Dianne Schlotman
Photos
Title
Dianne Schlotman
Identifier
IA51101-009
Format
audio
Type
Oral History
Interviewee
Dianne Schlotman
Interviewer
Pam Clark
Interview Date
11/16/09
Interview sponsor
Moda Fabrics
Location
Bronson, Iowa
Transcriber
Tomme Fent
Transcription
Pam Clark (PC): This is Pam Clark. Today is Monday, November 16th, 2009. It is 4:25 p.m., and I'm conducting an interview with Dianne Schlotman for Quilters' S.O.S. - Save Our Stories project, in Dianne's beautiful home here in Bronson, Iowa. Dianne tell me a little bit about the quilt that you brought out for this interview today?
Dianne Schlotman (DS): This was my first large paper-pieced quilt, and it was also, at the time, the most expensive quilt pattern I ever bought but I saw it made up when we took a little road trip and I thought it was so beautiful that I bought the pattern and started buying fabric. I collected fabric for about two years, getting enough batiks to put it together, and then it took another probably year-and-a-half to put it together, with so many paper pieced sections to it but I love it now that it's done.
PC: How did you learn paper piecing?
DS: Reading in books and also watching quilting shows on TV, and also probably--no, I don't think I took a class on paper piecing.
PC: Does this quilt have any special meaning for you now that it's--I mean do you have like an emotional attachment to it?
DS: Well, I think so because I just love the colors and the designs, the stars, and it's a happy, cheerful quilt, I think.
PC: Would you ever want to give it up, I mean give it away?
DS: It would have to be somebody really special.
PC: What do you think someone viewing your quilt might conclude about your personality?
DS: Maybe that I like stars and flowers and bright colors.
PC: Does it tell us anything about your personality, the way you interact with people or life?
DS: I've never really thought about it. I don't really think so. Sometimes we lead twisted paths. [laughs.]
PC: I notice that you use this quilt as a wall hanging in your bedroom. Have you ever used it on your bed or in any other function?
DS: No, this quilt I use just on the wall because I think it is less liable to get damaged being on the wall rather than on a bed. It shouldn't have anything spilled on it or ripped or anything.
PC: So it's kind of a protective function; you put it up there on the wall to protect it. Do you have any plans to do anything else with this quilt someday?
DS: Well, I entered it in the quilt show a couple of years ago and I did get an award on it at the quilt show so I was happy about that. Basically I think it's just [going to.] keep decorating the room.
PC: What kind of award did you win with this quilt?
DS: It was one of the top three ribbon winners in its category but actually, at this point, I don't remember what it was and I didn't happen to look it up. I think it was maybe second place.
PC: In the size of the quilt? So it didn't get like a special award like for quilting or anything like that; it was like actually a second place in the quilt size?
DS: I can't really remember.
PC: But you know it got an award?
DS: Yes, it got an award.
PC: Well, it's a very beautiful quilt. Tell me about your interest in quilt making?
DS: Well, for years, I had a friend that quilted all the time and she just loved it and I did every other craft forever and didn't start quilting. And then finally I was always interested in every kind of craft there is and I got to watching the quilt shows on TV, and one Christmas they were doing a--Eleanor Burns was doing a Log Cabin quilt and I thought it was a Christmas wreath, and I thought, 'Well, I can do that.' But these were awful tiny strips and so I thought, 'I'll make mine a little bigger.' Well, what was supposed to be a wall hanging turned out to be a lap-size quilt because I made my logs so big but that kind of got me started. And then visiting with my friend, I started doing some more quilting and I turned out to like it. And once you start quilting, you're hooked.
PC: At what age do you think you were when you started quilt making?
DS: Probably, oh, late fifties. Wait, no, late forties. I've been quilting for about fifteen years.
PC: You just have to be a natural at it because your quilting is so beautiful.
DS: Thank you.
PC: So you said you learned to quilt then, starting out, from Eleanor Burns?
DS: And [Marianne.] Fons and [Liz.] Porter and Quilting From The Heartland [company owned by Shar Jorgenson.], I remember watching that, too.
PC: Did your friend help you? Did she show you any techniques or help you to get started too?
DS: Yes, yes, she did. She helped me pick out fabrics sometimes and could answer any questions that I had about quilting, although we had different styles. I quilt by machine and she was a big hand quilter and loved hand quilting, which isn't my thing.
PC: Yes, we all have to get our own styles, don't we?
DS: Yes.
PC: What is your first quilt memory?
DS: That I made or of quilts in general?
PC: Of quilts in general.
DS: Well, we had quilts here in the house where I grew up and we used them on the bed regularly and I remember using quilts. I think everybody in the family had a quilt on their bed but I know my mother wasn't into quilting. She always said, 'Why would somebody want to take a good piece of fabric and cut it up in little pieces and turn around and sew it back together?' So I never saw her quilt and I never knew my grandmother to quilt. But when we cleaned out my mom's house after she passed away, we found a Grandmother's Flower Garden that I, by hand, finished putting it together. It was only partially done. I finished putting it together and it's been on the quilting frame for probably ten years waiting to hand quilt it, which I'm not a hand quilter.
PC: Do you think your mom made that then?
DS: I am thinking that maybe it was one of--my dad's mother quilted, I've been told. She died when I was relatively young and so I don't remember ever having seen her quilt but I've been told that she quilted and so I'm thinking possibly it came from there.
PC: You said that there were quilts in your house from the time that you were small. Where did they come from, if your mom didn't quilt and your grandma didn't quilt? Who do you think made these quilts?
DS: Well, it could have been my dad's mom, who this quilt could have come from, or maybe some relatives of my mother's. I have a Grandmother's Flower Garden that's hand--the little bitty pieces and that is done, that was on the beds that I remember, and then there was a Double Wedding Ring that my sister has access to it right now, and then some other embroidered birds and stuff. And probably my grandmother on my dad's side did the quilting.
PC: Are there other quiltmakers among your family or friends, and if so, please tell us a little bit about them?
DS: Nobody else in my family quilts except I'm just working and starting with our church to get a little quilt group going and I told my sister she needed a hobby and that she was going to learn how to quilt, and so she did sign up and I think she's excited about doing it. My niece has come up and learned how to make a picture quilt that she did, where you do the photographs on a quilt that she made for her parents a few years ago, so I showed her how to do that and she's also going to do our biblical quilt group. And my mother-in-law did do utilitarian quilts and my boys loved the quilts that she made them, and at the time she made them I wasn't quilting so they had those as they grew up and loved them. And then my sister-in-law is learning how to quilt at the biblical group also. And I have lots and lots and lots of friends who quilt.
PC: Too numerous to mention, I'm sure.
DS: Although one that probably inspired me most was my friend Kathy Lidgett, who passed away a couple of years ago, but she quilted since the time--when she was still in high school and quilted all the time I knew her.
PC: She was very inspiring to all of us. So Lynelle Amick, your sister, is just starting out quilting. Does she have her own sewing machine or does she have to come to your house?
DS: She has my mother's. My mother got it probably thirty, forty years ago and it was a nice sewing machine at the time and it actually did embroidery. But it has a problem in that it jams real easy and right now it's jammed, so I don't know what she's going to do because I can remember once my dad had to take the pipe wrench to the sewing machine to get it unjammed. But her daughter has two sewing machines so she might use one of her daughter's or I have two extra sewing machines. I could let her use one of them, which I have told also the other ladies at the church that if they need to, they could borrow. We'll leave it at the church.
PC: Has she ever sewn before?
DS: She can but she doesn't sew a lot. She did the high school home ec [economics.] thing but I don't really remember her sewing clothes and stuff for her kids much.
PC: So you may have to end up helping her a little bit then?
DS: I imagine I will. [laughs.] She's got her fabric picked out. She's excited about it.
PC: How does quilt making impact your family? I guess since you just live here with Wayne, your husband, you don't have small children in the home, how do you feel that quilt making impacts your home here, your family and your home?
DS: Well, I use them to decorate for every holiday here at home and at work, and Wayne and I, when we travel, we stop together and go quilt shopping at the fabric stores and he likes to pick up fabric, too, and then I have to figure out how to make something out of what he picked out. And the boys, I have just the two boys, and they both have had quilts that I made and the one keeps telling me, 'Mom, I need another quilt. It's worn out.' And then I have five grandchildren and they all have gotten quilts when they were born and other fun stuff, and I made--well, quilts with two of the boys, when they were even five and seven, I believe, they worked on little quilts. And I helped the two, the granddaughter to quilt, and they've all, the other three grandchildren, have made pillow cases. So I'm teaching them young.
PC: So they're developing an appreciation of quilting because of you and your quilting?
DS: I think so, yes.
PC: Do you feel your husband suffers sometimes, maybe not having cooked meals or in other ways because you are busy quilting?
DS: Not really. It works out nice for my quilting because he works nights and he's not home four nights out of the week, and so while he's working, those four nights are basically my nights and I quilt usually every night, those four nights while he's working. And then when he's home sometimes he'll say, 'Well, you go quilt and I'll do this.' So he's a good guy and he buys me fabric or tools, I have a lot of rulers, when holidays and birthdays and so forth come around.
PC: How nice for you that you do have that time for yourself to quilt and you're not taking away from any family functions or anything like that, so that's nice. Tell me if you've ever used quilts to get you through a difficult time in your life?
DS: I think that quilts do get you through. Yes, I think they do. They give you something to think about when you have maybe things that are upsetting and so forth. You can kind of get involved in the quilt and take your worries away.
PC: Do you have a specific instance in your life that you really turned to quilting to get you over the hump maybe or to get you through a difficult time?
DS: When my friend Kathy passed away, I know I thought about quilts because I knew she loved them so much, and I know that she quilted right up until she passed away so getting over her death, I think, helped, the quilting helped. My mother-in-law, too, when she passed away, I quilted and thought about the quilts that she had done and things like that.
PC: Tell me about an amusing experience that has occurred from your quilt making or maybe teaching quilting to your group that you're starting?
DS: Well, one of the amusing things that happened with quilting was when my husband and I stopped at a quilt store just recently and we went in and it was a big store and the fabric was on sale. And so I'm going around looking at all the fabric, trying to decide what I wanted to get to add to my stash or collection, and he's pushing the cart. And so we went around the store looking and I turned around and there's six bolts of fabric already in the cart. [laughs.] Earlier in that same trip, we had been at another quilt store, we're going in and I'm looking around and he was there with me, and the owner of the quilt store came up and said, 'Now we have a couch in the back that you can go back and there's a coffee pot if you'd like to sit down while she's shopping,' and he said, 'Oh, no, I like to look and I buy some things, too.' So I have one piece of fabric from that store, also, that he picked out just to prove he likes to buy stuff.
PC: I think that's so nice that you can share your interest in quilt making with your husband because I think a lot of us don't have that luxury. What do you find particularly pleasing about quilt making?
DS: Being able to be creative. I hardly ever make a pattern exactly as the directions tell me to do. I think, 'Oh, I'd like to add this or add that.' I start out with the basic idea but usually I add something of my own and with quilts, everyone can be different, and I particularly enjoy taking classes where everybody is making the same quilt, but they all come out so different because of the combinations of the colors and everything. That's a fun thing.
PC: What aspects of quilt making do you not enjoy?
DS: Ripping out. And it's amazing how many times you have to rip out.
PC: What art or quilt groups do you belong to?
DS: I belong to the Siouxland Samplers Quilt Guild in Sioux City, and then I belong to the Material Girls, which is a group of nine ladies that belong or have belonged to the Siouxland Samplers. And then I belong to--the official name is the SewShall Sewciety, and that meets in Sergeant Bluff, and then like I mentioned earlier, I just recently have started a group at our church patterned after what Leslie Walker from our Guild did in her church of biblical quilt blocks, where we'll make blocks that have the biblical background and have both devotion and learning experience. And there's twelve ladies besides myself that came to the first organizational meeting so we have a good group and about four of them, maybe, have quilted before. One, I know, is fairly competent so we'll see how it goes. Leslie says I won't be able to quilt myself that night; I'll have to just be putting out fires.
PC: I think that's exciting, though, that you've interested eight new people, brought them into quilting, that have never quilted before, so it'll be fun to see if they continue in quilting after your class is over, if they really get into it. Like you said, once you start quilting, most of us get hooked.
DS: Yes, right.
PC: We'll keep our fingers crossed that they will become proponents of quilt making, as well. How many hours a month do you think that you spend going to quilt groups?
DS: I joked and told the ladies at the church that I had the first week of the month that I didn't have a quilting activity so I needed to find one, so I probably spend, hours a month, eight, two at each group.
PC: Going to your meetings? How have advances in technology influenced your work in quilt making?
DS: Oh, I think with the advances--well, I know I would not be a quilter, or I wouldn't be able to be as prolific as I am if I had to hand quilt them all because I think being able to machine quilt and now I just recently got the midarm, one of the lower end ones, where you have to do the quilting part but that's okay because I like to do the--I mean, I want it to be mine completely. But it saves a lot of time as to doing it over by hand or even on your regular sewing machine.
PC: What are your favorite techniques and materials?
DS: I know a lot of people don't like paper piecing, but I actually do like paper piecing because you can be so accurate with it, and I like batiks real well and also, I like pretty much bright colors.
PC: Can you describe your studio or the place that you create your quilts?
DS: Yes. Because of having my quilt rooms, we only have one spare bedroom even though we live in a huge two-story house. Our house has--the upstairs is basically divided into two sides. It has a sleeping porch, a bedroom or regular room, and then a large closet and one whole--on two sides and then one bedroom in the middle. And I have one whole side for my quilt room. So, in the sleeping area, I now do my sewing and I have a six-foot cutting table that I use and that's in what was at one time called a sleeping porch. And then in the main bedroom, I have my ten-foot quilting frame with my midarm on it and then around the outside, two of the outside walls are shelves that I have fabric and then a design wall on one wall and another wall for sticking things up, bulletin board and windows. And then there is a closet attached to that which has the quilt that's on the frame to hand quilt sitting in it along with numerous other craft things. So, I have a whole, probably a third of the upstairs is mine for quilting. At one point in time, I had an eight-foot by two-and-a-half foot ironing board, but when I got the quilting machine, I had to go to a smaller ironing board.
PC: Sounds like it's very functional, though, a very good place to do your work. Tell us how you balance your time between your work, your social activities, your family, and your quilting?
DS: Well, I'm lucky that my husband is very patient and helpful because I do work full time, eight hours a day, and then I'm active in the church doing numerous things. But it's just earlier on, I didn't really start quilting until both of my children were out of school, so I didn't have to worry about taking care of little kids. We did babysit but you show the kids how to quilt and they like that, too, and then when they get the benefit of some of the quilts, they appreciate that. And then again not having on the weeknights, I basically don't have to cook because my husband isn't here so I can quilt, grab a sandwich and quilt myself. So, it just works out.
PC: Sounds like it. Do you use--and you already said you use the design wall. How does this enhance your creative process?
DS: I don't use it as much as I probably should, but it does allow you to see, before you sew the pieces together, how it is going to look. And I just recently purchased the EQ6 [software from Electric Quilt Company.] so I'm still doing the introductory lessons on it but I think that'll be good, too, to kind of--especially when you're doing a patchwork to see what you think it's going to look like with different colors in different spots and turn the blocks on point or straight or however you set it. So, I'm excited to use that.
PC: Did you have EQ5?
DS: No. I had a really old version of EQ, I think it was 1 or 2, and I didn't use it to the extent that I probably should have. But I actually was a math major in high school--or not in high school, in college, and I think that a lot of times I don't even use a pattern. I can look at a pattern that I see somewhere, and I can visually break it down and say, 'Oh, this is a Half-Square Triangle here and a Four Patch,' and see what they did to come up with that pattern and I think with my EQ6, I can maybe design some stuff that I won't have to go out and buy a pattern.
PC: I've heard that EQ5 and EQ6 are very different, and I have EQ5, but I haven't upgraded to the EQ6, so someday maybe. It would be interesting because I've heard that they are real different. We're going to switch gears now and talk about esthetics, craftsmanship, and design aspects of quilt making. What do you think makes a great quilt?
DS: Color. I think the color and the way it's put together can make a big--make the difference between a quilt that just grabs your eye and one that you think 'Oh, my! What were they thinking?'
PC: What makes a quilt artistically powerful?
DS: The design and the fabrics that are in it.
PC: What makes a quilt appropriate for a museum or a special collection?
DS: The quality of the work and the difficulty of the pattern, or the historical significance of the piece itself.
PC: And what do you think would merit it being in a museum? What would be an example of a historical significance that you feel would merit it being in a museum?
DS: Oh, something that you know the history of the quilt, labels, and the [Quilters' S.O.S. -.] Save Our Stories are important. You know the history of the quilt and how hard the person worked, the hours that it took to make it or the hardships that they had to go through in order to purchase the fabric, or even if it was the scraps, what they--the old quilts are made out of some pretty small pieces and it's a marvel at the workmanship, when you consider they had to do it all by hand.
PC: Thank you for clarifying that for us. What do you think makes a great quiltmaker?
DS: I think anybody can quilt if they wanted to. A lot of people say, 'Oh, I could never do that,' and I think it's patience and desire.
PC: Do you have any artists that have influenced your quilt making?
DS: Artists?
PC: Like quilt artists?
DS: Like quilt artists? Well, the people that I watched on TV where I first learned the techniques and stuff, such as Eleanor Burns or [Marianne.] Fons and [Liz.] Porter, and then I have a lot of friends that are excellent, excellent quilters, and then Jan Johnson in our Guild who is really an artistic, talented lady.
PC: And has she influenced how you quilt, or do you just more admire her work?
DS: I admire her work and I took the class at our recent quilt show that she taught on a chickadee, and I'm real happy with the one that I did. Some of her work, I can't see myself being able to create it to that extent. Faces, I don't know that I could come up with a good face. A bird, okay; a face, no. She does great faces.
PC: What works are you drawn to and why, quilt works?
DS: I like a lot of the holiday things that are designed, and I tend to lean more towards the bright, batik type colors, and I do like a lot of Judy Niemeyer type patterns, which is what the quilt that I showed was one of her patterns, and she uses a lot of batiks in her patterns, too. So, I think I like the bright colors and the batiks, although I am starting to like--I can't remember what it is. I can't remember the name of what that is.
PC: What does it look like?
DS: It's not really your Civil War type but it's a step up, a little brighter than Civil War, and I can't remember what it's called. Kansas Troubles? Could that be it?
PC: I'm not familiar with that but it could be. I haven't heard of that one.
DS: I've seen some work in it. The gal at the Cherokee store showed it and I thought, 'Oh, well now, that is kind of pretty. I could do that.'
PC: So, you haven't tried a quilt like that yet?
DS: No.
PC: But that's maybe--
DS: I have done plaids, though, and I do like that, too, which isn't my normal thing, but I've done a few plaid quilts.
PC: So, you keep yourself open to trying new things?
DS: Yes. I'm somebody that likes to try lots of different things and keep variety.
PC: How do you feel about machine quilting versus hand quilting?
DS: I admire the people that can hand quilt, but I tried it and, like I said, it's been on the frame for ten years and the frame hasn't moved. There's about a twelve-inch square quilted and my stitches weren't even, and it took me a long time to do that twelve-inch square and I think I like more speed. And so, by machine quilting, it takes practice, too, but I think it's more my type of quilting, but I certainly admire those that can hand quilt, and like I said, my friend Kathy could quilt very speedily.
PC: She was definitely a purist. She thought for many years that she could only hand quilt and then I think she did mellow a little towards the end and she did think it was okay to have some quilts machine quilted.
DS: But she hired it quilted, and I find hiring quilting--I like to be responsible for the entire quilt so that if there's anything wrong with it, I caused the problem, not somebody else. And then of course I can't afford to have all my quilts quilted because I really do admire some of the really fancy quilting that some of the professional quilters do, but it's not cheap.
PC: What do you think about longarm quilting? I know you said that you have gotten a longarm now, though you called it a midarm?
DS: It's got a seventeen-inch [head.].
PC: And how does that compare with sewing the quilting or doing the quilting just on a regular, standard sewing machine?
DS: It's a little faster and easier, and you don't have to get down on the floor and pin, make the quilt sandwich and pin it all together before you start because you put it on the frame, and so you can load it on the frame in half an hour or so where when you had to first stretch the backing and then put the batting on and then put the top on and then get down on the floor and crawl around and put pins every three or four inches, you don't have to do that with the midarm in that you've got the frame that you can put it on and it stays nice and smooth compared to, sometimes, the other would move on me.
PC: If you were doing a small quilt as opposed to a large quilt, which would you prefer to do the machine quilting on, a standard sewing machine or your midarm?
DS: I've done things as small as table runners on my midarm and it works fine but that size and smaller, or even a baby quilt, I can do on the sewing machine. And there's a learning curve and it took my quite a while to become so I was real happy with the quilting I was doing on my regular sewing machine, but I had got that so I felt like I was doing a pretty good job, and so if it's a baby quilt on down, it's just as fast to do it on the sewing machine as it is to do it on the longarm, but if it's anything bigger, then using the quilting frame and the machine is a little faster.
PC: And so, it does enable you to get bigger quilts done faster?
DS: Right.
PC: Have you ever tried quilting a large quilt on just your standard sewing machine?
DS: Yes, yes, the one I showed was done just on my regular sewing machine.
PC: I imagine that was fairly difficulty, though?
DS: Not too bad. You just have to do a section at a time, and you are--one of the ladies that I watched on TV called it 'push-and-pull' or 'shove-and-jam,' because sometimes--they always say, 'Well, roll it,' and stuff, but you end up still sometimes it makes it pretty tight in your sewing machine.
PC: And it's pretty heavy, I'm sure.
DS: Yes.
PC: To try to get it to go through.
DS: At the time I was doing the bigger quilts on my sewing machine, I had a space all around it so I had room for the quilt to lay when I was working on it, so it didn't have to hang to the floor.
PC: That would help, if it didn't have to hang down. Switching gears again, the function and meaning of quilts in American life, why is quilt making important to your life?
DS: It gives me a fun and creative avenue that I enjoy and that is useful, and basically, I like to be creative, but I don't like to do the same thing over and over, so quilts offer that.
PC: That creativity?
DS: Yes.
PC: In what ways do your quilts reflect your community or region that you live in?
DS: I think it reflects my region that I live in, in that it's pretty Midwest, not anything way far out or anything.
PC: I see as I look around your home and you have numerous quilts displayed here, and I see a lot of them, you use a lot of the traditional patterns but you use a lot of holiday quilts that are indicative of our area, like we grow pumpkins around here and I see a quilt with pumpkins, and I see another quilt over there [indicating.] that has some of our Midwest pictures in it. And so, in your home, I see that you use a lot of items that are just very indicative of the Midwest.
DS: I think so, and like I said, I like to do them especially for holidays because that way you can decorate for the holiday, and they don't take up as much room as some of the holiday decorations do.
PC: And they function as other things.
DS: And I put them out because otherwise, what are you doing to do with them? I give a few away but not a lot because when I get them done, they're like they're my children and I can't give my babies away.
PC: I've had a lot of people tell me that that's their feeling. They have a very strong emotional attachment with their quilts, and it sounds like you, also, feel that way. In what ways, or what do you think about the importance of quilts in American life?
DS: Well, our pioneers would have been cold if they hadn't had quilts, and I think that we don't use them so much, we have other means of keeping warm, but they are a significant part of history and a part of functional, as well.
PC: In what ways do you think quilts have special meaning for women's history in America?
DS: There's a lot of men getting into quilting now, but I think traditionally the quilts were of women and a means of creative expression for them. What the pioneers did with the tiny pieces and the leftover scraps is amazing and there's a lot of really fantastic work that was done and it was done all by hand.
PC: Do you think that some women were judged by their ability to make quilts back then?
DS: Probably, yes, I think so.
PC: So, if you didn't like to quilt or didn't want to quilt, too bad, right?
DS: I think I read somewhere that girls had to have so many quilts in their hope chests. It was considered that you had to make so many quilts and have in your hope chest to be a good prospect.
PC: For marriage, right. How do you think quilts can be used?
DS: Many ways, for decoration, for warmth, for seasonal, for gifts. Endless ways that you can use a quilt.
PC: How do you think quilts can be preserved for the future?
DS: Pictures, for one thing. I should probably take a picture of everything I have but I just haven't done that. But by pictures or by putting them in storage. And then the museums, like at Lincoln has a quilt museum and I've been to the quilt museum in Kalona [Iowa.], and there's lots of places that quilts are. The AQS has a quilt museum in--
PC: Paducah [Kentucky.].
DS: Paducah. Lots of places.
PC: Do you keep a quilt journal?
DS: No.
PC: Do you ever have any plans to do that?
DS: It probably would be a good idea and it would be--I'm more into making them now than I am into recording what I did, but when I pick up a quilt, I can remember what I went through to do it and what I--how much I've learned since. When I look at one that I made a long time ago, I know things that I've learned since then that I'd do differently if I were to do it again.
PC: We learn a lot from each project, I think. What has happened to the quilts that you have made for friends and family?
DS: I know my son has worn a few out because he really does love them and use them a lot. The ones that I have given to the grandkids, I think they're--I hope their folks put them away for them to have later, that they could use for their grandkids. I'm not sure. But the ones that I have kept myself, I get them out and switch them out season by season or different times, and then I've given some away for benefit auctions and so forth.
PC: What do you think the biggest challenge confronting America's quiltmakers today is?
DS: Having enough time to do the quilts like they like to because everybody is busy.
PC: Yes, I think time is a big problem for some people. Is there anything else that you would like to say about--that we haven't touched on today about quilt making?
DS: Don't count yourself out before you try it. If you see something you like in a quilt pattern, take your time and study it out and try it because you might surprise yourself.
PC: I'd like to thank Dianne Schlotman for allowing me to interview her today as part of the Quilters' S.O.S. - Save Our Stories project, in Dianne's home here in Bronson, Iowa. Our interview concluded at 5:07 p.m. on November 16th, 2009.
Dianne Schlotman (DS): This was my first large paper-pieced quilt, and it was also, at the time, the most expensive quilt pattern I ever bought but I saw it made up when we took a little road trip and I thought it was so beautiful that I bought the pattern and started buying fabric. I collected fabric for about two years, getting enough batiks to put it together, and then it took another probably year-and-a-half to put it together, with so many paper pieced sections to it but I love it now that it's done.
PC: How did you learn paper piecing?
DS: Reading in books and also watching quilting shows on TV, and also probably--no, I don't think I took a class on paper piecing.
PC: Does this quilt have any special meaning for you now that it's--I mean do you have like an emotional attachment to it?
DS: Well, I think so because I just love the colors and the designs, the stars, and it's a happy, cheerful quilt, I think.
PC: Would you ever want to give it up, I mean give it away?
DS: It would have to be somebody really special.
PC: What do you think someone viewing your quilt might conclude about your personality?
DS: Maybe that I like stars and flowers and bright colors.
PC: Does it tell us anything about your personality, the way you interact with people or life?
DS: I've never really thought about it. I don't really think so. Sometimes we lead twisted paths. [laughs.]
PC: I notice that you use this quilt as a wall hanging in your bedroom. Have you ever used it on your bed or in any other function?
DS: No, this quilt I use just on the wall because I think it is less liable to get damaged being on the wall rather than on a bed. It shouldn't have anything spilled on it or ripped or anything.
PC: So it's kind of a protective function; you put it up there on the wall to protect it. Do you have any plans to do anything else with this quilt someday?
DS: Well, I entered it in the quilt show a couple of years ago and I did get an award on it at the quilt show so I was happy about that. Basically I think it's just [going to.] keep decorating the room.
PC: What kind of award did you win with this quilt?
DS: It was one of the top three ribbon winners in its category but actually, at this point, I don't remember what it was and I didn't happen to look it up. I think it was maybe second place.
PC: In the size of the quilt? So it didn't get like a special award like for quilting or anything like that; it was like actually a second place in the quilt size?
DS: I can't really remember.
PC: But you know it got an award?
DS: Yes, it got an award.
PC: Well, it's a very beautiful quilt. Tell me about your interest in quilt making?
DS: Well, for years, I had a friend that quilted all the time and she just loved it and I did every other craft forever and didn't start quilting. And then finally I was always interested in every kind of craft there is and I got to watching the quilt shows on TV, and one Christmas they were doing a--Eleanor Burns was doing a Log Cabin quilt and I thought it was a Christmas wreath, and I thought, 'Well, I can do that.' But these were awful tiny strips and so I thought, 'I'll make mine a little bigger.' Well, what was supposed to be a wall hanging turned out to be a lap-size quilt because I made my logs so big but that kind of got me started. And then visiting with my friend, I started doing some more quilting and I turned out to like it. And once you start quilting, you're hooked.
PC: At what age do you think you were when you started quilt making?
DS: Probably, oh, late fifties. Wait, no, late forties. I've been quilting for about fifteen years.
PC: You just have to be a natural at it because your quilting is so beautiful.
DS: Thank you.
PC: So you said you learned to quilt then, starting out, from Eleanor Burns?
DS: And [Marianne.] Fons and [Liz.] Porter and Quilting From The Heartland [company owned by Shar Jorgenson.], I remember watching that, too.
PC: Did your friend help you? Did she show you any techniques or help you to get started too?
DS: Yes, yes, she did. She helped me pick out fabrics sometimes and could answer any questions that I had about quilting, although we had different styles. I quilt by machine and she was a big hand quilter and loved hand quilting, which isn't my thing.
PC: Yes, we all have to get our own styles, don't we?
DS: Yes.
PC: What is your first quilt memory?
DS: That I made or of quilts in general?
PC: Of quilts in general.
DS: Well, we had quilts here in the house where I grew up and we used them on the bed regularly and I remember using quilts. I think everybody in the family had a quilt on their bed but I know my mother wasn't into quilting. She always said, 'Why would somebody want to take a good piece of fabric and cut it up in little pieces and turn around and sew it back together?' So I never saw her quilt and I never knew my grandmother to quilt. But when we cleaned out my mom's house after she passed away, we found a Grandmother's Flower Garden that I, by hand, finished putting it together. It was only partially done. I finished putting it together and it's been on the quilting frame for probably ten years waiting to hand quilt it, which I'm not a hand quilter.
PC: Do you think your mom made that then?
DS: I am thinking that maybe it was one of--my dad's mother quilted, I've been told. She died when I was relatively young and so I don't remember ever having seen her quilt but I've been told that she quilted and so I'm thinking possibly it came from there.
PC: You said that there were quilts in your house from the time that you were small. Where did they come from, if your mom didn't quilt and your grandma didn't quilt? Who do you think made these quilts?
DS: Well, it could have been my dad's mom, who this quilt could have come from, or maybe some relatives of my mother's. I have a Grandmother's Flower Garden that's hand--the little bitty pieces and that is done, that was on the beds that I remember, and then there was a Double Wedding Ring that my sister has access to it right now, and then some other embroidered birds and stuff. And probably my grandmother on my dad's side did the quilting.
PC: Are there other quiltmakers among your family or friends, and if so, please tell us a little bit about them?
DS: Nobody else in my family quilts except I'm just working and starting with our church to get a little quilt group going and I told my sister she needed a hobby and that she was going to learn how to quilt, and so she did sign up and I think she's excited about doing it. My niece has come up and learned how to make a picture quilt that she did, where you do the photographs on a quilt that she made for her parents a few years ago, so I showed her how to do that and she's also going to do our biblical quilt group. And my mother-in-law did do utilitarian quilts and my boys loved the quilts that she made them, and at the time she made them I wasn't quilting so they had those as they grew up and loved them. And then my sister-in-law is learning how to quilt at the biblical group also. And I have lots and lots and lots of friends who quilt.
PC: Too numerous to mention, I'm sure.
DS: Although one that probably inspired me most was my friend Kathy Lidgett, who passed away a couple of years ago, but she quilted since the time--when she was still in high school and quilted all the time I knew her.
PC: She was very inspiring to all of us. So Lynelle Amick, your sister, is just starting out quilting. Does she have her own sewing machine or does she have to come to your house?
DS: She has my mother's. My mother got it probably thirty, forty years ago and it was a nice sewing machine at the time and it actually did embroidery. But it has a problem in that it jams real easy and right now it's jammed, so I don't know what she's going to do because I can remember once my dad had to take the pipe wrench to the sewing machine to get it unjammed. But her daughter has two sewing machines so she might use one of her daughter's or I have two extra sewing machines. I could let her use one of them, which I have told also the other ladies at the church that if they need to, they could borrow. We'll leave it at the church.
PC: Has she ever sewn before?
DS: She can but she doesn't sew a lot. She did the high school home ec [economics.] thing but I don't really remember her sewing clothes and stuff for her kids much.
PC: So you may have to end up helping her a little bit then?
DS: I imagine I will. [laughs.] She's got her fabric picked out. She's excited about it.
PC: How does quilt making impact your family? I guess since you just live here with Wayne, your husband, you don't have small children in the home, how do you feel that quilt making impacts your home here, your family and your home?
DS: Well, I use them to decorate for every holiday here at home and at work, and Wayne and I, when we travel, we stop together and go quilt shopping at the fabric stores and he likes to pick up fabric, too, and then I have to figure out how to make something out of what he picked out. And the boys, I have just the two boys, and they both have had quilts that I made and the one keeps telling me, 'Mom, I need another quilt. It's worn out.' And then I have five grandchildren and they all have gotten quilts when they were born and other fun stuff, and I made--well, quilts with two of the boys, when they were even five and seven, I believe, they worked on little quilts. And I helped the two, the granddaughter to quilt, and they've all, the other three grandchildren, have made pillow cases. So I'm teaching them young.
PC: So they're developing an appreciation of quilting because of you and your quilting?
DS: I think so, yes.
PC: Do you feel your husband suffers sometimes, maybe not having cooked meals or in other ways because you are busy quilting?
DS: Not really. It works out nice for my quilting because he works nights and he's not home four nights out of the week, and so while he's working, those four nights are basically my nights and I quilt usually every night, those four nights while he's working. And then when he's home sometimes he'll say, 'Well, you go quilt and I'll do this.' So he's a good guy and he buys me fabric or tools, I have a lot of rulers, when holidays and birthdays and so forth come around.
PC: How nice for you that you do have that time for yourself to quilt and you're not taking away from any family functions or anything like that, so that's nice. Tell me if you've ever used quilts to get you through a difficult time in your life?
DS: I think that quilts do get you through. Yes, I think they do. They give you something to think about when you have maybe things that are upsetting and so forth. You can kind of get involved in the quilt and take your worries away.
PC: Do you have a specific instance in your life that you really turned to quilting to get you over the hump maybe or to get you through a difficult time?
DS: When my friend Kathy passed away, I know I thought about quilts because I knew she loved them so much, and I know that she quilted right up until she passed away so getting over her death, I think, helped, the quilting helped. My mother-in-law, too, when she passed away, I quilted and thought about the quilts that she had done and things like that.
PC: Tell me about an amusing experience that has occurred from your quilt making or maybe teaching quilting to your group that you're starting?
DS: Well, one of the amusing things that happened with quilting was when my husband and I stopped at a quilt store just recently and we went in and it was a big store and the fabric was on sale. And so I'm going around looking at all the fabric, trying to decide what I wanted to get to add to my stash or collection, and he's pushing the cart. And so we went around the store looking and I turned around and there's six bolts of fabric already in the cart. [laughs.] Earlier in that same trip, we had been at another quilt store, we're going in and I'm looking around and he was there with me, and the owner of the quilt store came up and said, 'Now we have a couch in the back that you can go back and there's a coffee pot if you'd like to sit down while she's shopping,' and he said, 'Oh, no, I like to look and I buy some things, too.' So I have one piece of fabric from that store, also, that he picked out just to prove he likes to buy stuff.
PC: I think that's so nice that you can share your interest in quilt making with your husband because I think a lot of us don't have that luxury. What do you find particularly pleasing about quilt making?
DS: Being able to be creative. I hardly ever make a pattern exactly as the directions tell me to do. I think, 'Oh, I'd like to add this or add that.' I start out with the basic idea but usually I add something of my own and with quilts, everyone can be different, and I particularly enjoy taking classes where everybody is making the same quilt, but they all come out so different because of the combinations of the colors and everything. That's a fun thing.
PC: What aspects of quilt making do you not enjoy?
DS: Ripping out. And it's amazing how many times you have to rip out.
PC: What art or quilt groups do you belong to?
DS: I belong to the Siouxland Samplers Quilt Guild in Sioux City, and then I belong to the Material Girls, which is a group of nine ladies that belong or have belonged to the Siouxland Samplers. And then I belong to--the official name is the SewShall Sewciety, and that meets in Sergeant Bluff, and then like I mentioned earlier, I just recently have started a group at our church patterned after what Leslie Walker from our Guild did in her church of biblical quilt blocks, where we'll make blocks that have the biblical background and have both devotion and learning experience. And there's twelve ladies besides myself that came to the first organizational meeting so we have a good group and about four of them, maybe, have quilted before. One, I know, is fairly competent so we'll see how it goes. Leslie says I won't be able to quilt myself that night; I'll have to just be putting out fires.
PC: I think that's exciting, though, that you've interested eight new people, brought them into quilting, that have never quilted before, so it'll be fun to see if they continue in quilting after your class is over, if they really get into it. Like you said, once you start quilting, most of us get hooked.
DS: Yes, right.
PC: We'll keep our fingers crossed that they will become proponents of quilt making, as well. How many hours a month do you think that you spend going to quilt groups?
DS: I joked and told the ladies at the church that I had the first week of the month that I didn't have a quilting activity so I needed to find one, so I probably spend, hours a month, eight, two at each group.
PC: Going to your meetings? How have advances in technology influenced your work in quilt making?
DS: Oh, I think with the advances--well, I know I would not be a quilter, or I wouldn't be able to be as prolific as I am if I had to hand quilt them all because I think being able to machine quilt and now I just recently got the midarm, one of the lower end ones, where you have to do the quilting part but that's okay because I like to do the--I mean, I want it to be mine completely. But it saves a lot of time as to doing it over by hand or even on your regular sewing machine.
PC: What are your favorite techniques and materials?
DS: I know a lot of people don't like paper piecing, but I actually do like paper piecing because you can be so accurate with it, and I like batiks real well and also, I like pretty much bright colors.
PC: Can you describe your studio or the place that you create your quilts?
DS: Yes. Because of having my quilt rooms, we only have one spare bedroom even though we live in a huge two-story house. Our house has--the upstairs is basically divided into two sides. It has a sleeping porch, a bedroom or regular room, and then a large closet and one whole--on two sides and then one bedroom in the middle. And I have one whole side for my quilt room. So, in the sleeping area, I now do my sewing and I have a six-foot cutting table that I use and that's in what was at one time called a sleeping porch. And then in the main bedroom, I have my ten-foot quilting frame with my midarm on it and then around the outside, two of the outside walls are shelves that I have fabric and then a design wall on one wall and another wall for sticking things up, bulletin board and windows. And then there is a closet attached to that which has the quilt that's on the frame to hand quilt sitting in it along with numerous other craft things. So, I have a whole, probably a third of the upstairs is mine for quilting. At one point in time, I had an eight-foot by two-and-a-half foot ironing board, but when I got the quilting machine, I had to go to a smaller ironing board.
PC: Sounds like it's very functional, though, a very good place to do your work. Tell us how you balance your time between your work, your social activities, your family, and your quilting?
DS: Well, I'm lucky that my husband is very patient and helpful because I do work full time, eight hours a day, and then I'm active in the church doing numerous things. But it's just earlier on, I didn't really start quilting until both of my children were out of school, so I didn't have to worry about taking care of little kids. We did babysit but you show the kids how to quilt and they like that, too, and then when they get the benefit of some of the quilts, they appreciate that. And then again not having on the weeknights, I basically don't have to cook because my husband isn't here so I can quilt, grab a sandwich and quilt myself. So, it just works out.
PC: Sounds like it. Do you use--and you already said you use the design wall. How does this enhance your creative process?
DS: I don't use it as much as I probably should, but it does allow you to see, before you sew the pieces together, how it is going to look. And I just recently purchased the EQ6 [software from Electric Quilt Company.] so I'm still doing the introductory lessons on it but I think that'll be good, too, to kind of--especially when you're doing a patchwork to see what you think it's going to look like with different colors in different spots and turn the blocks on point or straight or however you set it. So, I'm excited to use that.
PC: Did you have EQ5?
DS: No. I had a really old version of EQ, I think it was 1 or 2, and I didn't use it to the extent that I probably should have. But I actually was a math major in high school--or not in high school, in college, and I think that a lot of times I don't even use a pattern. I can look at a pattern that I see somewhere, and I can visually break it down and say, 'Oh, this is a Half-Square Triangle here and a Four Patch,' and see what they did to come up with that pattern and I think with my EQ6, I can maybe design some stuff that I won't have to go out and buy a pattern.
PC: I've heard that EQ5 and EQ6 are very different, and I have EQ5, but I haven't upgraded to the EQ6, so someday maybe. It would be interesting because I've heard that they are real different. We're going to switch gears now and talk about esthetics, craftsmanship, and design aspects of quilt making. What do you think makes a great quilt?
DS: Color. I think the color and the way it's put together can make a big--make the difference between a quilt that just grabs your eye and one that you think 'Oh, my! What were they thinking?'
PC: What makes a quilt artistically powerful?
DS: The design and the fabrics that are in it.
PC: What makes a quilt appropriate for a museum or a special collection?
DS: The quality of the work and the difficulty of the pattern, or the historical significance of the piece itself.
PC: And what do you think would merit it being in a museum? What would be an example of a historical significance that you feel would merit it being in a museum?
DS: Oh, something that you know the history of the quilt, labels, and the [Quilters' S.O.S. -.] Save Our Stories are important. You know the history of the quilt and how hard the person worked, the hours that it took to make it or the hardships that they had to go through in order to purchase the fabric, or even if it was the scraps, what they--the old quilts are made out of some pretty small pieces and it's a marvel at the workmanship, when you consider they had to do it all by hand.
PC: Thank you for clarifying that for us. What do you think makes a great quiltmaker?
DS: I think anybody can quilt if they wanted to. A lot of people say, 'Oh, I could never do that,' and I think it's patience and desire.
PC: Do you have any artists that have influenced your quilt making?
DS: Artists?
PC: Like quilt artists?
DS: Like quilt artists? Well, the people that I watched on TV where I first learned the techniques and stuff, such as Eleanor Burns or [Marianne.] Fons and [Liz.] Porter, and then I have a lot of friends that are excellent, excellent quilters, and then Jan Johnson in our Guild who is really an artistic, talented lady.
PC: And has she influenced how you quilt, or do you just more admire her work?
DS: I admire her work and I took the class at our recent quilt show that she taught on a chickadee, and I'm real happy with the one that I did. Some of her work, I can't see myself being able to create it to that extent. Faces, I don't know that I could come up with a good face. A bird, okay; a face, no. She does great faces.
PC: What works are you drawn to and why, quilt works?
DS: I like a lot of the holiday things that are designed, and I tend to lean more towards the bright, batik type colors, and I do like a lot of Judy Niemeyer type patterns, which is what the quilt that I showed was one of her patterns, and she uses a lot of batiks in her patterns, too. So, I think I like the bright colors and the batiks, although I am starting to like--I can't remember what it is. I can't remember the name of what that is.
PC: What does it look like?
DS: It's not really your Civil War type but it's a step up, a little brighter than Civil War, and I can't remember what it's called. Kansas Troubles? Could that be it?
PC: I'm not familiar with that but it could be. I haven't heard of that one.
DS: I've seen some work in it. The gal at the Cherokee store showed it and I thought, 'Oh, well now, that is kind of pretty. I could do that.'
PC: So, you haven't tried a quilt like that yet?
DS: No.
PC: But that's maybe--
DS: I have done plaids, though, and I do like that, too, which isn't my normal thing, but I've done a few plaid quilts.
PC: So, you keep yourself open to trying new things?
DS: Yes. I'm somebody that likes to try lots of different things and keep variety.
PC: How do you feel about machine quilting versus hand quilting?
DS: I admire the people that can hand quilt, but I tried it and, like I said, it's been on the frame for ten years and the frame hasn't moved. There's about a twelve-inch square quilted and my stitches weren't even, and it took me a long time to do that twelve-inch square and I think I like more speed. And so, by machine quilting, it takes practice, too, but I think it's more my type of quilting, but I certainly admire those that can hand quilt, and like I said, my friend Kathy could quilt very speedily.
PC: She was definitely a purist. She thought for many years that she could only hand quilt and then I think she did mellow a little towards the end and she did think it was okay to have some quilts machine quilted.
DS: But she hired it quilted, and I find hiring quilting--I like to be responsible for the entire quilt so that if there's anything wrong with it, I caused the problem, not somebody else. And then of course I can't afford to have all my quilts quilted because I really do admire some of the really fancy quilting that some of the professional quilters do, but it's not cheap.
PC: What do you think about longarm quilting? I know you said that you have gotten a longarm now, though you called it a midarm?
DS: It's got a seventeen-inch [head.].
PC: And how does that compare with sewing the quilting or doing the quilting just on a regular, standard sewing machine?
DS: It's a little faster and easier, and you don't have to get down on the floor and pin, make the quilt sandwich and pin it all together before you start because you put it on the frame, and so you can load it on the frame in half an hour or so where when you had to first stretch the backing and then put the batting on and then put the top on and then get down on the floor and crawl around and put pins every three or four inches, you don't have to do that with the midarm in that you've got the frame that you can put it on and it stays nice and smooth compared to, sometimes, the other would move on me.
PC: If you were doing a small quilt as opposed to a large quilt, which would you prefer to do the machine quilting on, a standard sewing machine or your midarm?
DS: I've done things as small as table runners on my midarm and it works fine but that size and smaller, or even a baby quilt, I can do on the sewing machine. And there's a learning curve and it took my quite a while to become so I was real happy with the quilting I was doing on my regular sewing machine, but I had got that so I felt like I was doing a pretty good job, and so if it's a baby quilt on down, it's just as fast to do it on the sewing machine as it is to do it on the longarm, but if it's anything bigger, then using the quilting frame and the machine is a little faster.
PC: And so, it does enable you to get bigger quilts done faster?
DS: Right.
PC: Have you ever tried quilting a large quilt on just your standard sewing machine?
DS: Yes, yes, the one I showed was done just on my regular sewing machine.
PC: I imagine that was fairly difficulty, though?
DS: Not too bad. You just have to do a section at a time, and you are--one of the ladies that I watched on TV called it 'push-and-pull' or 'shove-and-jam,' because sometimes--they always say, 'Well, roll it,' and stuff, but you end up still sometimes it makes it pretty tight in your sewing machine.
PC: And it's pretty heavy, I'm sure.
DS: Yes.
PC: To try to get it to go through.
DS: At the time I was doing the bigger quilts on my sewing machine, I had a space all around it so I had room for the quilt to lay when I was working on it, so it didn't have to hang to the floor.
PC: That would help, if it didn't have to hang down. Switching gears again, the function and meaning of quilts in American life, why is quilt making important to your life?
DS: It gives me a fun and creative avenue that I enjoy and that is useful, and basically, I like to be creative, but I don't like to do the same thing over and over, so quilts offer that.
PC: That creativity?
DS: Yes.
PC: In what ways do your quilts reflect your community or region that you live in?
DS: I think it reflects my region that I live in, in that it's pretty Midwest, not anything way far out or anything.
PC: I see as I look around your home and you have numerous quilts displayed here, and I see a lot of them, you use a lot of the traditional patterns but you use a lot of holiday quilts that are indicative of our area, like we grow pumpkins around here and I see a quilt with pumpkins, and I see another quilt over there [indicating.] that has some of our Midwest pictures in it. And so, in your home, I see that you use a lot of items that are just very indicative of the Midwest.
DS: I think so, and like I said, I like to do them especially for holidays because that way you can decorate for the holiday, and they don't take up as much room as some of the holiday decorations do.
PC: And they function as other things.
DS: And I put them out because otherwise, what are you doing to do with them? I give a few away but not a lot because when I get them done, they're like they're my children and I can't give my babies away.
PC: I've had a lot of people tell me that that's their feeling. They have a very strong emotional attachment with their quilts, and it sounds like you, also, feel that way. In what ways, or what do you think about the importance of quilts in American life?
DS: Well, our pioneers would have been cold if they hadn't had quilts, and I think that we don't use them so much, we have other means of keeping warm, but they are a significant part of history and a part of functional, as well.
PC: In what ways do you think quilts have special meaning for women's history in America?
DS: There's a lot of men getting into quilting now, but I think traditionally the quilts were of women and a means of creative expression for them. What the pioneers did with the tiny pieces and the leftover scraps is amazing and there's a lot of really fantastic work that was done and it was done all by hand.
PC: Do you think that some women were judged by their ability to make quilts back then?
DS: Probably, yes, I think so.
PC: So, if you didn't like to quilt or didn't want to quilt, too bad, right?
DS: I think I read somewhere that girls had to have so many quilts in their hope chests. It was considered that you had to make so many quilts and have in your hope chest to be a good prospect.
PC: For marriage, right. How do you think quilts can be used?
DS: Many ways, for decoration, for warmth, for seasonal, for gifts. Endless ways that you can use a quilt.
PC: How do you think quilts can be preserved for the future?
DS: Pictures, for one thing. I should probably take a picture of everything I have but I just haven't done that. But by pictures or by putting them in storage. And then the museums, like at Lincoln has a quilt museum and I've been to the quilt museum in Kalona [Iowa.], and there's lots of places that quilts are. The AQS has a quilt museum in--
PC: Paducah [Kentucky.].
DS: Paducah. Lots of places.
PC: Do you keep a quilt journal?
DS: No.
PC: Do you ever have any plans to do that?
DS: It probably would be a good idea and it would be--I'm more into making them now than I am into recording what I did, but when I pick up a quilt, I can remember what I went through to do it and what I--how much I've learned since. When I look at one that I made a long time ago, I know things that I've learned since then that I'd do differently if I were to do it again.
PC: We learn a lot from each project, I think. What has happened to the quilts that you have made for friends and family?
DS: I know my son has worn a few out because he really does love them and use them a lot. The ones that I have given to the grandkids, I think they're--I hope their folks put them away for them to have later, that they could use for their grandkids. I'm not sure. But the ones that I have kept myself, I get them out and switch them out season by season or different times, and then I've given some away for benefit auctions and so forth.
PC: What do you think the biggest challenge confronting America's quiltmakers today is?
DS: Having enough time to do the quilts like they like to because everybody is busy.
PC: Yes, I think time is a big problem for some people. Is there anything else that you would like to say about--that we haven't touched on today about quilt making?
DS: Don't count yourself out before you try it. If you see something you like in a quilt pattern, take your time and study it out and try it because you might surprise yourself.
PC: I'd like to thank Dianne Schlotman for allowing me to interview her today as part of the Quilters' S.O.S. - Save Our Stories project, in Dianne's home here in Bronson, Iowa. Our interview concluded at 5:07 p.m. on November 16th, 2009.
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<partial_transcript>This is Pam Clark. Today is Monday, November 16th, 2009. It is 4:25 p.m., and I am conducting an interview with Diane Schlotman, for Quilters' S.O.S. - Save Our Stories project, in Dianne's beautiful home here in Bronson, IA. Dianne, tell me a little bit about the quilt that you brought out for this interview today.</partial_transcript>
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<synopsis>Schlotman's touchstone quilt is the first big quilt she made using paper piecing. Making it required a pattern that cost more than she had ever spent on a pattern before, but she saw a finished version of the quilt first and thought it was lovely enough to justify the expense. It took her about two years to put together an adequate supply of appropriate fabric for this project. Making the quilt took an additional year and a half. Schlotman thinks the finished quilt is worth it. She learned paper piecing by reading and watching television quilting shows. Schlotman describes the quilt as "a happy, cheerful quilt." When asked if she would ever give the quilt away, Schlotman replies, "It would have to be somebody really special." When asked what someone who saw the quilt might conclude about her personality, Schlotman responds that they might think that she likes certain of its design elements, but does not think they would be able to draw any deeper conclusions. Schlotman uses the quilt only on her wall, not on her bed, to protect it from minor accidents. It won an award in a quilt show "a couple of years" prior to the interview.</synopsis>
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<synopsis>Schlotman was always interested in all sorts of crafts, but did not initially develop an interest in quilting, even though she had a good friend who loved to quilt. Eventually, Schlotman started looking at television quilting shows. During the holiday season, Eleanor Burns taught a log cabin quilt. Schlotman's interpretation of the design was that it was a Christmas wreath, which she thought was doable, but she ended up with a quilt that was much bigger than expected, when she substituted larger strips for a size strip she considered very small. After that, she started to do some quilting while spending time with her friend. Schlotman thinks she has been quilting for roughly fifteen years. She was in her late forties when she began. Besides Burns, Schlotman at an early stage learned from Fons & Porter and the television show Quilting from the Heartland. She also received some help and advice from her friend.</synopsis>
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<synopsis>Schlotman reports that her family used quilts on the beds when she was a child. Her mother did not quilt and did not think the process of cutting up cloth and then sewing the pieces together made sense. Schlotman's maternal grandmother also did not quilt. Nevertheless, after her mother's death, an unfinished Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt turned up in her mother's house. Schlotman finished the quilt-top, but has yet to quilt it, as she thinks it should be hand quilted and she does not hand quilt. That quilt and the quilts her family used may have come originally from Schlotman's paternal grandmother, who, Schlotman was told, quilted. </synopsis>
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<partial_transcript>Um, are there other quiltmakers among your family or friends and, if so, please tell us a little bit about them.</partial_transcript>
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<synopsis>Schlotman is starting a "biblical quilt group" at her church. Her sister, after some nudging from Schlotman has signed up to participate. Schlotman's niece, whom Schlotman once helped make a photo transfer quilt, will also participate, as will Schlotman's sister-in-law. Schlotman's mother-in-law made utility quilts, which were very much appreciated by Schlotman's sons before Schlotman started quilting herself. Schlotman has a large number of friends who quilt. She credits a friend who is now deceased, Kathy Lidgett, with being the one "that probably inspired [her] most." Schlotman's sister owns their mother's sewing machine, which is most likely at least thirty years old and tends to jam. Schlotman discusses a couple of different ways to make a better sewing machine available to her sister. The sister took Home Economics, but has not done much sewing since. Nevertheless, she is looking forward to the group and has chosen fabric for it.</synopsis>
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<partial_transcript>How does quiltmaking impact your family? I guess, um, since you just live here with Wayne, your husband, uh, you don't have child-, small children in the home, um, how, how do you feel that quiltmaking impacts your fam-, your, just your home here, your family in your home?</partial_transcript>
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<synopsis>Scholtman decorates both home and office with holiday quilts. Her husband goes fabric shopping with her when they both travel and enjoys choosing fabric. Both her sons have quilts that she made them and one of them tells her that his quilt is worn-out and he needs a new one. She made baby quilts for all of her five grandchildren. She has taught all of the grandchildren to make either quilts or pillowcases. Since Scholtman's husband works nights, she has four nights a week that she can spend quilting. Even when he is home, he will sometimes suggest that she quilt while he does something else. He also gives her quilting tools and fabric on birthdays and holidays. Schlotman does think that quilting helps a quilter get through difficult times. In particular, she found quilting helpful after the deaths of both her quilting friend and of her mother-in-law, who also quilted.</synopsis>
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<synopsis>When asked about amusing experiences related to quilting, Schlotman gives two stories about her husband accompanying her on shopping trips. In the first, Schlotman tries to make decisions about which fabric to buy during a sales, while her husband pushes the cart, but then realizes that, while she has been thinking, her husband put six bolts of fabric in the cart. In the second, a store owner offers her husband the chance to sit down and have coffee while she is shopping, and he refuses on the grounds that he likes to shop, too. What Scholotman enjoys most about quiltmaking is the opportunity to be creative. She says she never follows a pattern exactly and she enjoys classes where technically all students are making the same quilt, but, due to individual choices about color and the like, the quilts come out looking different. The part of quilting Schlotman least likes is ripping out her work.</synopsis>
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<partial_transcript>Um, what art or quilt groups do you belong to?</partial_transcript>
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<synopsis>In addition to the Siouxland Samplers Quilt Guild (Sioux City, IA), Schlotman belongs to the Material Girls (Sioux City, IA) and the SewShall Sewciety (Sergeant Bluff, IA). She is also establishing a quilt group at her church. She says that group will "make blocks that have the, biblical background and have both devotion, and learning, experience." This group is modeled on a group that another Siouxland Samplers Quilt Guild member started at her church. Twelve women besides Schlotman attended the organizational meeting and only about four of them have prior quilting experience. Schlotman estimates that she spends about eight hours a month going to different quilt group meetings. Schlotman believes that she would either not be a quilter or would be a much less productive quilter if hand quilting was her only option. She recently bought a mid-arm quilting machine, which she thinks will be faster than using a sewing machine to quilt.</synopsis>
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<title>Favorite techniques and materials / Work space / Balancing time</title>
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<partial_transcript>What are your favorite techniques and materials?</partial_transcript>
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<synopsis>Paper piecing is a favorite technique of Schlotman's. For cloth, she prefers batiks and bright colors. Schlotman has both a sleeping porch and a bedroom to use as work space. She uses the sleeping porch for sewing and also has her cutting table there. Her mid-arm quilting machine is in the bedroom, as are a quilt frame, shelves for storage, and a design wall. She also has a closet, where various craft materials, as well as the quilt-top awaiting hand quilting, are stored. She replaced her particularly large ironing board with a smaller one, at the time she got the mid-arm quilting machine. When asked how she balances work, family, social activities and quilting, Schlotman says, "I'm lucky that my husband is very patient and helpful..." In addition to her full time job, she also does a lot at her church. By the time she started seriously quilting, however, her children were no longer in school. Having her husband gone at work four nights a week gives her considerable free time with which to quilt</synopsis>
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<partial_transcript>Um, do you use, y-, and you already said you use a design wall. Um, how does this enhance your creative process?</partial_transcript>
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<synopsis>Schlotman does not use her design wall as much as she thinks she ought to, but with it, a quilter can see what the quilt will look like before finishing it off. She has, however, bought EQ6 [identified in a note in the transcript as "software from Electric Quilt Company"]. While she is still working on the lessons for beginners, she expects that this program will make it easier for her to create quilt designs. She previously had a much older version of EQ. As a math major in college with good visual spatial skills, Schlotman can look at a pattern and isolate the different elements. With EQ6, Schlotman hopes to enhance her design skills to the extent that she can avoid having to buy patterns.
' </synopsis>
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<time>1519</time>
<title>What makes a great quilt / Quilts in museum or special collection</title>
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<partial_transcript>Um, we're going to switch gears now and talk about aesthetics, craftmanship, and design aspects of quiltmaking. What do you think makes a great quilt?</partial_transcript>
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<synopsis>Schlotman believes that "the color, and the way it's put together..." are important aspects of a great quilt. She attributes the artistic powerfulness of some quilts to their design and fabrics. To her mind, a quilt's appropriateness for a museum or special collection depends on how good the work is and how hard the pattern is or, alternatively, on the quilt's "historical significance." That "historical significance" depends on documentation, whether it be by labels or through the QSOS - Save Our Stories project. Documentation would ideally include information about how much time went into making the quilt, the difficulties the maker encountered while trying to buy fabric, and so on. Schlotman thinks that a great quiltmaker has "patience and desire." She believes, however, that all people are capable of quilting.</synopsis>
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<time>1657</time>
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<partial_transcript>Have you had any artists that have influenced your quiltmaking?</partial_transcript>
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<synopsis>The artists who have influenced Schlotman's quiltmaking include the people she saw on television quilt shows at an early stage in her quilting career. She also thinks a lot of the work of fellow Siouxland Samplers Quilt Guild member Jan Johnson, from whom she took a quilt show class. Schlotman is drawn to holiday designs; "bright, batik-type colors;" and designs by Judy Niemeyer. (Schlotman's touchstone quilt is a Judy Niemeyer design.) As well, she is beginning to be drawn to fabric that she identifies as relatively similar to Civil War fabric, but "a little brighter." She thinks the line might be "Kansas Troubles." She has, as of the time of the interview, not yet used that cloth, but she has used plaids in quilting. She agrees with the interviewer when asked if she keeps herself open to trying new things and says that she prefers variety.</synopsis>
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<keywords>Eleanor Burns; Marianne Fons; Liz Porter; Jan Johnson; Siouxland Samplers Quilt Guild (Sioux City, IA); Judy Niemeyer</keywords>
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<time>1860</time>
<title>Machine quilting vs. hand quilting</title>
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<partial_transcript>Um, how do you feel about machine quilting vs. hand quilting?</partial_transcript>
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<synopsis>Schlotman is impressed by people able to hand quilt. That said, her previous effort at hand quilting is still sitting, unfinished, in her closet, ten years after she began, with only twelve square inches of fabric quilted, and that done badly. Her friend Kathy, in contrast, preferred to hand quilt. The interviewer observes that Kathy's approach did relax a bit towards the end. Schlotman replied that when Kathy switched to machine quilting, she sent the quilting out, rather than doing it herself but that Schlotman, personally, prefers to have responsibility for all components of a quilt she has made. Schlotman says that using her mid-arm is quicker and less difficult than using her sewing machine would be. For smaller items like baby quilts and table runners, however, using the mid-arm machine does not save her time. That said, some of Schlotman's quilts, including her touchstone quilt, were quilted on her regular sewing machine. There were some difficulties with that approach, but she found them not too hard to manage. </synopsis>
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<time>2132</time>
<title>Function and meaning of quilts in American life</title>
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<partial_transcript>Um, switching gears again, the function and meaning of quilts in American life. Um, why is quiltmaking important to your life?</partial_transcript>
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<synopsis>In her own life, quilting gives Schlotman a creative outlet that is both fun and practical. Schlotman thinks that her quilts reflect her broader region, the Midwest. The interviewer suggests that the quilts she sees displayed in Schlotman's home, especially the holiday ones, contain imagery that she regards as Midwestern. Schlotman develops strong attachments to her quilts by the time she is done with them, so she mostly (but not entirely) avoids giving them away. As for the importance of quilts in American life more generally, Schlotman says, "Well, our pioneers would have been cold, if they hadn't had quilts..." Since we have a greater range of ways to keep warm than the pioneers did, quilts are less centrally important now, "but they are a significant part of history" and are also "functional." Schlotman notes that a fair number of men have taken up quilting in recent years, but "traditionally the quilts were, you know, of women and a means of, creating expression for them..." She is impressed with "what the pioneers did with the tiny pieces and the leftover scraps," as well as the fact that their work was exclusively done by hand. Schlotman agrees with the interviewer that probably women were at one point judged on how well they made quilts. Schlotman adds that she believes she had read that a young woman needed to have a certain number of quilts in her hope chest before marrying. Quilts have multiple uses - decorative (seasonally or not), providing warmth, and as gifts.</synopsis>
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<time>2378</time>
<title>Preservation of quilts for future / Biggest challenges facing quiltmakers today</title>
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<partial_transcript>How do you think quilts can be preserved for the future?</partial_transcript>
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<synopsis>Quilts can be preserved for the future by taking pictures of them (although Schlotman herself has not been particularly good at that) or through museums or through storing them. Schlotman does not keep a quilt journal, but thinks perhaps she ought to. That said, picking a quilt up stimulates her memory about the process of making it and reminds her what she learned after making the quilt. Asked about what has happened to quilts she has made for family and friends, Schlotman says that one of her sons wears them out. She would like to think that the parents of her grandchildren have stored the quilts made for her grandchildren for use by the next generation. She rotates quilts she still owns seasonally and has contributed some for fundraising purposes. The biggest problem for quilters today, as Schlotman sees it, is a lack of time. She advises quilters not to assume that they cannot make a quilt pattern, but instead to think about how to do it and then try and see if they can do it.</synopsis>
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<keywords>Quilt preservation; International Quilt Museum (International Quilt Study Center); Kalona Quilt Museum (Kalona, IA); National Quilt Museum (Paducah); National Quilt Museum (Paducah); American Quilter's Society (AQS)</keywords>
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<partial_transcript>This is Pam Clark. Today is Monday, November 16th, 2009. It is 4:25 p.m., and I am conducting an interview with Diane Schlotman, for Quilters' S.O.S. - Save Our Stories project, in Dianne's beautiful home here in Bronson, IA. Dianne, tell me a little bit about the quilt that you brought out for this interview today.</partial_transcript>
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<synopsis>Schlotman's touchstone quilt is the first big quilt she made using paper piecing. Making it required a pattern that cost more than she had ever spent on a pattern before, but she saw a finished version of the quilt first and thought it was lovely enough to justify the expense. It took her about two years to put together an adequate supply of appropriate fabric for this project. Making the quilt took an additional year and a half. Schlotman thinks the finished quilt is worth it. She learned paper piecing by reading and watching television quilting shows. Schlotman describes the quilt as "a happy, cheerful quilt." When asked if she would ever give the quilt away, Schlotman replies, "It would have to be somebody really special." When asked what someone who saw the quilt might conclude about her personality, Schlotman responds that they might think that she likes certain of its design elements, but does not think they would be able to draw any deeper conclusions. Schlotman uses the quilt only on her wall, not on her bed, to protect it from minor accidents. It won an award in a quilt show "a couple of years" prior to the interview.</synopsis>
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<keywords>Paper piecing; Techniques; Learning quiltmaking</keywords>
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<time>254</time>
<title>Interest in quiltmaking</title>
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<partial_transcript>Um, tell me about your interest in quiltmaking.</partial_transcript>
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<synopsis>Schlotman was always interested in all sorts of crafts, but did not initially develop an interest in quilting, even though she had a good friend who loved to quilt. Eventually, Schlotman started looking at television quilting shows. During the holiday season, Eleanor Burns taught a log cabin quilt. Schlotman's interpretation of the design was that it was a Christmas wreath, which she thought was doable, but she ended up with a quilt that was much bigger than expected, when she substituted larger strips for a size strip she considered very small. After that, she started to do some quilting while spending time with her friend. Schlotman thinks she has been quilting for roughly fifteen years. She was in her late forties when she began. Besides Burns, Schlotman at an early stage learned from Fons & Porter and the television show Quilting from the Heartland. She also received some help and advice from her friend.</synopsis>
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<keywords>Quilting television shows; Eleanor Burns; Log Cabin - quilt pattern; Fons & Porter; Quilting from the Heartland; Learning quiltmaking</keywords>
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<time>381</time>
<title>First memory of a quilt </title>
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<partial_transcript>What is your first quilt memory?</partial_transcript>
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<synopsis>Schlotman reports that her family used quilts on the beds when she was a child. Her mother did not quilt and did not think the process of cutting up cloth and then sewing the pieces together made sense. Schlotman's maternal grandmother also did not quilt. Nevertheless, after her mother's death, an unfinished Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt turned up in her mother's house. Schlotman finished the quilt-top, but has yet to quilt it, as she thinks it should be hand quilted and she does not hand quilt. That quilt and the quilts her family used may have come originally from Schlotman's paternal grandmother, who, Schlotman was told, quilted. </synopsis>
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<keywords>Grandmother’s Flower Garden (quilt pattern); Double Wedding Ring - quilt pattern; Grandmothers</keywords>
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<time>517</time>
<title>Other quilters among family and friends</title>
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<partial_transcript>Um, are there other quiltmakers among your family or friends and, if so, please tell us a little bit about them.</partial_transcript>
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<synopsis>Schlotman is starting a "biblical quilt group" at her church. Her sister, after some nudging from Schlotman has signed up to participate. Schlotman's niece, whom Schlotman once helped make a photo transfer quilt, will also participate, as will Schlotman's sister-in-law. Schlotman's mother-in-law made utility quilts, which were very much appreciated by Schlotman's sons before Schlotman started quilting herself. Schlotman has a large number of friends who quilt. She credits a friend who is now deceased, Kathy Lidgett, with being the one "that probably inspired [her] most." Schlotman's sister owns their mother's sewing machine, which is most likely at least thirty years old and tends to jam. Schlotman discusses a couple of different ways to make a better sewing machine available to her sister. The sister took Home Economics, but has not done much sewing since. Nevertheless, she is looking forward to the group and has chosen fabric for it.</synopsis>
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<keywords>Quilt groups; Family; Home sewing machine</keywords>
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<time>683</time>
<title>How quiltmaking impacts family / Using quilts to get through a difficult time</title>
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<partial_transcript>How does quiltmaking impact your family? I guess, um, since you just live here with Wayne, your husband, uh, you don't have child-, small children in the home, um, how, how do you feel that quiltmaking impacts your fam-, your, just your home here, your family in your home?</partial_transcript>
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<synopsis>Scholtman decorates both home and office with holiday quilts. Her husband goes fabric shopping with her when they both travel and enjoys choosing fabric. Both her sons have quilts that she made them and one of them tells her that his quilt is worn-out and he needs a new one. She made baby quilts for all of her five grandchildren. She has taught all of the grandchildren to make either quilts or pillowcases. Since Scholtman's husband works nights, she has four nights a week that she can spend quilting. Even when he is home, he will sometimes suggest that she quilt while he does something else. He also gives her quilting tools and fabric on birthdays and holidays. Schlotman does think that quilting helps a quilter get through difficult times. In particular, she found quilting helpful after the deaths of both her quilting friend and of her mother-in-law, who also quilted.</synopsis>
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<keywords>Family</keywords>
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<time>908</time>
<title>Amusing experience related to quiltmaking / What enjoys most and least about quilting</title>
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<partial_transcript>Tell me about an amusing experience that has occurred from your quiltmaking. Or maybe teaching quilting to your group, that you're starting.</partial_transcript>
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<synopsis>When asked about amusing experiences related to quilting, Schlotman gives two stories about her husband accompanying her on shopping trips. In the first, Schlotman tries to make decisions about which fabric to buy during a sales, while her husband pushes the cart, but then realizes that, while she has been thinking, her husband put six bolts of fabric in the cart. In the second, a store owner offers her husband the chance to sit down and have coffee while she is shopping, and he refuses on the grounds that he likes to shop, too. What Scholotman enjoys most about quiltmaking is the opportunity to be creative. She says she never follows a pattern exactly and she enjoys classes where technically all students are making the same quilt, but, due to individual choices about color and the like, the quilts come out looking different. The part of quilting Schlotman least likes is ripping out her work.</synopsis>
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<keywords>Family; quilt shop</keywords>
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<time>1043</time>
<title>Quilt groups / Impact of advances in technology</title>
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<partial_transcript>Um, what art or quilt groups do you belong to?</partial_transcript>
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<synopsis>In addition to the Siouxland Samplers Quilt Guild (Sioux City, IA), Schlotman belongs to the Material Girls (Sioux City, IA) and the SewShall Sewciety (Sergeant Bluff, IA). She is also establishing a quilt group at her church. She says that group will "make blocks that have the, biblical background and have both devotion, and learning, experience." This group is modeled on a group that another Siouxland Samplers Quilt Guild member started at her church. Twelve women besides Schlotman attended the organizational meeting and only about four of them have prior quilting experience. Schlotman estimates that she spends about eight hours a month going to different quilt group meetings. Schlotman believes that she would either not be a quilter or would be a much less productive quilter if hand quilting was her only option. She recently bought a mid-arm quilting machine, which she thinks will be faster than using a sewing machine to quilt.</synopsis>
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<keywords>Siouxland Samplers Quilt Guild (Sioux City, IA); SewShall Sewciety (Sergeant Bluff, IA); Leslie Walker; Material Girls (Sioux City, IA); Quilt groups; Technology in quiltmaking; Machine quilting</keywords>
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<time>1209</time>
<title>Favorite techniques and materials / Work space / Balancing time</title>
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<partial_transcript>What are your favorite techniques and materials?</partial_transcript>
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<synopsis>Paper piecing is a favorite technique of Schlotman's. For cloth, she prefers batiks and bright colors. Schlotman has both a sleeping porch and a bedroom to use as work space. She uses the sleeping porch for sewing and also has her cutting table there. Her mid-arm quilting machine is in the bedroom, as are a quilt frame, shelves for storage, and a design wall. She also has a closet, where various craft materials, as well as the quilt-top awaiting hand quilting, are stored. She replaced her particularly large ironing board with a smaller one, at the time she got the mid-arm quilting machine. When asked how she balances work, family, social activities and quilting, Schlotman says, "I'm lucky that my husband is very patient and helpful..." In addition to her full time job, she also does a lot at her church. By the time she started seriously quilting, however, her children were no longer in school. Having her husband gone at work four nights a week gives her considerable free time with which to quilt</synopsis>
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<keywords>Work or Studio space; Time management; Family</keywords>
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<time>1416</time>
<title>Design wall</title>
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<partial_transcript>Um, do you use, y-, and you already said you use a design wall. Um, how does this enhance your creative process?</partial_transcript>
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<synopsis>Schlotman does not use her design wall as much as she thinks she ought to, but with it, a quilter can see what the quilt will look like before finishing it off. She has, however, bought EQ6 [identified in a note in the transcript as "software from Electric Quilt Company"]. While she is still working on the lessons for beginners, she expects that this program will make it easier for her to create quilt designs. She previously had a much older version of EQ. As a math major in college with good visual spatial skills, Schlotman can look at a pattern and isolate the different elements. With EQ6, Schlotman hopes to enhance her design skills to the extent that she can avoid having to buy patterns.
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<keywords>Design Wall; Electric Quilt</keywords>
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<time>1519</time>
<title>What makes a great quilt / Quilts in museum or special collection</title>
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<partial_transcript>Um, we're going to switch gears now and talk about aesthetics, craftmanship, and design aspects of quiltmaking. What do you think makes a great quilt?</partial_transcript>
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<synopsis>Schlotman believes that "the color, and the way it's put together..." are important aspects of a great quilt. She attributes the artistic powerfulness of some quilts to their design and fabrics. To her mind, a quilt's appropriateness for a museum or special collection depends on how good the work is and how hard the pattern is or, alternatively, on the quilt's "historical significance." That "historical significance" depends on documentation, whether it be by labels or through the QSOS - Save Our Stories project. Documentation would ideally include information about how much time went into making the quilt, the difficulties the maker encountered while trying to buy fabric, and so on. Schlotman thinks that a great quiltmaker has "patience and desire." She believes, however, that all people are capable of quilting.</synopsis>
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<keywords>Aesthetics; Quilt history</keywords>
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<time>1657</time>
<title>Artists who have influenced quiltmaking / Works that is drawn to</title>
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<partial_transcript>Have you had any artists that have influenced your quiltmaking?</partial_transcript>
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<synopsis>The artists who have influenced Schlotman's quiltmaking include the people she saw on television quilt shows at an early stage in her quilting career. She also thinks a lot of the work of fellow Siouxland Samplers Quilt Guild member Jan Johnson, from whom she took a quilt show class. Schlotman is drawn to holiday designs; "bright, batik-type colors;" and designs by Judy Niemeyer. (Schlotman's touchstone quilt is a Judy Niemeyer design.) As well, she is beginning to be drawn to fabric that she identifies as relatively similar to Civil War fabric, but "a little brighter." She thinks the line might be "Kansas Troubles." She has, as of the time of the interview, not yet used that cloth, but she has used plaids in quilting. She agrees with the interviewer when asked if she keeps herself open to trying new things and says that she prefers variety.</synopsis>
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<keywords>Eleanor Burns; Marianne Fons; Liz Porter; Jan Johnson; Siouxland Samplers Quilt Guild (Sioux City, IA); Judy Niemeyer</keywords>
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<time>1860</time>
<title>Machine quilting vs. hand quilting</title>
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<partial_transcript>Um, how do you feel about machine quilting vs. hand quilting?</partial_transcript>
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<synopsis>Schlotman is impressed by people able to hand quilt. That said, her previous effort at hand quilting is still sitting, unfinished, in her closet, ten years after she began, with only twelve square inches of fabric quilted, and that done badly. Her friend Kathy, in contrast, preferred to hand quilt. The interviewer observes that Kathy's approach did relax a bit towards the end. Schlotman replied that when Kathy switched to machine quilting, she sent the quilting out, rather than doing it herself but that Schlotman, personally, prefers to have responsibility for all components of a quilt she has made. Schlotman says that using her mid-arm is quicker and less difficult than using her sewing machine would be. For smaller items like baby quilts and table runners, however, using the mid-arm machine does not save her time. That said, some of Schlotman's quilts, including her touchstone quilt, were quilted on her regular sewing machine. There were some difficulties with that approach, but she found them not too hard to manage. </synopsis>
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<keywords>Machine quilting; Hand quilting; Mid-arm quilting machine</keywords>
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<time>2132</time>
<title>Function and meaning of quilts in American life</title>
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<partial_transcript>Um, switching gears again, the function and meaning of quilts in American life. Um, why is quiltmaking important to your life?</partial_transcript>
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<synopsis>In her own life, quilting gives Schlotman a creative outlet that is both fun and practical. Schlotman thinks that her quilts reflect her broader region, the Midwest. The interviewer suggests that the quilts she sees displayed in Schlotman's home, especially the holiday ones, contain imagery that she regards as Midwestern. Schlotman develops strong attachments to her quilts by the time she is done with them, so she mostly (but not entirely) avoids giving them away. As for the importance of quilts in American life more generally, Schlotman says, "Well, our pioneers would have been cold, if they hadn't had quilts..." Since we have a greater range of ways to keep warm than the pioneers did, quilts are less centrally important now, "but they are a significant part of history" and are also "functional." Schlotman notes that a fair number of men have taken up quilting in recent years, but "traditionally the quilts were, you know, of women and a means of, creating expression for them..." She is impressed with "what the pioneers did with the tiny pieces and the leftover scraps," as well as the fact that their work was exclusively done by hand. Schlotman agrees with the interviewer that probably women were at one point judged on how well they made quilts. Schlotman adds that she believes she had read that a young woman needed to have a certain number of quilts in her hope chest before marrying. Quilts have multiple uses - decorative (seasonally or not), providing warmth, and as gifts.</synopsis>
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<keywords>Gender in quiltmaking; Quilt history</keywords>
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<time>2378</time>
<title>Preservation of quilts for future / Biggest challenges facing quiltmakers today</title>
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<partial_transcript>How do you think quilts can be preserved for the future?</partial_transcript>
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<synopsis>Quilts can be preserved for the future by taking pictures of them (although Schlotman herself has not been particularly good at that) or through museums or through storing them. Schlotman does not keep a quilt journal, but thinks perhaps she ought to. That said, picking a quilt up stimulates her memory about the process of making it and reminds her what she learned after making the quilt. Asked about what has happened to quilts she has made for family and friends, Schlotman says that one of her sons wears them out. She would like to think that the parents of her grandchildren have stored the quilts made for her grandchildren for use by the next generation. She rotates quilts she still owns seasonally and has contributed some for fundraising purposes. The biggest problem for quilters today, as Schlotman sees it, is a lack of time. She advises quilters not to assume that they cannot make a quilt pattern, but instead to think about how to do it and then try and see if they can do it.</synopsis>
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<keywords>Quilt preservation; International Quilt Museum (International Quilt Study Center); Kalona Quilt Museum (Kalona, IA); National Quilt Museum (Paducah); National Quilt Museum (Paducah); American Quilter's Society (AQS)</keywords>
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<type>interview</type>
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<rights>All rights to the Quilters' S.O.S. -- Save Our Stories (QSOS) oral history project, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred from the Quilt Alliance to the University of Kentucky Libraries. Please contact the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History regarding rights pertaining to individual interviews.</rights>
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<usage>Interviews may only be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.</usage>
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Collection
Citation
“Dianne Schlotman,” Quilters' S.O.S. -- Save Our Stories, accessed October 15, 2026, https://qsos.quiltalliance.org/items/show/1702.