Suzanne Staud
Photos
Date
August 7, 2003
Identifier
2019oh0165_qsosalli0001
Alliance-01
Alliance-01
Subject
Quilts
Quilting
Textiles
Decorative arts
Crafts & decorating
Textile artists
Creative ability
Folk art
Interviewee
Suzanne Staud
Interviewer
Karen Musgrave
Interview sponsor
Nancy O'Bryant Puentes
Location
San Francisco, CA
Transcriber
Karen Musgrave
Transcription
[Suzanne was quite tired and had an hour drive home so it was agreed that the interview would be only 15 minutes. Tape begins with Suzanne talking.]
Suzanne Staud (SS): Quilts matter.
Karen Musgrave (KM): I have to do a brief announcement. This is Karen Musgrave. I'm conducting a Quilters' S.O.S. - Save Our Stories interview with Suzanne Staud. It is 9:08 in the evening and I'm in San Francisco. So, tell me about your contribution to The Alliance raffle quilt.
SS: It's Staud. [loud ping noise made by something hitting one of the glasses of water.]
KM: Oh, Staud. Oh, I'm sorry.
SS: That's okay.
KM: I did do it right tonight when I talked about you.
SS: That's okay. [laughs.] That's good. I've known Yvonne [Porcella.] for years and I've done two of her business cards. She came to me with this brochure project. [clears throat.] I love folk art. In my folk art books are all these quilts that are considered folk art. So, in my collection I found a small part about Harriet Powers and I loved the colors that she used. They were natural, earthy. The quilts were about people. You know black people linking together generations. Nature - the flowers, the sun, the moon and the stars, fruit and all of that. So, [clears throat.] on the brochure cover, [The Alliance for American Quilts brochure that SS designed.] using the quilt Harriet Powers designed for inspiration, said to me history. That's why I have the word history going up the side of the brochure there [pointing to the brochure.] with just that proportion and whenever I see that schoolhouse block style of quilt. Is that a schoolhouse quilt? [KM softly in the background hums yes.] That to me immediately says quilt. I don't know how other people feel about it but I wanted this brochure to say quilt right away, so it's [schoolhouse blocks] up in the left corner very prominent. Then I have a little pin cushion--this was all done on the computer; I have scanning capability so I took my pin cushion and just put it in the scanner and scanned it. I didn't take a photo of it. I left all the little pins it in and used that. I called on things that I had seen Yvonne use and things that I've used myself with my--I use to do fabric sculptures. But plaid--all of a sudden I thought plaid would be a really neat thing to do because you see that in quilts. The 'Quilts Matter' that was--I did a big play off the 'Q' on this cover as being not only quilt but stands for quality, and the M that I used on it, it's a different style type. It's kind of scripty. I just love the way that looked kind of-- [someone walks into room and says, 'oh' and walks out.] It looked kind of E=mc2? that kind of thing. I thought it looked kind of intelligent. [SS and KM laugh.] I just like the touch of that and they are overlaid. They were overlapping causing layering. And I actually used a button that I found in my grandmother's button box after she died she left to me. The box had extraordinary buttons in it. So, I scanned that and used it, as a part of my history. The bird and the nest and the eggs are again about nature, and part of that bird is actual fabric that I had and scanned. And I tried to make the leaf become the bird's wing in a way. And the one thing that I noticed in older quilts is nature was a big--it played a big part in how they beautified their homes in their quilts. And you know it still continues. The thing that I like best about this brochure is the layering, the 'cover us' came out of just that. That it was layering. As I was putting this together was actually--almost like I was putting together a quilt and covering myself. Then I thought, 'Cover us would be like asking people to please help us preserve these American quilts and to preserve art which they are.' And then, let's see. The chest--the treasure chest is just an idea the quilts are treasures, so many treasures to be told and to know about the quilts. And let's see. And then the computer--you haven't heard about the computer but--
KM: Everything is online.
SS: Yes, all online now and this whole job was done on the computer. I mean I do my fine art on the computer. I do painting roughs on the computer and then I enlarge them on canvas.
KM: How small are they?
SS: Oh, they are a thumb nail.
KM: That's what I heard.
SS: They can be just tiny, but they are--they are concise or very intricate. They are nearly how it's going to look when it's completed. As a matter of fact, many times I will show my clients a rough first--and they don't even see it in color, they see it in pencil and very small. But I can--I do little call outs indicating (with arrows) that this is what this is going to be, and this is the color it will be. I didn't do it this way for The Alliance brochure because I felt that I knew them well enough to go ahead and just do it the way I would like to see it done. And I think that's about it. All I can think of.
KM: How do you feel about the quilt?
SS: Oh, the quilt is excellent. It is just excellent. It's a--I remember Yvonne telling me what it was all about. What you were doing here this evening with that quilt but I had forgotten in the process of coming from Modesto to San Francisco. I was all harried about not getting here on time then I was an hour late. I was way in the back of the room, so I didn't hear a lot of the description, but when Yvonne took me up close and showed me exactly what was going on I was just thrilled with what she did with the whole--taking parts of the brochure and applying them to the quilt and parts of herself and it really does cover you, so it's excellent. I love--it looks like Yvonne's quilt. I don't
know if that was the goal because I know other people contributed to the whole thing but there are a lot of surprising elements that I love in - fabrics that were selected that are so rich and they look like bead work some of them. Some of them look like pieces of treasure that you could find in a treasure trove. I wanted to touch it. It's just wonderful. Yeah. [note: KM chose all the fabrics in the quilt.]
KM: Tell me more about the quilt that you drew inspiration from.
SS: This one here the Harriet Powers?
KM: Yes, Harriet Powers.
SS: It's been too long. I would have to have that book in front of me. I do have it at home but that's in Modesto. It was a little--almost a little prologue to this quilting book or this folk art book about her and it had a couple old color photos of her quilts and I loved the natural colors -I don't usually use in my art. My art is more like Yvonne's. It's very colorful--my graphic design. Harriet's work was--of course it's probably faded as it's aged but it's so beautiful with natural colors. She was working with a lot of browns. You can see that. Amazing woman.
KM: Do you have any idea when this was--
SS: No.
KM: Okay
SS: Sorry.
KM: It's okay we can get that information later.
SS: There is so much I don't know about quilting but I'm getting there being good friends with Yvonne.
KM: I want to thank you for your time and for your contribution because it was appreciated.
SS: It was my pleasure.
KM: I will conclude this interview. [tape ends.]
Suzanne Staud (SS): Quilts matter.
Karen Musgrave (KM): I have to do a brief announcement. This is Karen Musgrave. I'm conducting a Quilters' S.O.S. - Save Our Stories interview with Suzanne Staud. It is 9:08 in the evening and I'm in San Francisco. So, tell me about your contribution to The Alliance raffle quilt.
SS: It's Staud. [loud ping noise made by something hitting one of the glasses of water.]
KM: Oh, Staud. Oh, I'm sorry.
SS: That's okay.
KM: I did do it right tonight when I talked about you.
SS: That's okay. [laughs.] That's good. I've known Yvonne [Porcella.] for years and I've done two of her business cards. She came to me with this brochure project. [clears throat.] I love folk art. In my folk art books are all these quilts that are considered folk art. So, in my collection I found a small part about Harriet Powers and I loved the colors that she used. They were natural, earthy. The quilts were about people. You know black people linking together generations. Nature - the flowers, the sun, the moon and the stars, fruit and all of that. So, [clears throat.] on the brochure cover, [The Alliance for American Quilts brochure that SS designed.] using the quilt Harriet Powers designed for inspiration, said to me history. That's why I have the word history going up the side of the brochure there [pointing to the brochure.] with just that proportion and whenever I see that schoolhouse block style of quilt. Is that a schoolhouse quilt? [KM softly in the background hums yes.] That to me immediately says quilt. I don't know how other people feel about it but I wanted this brochure to say quilt right away, so it's [schoolhouse blocks] up in the left corner very prominent. Then I have a little pin cushion--this was all done on the computer; I have scanning capability so I took my pin cushion and just put it in the scanner and scanned it. I didn't take a photo of it. I left all the little pins it in and used that. I called on things that I had seen Yvonne use and things that I've used myself with my--I use to do fabric sculptures. But plaid--all of a sudden I thought plaid would be a really neat thing to do because you see that in quilts. The 'Quilts Matter' that was--I did a big play off the 'Q' on this cover as being not only quilt but stands for quality, and the M that I used on it, it's a different style type. It's kind of scripty. I just love the way that looked kind of-- [someone walks into room and says, 'oh' and walks out.] It looked kind of E=mc2? that kind of thing. I thought it looked kind of intelligent. [SS and KM laugh.] I just like the touch of that and they are overlaid. They were overlapping causing layering. And I actually used a button that I found in my grandmother's button box after she died she left to me. The box had extraordinary buttons in it. So, I scanned that and used it, as a part of my history. The bird and the nest and the eggs are again about nature, and part of that bird is actual fabric that I had and scanned. And I tried to make the leaf become the bird's wing in a way. And the one thing that I noticed in older quilts is nature was a big--it played a big part in how they beautified their homes in their quilts. And you know it still continues. The thing that I like best about this brochure is the layering, the 'cover us' came out of just that. That it was layering. As I was putting this together was actually--almost like I was putting together a quilt and covering myself. Then I thought, 'Cover us would be like asking people to please help us preserve these American quilts and to preserve art which they are.' And then, let's see. The chest--the treasure chest is just an idea the quilts are treasures, so many treasures to be told and to know about the quilts. And let's see. And then the computer--you haven't heard about the computer but--
KM: Everything is online.
SS: Yes, all online now and this whole job was done on the computer. I mean I do my fine art on the computer. I do painting roughs on the computer and then I enlarge them on canvas.
KM: How small are they?
SS: Oh, they are a thumb nail.
KM: That's what I heard.
SS: They can be just tiny, but they are--they are concise or very intricate. They are nearly how it's going to look when it's completed. As a matter of fact, many times I will show my clients a rough first--and they don't even see it in color, they see it in pencil and very small. But I can--I do little call outs indicating (with arrows) that this is what this is going to be, and this is the color it will be. I didn't do it this way for The Alliance brochure because I felt that I knew them well enough to go ahead and just do it the way I would like to see it done. And I think that's about it. All I can think of.
KM: How do you feel about the quilt?
SS: Oh, the quilt is excellent. It is just excellent. It's a--I remember Yvonne telling me what it was all about. What you were doing here this evening with that quilt but I had forgotten in the process of coming from Modesto to San Francisco. I was all harried about not getting here on time then I was an hour late. I was way in the back of the room, so I didn't hear a lot of the description, but when Yvonne took me up close and showed me exactly what was going on I was just thrilled with what she did with the whole--taking parts of the brochure and applying them to the quilt and parts of herself and it really does cover you, so it's excellent. I love--it looks like Yvonne's quilt. I don't
know if that was the goal because I know other people contributed to the whole thing but there are a lot of surprising elements that I love in - fabrics that were selected that are so rich and they look like bead work some of them. Some of them look like pieces of treasure that you could find in a treasure trove. I wanted to touch it. It's just wonderful. Yeah. [note: KM chose all the fabrics in the quilt.]
KM: Tell me more about the quilt that you drew inspiration from.
SS: This one here the Harriet Powers?
KM: Yes, Harriet Powers.
SS: It's been too long. I would have to have that book in front of me. I do have it at home but that's in Modesto. It was a little--almost a little prologue to this quilting book or this folk art book about her and it had a couple old color photos of her quilts and I loved the natural colors -I don't usually use in my art. My art is more like Yvonne's. It's very colorful--my graphic design. Harriet's work was--of course it's probably faded as it's aged but it's so beautiful with natural colors. She was working with a lot of browns. You can see that. Amazing woman.
KM: Do you have any idea when this was--
SS: No.
KM: Okay
SS: Sorry.
KM: It's okay we can get that information later.
SS: There is so much I don't know about quilting but I'm getting there being good friends with Yvonne.
KM: I want to thank you for your time and for your contribution because it was appreciated.
SS: It was my pleasure.
KM: I will conclude this interview. [tape ends.]
Interview Keyword
Inspirations
Folk artists
Quilters
Artistic influences
Artistry
Personal contributions
Creative processes
Women in quilting
Collection
Citation
“Suzanne Staud,” Quilters' S.O.S. -- Save Our Stories, accessed September 1, 2026, https://qsos.quiltalliance.org/items/show/2444.