Shirley Fuller

Shirley Fuller

MI49016-037

Shirley Fuller

Eleanor Wilkinson

2011-03-11

Moda Fabrics

Battle Creek, Michigan

Nancy Wilkinson

Eleanor Wilkinson (EW): This is Eleanor Wilkinson. This interview is being conducted for South Central Michigan Q.S.O.S., a project for the Alliance for American Quilts. Today I'm interviewing Shirley Fuller at Westlake Presbyterian Church in Battle Creek, Michigan. Today is March 11, 2011, and the time is 11:03 a.m. So, let's start by talking about the quilt that you brought in today.

Shirley Fuller (SF): Okay.

EW: Why did you choose that one?

SF: I brought in a quilt that has a hummingbird on it that is a stained glass in design or technique, and I just love nature and hummingbirds and love watching them and so it's a quilt that I really enjoyed making as well as learning the technique. Unfortunately, I don't have a hanging strip on the back yet, so I don't have it hanging in my house, so I have to take it out of the drawer to appreciate it. I was glad to share it today.

EW: Okay. Does this have any other special meaning for you?

SF: Basically, it was the meaning of learning the new technique of doing the stained glass and I did it in a class at the Viking Sewing Center in Kalamazoo [Michigan.], and then also, the very first stippling I ever did on a quilt was done on this and I did it myself. So, this is a quilt that I did start to finish myself instead of sending it out to have machine quilted by someone else. So that makes it more special.

EW: So, you had a couple of new techniques that were involved in this. What do you think that someone viewing this quilt would think about you?

SF: I hope they would get an appreciation for one, nature, and secondly for quilting, and I hope it would be an inspiration for them to do a project of such on their own.

EW: Good idea.

SF: In fact, when I learned how to do this, I taught a class in it at our church. I lead the quilt group there and the goal there is to try and introduce new techniques, so I'm always out trying to learn new techniques and whenever I travel trying to find something new in whatever part of the country, I'm in that I can bring back to the ladies and share.

EW: And do you find that teaching a new technique is the best way to learn?

SF: Oh, it always reinforces what I've learned and what I still need to learn because nobody ever knows everything and I'm just virtually the tip of the iceberg in the knowledge.

EW: And your plans for this quilt?

SF: My plans are it will be a wall hanging in my home.

EW: Okay. Let's talk about your interest in quilt making.

SF: Okay.

EW: When did you start thinking about quilts?

SF: Actually, I started thinking about quilts when I was a little girl. My mother was a fantastic needle worker in many facets, quilting being one of them, and I never did any serious quilting as a little girl, but I know one time she was working on a Grandmother's Flower Garden, and I did some hand piecing. It was very rustic [laughs.] because I was probably seven or eight maybe at the time. So, I've grown up with quilts and seeing my mother do it. As a serious interest for myself, probably, I don't know, fifteen, twenty years ago. I really started getting involved in quilting and enjoying the guild, taking some classes periodically and it's just grown from there.

EW: So, you would say that probably your first quilt memory was when you were six or seven?

SF: Yes.

EW: And your mother taught you some quilting?

SF: My mother taught me many things about sewing, quilting and she made most of my clothing and I did as I grew up, made my own clothing. So I've always been sewing in one respect, and I miss her dearly for not being able to share with her what I am doing now because when she was alive whenever we made anything regardless of what it was it was never done until we shared it with each other and had show and tell. And I have a very dear friend and we share things but it's still not like--

EW: It's not the same.

SF: --sharing it with mom. So, I hope she's up in heaven watching.

EW: Oh, I bet she is. And so, besides your mother then, do you have other teachers, or have you learned through your own experience?

SF: A combination. But there is one other lady in my family and that was my dad's oldest sister. I never learned from her, but if she were living today, she'd be about a hundred and thirty, I think, something like that. And she made a quilt for me when I was born and she was so old at the time that she never got to finish it, it was just the top, it was all hand appliqué. And my mom started hand quilting it probably in the fifties or sixties, did about a third of it, but it was a full-size quilt and I ended up having an Amish lady finish hand quilting it and then I finished the binding. So, the quilt, start to finish, took a little over fifty years.

EW: Wow.

SF: And I have other pieces of needlework that this Aunt Lou did and just like my mother, she was extraordinary in her talent. I even have my dad's christening dress that she had handmade--

EW: Oh, my.

SF: --all sewn by hand, so needlework is a big thing in my family and I'm lucky I have a niece now, she's far, far away up in the upper peninsula of Michigan, but shares that love of quilting and we're always emailing what we're doing and she's always sending me pictures of something that she's completed, so. And I do take classes occasionally or I just recently completed a part-time contract job and I traveled on it and always made a point of going to quilt shops wherever I went and would seek out new ideas and new--I hate to use the word "fads," but new things being introduced in various parts of the country and bring those back. So that in itself was a teaching opportunity.

EW: Oh, yes.

SF: And I think it was two summers ago we went through Lyman, Wyoming on the way to Hill Air Force Base in Utah and we had found, I say we, my best friend, [Gail Rayman] traveled with me on that trip and we had picked out a quilt shop or two to stop at each day. We drove. And this was a little tiny town that we thought that, you know, this isn't going to be much, and we went into this quilt shop that was just fantastic. It was unbelievable. And better yet, they were getting ready for a Christmas in the Summer sale, so I love snowmen and they had snowmen all over the place. But when we were there, we found a new pattern to us for making baby receiving blankets out of two layers of flannel and I asked her, she had a sample, and she gave me a demonstration right there on the spot how to do it, gave me written instructions that they had. And so, I brought those back and I've taught that class at quilt camp in the spring and we do a lot of them for the Kids for Quilts. And before I left that shop, the lady says, 'Have you got a few more minutes before you have to get on the road?' and she took me into her classroom and showed me some quilts they were doing with the X block which I had not seen before. And these quilts look very complex until you start breaking down the construction of them [paper rustling.] and so I came home with an X block template and some patterns and that's some of the quilting I've done recently and also what I taught at the church just this last month.

EW: Can you explain a little more about what the X block is?

SF: The X block is, in the quilt I made, it started out with three strips of fabric, a focal strip in the middle and then two coordinating fabrics on either side and then you take the template called the X block and it's on the diagonal and you lay that along the center strip, is your alignment and then you cut it out and then you sew those new squares back together and they make, in this particular quilt, sort of a zigzag design going down through the quilt, but I didn't have to do any triangular pieces or anything. It was all on the square. It was with bias cuts, so you had to be careful there, but, and the unique thing was the pieces that you cut off as you were cutting on the diagonal, you saved those, sewed them together, and they became your outer border. So, you had no waste. And they used the same technique with a nine patch, cutting it on the diagonal and making some very interesting quilts.

EW: Is that the one that made a version of Hole in the Barn Door?

SF: I've not heard that pattern in relationship to this, but it may be the same concept.

EW: Or the Monkey Wrench? I can't remember what that was called.

SF: They're not--

EW: Okay.

SF: --in the X block. The one I made in the book was called Sleeping Beauty.

EW: Ah, okay.

SF: How they come up with some of the names for quilts I have no idea. [EW chuckles.] Somebody's very imaginative, but it was a lot of fun and it made the quilt look much more complex than it really was.

EW: So now that you've told me your mother did quilting, your aunt did quilting and your niece is doing quilting, are there any other family members that do quilting?

SF: Not really. Well, my mother-in-law, who's since passed away, she did a lot of quilting. And I have since, through this church group, my sister-in-law [Roma Fuller.] on my husband's side is now quilting. And she was an artist anyway and has done some very artistic things with quilting. And I just sort of stand back and chuckle at the different things that she's doing now because she is getting very creative and has done some beautiful work. So, yes there is an extension on my husband's side as well. And I'm very proud to say my oldest granddaughter, [Abbey Fuller.] who's seventeen, at Christmas time she says, 'Grandma, can I pick out some fabric and make a quilt?'

EW: Oh, cool.

SF: And when she was there helping getting ready for Christmas, she picked out a fabric of Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy and found some complementing fabrics and about a month and a half or so ago when we had a snow day from school she came, first time she'd ever used a sewing machine and the quilt is just a simple four patch with a eight inch finished square of the main theme print, so it's a very simple quilt to learn on, but she has sewn all the four patches together, did a beautiful job and I showed her how to sew on a line of paper to learn how to stitch because she'd never touched the machine before and she's got to get back to that when basketball is over, but I'm hoping that my love of quilting and so on will carry on, maybe through her. The other two granddaughters have quilts that I've made. They all do but have not shown the interest in doing a final quilt. They love to play with my scraps though.

EW: Now that quilt that you finished after fifty years, have you ever slept under it?

SF: No, I haven't. And that is an interesting thing, because I know when you give a quilt you don't want people to put it up, you want them to use it and love it. But I treasure this so much that I did not want to put it out on a bed and have a cat get on it or one of the grandkids do something to it. I do keep it out on a quilt rack in my living room so I can see it all the time, but no, I have not slept under it.

EW: How does quilt making impact your family?

SF: [chuckles.] Probably teasing me about my stash. But on the other side of that, this last year, I have five grandchildren and I gave them each a quilt for their birthdays and these were big people quilts because I'd given them smaller quilts a number of years ago. I think it was for their birthdays that year and I decided that they needed something that they've grown up now. The grandchildren are thirteen to nineteen. And so, this last year I made a quilt for all of them and made a quilt the Christmas before for my one son and his wife and the other son so they both have quilts now that I have made. And that has been sort of a unity. I mean they tease me about the stash because it is growing, too much [EW chuckles.] and they're worried that I'll pass on and they've got to do something with it. But they appreciate all the quilts, so I think they enjoy them.

EW: I'm sure they do. Do they sleep under them?

SF: Yes. In fact, years ago I took a class in Bargello and my youngest son was not married at the time and I said he could have the quilt, but he could not have it until he got married, because I didn't think he would take care of it. And his wife just recently told me that when he travels sometimes out of the area to do, he's a tile installer, when he goes and stays overnight, he might take it with him or when he sleeps on the couch he sleeps under that quilt.

EW: Isn't that cool.

SF: So, I had no idea if it was being used or not and I know the quilts I gave my sons for Christmas a couple years ago are on their beds and are being used daily, as well as the grandkids.

EW: That's a nice thing.

SF: It is, and I just got, I had it for about two years to repair it, one of the original smaller quilts from my granddaughter and I just got it back to her repaired. And I made a jeans quilt for my oldest grandson, and he wore out the backing on that and I've got to re-back it and so on and so yes, they are using their quilts and I think they have fond thoughts of their grandma when they do.

EW: I bet they do. Have you ever used quilts to get through a difficult time?

SF: No. [clears throat.] What I've used for difficult times is an afghan that my mother crocheted years ago. And it was more when she was still alive and just shortly after she was gone if I wasn't feeling well and lay on the couch.

EW: So, it's comforting to you still?

SF: I would cover up with that and know that she was there taking care of me.

EW: How about on the other side. Have there been any amusing experiences connected with your quilt making?

SF: Hmm.

EW: Or with your teaching?

SF: I can't think of anything specific, but I know whenever we're together as a group whether it be in the quilt circle each Friday morning or in a class, the fellowship there is just tremendous and has grown. The little group at our church ranges between ten to fifteen people and people that weren't close to begin with, some of them, and some wonderful friendships have developed, so rather than amusing, yeah, we've had some funny times picking on each other and so on, but--

EW: But you have special friendships?

SF: Oh, wonderful friendships. I have come to the conclusion that God loves quilters.

EW: I think that's a good thought. And so, what do you find pleasing about quilt making?

SF: I find it very relaxing. I love feeling the fabric. There's nothing better in the world than to be able to feel fabric and do something with it. I've also done charity quilts and I find that very gratifying because I get to do something I love and at the same time help someone else. I never know who that someone is, but I know out there somewhere someone has got a quilt to keep them warm that they may not have had before.

EW: They may get that comfort that you get with your grandmother's afghan.

SF: I hope so.

EW: Or your mother's afghan.

SF: Mother's afghan. I would hope so. Our church and the quilt group in our church, it's been about 2004 we had a group that was going to Mexico and delivering a school bus that they had refurbished and so I thought that would be a good time, they were going to an orphanage, and I thought that would be a good time, we could make some quilts and not have to worry about the exorbitant cost to ship them, load up the bus. And I thought, you know, we could do sixty, eighty quilts, children's quilts, it would be good. We ended up with a hundred and sixty-three quilts that went on that bus and most quilters will tell you that when they clean out their stash and do something else, they can never tell it's missing and I don't know, a good share of those quilts were from my stash, the material, even though some other people worked on them. And I never saw a hole in my stash.

EW: Oh dear.

SF: It was sort of like the Lord and the loaves and the fishes. He fed the multitudes, so I think, like I said God loves quilters and gives us the material to do.

EW: Are there any aspects of quilt making that you don't enjoy?

SF: I generally do not do hand quilting. The big quilts that I do I have a lady that does the machine quilting for me. She just does a wonderful job and a great variety, and I would rather have her do that than my stopping to hand quilt and then I can get on with the next project. Maybe that sounds strange, but--

EW: No, I don't think that's too unusual.

SF: I enjoy doing hand quilting, but I've never done a huge quilt. I did one baby quilt and a few small wall hangings, but never anything large. I have a quilt top right now that my mother made probably in the fifties to early sixties and it's all--it's a Dresden Plate and you can see some of my childhood dress material in it and it needs to be sandwiched and quilted. It's even marked, she marked it. There are some stains in it, but I am having a hard debate with myself whether I want to hand quilt that myself or to get an Amish lady to do it. But I want to get that quilt finished--

EW: But you want that hand quilted.

SF: Yeah. Oh, this quilt could not be machine quilted. Even though they do beautiful work today--

EW: It wouldn't be what your mother would have done.

SF: Right. My mother would have hand quilted it. And she, like I said, did wonderful hand work.

EW: What art or quilt groups do you belong to?

SF: I belong to the Cal-Co Quilt Guild here in Battle Creek, Michigan. Out of that quilt group we have our Friday circle that meets here at the church and in that we just work on our own projects generally, but we also collaborate on doing some children's quilts for, if you will, our quilt ministry out of the guild. And then as I said, I lead the quilt group at our church that meets, we meet ten months a year, once a month. We take July and August off because we're a farming community and everything going on, but work with that group.

EW: What advances in technology have influenced your work?

SF: I think, rotary cutting.

EW: Yes.

SF: I can remember mom sitting with a cardboard template. In fact, I have a box that greeting cards came in that has some quilt squares in it and the template that was used to cut them. That has tremendously changed how we quilt. And the accuracy of how we can quilt, be--

EW: Oh, yes.

SF: --cause with those templates, they kept wearing down and--using the machine and that becoming acceptable now, I think has been a great advancement, as well as it's now acceptable to machine quilt and when you go to a quilt show you will see machine quilting there that is a work of art. It's amazing what some people can do with their machine. So, I think those have been the biggest changes to me.

EW: What are your favorite techniques and materials?

SF: By materials, you mean fabric?

EW: Umhmm.

SF: Obviously, 100% cotton. I love thirties prints. But if it's 100% cotton and it's quiltable, I love it.

EW: Okay.

SF: In my stash I have a lot of children's prints because of the charity quilts that our guild does. So, I guess as far as materials, that would be it, and just anything pleasing to the eye. As far as techniques, I love machine piecing and, of course, using the rotary cutter. I do some applique, but that's secondary to my piecing.

EW: Describe the studio or the place that you create.

SF: I have a, what would be a small third bedroom in my house and that is my sewing room slash office because my computer and console and everything is in there as well as my sewing machine and the cutting table and storage area in the closet there is stuffed with shelves and fabric, as well as my basement. So, all the machines work I do in that room. I also have a bar at the end of my kitchen counter that is just the perfect height and I do a lot of cutting out there too. And hand work anywhere in the house, setting and watching TV or at the dining room table, or wherever. And when I was still traveling for work, I would always take something with me, some hand work that I was working on and right now, and it may sound strange, and I got this idea from my late mother-in-law, but I'm making five baby quilts for great-grandchildren. Which none of my grandkids are in any relationships and, hopefully, a long way from being parents, but I've decided that even if I'm not on this earth when those great-grandkids come that their first one will have a quilt from great-grandma.

EW: Oh, that's nice.

SF: So, I am embroidering the squares. One was in red work. I've got I think about three done now, sets of squares, I've got to put the tops together. One is sea creatures in primary colors, and I'm doing one of Overall Sam now doing varying sporting activities and instead of red work, he's purple work because our school colors are purple and white, so. Just a little bit unique colors instead of just red work.

EW: What a nice idea.

SF: That's a project and you can just take that square or a group of them, put them in a Ziploc bag with your floss and a little tiny set of scissors and you're set to go, and you can take those on a plane and in an airport or wherever and have something to do. And it creates some good conversations, from people--

EW: I'll bet it does.

SF: --around you. One lady, I don't remember what airport, came by me and she says, 'I haven't seen anybody do that in years,' or they'll start telling me what they've done, and it makes for some good conversations while you're waiting.

EW: It does. So, you're not just with strangers, you're meeting people who know what you do, who understand it. And do you have a design wall?

SF: No.

EW: Okay. So, when you're making things do you lay things out on the bed or on the floor?

SF: Both. If it's small enough to go on the queen size bed, on the top of it, I'll use that because I have back problems, so crawling around the floor is not a good thing for me, but when I did the two big quilts for my sons a year and a half ago, I had to lay those out on the floor and I'd lay the squares out and go pick them up and sew them together and kept repeating the process, but that's when I use the floor.

EW: Okay. How do you balance your time?

SF: Probably not like I should. I'm retired now and I have more time, but I also like to read, and I like to be on the computer so that fights for time. But it's funny, I got my income tax figured yesterday, so I figure now that I've got a bunch of baby quilts cut out this next week, I'm going to be sewing on baby quilts, so it's between household chores and sporting events and quilting.

EW: And did I ask you how many hours a week you quilt?

SF: No, you haven't.

EW: Okay.

SF: I would guess it ranges anywhere from just a few hours to, if I'm working on a project, twenty, thirty, forty hours.

EW: Just depending on what you have lined up.

SF: What I have lined up and if I want to get something done for a special occasion and get it to the lady that does my machine quilting.

EW: Let's talk about aesthetics and design aspects of quilt making. What do you think makes a great quilt?

SF: To me a great quilt is one that's not too busy. One that is very pleasing and restful to the eye. I have some of my own personal color preferences, but yet it always amazes me when I see colors that I don't normally work with that someone has put together, just how beautiful they are. So, I guess just something not too off the wall and too busy that you lose the design. I love the simplicity.

EW: Do you prefer traditional designs necessarily?

SF: I lean to those more, but I always enjoy trying something different. I've never done broderie perse and that's the challenge for our quilt for our guild for our show this year and I'm contemplating doing that. That will be something new, sort of flexing my quilting muscles, if you will. So, yeah, when something new comes along and it looks like a neat technique, I like to--

EW: You're willing to try it.

SF: --experience it at least.

EW: Good.

SF: When I mentioned our church group, that's the whole goal with it, is we try to introduce new techniques and with a small project and then if they enjoy it then they can explore that on their own and expand on what they do. And that has worked very well.

EW: What would you say makes a quilt artistically powerful?

SF: Oh, wow. I sort of see quilts in two categories. I see the art quilts and I see the more utilitarian quilts and I'm not an artist. I can follow directions but the thoughts in my head don't come out my fingers when I want to do something artistic. I really appreciate all the work, the design and so on that go into the artistic quilts and especially the quilting they do on them sometimes in just beyond perfection. But I also more enjoy for everyday life what I would consider more a utilitarian quilt, one that you can cuddle up in and get some comfort with.

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

SF: To me, in a museum, I would love to see quilts starting from the beginning of our country, if it's a U.S. Museum, showing how we have progressed. And, again all facets of it, up through time because they're always introducing something new and as you've made the comment, outside the box and so on, just how we have progressed, and quilting is evolving, and it has become a true work of art and I would love to see it from the time when it was a necessity.

EW: That would make a nice display, wouldn't it?

SF: Yes, it would because I would love to see from some time in the early 1800s or wherever when we first quilted all the way up talking about how they were used and I know you hear about the pioneer ladies how they would piece pieces together, in fact, I have a set of Dresden Plates this aunt never did anything with and a couple of the petals in the Dresden Plate have been pieced with same fabric to make it come out and that was not uncommon back in the early times, so I would love to see all of that, the progression of quilting.

EW: That would be very interesting.

SF: It would be.

EW: What do you think makes a great quiltmaker?

SF: To me, that's an interesting question. To me, anyone who enjoys working with fabric, making something out of it, making it into something different than it started out as a flat piece of material. Someone who has patience, because they don't always go right, and I hate to see when somebody is quilting, they get all uptight because you need to be able to relax and enjoy it.

EW: Is there anyone to whose works you're especially drawn?

SF: I guess it varies from time to time. And new things that I see. But on the same trip to Utah, when we came back, we came back the northern route, through Floodwood, Minnesota and there was a quilt shop, I can't think of the name of it right now, but she introduced a lot of quilt designs made with the Moda charm squares and layer cakes. In fact, the lady associated with the shop was one of the designers for Moda. And I got several of her books and a lot of these quilts I have done have been from charm packs and layer cakes. The two I did for my boys and the five I did for the grandkids this last year. So that was a quilter I really enjoyed. And I enjoy, I can't think of the name right off the top of my head, but new books for children's quilts that are charity quilt friendly as opposed to being very time consuming that you would do for a child or a grandchild or someone as a gift. I appreciate those. And any magazine related to quilting, I love to look at.

EW: Are there any artists that have influenced you?

SF: We have one in our own guild, Carol Loessel, who is from Macomb, Michigan, I think is her address now. I met her through the guild and have taken a class from her every chance I've had at Quilt Camp every spring. And she's heavy into scraps. And I always enjoy what she does, she's a dynamic presenter when she teaches a class and I have almost all the patterns that she has sold and when you read them it's like hearing her talk, after knowing her. So, I really enjoy her creativity and certainly encourage it.

EW: Now we've talked about hand quilting and machine quilting. How do you feel about one versus the other?

SF: I love both of them. I appreciate the workmanship that goes into both of them. Because of the expediency, I prefer machine quilting. And machine piecing. But I truly admire anyone that sets and hand pieces and hand quilts. So, I have an admiration for those. And I'm also thankful that the quilting world in general is accepting machine work these days--

EW: Yes, yes.

SF: --because, what, about twenty years ago it was, 'You machine quilted that?' and now they're doing such extraordinary work it is truly acceptable.

EW: A long way from looking at bed pads with just their diagonal quilting things and they've been so much more innovative.

SF: We used to have a lady who came to our circle, she's moved to the south, I don't know, five, six years ago, but she was very artistic and had a longarm machine and she quilted, machine quilted some of the ladies' quilts in our guild, or our circle, and one I know had houses in it and she accentuated maybe the fireplace or the chimney, paths coming down the sidewalk--

EW: So, she created an environment.

SF: Yes. And it just made that whole quilt pop. And, I would love to have a longarm machine, but, again, I'm not artistic and I couldn't do that type of work, so I'll leave that to those that have that talent.

EW: What is it about quilt making that makes it important to your life?

SF: The accomplishment. I probably would get more done if I didn't have to stop and look at what I just did. And, if it sounds boastful, I'm sorry, but admire what I just did, or if it needs some re-work. But I enjoy the accomplishment of it. I enjoy the opportunity to give the quilts. I have very few quilts at my house because I've done so many that have gone elsewhere and that is a good feeling. And, as I said before, making the quilts for Kids for Quilts, the feeling that it's win-win because I get to do what I like and enjoy and someone else gets benefit.

EW: What ways do you think your quilts reflect your community?

SF: I mentioned earlier I'm in a farming community and I think of coming through history, quilts coming out of that environment, so I think it's a part of the community in which I live.

EW: And what do you think about the importance of quilting in American life?

SF: Today it is a craft of what one loves to do, not out of necessity as it started. Because in the early days, obviously they made quilts to keep warm and it was a necessity. Today it is a hobby but one that can be cherished and loved and shared.

EW: In what ways do you think quilts have a special meaning for women's history in America?

SF: I think they have a big bearing on reflecting the history that we have gone through. When I mentioned, you asked about a museum. I think that goes hand-in-hand with that, of being able to see and how we have progressed and the new technology, that has a bearing too, that very important in the culture of women and there are some men that are very famous in the quilt world.

EW: How do you think quilts can be used?

SF: Say that again.

EW: How do you think quilts can be used?

SF: I'll start with the charity quilts because I know a lot of those are given when kids are taken out of bad situations, so I think quilts can be used as a big comfort. I know a lot of quilts are made for Lifespan, for the patients there. I would hope that they get a comfort out of those and their families after the person is gone, that it would give them comfort that there was something that their loved one and they are sharing. So, to me, quilts are there for a comfort. And, if you make wall hangings and so on, of course, a decorative embellishment to your home, but I think first, comfort.

EW: And describe a little bit what Lifespan is.

SF: Here in Battle Creek, we have a Lifespan, they've actually created a home environment. I don't know how many beds they have, but, for terminally ill patients that can no longer, maybe, stay at home. It's too much for the family for 24/7 care.

EW: Is that Hospice House?

SF: Hospice House, yes. And so, the patients go there, their family can stay with them, but they get the care they need, and it's not in a hospital, it's more in a home setting. And they do try to give to each patient that goes through that, a quilt, to put on their bed there and for the family to have afterwards. I think that's a great ministry.

EW: Oh, I do too. How do you think quilts can be preserved for the future?

SF: That's a hard one. If someone made a concerted effort, obviously museums could preserve quilts, but most of the quilts are going to be in a home situation and maybe not preserved because they're going to be loved and put on beds. A few weeks back we were without power for four days because of an ice storm that came through here and so we could conserve in using a generator I stayed at my son's house, and I was tickled to death to see my two grandkids there curled up in the quilts that I had made them. And I would rather see them do that and wear those quilts out than to store them away.

EW: Well, we've pretty much talked about what happened to the quilts that you made for your friends and family and others.

SF: Most of them are being used.

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

SF: I hate to say it, but the expense. Out of necessity and the cost of cotton, fabric has become very expensive. Patterns tend to be expensive. So that to me is a big challenge for quilters.

EW: We've reached the end of our questions. Is there anything else that you would particularly like to talk about?

SF: No. The only thing I would like to say is anyone that is hearing this, if they have any interest in sewing or in creation that they would pursue looking into quilting because it's a wonderful hobby and if you can do it and be relaxed it is medicinal. It is very therapeutic, and I am so glad that I've had the opportunity to learn to quilt. There's scads that I need to learn, but I'm also blessed by the people that I have made friends of through quilting. And so I find quilting a big blessing and I think anyone involved in it would.

EW: Well, we appreciate very much you're taking the time to do this very interesting interview. This concludes our interview. The time is 11:48 a.m. Thank you.