Lori Buhler

Lori Buhler

MI49016-002

audio

Lori Buhler

Pam Schultz

2010-06-02

Moda Fabrics

Battle Creek, Michigan

Eleanor Wilkinson

Pam Schultz (PS): This is Pam Schultz. It's Wednesday, June 2 [2010.] at 12:40 p.m. I'm here to interview Lori Buhler at her place of employment in Battle Creek, Michigan. This interview is being conducted for the South Central Michigan Quilters' Save Our Stories project of The Alliance for American Quilts. How are you today, Lori?

Lori Buhler (LB): I'm fine. How are you?

PS: Pretty Good. Tell me about the quilt you brought in today.

LB: This quilt is obviously not my best work, but it's got meaning to me because it was really one of the first ones that I designed myself. It didn't come from a pattern in a book or a purchased pattern, or anything like that. It started because I'd bought templates, plastic templates that were a certain shape and I kind of played with them and laid them together and it made a flower. So then I put this design together myself. This quilt is made out of flannel. It's actually--I call it my personal snuggle quilt because it's the quilt that I use to lay on the couch or whatever. You can see that the binding's all worn off. You see that? Both ends are that way. I pull it from the end rather than the sides. I'll have to replace the binding on that, but it's well used and well loved.

PS: Yes. What special meaning does this quilt have for you?

LB: Well, like I said it was the first one that I designed. I had it in the quilt show when I was quilter of the year in 2001. It was part of my display and a lot of people were asking me about the pattern for it. And I designed it myself so, of course, it didn't have a pattern. A lot of people liked it and were interested in the pattern and it got me to thinking that maybe I can design my own patterns. That kind of got me started down the line of thinking of developing patterns and trying to sell them. That's eventually where my book came from and this pattern is included in my book and I brought along a second quilt that's the same pattern but it's done in cottons and it looks nice. And this is the pattern that's in my book.

PS: Tell me about your book.

LB: My book is called "Quilter's Happy Hour". It was published by Martingale and Company in 2008. It has eleven patterns in it and all the quilts are named after cocktails. They have the cocktail recipes in it and it was a very exciting project for me to do, to see something come out in print with my name on it.
PS: Yeah, it is. Why did you choose to bring this quilt to the interview?

LB: Well, like I said, it does have special significance. It kind of got me started into the, down the path of designing my own quilts. Mostly that's what I do now.

PS: What do you think someone viewing this quilt might think about you?

LB: About me? [laughs.] I don't know. She uses her quilting and where's the binding. It's nice and soft.

PS: The next one is how do you use this quilt, and you've kind of answered that already. Do you have any other plans for this quilt?

LB: No, I'm not sharing it with anybody. This one's mine.

PS: Tell me about your interest in quiltmaking.

LB: It really started very early. I remember, as a child, my mother taught me how to sew. She didn't quilt so she just did garments and so that's what I did. She also taught me to crochet and do needlework of all kinds and never really made any quilts. I do remember our family was friends with another family and on Sunday afternoons we used to swap kids back and forth to the other person's house on Sunday afternoon. My sister came home from these friends house and they had worked out a project together and she had made a quilt. They were just big squares and I think they were almost like upholstery fabric samples. She brought that home and I was so jealous that she had made this quilt. It appealed to me even then, but I didn't really get into quilting until I was an adult. It was back when the country style of decorating was starting to get popular and I wanted a quilt for my wall and I couldn't find one because if I could find one that I could afford then it wasn't the right colors. If I could find one the right colors then it wasn't one I could afford and so I decided to make one myself. That's how I got started.

PS: What age did you start quiltmaking?

LB: Probably about 24, 23 or 24.

PS: From whom did you learn to quilt?

LB: At that time there was a lady in my church who was a quilter and she showed me how to do the hand quilting stitch. She was the first person who showed me anything about quilting. The first quilts I made were really from patterns so I didn't really have anybody teach me. I got into one pattern that was a bed-sized quilt. It was a Giant Dahlia pattern. Yeah. Well, the story behind that--I wanted to make a quilt for my bed and my mother and I were in a quilt shop and she, like I said, is not a quilter. She sews but she is not a quilter and I had a pattern in my hand for a Trip Around the World quilt that I was going to do. You know, squares. She saw this Giant Dahlia one and she said, 'Oh, this would be easier. It has bigger pieces.' [Both laugh.] But it's a huge circular design and I laid it out on the floor and cut around it like you do a dress pattern. I wasn't really being too careful about how I was cutting it and I wasn't being too careful with my quarter-inch seams so when I laid out that big circular design, pulled the edges all out, the center of it raised up probably about two feet. Literally, I mean it was like this on the ground. It was horrible. But my mother, she tore it all apart and I paid a little more attention to my quarter-inch seams and put it all together and it's a finished quilt.

PS: Oh, that's great.

LB: At that point I knew enough to know I didn't know enough about quilting, so I took a class. I took a beginning quiltmaking class at The Quiltery.

PS: How many hours a week do you quilt?

LB: Of course it depends on the week. I'd say probably four to six hours a week. Maybe more depending on if I've got something I need to get done.

PS: What is your first quilt memory?

LB: Like I said, with my sister coming home with the quilt and me being very jealous that she got to make a quilt and I didn't.

PS: Well, that kind of leads to the next question. Are there other quiltmakers among your family and your friends?

LB: Not really. I do have two quilt tops that were made by a great grandmother. But I'm not really sure. My mother was--it was through my mother's family. She had them. She wasn't sure if it was her maternal or paternal grandmother that had made them. So, I do have quilt tops that were made by a great-grandmother, but I'm not really sure who they are, unfortunately.

PS: How does quiltmaking impact your family?

LB: Well, everyone sleeps under a quilt. As far as time, and everything, my family is very tolerant of the time I spend quilting. They don't complain if there's no--of course there's just my husband and me now, but even when my daughter was small there was no complaints of no dinner on the table because I was quilting. They were very understanding about it.

PS: Have you ever used quilts to get through a difficult time?

LB: Well, not anything specifically. No. It's just a soothing way to get through any difficult time, but nothing specifically. No.

PS: Tell me about an amusing experience that has occurred from your quiltmaking.

LB: Well, I don't know. I'd have to think about that one. Could we come back to that one?

PS: Sure we could. What do you find pleasing about quiltmaking?

LB: It's just -- I guess it's just the creativity of it. You know, you work on it to see what it's going to look like when it's done. That's why I like to do things that use a multitude of fabrics for the most part because if every block is the same, by the time you've made ten there's no anticipation of what it's going to look like. I like to use different fabrics so each block looks different, so that when I get done with the block it's like, 'Oh, that's what it looks like together.' It's a process, the creativity process I think.

PS: What do you find pleasing about quiltmaking?

LB: Isn't that the same one?

PS: I'm sorry it is. That's why I started checking them. What aspects of quiltmaking do you not enjoy?

LB: Basting. [Both laugh.] Basting. Yeah. There's not much fun about that. You get down on the floor and you're on your hands and knees. [Both talk at once.]

PS: --until it's done because you can't leave it on the floor.

LB: That's right.

PS: What art or quilts do you belong to?

LB: I belong to the Cal-Co Quilters which is the quilt guild [Cal-Co Quilters' Guild.]. I also belong to the Ladies of the Lake, which is a smaller circle. I don't really attend any of their meetings right now. It's just hard when I'm working, but I go on their retreats and everything.

PS: Have advances in technology influenced your work?

LB: Yeah, I've got a really cool sewing machine that does a lot of stuff. So, I would say yes. When I got my new sewing machine--of course I've had it for probably five years now. It has an automatic thread cutter. That's a sweet thing. And it's all computerized. Of course, the rotary cutter; when I first took my first quilt class the rotary cutter was just coming out and becoming popular. That was an advance in technology back then.

PS: What are your favorite techniques and materials?

LB: I like to appliqué. I just finished a quilt that had a lot of piecing on it and it wasn't as much fun as doing appliqué. I enjoy that more. And materials? Of course, I just use cotton. I like to use a variety of fabrics rather than just three or four in a quilt.

PS: Describe your studio or the place that you create.

LB: It's the third bedroom in our house. I have the whole room to do with what I want. It's the guest room because the sofa in there turns into a bed. It's got a TV and a chair so I can sit and do handwork in there. I'm just in the process of trying to reconfigure it and get some--have my husband build me some new furniture so it's more workable. I've got a sewing machine and a table and then I've got a cutting table, but being so short it's at the wrong height for me. I really want something like cabinets all across the wall that will have lots of room to put things away. So I do have a room to myself but I'm working on trying to make it better.

PS: How do you balance your time?

LB: I don't cook or clean. [Both laugh.]

PS: I like that. Do you use a design wall?

LB: I do have one. It's a flannel, kind of a free standing thing, so you can put it up and take it down. I probably don't use it too much for designing, meaning looking at things and rearranging things. I like to just put things up as I finish them so I can see them. I do have one, yeah.

PS: What do you think makes a great quilt?

LB: That's different for everybody. I mean, everybody has different tastes. What I think is a great quilt somebody else might not think so much. So it's just a personal opinion, the combination of colors, the design you like, the quilting that goes into it.

PS: Which ones do you like?

LB: Well, like I said, I like ones that have lots of different patterns in it. I prefer appliqué. I like quilts that have a lot of quilting on it. I find that I'm doing more and more quilting on my quilts. That's taking a lot longer. I'm working on a quilt right now. It's a graduation quilt for one of my nieces. I bought a spool of thread to use for the bobbin because I use the clear on the top and I went through a whole spool of thread on the back of that quilt. That's 500 yards and I'm not done. It's got a lot of quilting on it and I like that.

PS: What makes a quilt artistically powerful?

LB: I think that's beyond me to answer. Artistically powerful. I don't think if I can answer that.

PS: What makes a quilt appropriate for a museum or a special collection?

LB: Well, there's a lot of debate about art quilts and regular quilts. Really, every quilt is a work of art. It's just, art is different to everybody. When the guild has had exhibits at the Art Center here in Battle Creek, and just putting a normal bed quilt under the lights in the gallery makes it art. I think that's what is so exciting about that exhibit, is to see our quilts displayed like that.

PS: What makes a great quiltmaker?

LB: These are hard questions. What makes a great quiltmaker? Somebody who enjoys what she's doing.

PS: Whose works are you drawn to and why?

LB: Anybody, right?

PS: Oh, yeah.

LB: I've got a lot of quilting heroes in my, in our guild. One of them--two of them that came to mind right away are Wanda Warner and Joyce Rupp and both of those, I think I'm drawn to their work because of the quilting they do. They both do machine quilting which has been a process for me to improve that. So I'm drawn to theirs because of the beautiful quilting they do on it. Shirley Palmer is an amazing quilter, because of her sense of colors, the way she puts colors together and the beautiful appliqué she does. That's just a few of my quilting heroes.

PS: Which artists have influenced you?

LB: Artists? I can't say that any have. You mean like famous painting artists?

PS: Well, maybe quilt artists.

LB: I don't know.

PS: Okay.

LB: I can't really say that any have.

PS: How do you feel about machine quilting versus hand quilting?

LB: Well, I'm a big fan of machine quilting. To me--I've done both. When I first started quilting I hand quilted everything. I enjoy the process of hand quilting, but I want to make more than two quilts a year. So the speed of machine quilting helps me finish things. To me it's a harder process to do than hand quilting. Hand quilting is very relaxing. You sit down and you got a hoop in your lap and you can make it look nice. It just takes a lot of time. Machine quilting, when I first started doing it, it was an ugly mess. It was hard to get that quilt through the machine. You know the back had puckers in it. It was hard to make it look nice and so that's why I admire somebody who does beautiful machine quilting because I think it is harder to do beautiful machine quilting on a regular sewing machine than it is to do beautiful hand quilting.

PS: What about longarm quilting?

LB: Longarm quilting. There's a place for everything. There's a place for everything in quilting. Some people are snobs where 'you're not doing it all yourself. It can only be hand pieced and quilted,' but there's room in this quilting world for every different technique there is. If you've got a longarm quilting machine and you can operate it, more power to you.

PS: Why is quiltmaking important to your life?

LB: It just is. It's a way to fulfill my creative urges. That sounds--it is. I just enjoy doing it.

PS: In what ways do your quilts reflect your community or region?

LB: I don't know. I don't have a good answer for that.

PS: What do you think about the importance of quilts in American life?

LB: Well, it's a traditional country art, I think, that has gone worldwide. It's not just a country thing that women do when they cut up old shirts and dresses. It's become a full-fledged art. It's probably a multi-million dollar business. What was the question?

PS: What do you think about the importance of quilts in American life?

LB: Oh, importance of quilts. I think everybody should sleep under a quilt, but that's just me.

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

LB: I think it was different in the past when women were making quilts out of old clothes and stuff, because then there was a historical record of what they had at the time, whether it's feed sacks or old aprons or whatever that they're cutting up to make quilts. It's a little different now. There is still a lot of ways to record history in quilts. I have been making graduation quilts for my nieces and nephews as they graduate from high school and on the back I piece into the back an open area. I usually use the digits of their graduation year like this year was two thousand and ten and they have it at their open house and everybody signs it. So it's a history of that event and for that person so this is my way of giving them something they can keep and hold on to.

PS: How do you think quilts can be used?

LB: Can be used? Well, we can sleep under them. We can hang them on the walls to view. We can put them on our tables. Just infinite possibilities.

PS: How do you think quilts can be preserved for the future?

LB: Well, I've got two minds about that. I mean, you should preserve your quilts for the future because you put a lot of time in and you'd like for them to last forever. But, on the other hand, if I give a quilt for a gift, I tell people, 'Don't put it away in a closet to keep it for nice. Use it. Use it and you use it up.' Like this one, it's on its way to being used up, but it brings me joy every day, so if I put it away I can't enjoy it. So, yes, it's important to preserve our quilts for the future. On the other hand, we should enjoy them today.

PS: What has happened to quilts that you have made for your family or friends?

LB: For the most part they enjoy them and appreciate them. I have requests for quilts all the time. I did graduation quilts for all my nieces and nephews as they graduated from high school. They're now starting to get married so I'm doing a quilt for when they get married. They're thrilled with them. I have made a few flannel quilts that weren't any great works of art that got used up. Meaning, the dog got ahold of them. They got holes in them. I got them back to see if I could salvage them and it was like, 'No, sorry. Have to throw that one out. I'll make you a new one.' But I can't say that they've--well, maybe when the dog gets ahold of them they get a little abused, but for the most part they're not abused. They're appreciated.

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

LB: One of the challenges, I think, is that the general public thinks that a quilt is worth whatever J. C. Penny sells them for. You know, they're selling the imports from China for fifty-eight dollars and the man on the street thinks the quilt is worth fifty-eight dollars, when, if I'm making a quilt, or anybody's making a quilt using quality fabrics, you've got a hundred dollars into the fabrics alone, plus all your hours of labor on there. So, it's hard to get across that these quilts are worth more than what they are selling for in the store. Another thing, too, I think a lot of people, if I tell people I'm a quilter, they say, 'Oh that's a dying art.' Well, no. No it isn't. You don't live in my world, so you might think that, but it's really not true.

PS: Have you ever been a board member or a chair of a committee in a guild?

LB: Yes, actually when I first joined the guild, a couple of months after I joined, I got a call from somebody on the nominating committee and asked if I wanted to be the secretary. And it was kind of out of the blue. It was like, 'Well, what the heck. Why not?' And that was a great way to get to know people in the guild; is to jump right in and join the board. I think I was secretary for five years. I was vice-president for a couple of years. I was president for two years. I chaired the quilt show for one year.

PS: That's a big job.

LB: Yup.

PS: Do you teach quilting? Or have you taught quilting?

LB: I have. Not consistently anywhere. I've taught at quilt camp. I've taught some classes at some of the local quilt shops.

PS: Have you ever won an award?

LB: Yes, a few. At our quilt show I've won, I don't know what I've won. I've won a number. One year I was very pleased to see that I won Best of Show at the quilt show. It was kind of funny because my brother had been visiting and I had that quilt on a spare bed and he was looking at it and it was like, 'Well, that's an ugly quilt.' [Both laugh.] You know men. They give their opinion. You know, of course it doesn't bother me because his opinion is not mine and it went to the quilt show and it won Best of Show. So then, now when he sees a quilt that I'm working on he'll say, 'Oh, looks like another award winner.'

PS: Anything else you'd like to discuss? Did we miss anything?

LB: I don't know. I don't know. I don't think so.

PS: Okay. This concludes our interview. It's 1:04 p.m. Thank you, Lori.

LB: Okay.

5.1 Lori Buhler MI49016-002 Quilters' S.O.S. -- Save Our Stories South Central Michigan QSOS Quilt Alliance Lori Buhler Pam Schultz MI49016-002Buhler.mp3 1:|17(1)|32(14)|50(4)|66(6)|83(10)|96(11)|119(6)|135(6)|152(4)|178(4)|193(2)|209(8)|226(5)|241(5)|260(10)|283(3)|297(7)|312(2)|328(7)|343(10)|356(14)|370(11)|386(2)|405(9) 0 http://quiltalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/MI49016-002Buhler.mp3 Other audio 3 Lori Buhler and her flower quilt This is Pam Schultz. It’s Wednesday, June 2 at 12:40 p.m. I’m here to interview Lori Buhler at her place of employment in Battle Creek, Michigan. Pam Schultz introduces Lori Buhler and her quilt. Buhler explains that it is one of the first quilts she designed herself, and after winning &quot ; quilter of the year&quot ; for the quilt, she gained the confidence to consistently design her own quilts. She went on to write a book , Quilters’ Happy Hour,&quot ; which contains 11 of her original designs complemented with a cocktail recipe with each design. Battle Creek, Michigan ; binding ; Design process ; Fiber - Cotton ; Flannel ; Pam Schultz ; pattern ; Plastic templates ; Quilt Purpose - Utilitarian ; Quilter's Happy Hour 17 158 The significance and function of Buhler's quilt Why did you choose to bring this quilt to the interview? Buhler reiterates that this quilt is important because it is one of the first of her own, original design. She believes the most notable aspect of this quilt to an objective viewer is that it is so worn out, on account of using it as a nap blanket throughout the day. She plans on using her quilt for that purpose to the end. binding 17 206 Buhler's interest in quiltmaking, and her early days with it Tell me about your interest in quiltmaking. Buhler's mother taught her to sew at a young age, and she recounts a time when her sister came home with a quilt she had made, and that provoked Buhler to start quilting as well. Despite this, Buhler says that she did not actually begin quilting until she was 24. She got started because she wanted to decorate her home with a quilt, but couldn't find what she wanted, so made her own. During that time the country style quilt was most popular. She learned to quilt from a woman in her church, and she tells an anecdote about making one of her first quilts ; it was a bed-sized quilt made in a Dahlia pattern, which, out of her lack of expeience, she did not foresee would turn out to be too ambitious of an undertaking. She spends about 4-6 hours per week quilting. country-style ; crocheting ; Dahlia - quilt pattern ; Hand quilting ; needlework ; quarter inch seems ; Quiltery ; quiltmaking classes ; square 17 404 Quilting and its impact on Buhler's family What is your first quilt memory? Buhler's first quilt memory is when her sister brought a quilt home. Buhlerr says she does not currently have any other quilt makers in her family, but she does on two quilt tops made by one of her maternal great grandmothers. The largest impact buhler's quilting has on her family, Buhler argues, is that everyone &quot ; sleeps under a quilt&quot ; She says that her family is very patient about the time she spends quilting. Quilt Purpose - Bedcovering ; quilt top ; Quiltmaking for family 17 470 What Buhler likes about quilting, and what she does not like Have you ever used quilts to get through a difficult time? Buhler says that quilting is soothing and therapeutic, but has never quilted specifically to get through a hard time. Her favorite aspect of quiltmaking is the creative process, and watching her schemes come together. Her least favorite part is basting. basting ; blocks ; Design process ; Quilt Purpose - Therapy 17 566 Quilting Guilds to which Buhler belongs What art or quilt groups do you belong to? Buhler belongs to two quilt groups, Calico Quilters and Ladies of the Lake. Buhler says that because she still works, she does not have time to attend their meetings, but she does go on retreats with her groups. Calico Quilters ; Ladies of the Lake ; quilting retreat 17 589 Technology, techniques, materials Have advances in technology influenced your work? Buhler asserts that technology has had a very large impact on her quilting. She begins with her sewing machine, which, to her delight, has an automatic thread cutter. She believes that computers have had a large impact on quilting. Her favorite technique is applique, and she most often uses cotton as a material/fiber. applique ; automatic thread cutter ; computer ; Fiber - Cotton ; Home sewing machine ; piecing ; quiltmaking classes ; Rotary cutter ; Technology in quiltmaking 17 656 Buhler's quilting studio Describe you studio, or the place where you create. Buhler uses her spare bedroom as a studio. She says that she plans to reconfigure the space soon, and that her husband is going to make her new furniture. They briefly talk about how Buhler manages her time with quilting--she does so by not cooking or cleaning. Buhler uses a design wall, but only to see her quilt once it is finished, not to gain new perspective while making the quilt. cutting table ; Design process ; Design Wall ; Flannel ; handwork ; sewing machine ; Work or Studio space 17 738 What Buhler believes makes a great quilt, and a great quiltmaker What do you think makes a great quilt? Buhler implies that determining what makes a quilt &quot ; great&quot ; is a matter of subjectivity. She personally likes appliques pieces, and quilts with &quot ; a lot of quilting&quot ; on them. In regards to that, she talks about a quilt she is working on that has 500 yards of thread in it. Buhler believes that what makes a quilt appropriate for a museum is also subjective, and that subjectivity represents the purpose of displaying a quilt in a museum--that one can display anything. She believes that a great quiltmaker is one that enjoys what she is doing. applique ; Art quilts ; Color theory ; exhibit ; pattern ; Quilt Purpose - Bedcovering ; Quilt Purpose - Gift or presentation ; Quilt Purpose - Memorial ; quilting ; spool 17 856 Quiltmakers whose work Buhler admires What makes a great quiltmaker? Buhler says she admires the works of Wanda Warner and Joyce Rupp because they are great machine quilters, which she aspires to be. She also looks up to Shirley Palmer for her workmanship in color theory and applique. applique ; Color theory ; Joyce Rupp ; Machine quilting ; Quilt Purpose - Personal enjoyment ; Shirley Palmer ; Wanda Warner 17 940 Buhler's stance on hand vs machine vs long arm quilting How do you feel about machine quilting versus hand quilting? Buhler is a big fan of machine quilting. While she enjoys the therapeutic value of hand quilting, buhler says that she &quot ; wants to make more than two quilts a year,&quot ; so the speed of machine quilting is preferable. While that is the case, she also says that machine quilting is a difficult technique for her. As for the long arm quilt machine, Buhler believes that if a quilter has the tools she should use them. Many quiltmakers, Buhler states, are &quot ; snobs&quot ; about using machines, but that is not her stance. Hand quilting ; Long arm quilting ; Long arm quilting machine ; Machine quilting ; puckers 17 1028 The importance of quiltmaking for Buhler Why is quiltmaking important to your life? Quiltmaking for Buhler is important because it is a way to fulfill her creative urges, and she enjoys it Quilt Purpose - Artistic expression ; Quilt Purpose - Personal enjoyment 17 1052 Why quilts are important to american life and women's history In what ways do your quilts reflect your community or region? Buhler believes that quilts are important to American life because they represent a &quot ; traditional country art&quot ; that has gone global. She also asserts that it is important to note that quilts' purposes have evolved from utilitarian to artistic. She also believes that everyone should sleep under a quilt. As for women's history, Buhler says that quilts are a physical record or a material culture of what women had in the past. She speaks on how quilts recorded events and continue to do so, she cites quilts she has been making for family members' graduations. Art quilts ; feet sacks ; graduation quilt ; Quilt history ; Quilt Purpose - Gift or presentation ; Quilt Purpose - Memorial ; traditional quilts 17 1174 A quilt's purpose, and how Buhler wishes her quilts to be used How do you think quilts can be used? From a utilitarian perspective, Buhler says quilts can be used in a home for bedding, exhibition, or interior design (perhaps as a tablecloth). She believes quilts should be preserved, if only to honor the time that was dedicated to making them. However when she gifts her quilts, Buhler advises that people &quot ; use them up,&quot ; in other words enjoy them for their utilitarian purpose. Of her quilts that Buhler has given away, they remain appreciated through either use or display by the people to whom she gave them. She says that she gets requests for quilts &quot ; all the time,&quot ; and has begun to make wedding quilts for her friends/family. Quilt preservation ; Quilt Purpose - Artistic expression ; Quilt Purpose - Bedcovering ; Quilt Purpose - Exhibition ; Quilt Purpose - Home decoration ; Quilt Purpose - Personal enjoyment ; Quilt Purpose - Utilitarian ; Quilt Purpose - Wedding ; Quiltmaking for family 17 1293 The biggest contemporary challenge for quilters What do you think is the biggest challenge confronting quiltmakers today? Buhler asserts that a quilt is worth more than a price-tag one sees in JC Penny. The artistic value and time put into making quilts makes them worth so much more than a layperson might believe. She says that people also believe that quilting is a dying art, she argues that it is not. Art quiltmaking ; fabrics ; price ; Time management 17 1355 Buhler's leadership positions in the quilting community Have you ever been a board member or a chair of a committee for a quilt guild? Buhler says she accepted a nomination to be a secretary on a quilt guild, which she accepted. It turned out to be a great way to meet people in the guild. She held the position for 5 years. She later went on to be vice president, then president of the guild, and she has hosted one quilt show. As for teaching, Buhler has worked at camps and teaches classes every now and then. Art quilts ; Awards ; president ; Quilt guild ; quilt shop ; Quilt shows/exhibitions ; quiltmaking classes ; secretary ; Teaching quiltmaking 17 1408 Buhler's awards Have you ever won an award? Buhler won best of show in one quilt show. She tells a funny anecdote about how her brother had called that same quilt &quot ; ugly&quot ; prior to the show. Awards ; Quilt shows/exhibitions 17 Oral History Pam Schultz (PS) ; This is Pam Schultz. It’s Wednesday, June 2 [2010.] at 12:40 p.m. I’m here to interview Lori Buhler at her place of employment in Battle Creek, Michigan. This interview is b eing conducted for the South Central Michigan Quilters’ Save Our Stories project of The Allianc e for American Quilts. How are you today, Lori? Lori Buhler (LB) ; I’m fine. How are you? PS ; Pretty Good. Tell me about the quilt you brought in today. LB ; This quilt is obviously not my best work, but it’s got meaning to me because it was really on e of the first ones that I designed myself. It didn’t come from a pattern in a book or a purchased p attern, or anything like that. It started because I’d bought templates, plastic templates that were a certain shape and I kind of played with them and laid them together and it made a flower. So the n I put this design together myself. This quilt is made out of flannel. It’s actually-- I call it my personal snuggle quilt because it’s the quilt that I use to lay on the couch or whatever. You can see that the binding’s all worn off. You see that? Both ends are that way. I pull it from t he end rather than the sides. I’ll have to replace the binding on that, but it’s well used and well lo ved. PS ; Yes. What special meaning does this quilt have for you? LB ; Well, like I said it was the first one that I designed. I had it in the quilt show when I was quil ter of the year in 2001. It was part of my display and a lot of people were asking me about the pat tern for it. And I designed it myself so, of course, it didn’t have a pattern. A lot of people liked it and were interested in the pattern and it got me to thinking that maybe I can design my own patte rns. That kind of got me started down the line of thinking of developing patterns and trying to sel l them. That’s eventually where my book came from and this pattern is included in my book and I brought along a second quilt that’s the same pattern but it’s done in cottons and it looks nice. A nd this is the pattern that’s in my book. PS ; Tell me about your book. LB ; My book is called “Quilter’s Happy Hour”. It was published by Martingale and Company in 2008. It has eleven patterns in it and all the quilts are named after cocktails. They have the cockta il recipes in it and it was a very exciting project for me to do, to see something come out in print with my name on it. PS ; Yeah, it is. Why did you choose to bring this quilt to the interview? LB ; Well, like I said, it does have special significance. It kind of got me started into the, down th e path of designing my own quilts. Mostly that’s what I do now. PS ; What do you think someone viewing this quilt might think about you? LB ; About me? [laughs.] I don’t know. She uses her quilting and where’s the binding. It’s nice a nd soft. PS ; The next one is how do you use this quilt, and you’ve kind of answered that already. Do you have any other plans for this quilt? LB ; No, I’m not sharing it with anybody. This one’s mine. PS ; Tell me about your interest in quilt-making. LB ; It really started very early. I remember, as a child, my mother taught me how to sew. She did n’t quilt so she just did garments and so that’s what I did. She also taught me to crochet and do n eedlework of all kinds and never really made any quilts. I do remember our family was friends w ith another family and on Sunday afternoons we used to swap kids back and forth to the other per son’s house on Sunday afternoon. My sister came home from these friends’ house and they had worked out a project together and she had made a quilt. They were just big squares and I think th ey were almost like upholstery fabric samples. She brought that home and I was so jealous that s he had made this quilt. It appealed to me even then, but I didn’t really get into quilting until I was an adult. It was back when the country style of decorating was starting to get popular and I want ed a quilt for my wall and I couldn’t find one because if I could find one that I could afford then i t wasn’t the right colors. If I could find one the right colors then it wasn’t one I could afford and so I decided to make one myself. That’s how I got started. PS ; What age did you start quilt-making? LB ; Probably about 24, 23 or 24. PS ; From whom did you learn to quilt? LB ; At that time there was a lady in my church who was a quilter and she showed me how to do t he hand quilting stitch. She was the first person who showed me anything about quilting. The firs t quilts I made were really from patterns so I didn’t really have anybody teach me. I got into one pattern that was a bed- sized quilt. It was a Giant Dahlia pattern. Yeah. Well, the story behind that-- I wanted to make a quilt for my bed and my mother and I were in a quilt shop and she, like I said , is not a quilter. She sews but she is not a quilter and I had a pattern in my hand for a Trip Aroun d the World quilt that I was going to do. You know, squares. She saw this Giant Dahlia one and s he said, ‘Oh, this would be easier. It has bigger pieces.’ [Both laugh.] But it’s a huge circular des ign and I laid it out on the floor and cut around it like you do a dress pattern. I wasn’t really bein g too careful about how I was cutting it and I wasn’t being too careful with my quarter- inch seams so when I laid out that big circular design, pulled the edges all out, the center of it rai sed up probably about two feet. Literally, I mean it was like this on the ground. It was horrible. B ut my mother, she tore it all apart and I paid a little more attention to my quarter- inch seams and put it all together and it’s a finished quilt. PS ; Oh, that’s great. LB ; At that point I knew enough to know I didn’t know enough about quilting, so I took a class. I took a beginning quilt-making class at The Quiltery. PS ; How many hours a week do you quilt? LB ; Of course it depends on the week. I’d say probably four to six hours a week. Maybe more de pending on if I’ve got something I need to get done. PS ; What is your first quilt memory? LB ; Like I said, with my sister coming home with the quilt and me being very jealous that she go t to make a quilt and I didn’t. PS ; Well, that kind of leads to the next question. Are there other quilt- makers among your family and your friends? LB ; Not really. I do have two quilt tops that were made by a great grandmother. But I’m not reall y sure. My mother was-- it was through my mother’s family. She had them. She wasn’t sure if it was her maternal or pater nal grandmother that had made them. So, I do have quilt tops that were made by a great- grandmother, but I’m not really sure who they are, unfortunately. PS ; How does quilt-making impact your family? LB ; Well, everyone sleeps under a quilt. As far as time, and everything, my family is very tolera nt of the time I spend quilting. They don’t complain if there’s no-- of course there’s just my husband and me now, but even when my daughter was small there was no complaints of no dinner on the table because I was quilting. They were very understanding ab out it. PS ; Have you ever used quilts to get through a difficult time? LB ; Well, not anything specifically. No. It’s just a soothing way to get through any difficult time, but nothing specifically. No. PS ; Tell me about an amusing experience that has occurred from your quilt-making. LB ; Well, I don’t know. I’d have to think about that one. Could we come back to that one? PS ; Sure we could. What do you find pleasing about quilt-making? LB ; It’s just -- I guess it’s just the creativity of it. You know, you work on it to see what it’s going to look like when it’s done. That’s why I like to do things that use a multitude of fabrics for the most part bec ause if every block is the same, by the time you’ve made ten there’s no anticipation of what it’s g oing to look like. I like to use different fabrics so each block looks different, so that when I get d one with the block it’s like, ‘Oh, that’s what it looks like together.’ It’s a process, the creativity p rocess I think. PS ; What do you find pleasing about quilt-making? LB ; Isn’t that the same one? PS ; I’m sorry it is. That’s why I started checking them. What aspects of quilt- making do you not enjoy? LB ; Basting. [Both laugh.] Basting. Yeah. There’s not much fun about that. You get down on the floor and you’re on your hands and knees. [Both talk at once.] PS ; --until it’s done because you can’t leave it on the floor. LB ; That’s right. PS ; What art or quilts do you belong to? LB ; I belong to the Cal-Co Quilters which is the quilt guild [Cal- Co Quilters’ Guild.]. I also belong to the Ladies of the Lake, which is a smaller circle. I don’t rea lly attend any of their meetings right now. It’s just hard when I’m working, but I go on their retre ats and everything. PS ; Have advances in technology influenced your work? LB ; Yeah, I’ve got a really cool sewing machine that does a lot of stuff. So, I would say yes. Wh en I got my new sewing machine-- of course I’ve had it for probably five years now. It has an automatic thread cutter. That’s a swee t thing. And it’s all computerized. Of course, the rotary cutter ; when I first took my first quilt cla ss the rotary cutter was just coming out and becoming popular. That was an advance in technolog y back then. PS ; What are your favorite techniques and materials? LB ; I like to appliqué. I just finished a quilt that had a lot of piecing on it and it wasn’t as much f un as doing appliqué. I enjoy that more. And materials? Of course, I just use cotton. I like to use a variety of fabrics rather than just three or four in a quilt. PS ; Describe your studio or the place that you create. LB ; It’s the third bedroom in our house. I have the whole room to do with what I want. It’s the g uest room because the sofa in there turns into a bed. It’s got a TV and a chair so I can sit and do handwork in there. I’m just in the process of trying to reconfigure it and get some-- have my husband build me some new furniture so it’s more workable. I’ve got a sewing machine and a table and then I’ve got a cutting table, but being so short it’s at the wrong height for me. I really want something like cabinets all across the wall that will have lots of room to put things a way. So I do have a room to myself but I’m working on trying to make it better. PS ; How do you balance your time? LB ; I don’t cook or clean. [Both laugh.] PS ; I like that. Do you use a design wall? LB ; I do have one. It’s a flannel, kind of a free standing thing, so you can put it up and take it do wn. I probably don’t use it too much for designing, meaning looking at things and rearranging thi ngs. I like to just put things up as I finish them so I can see them. I do have one, yeah. PS ; What do you think makes a great quilt? LB ; That’s different for everybody. I mean, everybody has different tastes. What I think is a grea t quilt somebody else might not think so much. So it’s just a personal opinion, the combination o f colors, the design you like, the quilting that goes into it. PS ; Which ones do you like? LB ; Well, like I said, I like ones that have lots of different patterns in it. I prefer appliqué. I like q uilts that have a lot of quilting on it. I find that I’m doing more and more quilting on my quilts. T hat’s taking a lot longer. I’m working on a quilt right now. It’s a graduation quilt for one of my n ieces. I bought a spool of thread to use for the bobbin because I use the clear on the top and I we nt through a whole spool of thread on the back of that quilt. That’s 500 yards and I’m not done. It ’s got a lot of quilting on it and I like that. PS ; What makes a quilt artistically powerful? LB ; I think that’s beyond me to answer. Artistically powerful. I don’t think if I can answer that. PS ; What makes a quilt appropriate for a museum or a special collection? LB ; Well, there’s a lot of debate about art quilts and regular quilts. Really, every quilt is a work o f art. It’s just, art is different to everybody. When the guild has had exhibits at the Art Center her e in Battle Creek, and just putting a normal bed quilt under the lights in the gallery makes it art. I think that’s what is so exciting about that exhibit, is to see our quilts displayed like that. PS ; What makes a great quilt-maker? LB ; These are hard questions. What makes a great quilt- maker? Somebody who enjoys what she’s doing. PS ; Whose works are you drawn to and why? LB ; Anybody, right? PS ; Oh, yeah. LB ; I’ve got a lot of quilting heroes in my, in our guild. One of them-- two of them that came to mind right away are Wanda Warner and Joyce Rupp and both of those, I think I’m drawn to their work because of the quilting they do. They both do machine quilting w hich has been a process for me to improve that. So I’m drawn to theirs because of the beautiful q uilting they do on it. Shirley Palmer is an amazing quilter, because of her sense of colors, the wa y she puts colors together and the beautiful appliqué she does. That’s just a few of my quilting he roes. PS ; Which artists have influenced you? LB ; Artists? I can’t say that any have. You mean like famous painting artists? PS ; Well, maybe quilt artists. LB ; I don’t know. PS ; Okay. LB ; I can’t really say that any have. PS ; How do you feel about machine quilting versus hand quilting? LB ; Well, I’m a big fan of machine quilting. To me-- I’ve done both. When I first started quilting I hand quilted everything. I enjoy the process of han d quilting, but I want to make more than two quilts a year. So the speed of machine quilting help s me finish things. To me it’s a harder process to do than hand quilting. Hand quilting is very rela xing. You sit down and you got a hoop in your lap and you can make it look nice. It just takes a l ot of time. Machine quilting, when I first started doing it, it was an ugly mess. It was hard to get t hat quilt through the machine. You know the back had puckers in it. It was hard to make it look n ice and so that’s why I admire somebody who does beautiful machine quilting because I think it i s harder to do beautiful machine quilting on a regular sewing machine than it is to do beautiful ha nd quilting. PS ; What about longarm quilting? LB ; Longarm quilting. There’s a place for everything. There’s a place for everything in quilting. Some people are snobs where ‘you’re not doing it all yourself. It can only be hand pieced and qui lted,’ but there’s room in this quilting world for every different technique there is. If you’ve got a longarm quilting machine and you can operate it, more power to you. PS ; Why is quilt-making important to your life? LB ; It just is. It’s a way to fulfill my creative urges. That sounds--it is. I just enjoy doing it. PS ; In what ways do your quilts reflect your community or region? LB ; I don’t know. I don’t have a good answer for that. PS ; What do you think about the importance of quilts in American life? LB ; Well, it’s a traditional country art, I think, that has gone worldwide. It’s not just a country thi ng that women do when they cut up old shirts and dresses. It’s become a full- fledged art. It’s probably a multi-million dollar business. What was the question? PS ; What do you think about the importance of quilts in American life? LB ; Oh, importance of quilts. I think everybody should sleep under a quilt, but that’s just me. PS ; In what ways do you think quilts have special meaning for women’s history in America? LB ; I think it was different in the past when women were making quilts out of old clothes and stu ff, because then there was a historical record of what they had at the time, whether it’s feed sacks or old aprons or whatever that they’re cutting up to make quilts. It’s a little different now. There is still a lot of ways to record history in quilts. I have been making graduation quilts for my niece s and nephews as they graduate from high school and on the back I piece into the back an open ar ea. I usually use the digits of their graduation year like this year was two thousand and ten and th ey have it at their open house and everybody signs it. So it’s a history of that event and for that p erson so this is my way of giving them something they can keep and hold on to. PS ; How do you think quilts can be used? LB ; Can be used? Well, we can sleep under them. We can hang them on the walls to view. We c an put them on our tables. Just infinite possibilities. PS ; How do you think quilts can be preserved for the future? LB ; Well, I’ve got two minds about that. I mean, you should preserve your quilts for the future b ecause you put a lot of time in and you’d like for them to last forever. But, on the other hand, if I give a quilt for a gift, I tell people, ‘Don’t put it away in a closet to keep it for nice. Use it. Use it and you use it up.’ Like this one, it’s on its way to being used up, but it brings me joy every day, so if I put it away I can’t enjoy it. So, yes, it’s important to preserve our quilts for the future. On t he other hand, we should enjoy them today. PS ; What has happened to quilts that you have made for your family or friends? LB ; For the most part they enjoy them and appreciate them. I have requests for quilts all the time . I did graduation quilts for all my nieces and nephews as they graduated from high school. They’ re now starting to get married so I’m doing a quilt for when they get married. They’re thrilled wit h them. I have made a few flannel quilts that weren’t any great works of art that got used up. Me aning, the dog got ahold of them. They got holes in them. I got them back to see if I could salvag e them and it was like, ‘No, sorry. Have to throw that one out. I’ll make you a new one.’ But I ca n’t say that they’ve-- well, maybe when the dog gets ahold of them they get a little abused, but for the most part they’r e not abused. They’re appreciated. PS ; What do you think is the biggest challenge confronting quilt-makers today? LB ; One of the challenges, I think, is that the general public thinks that a quilt is worth whatever J. C. Penny sells them for. You know, they’re selling the imports from China for fifty- eight dollars and the man on the street thinks the quilt is worth fifty- eight dollars, when, if I’m making a quilt, or anybody’s making a quilt using quality fabrics, you’ ve got a hundred dollars into the fabrics alone, plus all your hours of labor on there. So, it’s hard to get across that these quilts are worth more than what they are selling for in the store. Another t hing, too, I think a lot of people, if I tell people I’m a quilter, they say, ‘Oh that’s a dying art.’ W ell, no. No it isn’t. You don’t live in my world, so you might think that, but it’s really not true. PS ; Have you ever been a board member or a chair of a committee in a guild? LB ; Yes, actually when I first joined the guild, a couple of months after I joined, I got a call from somebody on the nominating committee and asked if I wanted to be the secretary. And it was ki nd of out of the blue. It was like, ‘Well, what the heck. Why not?’ And that was a great way to ge t to know people in the guild ; is to jump right in and join the board. I think I was secretary for fiv e years. I was vice- president for a couple of years. I was president for two years. I chaired the quilt show for one yea r. PS ; That’s a big job. LB ; Yup. PS ; Do you teach quilting? Or have you taught quilting? LB ; I have. Not consistently anywhere. I’ve taught at quilt camp. I’ve taught some classes at som e of the local quilt shops. PS ; Have you ever won an award? LB ; Yes, a few. At our quilt show I’ve won, I don’t know what I’ve won. I’ve won a number. On e year I was very pleased to see that I won Best of Show at the quilt show. It was kind of funny b ecause my brother had been visiting and I had that quilt on a spare bed and he was looking at it a nd it was like, ‘Well, that’s an ugly quilt.’ [Both laugh.] You know men. They give their opinion. You know, of course it doesn’t bother me because his opinion is not mine and it went to the quil t show and it won Best of Show. So then, now when he sees a quilt that I’m working on he’ll say, ‘Oh, looks like another award winner.’ PS ; Anything else you’d like to discuss? Did we miss anything? LB ; I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t think so. PS ; Okay. This concludes our interview. It’s 1:04 p.m. Thank you, Lori. LB ; Okay. 2015 Quilt Alliance. All Rights Reserved. audio 0 http://quiltalliance.net