Jackie Robinson
Photos
Title
Jackie Robinson
Identifier
QSOS-106
Interviewee
Jackie Robinson
Interviewer
Joyce Starr Johnson
Interview Date
11/1/01
Interview sponsor
eQuilter
Location
Houston, Texas
Transcriber
Joyce Starr Johnson
Transcription
Joyce Starr Johnson (JSJ): This is Joyce Johnson. Today's date is November 1, 2001, and it is 3:10 p.m. I am conducting an interview today with Jackie Robinson for the Quilters' S.O.S. [-Save Our Stories.] project in Houston, Texas at the International Quilt Festival. [laughter about mix-up over misstatement of name. correct name is Jackie Robinson.] Let's start today by talking about the quilt that you have brought in. Feel free to tell me anything you want about this quilt, what it means to you, does it have any meaning?
Jackie Robinson (JR): Okay. This is one of the quilts from my collection of quilts that are in the tradition of Frank Lloyd Wright. This particular one is from a window in the Dana Thomas House in Springfield, Illinois. Wright designed from approximately 1890 until his death in 1959 and during this period of time from about 1900 until 1909, or really from about 1895, he was designing homes in the style he called the prairie style and those houses – many of them – had art glass. This is a house that was built and opened on Christmas of 1904.
JSJ: And so did you name this quilt after that, or do name quilts?
JR: I do name quilts, and this one is called the Dana Thomas House [laughter.] because it is from one of those windows.
JSJ: Have you made this recently?
JR: It is a few years old.
JSJ: You said you like to make a lot of quilts in the Frank Lloyd Wright style, so is this part of a series?
JR: Yes, it is part of a series. There are 18 of them published in a book. This one is from that book. There are a few others that were made before and since.
JSJ: How does this quilt style fit into your own particular quilt history?
JR: Quite well. [laughter.]
JSJ: Okay. Tell me about that.
JR: Okay. The Wright quilts are essentially my husband's fault. He took me on a trip that went to Falling Water in southwestern Pennsylvania and showed me that house. Shortly thereafter we were at Taliesin West in Scottsdale. At Taliesin West I picked up a book about the decorative arts of Frank Lloyd Wright. My husband is a builder/ designer/ draftsman and the person who taught him to draw was a Taliesin friend. [inaudible.] So, the stuff that he designs and builds is sort of in the Frank Lloyd Wright style, although Jerry likes the stuff that is newer. He got me interested in this person's architecture and the art that I saw in it.
JSJ: You were a quilter before?
JR: Yes
JSJ: And what sort of quilts did you make before?
JR: Most of my quilts actually [laughter.] are pretty traditional, sometimes a spin on or I take them out of pretty basic--
JSJ: When did your own personal quilt history begin?
JR: Own personal? 1972. I was a new mommy with a new baby, and I had just quit my job and we were visiting the in-laws and I was looking for something to do. We raided the cedar chest where we found starts of some quilts. I took them home and started sewing them together with newspaper patterns for some stuff. What I did was awful. [laughter.] I needed something to do so I sewed.
JSJ: Were there other quilters in your family?
JR: I have a grandmother who was a quilter and she passed away when I was 7. And she and I of course, never really discussed quilts. All I really remember her for was pear pie and being a little bit cranky although I have one of her quilts now. She has several, and there was one daughter, and her daughter has all the rest.
JSJ: The quilt blocks that you found. Did those belong to your mother-in-law?
JR: They were mother-in-law's and her mother's, and her sisters' and it is heartwarming to realize they started these 7 quilts sometimes in the 1930s and early 40s and they are really old. [inaudible conversation during laughter.] A tradition I married into.
JSJ: How much time do you commit in your life right now to quilting?
JR: [inaudible.] 100%.
JSJ: Either in your own quilting or teaching quilting?
JR: Teaching quilting, designing patterns, writing instructions.
JSJ: What is it about the whole quilting process that you like?
JR: All of it. [inaudible.] Most of the quilts and going through the entire process. The exact task that you are working on, getting up in the morning [inaudible.].
JSJ: I see on this quilt that you combine several different kinds of fabric and different techniques, using machine quilting. What type of quilter are you?
JR: I cheat. This is machine pieced. These are all set in--no they're not set in, they're pieced. And this piece is all sewing machine quilted. I am painfully slow at hand quilting. So, the one piece that I have been working on for about 12 years is about done. But I have machine quilted several in the meantime.
JSJ: And you do all your own fabric selection?
JR: Yes.
JSJ: What do you think constitutes a great quilt?
JR: [long pause.] I think, I don't know if this is great, I know that what pulls our eyes is color, although I have seen some quilts downstairs that I wouldn't say that it was the color that pulled my eye. It was the form or the contrast. [inaudible.] Other than the obvious that something is special, even when it's not supposed to be that kind of quilt. Most of the quilts I see are useable, and while any one individual quilt may not appeal to me it is going to appeal to someone else.
JSJ: You use the words appeal, color, shape? Are any more intrinsically important?
JR: No.
JSJ: What makes a quilt appropriate for a museum exhibition?
JR: I would like to know, thank you. [laughter.] I would try to make it.
JSJ: Have you ever felt that while working on something you want it to be [inaudible.]?
JR: I have never said that, and I have never sat down to try to create something that I am going to enter in a show or an exhibition. Most of the stuff that I am making is for creating a good class, being able to teach something that I think is important for people to see.
JSJ: Tell me a little bit what role that plays in your life as a teacher.
JR: It is just a real treat to bring someone along and see if they have gained some knowledge, something that is going to help them enjoy their craft a little bit later on.
JSJ: Who are the people in your classes?
JR: My classes generally have people who are beginning to expand within their own means. They are really skilled the least.
JSJ: Does that bring you any different kind of pleasure, working with people who are building their skills, rather than those who are already accomplished?
JR: It is a great thing to work with these classes. Once in a while in the right class. I like that teaching aspect of the sharing and the watching.
JSJ: Tell me why quilting fits into your life?
JR: I came in through the back door. I opened up a shop in 1982 in St. Louis that was basically a machine arts center. I was just separated and had been wanting to do this and he always said no. And so, when I realized [inaudible.]. The main thing for us was machine embroidery and monograms and machine arts, and that kind of thing. [inaudible.]. There were a whole lot of those hoop appliqués, those little Barbie doll machine appliqués, and we put them in an embroidery hoop, a big one. And so, we were teaching some of the machine appliqué in the shop as well and had a little bit of fabric for doing those pictures and it took me a very short period of time to figure out that it was like those hot-dog dogs, with the tail wagging the dog. The whole emphasis switched. The last machine art class I taught--I opened the shop in March '82 and the last class I taught was in November of '82.
JSJ: Did that in any way reflect your region or community in any way?
JR: In '82? I don't know because I really wasn't aware of what was happening in other regions except when I went to market. Wasn't the whole country doing a country-thing then? [laughter.] There was a lot of harvest gold and that olive green stuff.
JSJ: What about now? Do you quilts reflect in way your community or region?
JR: Most of them more generic across the board. I live in the four corners region of the United States and the ancient pueblos of what we know as the Anasazi lived in that area a thousand years ago. The term Anasazi is not very correct though, but they did some fabulous pottery, and some of my recent designs are based on those pottery designs, so regionally, yes, that does reflect.
JSJ: As your quilting has changed to incorporate that has it brought a different meaning to your life?
JR: I like intricate piecing. And they allow that--the things that I teach, on the whole, aren't as finite. And so, this allows me to do something that is a little bit more of a test and it is a wonderful excuse for a lot of my scraps, so that is a good part of it right there.
JSJ: When you think of how quilts are used across the country, do they hold special meaning?
JR: Absolutely. I don't believe you can sum it all up. I don't think it is just because it is a popular craft. I see it much [inaudible.].
JSJ: [inaudible.]
JR: I would hope so for most. Certainly, for the quilts I have been given, but not necessarily the others, but yes on the whole.
JSJ: What about the quilts that you have made? Do you keep them?
JR: I have gifted everyone I know [laughter.] at one point or another. We're on the second or third cycle with some of them. And I have a number of quilts that I am not necessarily proud of that I am looking for homes for now and using as donations. They are perfectly useable--not fine examples.
JSJ: So, is it more important for you to have them used rather than stored in a closet?
JR: And there are a lot of them in trunks. But they are looking for homes.
JSJ: In general, the quilts that you have given as quilts, how do you expect them to be used?
JR: [pause.] The gifts that are given are the quilts that you love. They are sure being used when I am around. I don't know what happens when I am not there. [laughter.]
JSJ: So, you don't want them hidden away in a box?
JR: Well, it is a gift, and they can do with it what they wish.
JSJ: We are nearing the end of our time. Is there anything I haven't asked you about that you wish to share? How you feel about quilts?
JR: [pause.] [inaudible.]
JSJ: Okay, thank you very much. This is the end of our interview with Jackie Robinson, and the time is 3:26 p.m.
Jackie Robinson (JR): Okay. This is one of the quilts from my collection of quilts that are in the tradition of Frank Lloyd Wright. This particular one is from a window in the Dana Thomas House in Springfield, Illinois. Wright designed from approximately 1890 until his death in 1959 and during this period of time from about 1900 until 1909, or really from about 1895, he was designing homes in the style he called the prairie style and those houses – many of them – had art glass. This is a house that was built and opened on Christmas of 1904.
JSJ: And so did you name this quilt after that, or do name quilts?
JR: I do name quilts, and this one is called the Dana Thomas House [laughter.] because it is from one of those windows.
JSJ: Have you made this recently?
JR: It is a few years old.
JSJ: You said you like to make a lot of quilts in the Frank Lloyd Wright style, so is this part of a series?
JR: Yes, it is part of a series. There are 18 of them published in a book. This one is from that book. There are a few others that were made before and since.
JSJ: How does this quilt style fit into your own particular quilt history?
JR: Quite well. [laughter.]
JSJ: Okay. Tell me about that.
JR: Okay. The Wright quilts are essentially my husband's fault. He took me on a trip that went to Falling Water in southwestern Pennsylvania and showed me that house. Shortly thereafter we were at Taliesin West in Scottsdale. At Taliesin West I picked up a book about the decorative arts of Frank Lloyd Wright. My husband is a builder/ designer/ draftsman and the person who taught him to draw was a Taliesin friend. [inaudible.] So, the stuff that he designs and builds is sort of in the Frank Lloyd Wright style, although Jerry likes the stuff that is newer. He got me interested in this person's architecture and the art that I saw in it.
JSJ: You were a quilter before?
JR: Yes
JSJ: And what sort of quilts did you make before?
JR: Most of my quilts actually [laughter.] are pretty traditional, sometimes a spin on or I take them out of pretty basic--
JSJ: When did your own personal quilt history begin?
JR: Own personal? 1972. I was a new mommy with a new baby, and I had just quit my job and we were visiting the in-laws and I was looking for something to do. We raided the cedar chest where we found starts of some quilts. I took them home and started sewing them together with newspaper patterns for some stuff. What I did was awful. [laughter.] I needed something to do so I sewed.
JSJ: Were there other quilters in your family?
JR: I have a grandmother who was a quilter and she passed away when I was 7. And she and I of course, never really discussed quilts. All I really remember her for was pear pie and being a little bit cranky although I have one of her quilts now. She has several, and there was one daughter, and her daughter has all the rest.
JSJ: The quilt blocks that you found. Did those belong to your mother-in-law?
JR: They were mother-in-law's and her mother's, and her sisters' and it is heartwarming to realize they started these 7 quilts sometimes in the 1930s and early 40s and they are really old. [inaudible conversation during laughter.] A tradition I married into.
JSJ: How much time do you commit in your life right now to quilting?
JR: [inaudible.] 100%.
JSJ: Either in your own quilting or teaching quilting?
JR: Teaching quilting, designing patterns, writing instructions.
JSJ: What is it about the whole quilting process that you like?
JR: All of it. [inaudible.] Most of the quilts and going through the entire process. The exact task that you are working on, getting up in the morning [inaudible.].
JSJ: I see on this quilt that you combine several different kinds of fabric and different techniques, using machine quilting. What type of quilter are you?
JR: I cheat. This is machine pieced. These are all set in--no they're not set in, they're pieced. And this piece is all sewing machine quilted. I am painfully slow at hand quilting. So, the one piece that I have been working on for about 12 years is about done. But I have machine quilted several in the meantime.
JSJ: And you do all your own fabric selection?
JR: Yes.
JSJ: What do you think constitutes a great quilt?
JR: [long pause.] I think, I don't know if this is great, I know that what pulls our eyes is color, although I have seen some quilts downstairs that I wouldn't say that it was the color that pulled my eye. It was the form or the contrast. [inaudible.] Other than the obvious that something is special, even when it's not supposed to be that kind of quilt. Most of the quilts I see are useable, and while any one individual quilt may not appeal to me it is going to appeal to someone else.
JSJ: You use the words appeal, color, shape? Are any more intrinsically important?
JR: No.
JSJ: What makes a quilt appropriate for a museum exhibition?
JR: I would like to know, thank you. [laughter.] I would try to make it.
JSJ: Have you ever felt that while working on something you want it to be [inaudible.]?
JR: I have never said that, and I have never sat down to try to create something that I am going to enter in a show or an exhibition. Most of the stuff that I am making is for creating a good class, being able to teach something that I think is important for people to see.
JSJ: Tell me a little bit what role that plays in your life as a teacher.
JR: It is just a real treat to bring someone along and see if they have gained some knowledge, something that is going to help them enjoy their craft a little bit later on.
JSJ: Who are the people in your classes?
JR: My classes generally have people who are beginning to expand within their own means. They are really skilled the least.
JSJ: Does that bring you any different kind of pleasure, working with people who are building their skills, rather than those who are already accomplished?
JR: It is a great thing to work with these classes. Once in a while in the right class. I like that teaching aspect of the sharing and the watching.
JSJ: Tell me why quilting fits into your life?
JR: I came in through the back door. I opened up a shop in 1982 in St. Louis that was basically a machine arts center. I was just separated and had been wanting to do this and he always said no. And so, when I realized [inaudible.]. The main thing for us was machine embroidery and monograms and machine arts, and that kind of thing. [inaudible.]. There were a whole lot of those hoop appliqués, those little Barbie doll machine appliqués, and we put them in an embroidery hoop, a big one. And so, we were teaching some of the machine appliqué in the shop as well and had a little bit of fabric for doing those pictures and it took me a very short period of time to figure out that it was like those hot-dog dogs, with the tail wagging the dog. The whole emphasis switched. The last machine art class I taught--I opened the shop in March '82 and the last class I taught was in November of '82.
JSJ: Did that in any way reflect your region or community in any way?
JR: In '82? I don't know because I really wasn't aware of what was happening in other regions except when I went to market. Wasn't the whole country doing a country-thing then? [laughter.] There was a lot of harvest gold and that olive green stuff.
JSJ: What about now? Do you quilts reflect in way your community or region?
JR: Most of them more generic across the board. I live in the four corners region of the United States and the ancient pueblos of what we know as the Anasazi lived in that area a thousand years ago. The term Anasazi is not very correct though, but they did some fabulous pottery, and some of my recent designs are based on those pottery designs, so regionally, yes, that does reflect.
JSJ: As your quilting has changed to incorporate that has it brought a different meaning to your life?
JR: I like intricate piecing. And they allow that--the things that I teach, on the whole, aren't as finite. And so, this allows me to do something that is a little bit more of a test and it is a wonderful excuse for a lot of my scraps, so that is a good part of it right there.
JSJ: When you think of how quilts are used across the country, do they hold special meaning?
JR: Absolutely. I don't believe you can sum it all up. I don't think it is just because it is a popular craft. I see it much [inaudible.].
JSJ: [inaudible.]
JR: I would hope so for most. Certainly, for the quilts I have been given, but not necessarily the others, but yes on the whole.
JSJ: What about the quilts that you have made? Do you keep them?
JR: I have gifted everyone I know [laughter.] at one point or another. We're on the second or third cycle with some of them. And I have a number of quilts that I am not necessarily proud of that I am looking for homes for now and using as donations. They are perfectly useable--not fine examples.
JSJ: So, is it more important for you to have them used rather than stored in a closet?
JR: And there are a lot of them in trunks. But they are looking for homes.
JSJ: In general, the quilts that you have given as quilts, how do you expect them to be used?
JR: [pause.] The gifts that are given are the quilts that you love. They are sure being used when I am around. I don't know what happens when I am not there. [laughter.]
JSJ: So, you don't want them hidden away in a box?
JR: Well, it is a gift, and they can do with it what they wish.
JSJ: We are nearing the end of our time. Is there anything I haven't asked you about that you wish to share? How you feel about quilts?
JR: [pause.] [inaudible.]
JSJ: Okay, thank you very much. This is the end of our interview with Jackie Robinson, and the time is 3:26 p.m.
Collection
Citation
“Jackie Robinson,” Quilters' S.O.S. -- Save Our Stories, accessed May 4, 2024, https://qsos.quiltalliance.org/items/show/1293.