Edwinna Saucier

Edwinna Saucier

NM87111-011

Edwinna Rush Saucier

Evelyn Salinger

2010-04-22

Susan Salser

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Evelyn Salinger

Evelyn Salinger (ES): This is Evelyn Salinger, and I am conducting a Quilters' S.O.S. - Save Our Stories interview with Edwinna Rush Saucier. Today's date is April 22, 2010. It is approximately 1:45 p.m. And we are at my house in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Hi, Edwinna. It is nice of you to be here today with us for the interview. First let's talk about what you brought today.

Edwinna Rush Saucier (ERS): This is the first quilt that I made, and I believe it is called Grandmother's Flower Garden. And it has the six sides to it, we call that a hexagon. It's three different prints. The reason that I picked this is that I was new quilter, and I didn't really know what I was doing. I picked it because it was one template.

ES: Oh.

ERS: [laughs.] And you could just use one template and it just went from there. I imagine I had a quilt book that I used to show me how to put it together; otherwise, it was completely hand pieced and hand quilted. I know I made it between 1985 and 1988 because I know where I was living at the time.

ES: Where were you at the time?

ERS: I was living in Farmington, New Mexico. And I had a neighbor that came to our church who made just beautiful quilts. She was my inspiration to get started.

ES: Would you tell us the colors that you used?

ERS: Well, I had, would you say, rose, and kind of a mauve, a lighter rose. I guess there are three different prints.

ES: In between is not a print.

ERS: That is peachy pink.

ES: The backing?

ERS: The backing is like the center square. Just a little print.

ES: It's an off white with little pink flowers. What size is this quilt?

ERS: I haven't measured it lately, but I would say that it is at least a regular sized bed. A full bed.

ES: Do you use it much?

ERS: No, I really haven't used it. I picked out the material so I liked it but it was not always the colors that I had in my bedroom. I really probably didn't use it much.

ES: You said that you did the whole thing by hand, every single stitch of it, including the edges which look very complicated.

ERS: I really tucked them under. I didn't really know what I was supposed to do. I really had not had a lesson.

ES: Where did you first encounter quilting?

ERS: After I left Farmington, New Mexico, I was too busy with the grandchildren and stuff for a while. And when we moved to Odessa, Texas, because my husband was a Methodist minister, I took a quilting class. And it helped me with piecing because we made Sampler quilts, 12-inch squares, and we did it on the machine. We did it with sashing and so that was very good in learning piecing because in making the Sampler, every square was different, and so it helped in learning to piece and how to calculate what size and just how to go about it. And between this one and taking that class, I really did not do very much. I found that after your kids grow up and everything, it's a wonderful thing, you feel so inspired. I don't know what I would do with my time if I couldn't quilt. You know, quilt and read. Those are the two things.

ES: When was this that you were in Texas?

ERS: We moved to Texas in 1994. We just moved there for two years because he retired in 1996. I made quite a few of those Sunbonnet quilts. You appliquéd, but you did it with the iron on method, if you know what I mean. You get that material, and you sew it on and turn it inside out and appliqué. You press the appliqué. It was lots of fun. I made one, and I don't know who for. But then my girls saw that, and they both had to have one. I made quite a few of those. I remember, they were a lot of fun, but I don't want to make another one now. You go through moods where you want to do different things.

ES: Where had you heard of quilting even before you tried this? What made you get started?

ERS: I don t know. Mother always said she had some pieces at home, years ago. And she always had a box of some scraps in there. She said, 'Someday I'm going to make a quilt.' But she never did. I think it is good to have a hobby after children grow up and all, and Mother did ceramics. And she got into that, so she never got into quilting. And then, I really do think that that neighbor who lived right down the street that came to our church. Oh, she did gorgeous things. And she even won prizes at the fair in Farmington. I think she was my inspiration. And really, I had never gotten into people quilting that much before. I know that some churches even have groups that get together and quilt. Our churches never did that. There was one in Deming, New Mexico, where they'd get together, the ladies, and they'd quilt and I think they'd sell the quilt afterwards, for the church. But I think that's when I got inspired and it was about the time when I needed something extra to do.

ES: Are you a New Mexican to start with?

ERS: No, I grew up mainly in Michigan. I was born during the Depression, 1931, and Daddy had jobs in retail. To keep the job during the Depression, he moved around. I went to school in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, and Jackson, Michigan, and then I went away to college.

ES: What made you land here in Albuquerque?

ERS: When I met my husband in Kentucky, he was in seminary. He was from El Paso, Texas. And we lived in Michigan for a while, but he just couldn't take that weather up there. It was depressing to him. He liked sunshine. He grew up in the sunshine. He went to school out in California, and then in Kentucky, so we came to the New Mexico Conference of the Methodist Church. He started in Lordsburg, New Mexico. In 1972, we came to New Mexico.

ES: So that means, being in that Conference, means that you move within--

ERS: Within, yes. I lived in Lordsburg and then in El Paso for a while, and Silver City and Farmington, and then he was here in Albuquerque because he was a district superintendent. And then we retired from Odessa, Texas.

ES: You have moved a lot. It's surprising that you did not see more quilting ladies.

ERS: I think I did have an older friend, but she wasn't doing it anymore. And we lived in a farm community up at in Fairgrove, Michigan. You'd think I would have noticed some of them doing quilting, but it didn't really sink in. I guess I wasn't inspired. I always thought, oh, who would want to get together and put all these tiny pieces together?

ES: Did you start sewing at a young age?

ERS: Yeah. I think I took one Home Ec course and I did sew for my kids some, you know. My girls and myself. I was never expert. Yes, I do sew. So, it wasn't completely foreign. I think my favorite part about quilting is picking out the pattern and the material and the piecing. I love piecing. That's my favorite part.

ES: Does it matter if it is by hand or by machine, the piecing?

ERS: I guess I'm impatient. Now, I'm so used to doing piecing on the machine, but I have a friend who is a quilter, who lives up in Ohio, she and her husband are retired, and because they travel so much, she does all her piecing and everything by hand. They usually spend three months out of the winter in Florida. When you travel around so much, you do things differently.

ES: So, you prefer, at this point, to do most piecing by machine?

ERS: I'm not much on appliqué because I just never took to it. It's hard to get those little pieces to get it in there. I like the regular piecing. So, I never took to appliqué that much. It's the fun of doing it. And if you make something work, then it's not fun anymore. I got into the group at the Senior Center. After my husband died, I moved over here close to where you live, Northeast Albuquerque, and I lived just a block or so from Janet [Moffatt.], one of our quilters. I was out walking one Sunday afternoon, and she was in her front yard. We got to talking and I said something about quilting, and she said, 'Oh, you've got to come to the [Bear Canyon.] Senior Center. I started in the fall of 1999 and enjoyed the fellowship. And they are such a wonderful group of ladies. They all from different experiences, just like you, Evelyn, lived in different places, done different things. It's just a lot of fun to meet all the ladies.

ES: It has become such a nice close group.

ERS: It really is sometimes visiting while you are quilting and all. It's almost like a support group. Like we lost a member lately and it is a close-knit group.

ES: What are your projects now?

ERS: I do quite a few of the small quilts for Ronald McDonald House.

ES: You are prolific.

ERS: I probably made at least 12 since the first of the year. Now I am making a machine quilted quilt. It's the Log Cabin. I'm just making it for myself, I guess. Lot of times I have extra ones and I get inspired, and I give them away.

ES: Do you keep track of the ones you have made? Do you have pictures?

ERS: No, I don't have pictures of all of them. I really have no idea. I probably make more because I do them by machine quilting. I know I did a quilt for this girl that works part time with my daughter. And when she had a baby, Laurie says, 'Oh, Mom. She wants a quilt.' So, I made one for her. It's just fun. I know Janet has that same idea. She just likes to do it. It's a way of giving. Don't you find it so?

ES: Absolutely.

ERS: It's the fun of giving. We are widowed, yet your family is all grown up and it's a wonderful way to use your time.

ES: How much time per day or week do you quilt?

ERS: Oh, I'd say, when I am at home in a normal week, I would say four to five hours a day.

ES: Do you do something while you quilt? Or do you do it in peace and quiet?

ERS: Usually, I quilt for a while, and then I will go read because sometimes you get tied up in your shoulders. Now this time of year, I've been doing some yard work. Your housework. I would say on a normal day, lot of times unless you are running around that day, maybe about four or five hours.

ES: That's a great hobby, isn't it? You have already told me that you prefer the piecing and choosing of the fabric. Do you have a preference on certain kinds of patterns?

ERS: I've done quite a few quilts of Irish Chain. I have mostly done the Double or Triple. They lend themselves to machine quilting, I find. I machine quilt usually the quilt in quarters and then put it together in quarters. And then you quilt in the ditch on the machine.

ES: You mentioned before about four different quilts that you have made. The one that's on your bed.

ERS: It's the same one you have in there. What's that one called?

ES: Oh, that's the Jewel Box.

ERS: I've made quite a few Jewel Box quilts. I made one and gave it to my friend who lives on the West side and comes to my church. I like that. You can use a lot of scraps.

ES: Yes, you can.

ERS: It's a good way to use scraps. You can kind of keep a certain color, like the one on my bed is done with green and beiges and browns. Janet [Moffatt.], she got us to doing that Pioneer Braid, where you use two and a half inch by five and a quarter and you put it together and it comes out like a chevron. She calls it a chevron. And you sew it down in strips.

ES: I haven't figured it out yet.

ERS: It's kind of fun. You start out with the light at the top and you go gradually darker. I have done quite a few of those when Janet showed me how.

ES: People ask, 'How many quilts have you made?' I haven't any idea. Do you have an idea?

ERS: No. I really haven't.

ES: You say, sometimes you give them to other charities, besides Ronald McDonald.

ERS: I give some to the church. Right now, and I know there are some others in our group, that really enjoy doing it for the Ronald McDonald House because when I went in there one time to take some quilts, and they said that they put them on the end of the bed when the little kids come in, then they get to take the quilt home. I just can imagine some of those little kids come in. And so we have all kinds of scraps come in to the Center and I know I had some with bunny rabbits and took them in before Easter. And so, I try to do quite a few of those for every year. I can imagine them being sick and it is something that they get to take home with them.

ES: Very nice. Have you ever entered into shows?

ERS: No. I'm not that good a quilter. I'm not that much of a perfectionist.

ES: Do you ever do your own designs?

ERS: You might adapt something. You'd see a design and you might change it a little bit. And I like some of the more traditional type, like I said, the Irish Chain, the Jewel Box. Those are old patterns, aren't they? Of course, we do a lot of things with Nine Patch. Sharon [Franz.] just brought one in with feed sacks. The old fashioned.

ES: It is so colorful. Have you ever taught quilting?

ERS: No.

ES: Do you have a preference of machine quilting versus hand quilting? Not just for yourself, but in general.

ERS: I guess the machine quilting. It goes together faster, for myself.

ES: But as the quilters' group, we do it by hand.

ERS: I enjoy the quilting. Maybe it's the fellowship and everything, too. And I remember, because I grew up in Michigan, and I go back and visit friends every summer. Some girls that I went to church camp with. We have gone to the Amish area of the northern part of Indiana, and we stayed in the hotels there and they had some Irish Chain and there were quilts all around. That's one place I saw the Irish Chain and I thought, oh, I like that. That's an area where they do that a lot. The Amish and Mennonite up there, they make a lot of their own furniture, too. Beautiful furniture. I think sometimes they started out as farmers and then when they weren't farming in the wintertime, they made furniture. They were very industrious people.

ES: Did you grow up on a farm yourself?

ERS: No.

ES: Do you have advice for new quilters?

ERS: It's good to take a class of some sort. I really think you almost need to take some instruction unless you have a parent or somebody who teaches you. You need to have some instructions, let's put it that way, because there's a lot to it. People that have been quilting a long time, they have tips to give you. I've heard a lot of the quilters at the [Bear Canyon.] Senior Center say that they learned a lot by coming there. So, I think that would be one of the first things. They need to learn how to pick out the materials, so the contrasts of lights and darks that you need to have.

ES: How does your family feel about your quilting hobby?

ERS: Oh, my girls, they like it because they enjoy it. Neither one of the daughters are into sewing or anything like that, but they enjoy it. She has hung up quilts in a decorative bedroom with quilts hanging on the wall. [laughs.] I've given her quite a few. They are very enthusiastic about it. I have one grandson, though. I said, 'David, I want to make you a quilt.' 'Grandma, I really don't like quilts.' [laughs.]

ES: How old is he?

ERS: He's nineteen. [laughs.]

ES: Do you have any other stories or experiences along with quilting and quilts that you would like to share?

ERS: Other than this Senior group that I've been in and the class that I was in in Odessa, not really. But it's a wonderful way to meet people and to have fellowship. There must be something awfully nice about quilters because they're awfully nice people.

ES: We're called the Piecemakers, you know. [laughs.] How has quilting had meaning for the
American woman?

ERS: There is a lot of history. Of course, they used those feed sacks, and they used just old clothes. I did have for a while a quilt that my husband's grandmother made, and it was just odds and ends of things that they used to put together. Pieces of wool, whatever they had. It was for practical purposes. Wasn't it? To keep warm. Nowadays, it is a way of decorating your house. So, it has evolved a lot. And I think of our quilters, the quilts that we make at our Senior Center, which is to raffle off. They are pieces of art.

ES: Do you know the history of that? What got us started making a Raffle quilt?

ERS: I've been in those group eleven years, and I think it has been going on maybe about twenty years or more. Now, if you talk to Janet [Moffatt.], she probably could tell you who started it at this Senior Center. We did not always have senior centers. Lots of the senior centers have quilt groups. That's very nice. I suppose before that, it was done through church groups a lot or women's societies and things like that. I've read novels and books where they talk about the quilt groups getting together in a church group a lot.

ES: Are there things you really would like to still do or try in your quilting?

ERS: I know that one of our ladies, she just loves to get the quilt magazines and just read them word for word. [laughs.] I like to look through them and find instructions. I kind of like it where they even have pictures to show you what to do. You're the one that taught me about the Stack and Whack. I bought the book. Some of the books are even better at explaining the things. Not unless I get inspired by somebody like you did, I did two or three of those Stack and Whack. That was fun.

ES: Those are addictive. They are a lot of fun.

ERS: You have to find the right material for that: The prints that repeat.

ES: Do you have a quilt stash at your house?

ERS: I think that you'd be hard pressed to find any quilter that does not have a whole bunch of material. [laughs.]

ES: It's hard to keep up with it all. You just love your quilting.

ERS: Yeah, it's a good way to use your time when you don't have a family anymore. Some people would maybe do other art projects, or maybe they like to play bridge or something. But I think people as they get older, they need to keep their mind active. That's the thing. No matter what they are doing. So, I don't know what I'd do with my time if I didn't. Of course, I am still active in church and things like that. What do you do with your time if you didn't do that? As I said, my mother did ceramics. We've all got pieces that she did. And that is very meaningful.

ES: That's right. And even our quilts will outlive us, at least a half a century, if they are taken care of. That's pretty nice.

ERS: They are appreciated.

ES: Yours are certainly appreciated by a lot of people. Thank you very much for the interview today.

ERS: Okay.

End of Interview: 2:15 p.m.