

MD: Oh, I think the sky's the limit on that. I think any quilt that's well made and is certainly worth displaying. You know, if it's well made and the colors are coordinated. I think that's all it takes. It's fun to make wall hangings, small quilts. Some of them are humorous. Some are pertaining to holidays and those are nice. I like cats, so I like to feature cats in some of my quilts.

EW: Do you do a lot of those?

MD: I have. At the moment I don't have a cat. I have a dog.

EW: You might like dogs, too. What about, do you make a lot of bed quilts anymore?

MD: Yes, that one I'm making now is going to be a full-sized quilt, probably queen.

EW: What do you think makes a great quiltmaker?

MD: Patience. Really focused on the small details.

EW: Is there anyone whose works you are drawn to, especially?

MD: Rosemary Kimball's, Beth Howard's. They're the best. They're just so precise in their design and their colors are good. I just think that they are really my idols. To quilt like both of them, oh my goodness.

EW: Are there any artists that have influenced your work?

MD: No, not really.

EW: Let's talk about this hand quilting versus machine quilting How do you feel about long-arm quilting?

MD: I feel that a quilt isn't as personal if its machine quilted. I have done it and had it done because I felt that I just didn't have the time and I have thought since, that's poor excuse, like this quilt I'm making now. I know that I will hand quilt it. And my Civil War Quilt, after I had it machine quilted, I felt bad about that ever since. I thought, 'You went to tons of trouble to use these reproduction fabrics and the pattern from that era and you didn't hand quilt it.' And it would have been hand quilted.

EW: It would have been. Right.

MD: So that's why I hand quilted the antique quilt. I thought it was hand pieced and I'm going to hand quilt it.

EW: You felt that was appropriate.

MD: Yes. My grandmother or my great grandmother would have been not happy to have it machine quilted.

EW: They might have been shocked.

MD: They would have been disappointed in me.

EW: Well, we wouldn't want that to happen.

MD: No.

EW: Tell me why you think quilting is important to your life.

MD: It keeps my mind occupied and busy and it's just so rewarding. I just feel like I'm doing something that's going to be here long after I'm gone. And I think we all like to leave things that future generations will be going to appreciate.

EW: In what ways do you think your quilts reflect your community?

MD: Well, I live in a cold climate and quilts are very useful. I think, probably, if I lived where it was warm most of the year maybe I wouldn't be as apt to do quilts.

EW: That's interesting. I hadn't thought about that aspect before. What do you think about the importance of quilts in American life?

MD: Oh, they've always been important from the beginning from when the Pilgrims came to this country. All the ladies used to quilt. They had to, to keep warm. It was a necessity. And they didn't go out and buy a fabric. It was fabric left over from dresses or aprons or whatever they had made. That's what I used in that Double Wedding Ring, my first quilt. Those were pieces of fabric my grandmother had from sewing.

EW: In what ways do you think quilts have a special meaning for women's history in America? You have already mentioned how it was a necessity in the early beginnings and what about the historical aspect of those things?

MD: Well, I think women, it was a way to be creative and express their personality. I have a book and another antique quilt. It's called Robbing Peter to Pay Paul, but it's also a quilt by a young lady who had dinner with Lafayette and he peeled an orange for her and she kept the petals as he peeled it down, and it was like petals and she placed those in a circle and so for a long time that pattern was called Orange Peel, because she went home and made a quilt that was like that. I thought now that's interesting. It says about what, who we were and where we were.

EW: Aside from keeping warm, what ways can quilts be used?

MD: Oh, I have several hanging on the wall as decoration. They're bright and I particularly like quilts that have houses and barns and that sort of thing. I have that quilt hanging on my living room wall. It has a barn and a church and a school.

EW: It's kind of representative of American life? Do you ever give quilts for gifts?

MD: Oh, yes. I make baby quilts. I've made two. I live in an apartment complex and there were two young children in that complex. One was a little boy. He was about a year old, so I made him a Christmas quilt and the other youngster was about seven and he spent all summer learning to skateboard. I thought he was going to kill himself, so I happened to find fabric that had skateboards on it. So, I made him a quilt with all these skateboards on it. [laughs.]

EW: I bet he liked that.

MD: Oh, he did.

EW: And how do you think quilts can be preserved for the future, or do you think they should be preserved?

MD: Oh, yes. Like my antique quilt. I'm so glad Mom kept that for me. And I just think, 'Oh, it's so rewarding.' Here I'm able to finish this antique quilt. It's wonderful. I can't think of anything I'm more enthusiastic about than quilting.

EW: What do you think is the biggest challenge confronting quiltmakers today?

MD: Price of the fabric. And it is so silly to use cheap fabric. You've got too much time and too much effort into this to make it out of fabric that's just going to fall apart after a dozen washings. It's a waste of time. So, it is the fabric.

EW: This concludes the list of questions that we have. Is there anything else that you would like to add?

MD: The friends that I have made through quilting, they're there for me anytime and very sympathetic and very helpful. I'm alone. I'm a widow now and one of the girls is quite young and very handy. She will come over and help me hang pictures and repair things. We go to lunch. One of our girls passed away and we all still mourn her. We're like a family. Sometimes I think we're more of a family because we don't bicker.

EW: And you have this very strong common interest.

MD: Oh, yes. We are certainly bonded. We're there for each other. If any of us have a--like they were there for me when my husband passed away. Other gals have lost spouses or children and we sympathize and comfort them. We're a very close-knit family.

EW: A support group?

MD: Yes.

EW: This concludes our interview. The time is now 10:50. We appreciate so much you're taking the time to do this with us.