Marcia Lippen
Photos
Title
Marcia Lippen
Identifier
MI49016-044
Interviewee
Marcia Lippen
Interviewer
Eleanor Wilkinson
Interview Date
2011-04-01
Interview sponsor
Susan Salser
Location
Battle Creek, Michigan
Transcriber
Eleanor Wilkinson
Transcription
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 Marcia Lippen at Westlake Presbyterian Church in Battle Creek, Michigan. Today is April 1, 2011, and the time is 10:15 a.m. Let's begin by talking about the quilt that you brought. Does it have a special meaning for you?
Marcia Lippen (ML): No
EW: Was it just a quilt that you're fond of that made you bring it in for the interview?
ML: Yes, it is a quilt that I saw in a shop. They didn't have the pattern, so I went home, worked it out on paper, made the quilt. A few years ago, maybe four years ago my son-in-law's mother wanted to get the family to put things in the Centreville fair and so it had to be all done by one member of the family, or the family had to do it. It didn't necessarily have to be one member. It could be made by and quilted by Grandma or whatever. This was one that I had done everything on, so I entered it and it got a first-place ribbon.
EW: Wonderful. That's the ribbon that's pinned to the quilt now?
ML: Yes.
EW: Very good. That was pretty exciting, wasn't it?
ML: Yes.
EW: And what county fair was that? You don't remember now?
ML: No, it's on the tag. I want to say St. Joseph; it's in Centreville, Michigan. [St. Joseph County Grange Fair, 2006, Centreville, Michigan.]
EW: What do you think somebody viewing this quilt would think about you?
ML: I don't know.
EW: No idea.
ML: No.
EW: Okay. How do you use this quilt?
ML: I hang it over a door on a hutch in my sewing room, so I see it all the time.
EW: Oh, that's cool. And what are your plans for this quilt?
ML: Hadn't thought of that.
EW: Okay.
ML: My daughter and granddaughter don't really have an interest in quilting, but after I'm gone, they might want it.
EW: It might be important because you made it.
ML: MmHmm.
EW: When did you start quilt making?
ML: My first was a table runner that I did in 1980. It was a Christmas table runner. The pattern was in Quilters' Newsletter. [Quilters' Newsletter Magazine.] That was the first. It was hand quilted.
EW: How did your interest in quilt making come about?
ML: My grandmother, my mother's mother, had made six-pointed star blocks and, at Easter, we laid them on my mother's double bed so that the stars, if there were duplicates, weren't next to each other. And then they were picked up and they were marked; row one, two, on through to, I think twelve rows, and put together. Well, then my grandmother died in 1955 and they were never finished. They were sewed in rows, but the quilt top was never finished. So, I tried to find magazines, which in the late seventies was hard to come by, that had that pattern in it. She did leave me two or three stars put together and the piece, the triangle piece that was used to put them together. That started my quest on how to finish the quilt. Then I got to looking at books and I knew it was beyond my expertise at that time. I had done a lot of clothing sewing, but never any quilting.
EW: And so that started it all? Do you have an earlier memory of quilting? What do you think your first quilt memory might be?
ML: That would have been it.
EW: That would have, been it? Did you see anybody making quilts when you were a child?
ML: Never.
EW: From whom would you say you learned to quilt? Are you self-taught?
ML: Self-taught.
EW: And you learned by reading all those magazines, too?
ML: MmHmm. And I had a knowledge of sewing, by hand.
EW: How many hours a week do you think you quilt?
ML: I don't know. As many as I can get.
EW: Do you quilt every day?
ML: I work at it every day.
EW: Are there other quiltmakers in your family?
ML: No.
EW: What was the grandmother that made the--
ML: The blocks, was my Grandma Wing. Bertha Wing was her name. They lived at Hickory Corners [Michigan.], actually around the corner from where my son-in-law has a home.
EW: And your mother didn't quilt?
ML: No.
EW: How does your quilt making impact your family?
ML: I'm not sure that it does. I know my daughter brought me a bunch of material when she came back from Canada, knowing that I quilt and I might like it. Strange material.
EW: Maybe it'll make an interesting quilt.
ML: Yeah. Panels that I'm not used to working with, but I have found one pattern book that had an idea that I can use. So, hopefully--
EW: Do you develop your own patterns, sometimes?
ML: Not really.
EW: You just adapt? Have you ever quilted to get through a difficult time?
ML: No.
EW: Are there any amusing experiences you've had with regard to quilting?
ML: Not that I can think of.
EW: What do you find especially pleasing about quilt making?
ML: I like the end product. I like what it looks like. I like the fabrics together and the patterns. It doesn't necessarily have to be a difficult pattern or an easy pattern. It's just the end result. I like what it looks like when it's all done.
EW: Nice to do that. What aspects of quilting do you not enjoy?
ML: Washing the material before I cut it. That, you know, when I buy the material, I want to get right at the cutting and the sewing. So, when I buy strips like jelly rolls, they don't have to be washed.
EW: Ahaa.
ML: Ahaa. It tells you right in the book, 'Don't wash them. It will come out a tangled mess.' I like that.
EW: Yes. Good advice. What art or quilt groups do you belong to?
ML: Spring Chixs that meets right here at Westlake Presbyterian and the Cal-Co quilt guild. [Cal-Co Quilters' Guild, Battle Creek, Michigan.]
EW: Are there advances in technology that have influenced your work?
ML: I do like the rotary cutter and the rulers, much better than cereal box templates.
EW: Yes.
ML: And some of the quilt stencils that you can extend for your borders.
EW: Those are nice, aren't they?
ML: Those are nice.
EW: And what are your favorite techniques in quilting?
ML: I like to cut and sew.
EW: Then you are a piecer?
ML: I'm a piecer.
EW: Do you do appliqué?
ML: Yes.
EW: Do you have any favorite materials?
ML: Mostly the cottons, but the batiks are pretty nice, and the thirties fabrics.
EW: Let's hear about the place where you do your creations. Do you have a studio or a sewing room?
ML: Well, it's sort of a studio-sewing room. We added on to our home over here and so I have a large room that has a chest of drawers for fabric and a closet with shelves for fabric and stencils, patterns and a couple of sewing machines. The ironing board can stay up all the time. I have a cutting table that was my Grandma Lippen's wash-tub table. I know it was in the basement and it has a drawer in it which was absolutely the best, because I can put my different cutters, my small rulers and pencils and marking pencils in it.
EW: Very convenient.
ML: Very convenient. I just love it. I did have to put it up on some blocks of wood to get a little better height.
EW: Do you have a design wall.
ML: No. I put everything on the bed. I either cover it with a white sheet so that the quilt that's on there doesn't bother what I'm laying out. I have a dressmaker's fold-up type, 72 by 36, that I used to use in dressmaking. I put that on the bed. It's easy, then, to move the pattern, the blocks around if you need to.
EW: Do you sleep under a quilt?
ML: Oh, yes.
EW: Tell me, now, what you think makes a great quilt.
ML: What makes a great quilt. It's just warm and cozy. My cat and I love it. [laughs.] She sleeps underneath there when I'm not in the bed during the day. It looks like I have a third pillow. It's just a cat underneath the quilt.
EW: [laughs.] It must be cozy for her. And what do you think makes a quilt artistically powerful?
ML: Pattern, quilt pattern, fabric and the quilting pattern itself. I like to see the fabric in the finished quilt, but then I like to take a closer look and see the actual quilting pattern. I want them both to be outstanding by themselves, but they have to go together.
EW: They have to work well together?
ML: Yes. I want to see the pattern of the block and the fabric, but then on closer look I want to see the nice quilting, too.
EW: Do you think the quilting needs to work with the design?
ML: Oh, yes.
EW: What do you think makes a quilt appropriate for a museum or a special collection?
ML: Probably fabric age has a lot to do with museum quality. Today's fabric might not be museum quality. Intricate patterns in the blocks, maybe.
EW: What do you think makes a great quiltmaker?
ML: What makes a great quiltmaker? I don't know.
EW: Okay. Who's works are you drawn to?
ML: Not one particular individual. I've seen the television personalities and I've read magazine articles, different quilters, but there's not one that really is outstanding. I like a little bit of all of them, I guess.
EW: Are there any artists that have influenced you?
ML: No.
EW: Now let's talk about machine quilting versus hand quilting.
ML: Well, machine quilting has a place. I like my sewing machine so I turn out blocks and patterns--tops, I should say. And I want bed-sized quilts and I'm not going to live long enough to hand quilt them. So, for that reason I like a long-arm machine quilter to do my quilting. But for the small ones, the wall hangings, I like to do that myself.
EW: On your machine?
ML: By hand.
EW: Oh, by hand.
ML: I have done, though a lot of charity quilts that are done by machine but very simple, straight or wiggly lines. Nothing fancy.
EW: So, you mean kids quilts and things like that?
ML: Kids quilts, yes. Our charity Quilts for Kids that the guild does and then the ones I make for Charitable Union. I do most of those. I do most of those; I'd rather do them on the machine than tie them any day. I'm not a tier.
EW: Okay. You're a quilter.
ML: I am a quilter.
EW: All right. Why do you think quilting is important to your life.
ML: Well, it's a hobby. It's something I can lose myself in if I have the time and it's a hobby. I have this big room full of quilting things.
EW: It's fun to work there?
ML: Oh, yes. I can't wait to get in there, before breakfast and after dinner.
EW: So, you do quite a little quilting during the week?
ML: I try.
EW: You might do, what two or three hours at least?
ML: Oh, yes. At least.
EW: Per day?
ML: A day, at least. Mostly my sewing machine is the one that's going more than my hand quilting. I don't have that many hand quilted pieces.
EW: In what ways do your quilts reflect your community?
ML: I don't think they do.
EW: Okay. What do you think about the importance of quilts in American life?
ML: Well, at one time they were a necessity. Now they're more of a decorative item in your home. For warmth.
EW: In what ways do you think quilts have special for women's history in America?
ML: Well, it's nice to know what somebody did and how they did it. The fabrics that they used, or the only fabrics they had to use.
EW: How do you think quilts can be used?
ML: On the bed. Some on the wall, oh, and lap quilts are good. I like lap quilts.
EW: What about preserving quilts for the future? Do you think they should be saved? Any of them?
ML: Yes, I think that future generations are going to want to look back and see, like we look back, to see what was done before us. Like in future ones, hopefully, will look back and see what we did.
EW: And what has happened to the quilts that you have made?
ML: I have them all on a beautiful quilt rack that a friend of mine made. He made one for his wife and I saw it and I said, 'I want one, but it's got to be a little bit taller.' And he made it for me, but I need a couple more because I've got more quilts than that's designed to hold.
EW: Have you ever used quilts as gifts?
ML: Yes.
EW: What do you think is the biggest challenge confronting quiltmakers today?
ML: The price of fabric. Holy Cow. It seems like every time I go to the quilt stores, they were up another fifty cents a yard.
EW: This brings us to the end of our questions. Do you have anything that you'd like to talk about?
ML: No.
EW: I want to thank you for taking the time. We appreciate, very much, your sharing these thoughts with us. This concludes our interview, and it is now 10:34 a.m.
Marcia Lippen (ML): No
EW: Was it just a quilt that you're fond of that made you bring it in for the interview?
ML: Yes, it is a quilt that I saw in a shop. They didn't have the pattern, so I went home, worked it out on paper, made the quilt. A few years ago, maybe four years ago my son-in-law's mother wanted to get the family to put things in the Centreville fair and so it had to be all done by one member of the family, or the family had to do it. It didn't necessarily have to be one member. It could be made by and quilted by Grandma or whatever. This was one that I had done everything on, so I entered it and it got a first-place ribbon.
EW: Wonderful. That's the ribbon that's pinned to the quilt now?
ML: Yes.
EW: Very good. That was pretty exciting, wasn't it?
ML: Yes.
EW: And what county fair was that? You don't remember now?
ML: No, it's on the tag. I want to say St. Joseph; it's in Centreville, Michigan. [St. Joseph County Grange Fair, 2006, Centreville, Michigan.]
EW: What do you think somebody viewing this quilt would think about you?
ML: I don't know.
EW: No idea.
ML: No.
EW: Okay. How do you use this quilt?
ML: I hang it over a door on a hutch in my sewing room, so I see it all the time.
EW: Oh, that's cool. And what are your plans for this quilt?
ML: Hadn't thought of that.
EW: Okay.
ML: My daughter and granddaughter don't really have an interest in quilting, but after I'm gone, they might want it.
EW: It might be important because you made it.
ML: MmHmm.
EW: When did you start quilt making?
ML: My first was a table runner that I did in 1980. It was a Christmas table runner. The pattern was in Quilters' Newsletter. [Quilters' Newsletter Magazine.] That was the first. It was hand quilted.
EW: How did your interest in quilt making come about?
ML: My grandmother, my mother's mother, had made six-pointed star blocks and, at Easter, we laid them on my mother's double bed so that the stars, if there were duplicates, weren't next to each other. And then they were picked up and they were marked; row one, two, on through to, I think twelve rows, and put together. Well, then my grandmother died in 1955 and they were never finished. They were sewed in rows, but the quilt top was never finished. So, I tried to find magazines, which in the late seventies was hard to come by, that had that pattern in it. She did leave me two or three stars put together and the piece, the triangle piece that was used to put them together. That started my quest on how to finish the quilt. Then I got to looking at books and I knew it was beyond my expertise at that time. I had done a lot of clothing sewing, but never any quilting.
EW: And so that started it all? Do you have an earlier memory of quilting? What do you think your first quilt memory might be?
ML: That would have been it.
EW: That would have, been it? Did you see anybody making quilts when you were a child?
ML: Never.
EW: From whom would you say you learned to quilt? Are you self-taught?
ML: Self-taught.
EW: And you learned by reading all those magazines, too?
ML: MmHmm. And I had a knowledge of sewing, by hand.
EW: How many hours a week do you think you quilt?
ML: I don't know. As many as I can get.
EW: Do you quilt every day?
ML: I work at it every day.
EW: Are there other quiltmakers in your family?
ML: No.
EW: What was the grandmother that made the--
ML: The blocks, was my Grandma Wing. Bertha Wing was her name. They lived at Hickory Corners [Michigan.], actually around the corner from where my son-in-law has a home.
EW: And your mother didn't quilt?
ML: No.
EW: How does your quilt making impact your family?
ML: I'm not sure that it does. I know my daughter brought me a bunch of material when she came back from Canada, knowing that I quilt and I might like it. Strange material.
EW: Maybe it'll make an interesting quilt.
ML: Yeah. Panels that I'm not used to working with, but I have found one pattern book that had an idea that I can use. So, hopefully--
EW: Do you develop your own patterns, sometimes?
ML: Not really.
EW: You just adapt? Have you ever quilted to get through a difficult time?
ML: No.
EW: Are there any amusing experiences you've had with regard to quilting?
ML: Not that I can think of.
EW: What do you find especially pleasing about quilt making?
ML: I like the end product. I like what it looks like. I like the fabrics together and the patterns. It doesn't necessarily have to be a difficult pattern or an easy pattern. It's just the end result. I like what it looks like when it's all done.
EW: Nice to do that. What aspects of quilting do you not enjoy?
ML: Washing the material before I cut it. That, you know, when I buy the material, I want to get right at the cutting and the sewing. So, when I buy strips like jelly rolls, they don't have to be washed.
EW: Ahaa.
ML: Ahaa. It tells you right in the book, 'Don't wash them. It will come out a tangled mess.' I like that.
EW: Yes. Good advice. What art or quilt groups do you belong to?
ML: Spring Chixs that meets right here at Westlake Presbyterian and the Cal-Co quilt guild. [Cal-Co Quilters' Guild, Battle Creek, Michigan.]
EW: Are there advances in technology that have influenced your work?
ML: I do like the rotary cutter and the rulers, much better than cereal box templates.
EW: Yes.
ML: And some of the quilt stencils that you can extend for your borders.
EW: Those are nice, aren't they?
ML: Those are nice.
EW: And what are your favorite techniques in quilting?
ML: I like to cut and sew.
EW: Then you are a piecer?
ML: I'm a piecer.
EW: Do you do appliqué?
ML: Yes.
EW: Do you have any favorite materials?
ML: Mostly the cottons, but the batiks are pretty nice, and the thirties fabrics.
EW: Let's hear about the place where you do your creations. Do you have a studio or a sewing room?
ML: Well, it's sort of a studio-sewing room. We added on to our home over here and so I have a large room that has a chest of drawers for fabric and a closet with shelves for fabric and stencils, patterns and a couple of sewing machines. The ironing board can stay up all the time. I have a cutting table that was my Grandma Lippen's wash-tub table. I know it was in the basement and it has a drawer in it which was absolutely the best, because I can put my different cutters, my small rulers and pencils and marking pencils in it.
EW: Very convenient.
ML: Very convenient. I just love it. I did have to put it up on some blocks of wood to get a little better height.
EW: Do you have a design wall.
ML: No. I put everything on the bed. I either cover it with a white sheet so that the quilt that's on there doesn't bother what I'm laying out. I have a dressmaker's fold-up type, 72 by 36, that I used to use in dressmaking. I put that on the bed. It's easy, then, to move the pattern, the blocks around if you need to.
EW: Do you sleep under a quilt?
ML: Oh, yes.
EW: Tell me, now, what you think makes a great quilt.
ML: What makes a great quilt. It's just warm and cozy. My cat and I love it. [laughs.] She sleeps underneath there when I'm not in the bed during the day. It looks like I have a third pillow. It's just a cat underneath the quilt.
EW: [laughs.] It must be cozy for her. And what do you think makes a quilt artistically powerful?
ML: Pattern, quilt pattern, fabric and the quilting pattern itself. I like to see the fabric in the finished quilt, but then I like to take a closer look and see the actual quilting pattern. I want them both to be outstanding by themselves, but they have to go together.
EW: They have to work well together?
ML: Yes. I want to see the pattern of the block and the fabric, but then on closer look I want to see the nice quilting, too.
EW: Do you think the quilting needs to work with the design?
ML: Oh, yes.
EW: What do you think makes a quilt appropriate for a museum or a special collection?
ML: Probably fabric age has a lot to do with museum quality. Today's fabric might not be museum quality. Intricate patterns in the blocks, maybe.
EW: What do you think makes a great quiltmaker?
ML: What makes a great quiltmaker? I don't know.
EW: Okay. Who's works are you drawn to?
ML: Not one particular individual. I've seen the television personalities and I've read magazine articles, different quilters, but there's not one that really is outstanding. I like a little bit of all of them, I guess.
EW: Are there any artists that have influenced you?
ML: No.
EW: Now let's talk about machine quilting versus hand quilting.
ML: Well, machine quilting has a place. I like my sewing machine so I turn out blocks and patterns--tops, I should say. And I want bed-sized quilts and I'm not going to live long enough to hand quilt them. So, for that reason I like a long-arm machine quilter to do my quilting. But for the small ones, the wall hangings, I like to do that myself.
EW: On your machine?
ML: By hand.
EW: Oh, by hand.
ML: I have done, though a lot of charity quilts that are done by machine but very simple, straight or wiggly lines. Nothing fancy.
EW: So, you mean kids quilts and things like that?
ML: Kids quilts, yes. Our charity Quilts for Kids that the guild does and then the ones I make for Charitable Union. I do most of those. I do most of those; I'd rather do them on the machine than tie them any day. I'm not a tier.
EW: Okay. You're a quilter.
ML: I am a quilter.
EW: All right. Why do you think quilting is important to your life.
ML: Well, it's a hobby. It's something I can lose myself in if I have the time and it's a hobby. I have this big room full of quilting things.
EW: It's fun to work there?
ML: Oh, yes. I can't wait to get in there, before breakfast and after dinner.
EW: So, you do quite a little quilting during the week?
ML: I try.
EW: You might do, what two or three hours at least?
ML: Oh, yes. At least.
EW: Per day?
ML: A day, at least. Mostly my sewing machine is the one that's going more than my hand quilting. I don't have that many hand quilted pieces.
EW: In what ways do your quilts reflect your community?
ML: I don't think they do.
EW: Okay. What do you think about the importance of quilts in American life?
ML: Well, at one time they were a necessity. Now they're more of a decorative item in your home. For warmth.
EW: In what ways do you think quilts have special for women's history in America?
ML: Well, it's nice to know what somebody did and how they did it. The fabrics that they used, or the only fabrics they had to use.
EW: How do you think quilts can be used?
ML: On the bed. Some on the wall, oh, and lap quilts are good. I like lap quilts.
EW: What about preserving quilts for the future? Do you think they should be saved? Any of them?
ML: Yes, I think that future generations are going to want to look back and see, like we look back, to see what was done before us. Like in future ones, hopefully, will look back and see what we did.
EW: And what has happened to the quilts that you have made?
ML: I have them all on a beautiful quilt rack that a friend of mine made. He made one for his wife and I saw it and I said, 'I want one, but it's got to be a little bit taller.' And he made it for me, but I need a couple more because I've got more quilts than that's designed to hold.
EW: Have you ever used quilts as gifts?
ML: Yes.
EW: What do you think is the biggest challenge confronting quiltmakers today?
ML: The price of fabric. Holy Cow. It seems like every time I go to the quilt stores, they were up another fifty cents a yard.
EW: This brings us to the end of our questions. Do you have anything that you'd like to talk about?
ML: No.
EW: I want to thank you for taking the time. We appreciate, very much, your sharing these thoughts with us. This concludes our interview, and it is now 10:34 a.m.
Collection
Citation
“Marcia Lippen,” Quilters' S.O.S. -- Save Our Stories, accessed May 19, 2024, https://qsos.quiltalliance.org/items/show/2193.