Sue Herbst
Photos
Title
Sue Herbst
Identifier
IA51101-001A
Format
audio
Type
Oral History
Interviewee
Sue Herbst
Interviewer
Tomme Fent
Interview Date
8/11/2008
Interview sponsor
eQuilter.com
Location
Sioux City, Iowa
Interview indexer
Anne Lafferty
Transcriber
Tomme Fent
Transcription
Note: This was a demonstration interview conducted at the Siouxland Samplers Quilt Guild meeting as part of a presentation on Quilters' S.O.S. - Save Our Stories.
Tomme Fent (TF): This is Tomme Fent. Today is August 11th, 2008, and it is 7:25 p.m. I'm conducting an interview with Sue Herbst for the Quilters' S.O.S. - Save Our Stories project. We are here in Sioux City, Iowa, at the First Presbyterian Church. So, Sue thanks for coming.
Susan Herbst (SH): Thank you for having me.
TF: Why don't you first tell me a little bit about this quilt that you've brought, your touchstone object. What's the name of the quilt?
SH: It really doesn't have a name but my family calls it "Circles." It's a Log Cabin, and I did it when I had my quilt shop and I had two girls that wanted to come and do this particular quilt. They found it in a magazine. In fact, the magazine was Quilting Today in 1993. And the pattern, the design itself, was [from a quilt made by Barbara Swinea from a design by.] Jodie Stutchbury, is the one that did it. And I had to sort of draft the pattern from the picture because there was no pattern in the book. So I made one and then they each made one, and we did it every Tuesday. So I always called it my "Tuesday Quilt," but my family named it the "Circle Quilt."
TF: How many Tuesdays did it take you to finish the quilt?
SH: Approximately four months of Tuesdays. I don't know how many that is. [laughs.] Four to five months, but that was just the top. And then I had it quilted by a longarm quilter.
TF: So you said something about a quilt shop. You used to own a quilt shop?
SH: Yes. I owned the Strawberry Patch here in Sioux City for about four years. It was a very exciting experience, something that I would never give up. It wasn't something I could do for long term. I did everything. I worked--was open six days a week, and usually I had eight to ten hour days, so it was hard and it was--but it was so fulfilling. I don't think I've ever had a job or done anything that I like better. I liked meeting the people. I liked using the fabric. Just think if you had a whole quilt shop with fabric that you could touch anytime you wanted to, so I really enjoyed it. I really did.
TF: Were there any other quilt shops in Sioux City at that time?
SH: At that time, no, there was not. In fact, I bought the quilt shop from a lady who had the quilt shop, so I inherited a lot of fabric and then I put a lot of it in. And you know it's funny because you can tell, when you go to quilt shops, the personality of the owner or the people that work there really show through because you go to the different shops and what they like is what's there. So that's why I think I like to go to different quilt shops, just because--to see the different personalities of the quilt owners.
TF: What is your very first memory of a quilt?
SH: Quilts have been in my family forever. We lived in my grandmother's yard. I grew up there, you might say. And she--[laughter from guild members.]
TF: You lived in your grandmother's yard?
SH: We lived in a trailer house. My dad worked construction and we lived in a trailer house, so in the summertime, we went with dad on construction, and in the wintertime when he was back at the shop and not out building bridges, we lived in Grandma's yard. And of course, I was a pest, and I went over to Grandma's house all the time. And my grandmother was a quilter and she made utility quilts, and she made quilts that everybody used. And she had a few specials that she didn't have out, but most of them were utility quilts. And she made them completely out of scraps. Grandmother would have an absolute fit if she saw all my fabric that I have stashed away. You don't use new fabric, you use old, as far as she was concerned, and she made quilts out of old fabric. And she hand pieced everything. And she's the one that taught me to quilt, when I was eight, and she taught me how to hand piece. And the reason she did was to keep me out of her scraps and her blocks [laughter from guild members.], because I loved taking the blocks out and laying them out all on the floor. And even though Grandma made them out of scraps, they were very color-coordinated, and so she had them all laid out just exactly how she wanted them, and then when I was done, she had to go back and spend another couple hours putting them back where they belonged. So she basically gave me some scraps and a piece of cardboard about this size [indicating.], and I started making Four Patches, and that's how I started. And I still do hand piece today. I have a couple of projects started that I hand piece, and that's probably one of my favorite things.
TF: So you also machine piece?
SH: Yes, yes, mostly I machine piece. I find it real relaxing to do handwork, so I like to appliqué and I like to hand-piece. But, yes, most of my quilts are done on the machine.
TF: You mentioned that you have a fabric stash.
SH: Oh, yes!
TF: What are your favorite types of fabric?
SH: Well, I love the Asian prints, the Japanese prints and anything like that, and of course almost anything that has purple and lavender in it. As you can see, my quilt here is pretty much purpley, lavender, pinks, those kind of colors. And I keep finding that I'm picking up these odd things that--we're getting ready to move. This fall, we're hoping to move. And I just keep going into that quilt room and I say, ‘Oh, my gosh, where did I get some of this stuff?' [laughs.] But unlike you, Tomme, I cannot give any of it away, get rid of it. I still have fabric from the shop and I sold the shop in '92--in '93, so I still have fabric from the shop.
TF: When you go searching for fabrics, how much do you usually buy at one time, if you find a fabric you really love?
SH: Well, I used to buy yards, but now I've cut it down to where I buy maybe three or four yards at the most, and that's usually for a back. And the rest of the time I just buy a yard of this and a yard of that. Because I really like scrap quilts. I like quilts that have a lot of fabrics in them and have a lot of colors, so I have found that I have some fabrics that I'm probably never going to use all of because I just use a little piece of this and a little piece of that.
TF: Well, I know that you've been really involved in your quilt guild, the Siouxland Samplers Quilt Guild. What's your current involvement with the guild?
SH: Well, now I'm a member, and I also am chairing the quilt show, which makes me stutter when I stop and think about it. [laughter from guild members.] I don't know why I ever said I'd do this which it's a bigger job than I think we probably realize, but it's a lot of fun. I've had a lot of interaction with the different people in the guild already, and we have a whole year to go, but I'm enjoying every minute of it, but it is a very big responsibility and I am scared to death, let me tell you.
TF: Well, we'll all be here to help her, right?
[laughter and applause from guild members.]
TF: Weren't you involved in the very beginning of the guild?
SH: Yes, I was. I was one of those people that was at Lerlene Nevaril's house. It was Lerlene's idea to start a quilt guild here in Sioux City. And I was one of those that was at her house and, I don't know, we maybe had thirty, thirty-five people, and we picked out our name at that time. And we sort of made a little idea of what we wanted to do, what our goal was going to be in having the quilt guild. It was a real exciting time, and all the quilting I'd ever done was from Quilter's Newsletter. I didn't know about--I didn't interact with any other quilters, so to me, this was just absolutely fabulous, to have a quilt guild that I could go and see what other people were doing and share my ideas. It was great.
TF: Do you remember how long ago that was?
SH: I have no idea. My kids were little, and they now happen to be thirty-five and thirty-two, so they were like this tall [indicating.]. So it was quite awhile ago. I couldn't tell you.
Unidentified Person: '86.
SH: '86? Okay.
Unidentified Person: I wasn't there but that's when it was. [laughter.]
TF: Well, I see that our time is about up. And I would like to thank Sue Herbst for allowing me to interview her today as part of the Quilters' S.O.S. - Save Our Stories project. And our interview concluded at 7:34 p.m. on August 11, 2008. Thank you, Sue.
SH: Thank you.
Tomme Fent (TF): This is Tomme Fent. Today is August 11th, 2008, and it is 7:25 p.m. I'm conducting an interview with Sue Herbst for the Quilters' S.O.S. - Save Our Stories project. We are here in Sioux City, Iowa, at the First Presbyterian Church. So, Sue thanks for coming.
Susan Herbst (SH): Thank you for having me.
TF: Why don't you first tell me a little bit about this quilt that you've brought, your touchstone object. What's the name of the quilt?
SH: It really doesn't have a name but my family calls it "Circles." It's a Log Cabin, and I did it when I had my quilt shop and I had two girls that wanted to come and do this particular quilt. They found it in a magazine. In fact, the magazine was Quilting Today in 1993. And the pattern, the design itself, was [from a quilt made by Barbara Swinea from a design by.] Jodie Stutchbury, is the one that did it. And I had to sort of draft the pattern from the picture because there was no pattern in the book. So I made one and then they each made one, and we did it every Tuesday. So I always called it my "Tuesday Quilt," but my family named it the "Circle Quilt."
TF: How many Tuesdays did it take you to finish the quilt?
SH: Approximately four months of Tuesdays. I don't know how many that is. [laughs.] Four to five months, but that was just the top. And then I had it quilted by a longarm quilter.
TF: So you said something about a quilt shop. You used to own a quilt shop?
SH: Yes. I owned the Strawberry Patch here in Sioux City for about four years. It was a very exciting experience, something that I would never give up. It wasn't something I could do for long term. I did everything. I worked--was open six days a week, and usually I had eight to ten hour days, so it was hard and it was--but it was so fulfilling. I don't think I've ever had a job or done anything that I like better. I liked meeting the people. I liked using the fabric. Just think if you had a whole quilt shop with fabric that you could touch anytime you wanted to, so I really enjoyed it. I really did.
TF: Were there any other quilt shops in Sioux City at that time?
SH: At that time, no, there was not. In fact, I bought the quilt shop from a lady who had the quilt shop, so I inherited a lot of fabric and then I put a lot of it in. And you know it's funny because you can tell, when you go to quilt shops, the personality of the owner or the people that work there really show through because you go to the different shops and what they like is what's there. So that's why I think I like to go to different quilt shops, just because--to see the different personalities of the quilt owners.
TF: What is your very first memory of a quilt?
SH: Quilts have been in my family forever. We lived in my grandmother's yard. I grew up there, you might say. And she--[laughter from guild members.]
TF: You lived in your grandmother's yard?
SH: We lived in a trailer house. My dad worked construction and we lived in a trailer house, so in the summertime, we went with dad on construction, and in the wintertime when he was back at the shop and not out building bridges, we lived in Grandma's yard. And of course, I was a pest, and I went over to Grandma's house all the time. And my grandmother was a quilter and she made utility quilts, and she made quilts that everybody used. And she had a few specials that she didn't have out, but most of them were utility quilts. And she made them completely out of scraps. Grandmother would have an absolute fit if she saw all my fabric that I have stashed away. You don't use new fabric, you use old, as far as she was concerned, and she made quilts out of old fabric. And she hand pieced everything. And she's the one that taught me to quilt, when I was eight, and she taught me how to hand piece. And the reason she did was to keep me out of her scraps and her blocks [laughter from guild members.], because I loved taking the blocks out and laying them out all on the floor. And even though Grandma made them out of scraps, they were very color-coordinated, and so she had them all laid out just exactly how she wanted them, and then when I was done, she had to go back and spend another couple hours putting them back where they belonged. So she basically gave me some scraps and a piece of cardboard about this size [indicating.], and I started making Four Patches, and that's how I started. And I still do hand piece today. I have a couple of projects started that I hand piece, and that's probably one of my favorite things.
TF: So you also machine piece?
SH: Yes, yes, mostly I machine piece. I find it real relaxing to do handwork, so I like to appliqué and I like to hand-piece. But, yes, most of my quilts are done on the machine.
TF: You mentioned that you have a fabric stash.
SH: Oh, yes!
TF: What are your favorite types of fabric?
SH: Well, I love the Asian prints, the Japanese prints and anything like that, and of course almost anything that has purple and lavender in it. As you can see, my quilt here is pretty much purpley, lavender, pinks, those kind of colors. And I keep finding that I'm picking up these odd things that--we're getting ready to move. This fall, we're hoping to move. And I just keep going into that quilt room and I say, ‘Oh, my gosh, where did I get some of this stuff?' [laughs.] But unlike you, Tomme, I cannot give any of it away, get rid of it. I still have fabric from the shop and I sold the shop in '92--in '93, so I still have fabric from the shop.
TF: When you go searching for fabrics, how much do you usually buy at one time, if you find a fabric you really love?
SH: Well, I used to buy yards, but now I've cut it down to where I buy maybe three or four yards at the most, and that's usually for a back. And the rest of the time I just buy a yard of this and a yard of that. Because I really like scrap quilts. I like quilts that have a lot of fabrics in them and have a lot of colors, so I have found that I have some fabrics that I'm probably never going to use all of because I just use a little piece of this and a little piece of that.
TF: Well, I know that you've been really involved in your quilt guild, the Siouxland Samplers Quilt Guild. What's your current involvement with the guild?
SH: Well, now I'm a member, and I also am chairing the quilt show, which makes me stutter when I stop and think about it. [laughter from guild members.] I don't know why I ever said I'd do this which it's a bigger job than I think we probably realize, but it's a lot of fun. I've had a lot of interaction with the different people in the guild already, and we have a whole year to go, but I'm enjoying every minute of it, but it is a very big responsibility and I am scared to death, let me tell you.
TF: Well, we'll all be here to help her, right?
[laughter and applause from guild members.]
TF: Weren't you involved in the very beginning of the guild?
SH: Yes, I was. I was one of those people that was at Lerlene Nevaril's house. It was Lerlene's idea to start a quilt guild here in Sioux City. And I was one of those that was at her house and, I don't know, we maybe had thirty, thirty-five people, and we picked out our name at that time. And we sort of made a little idea of what we wanted to do, what our goal was going to be in having the quilt guild. It was a real exciting time, and all the quilting I'd ever done was from Quilter's Newsletter. I didn't know about--I didn't interact with any other quilters, so to me, this was just absolutely fabulous, to have a quilt guild that I could go and see what other people were doing and share my ideas. It was great.
TF: Do you remember how long ago that was?
SH: I have no idea. My kids were little, and they now happen to be thirty-five and thirty-two, so they were like this tall [indicating.]. So it was quite awhile ago. I couldn't tell you.
Unidentified Person: '86.
SH: '86? Okay.
Unidentified Person: I wasn't there but that's when it was. [laughter.]
TF: Well, I see that our time is about up. And I would like to thank Sue Herbst for allowing me to interview her today as part of the Quilters' S.O.S. - Save Our Stories project. And our interview concluded at 7:34 p.m. on August 11, 2008. Thank you, Sue.
SH: Thank you.
OHMS Object
OHMS Object Text
5.4Unknown Date2019oh1153_qsossx0001Interview with Sue Herbst, August 11, 20082019oh1153_qsossx0001qsossxQuilt Alliance’s Quilters' S.O.S.- Save Our Stories Oral History Project: Siouxland Samplers Quilt GuildQuilt AllianceSue HerbstTomme Fent0https://quiltalliance.net/qsos-audio/IA51101-001A%20Herbst.mp3Otheraudio9About the touchstone quiltThis is Tomme Fent. Today is Monday, August 11th, 2008, and it is 7:25 p.m. I'm conducting an interview with Sue Herbst for the Quilters' S.O.S. - Save Our Stories Project. We are here in Sioux City, Iowa at the First Presbyterian Church. So, Sue, thanks for coming... Why don't you first tell me a little bit about this quilt that you've brought, your touchstone object. What's the name of the quilt? Herbst says her touchstone quilt does not have an official name, although her family calls it "Circles." She calls it her "Tuesday Quilt," because Herbst worked on the quilt every Tuesday while making it. Herbst made the quilt while she was running a quilt shop. Two women asked her for help in making the quilt after they saw it in Quilting Today magazine. Herbst says that the original design was created by Jodie Stutchbury. [A note in the interview transcript states that Barbara Swinea made the quilt shown in Quilting Today from Stutchbury's design.] Since the magazine did not include a pattern, Herbst first had to create one from the picture. Herbst first made the quilt herself, before teaching the two other women. Herbst estimates that it took her four to five months to finish the quilt top. She then sent the top to a long arm quilter to be quilted.Barbara Swinea;Jodie Stutchbury;Log Cabin - quilt pattern;Long arm quilters;Quilt tops;Quilting Today;Teaching quiltmaking;Tomme FentQuilting today;Quilts--United States95Owning a quilt shopSo, you said something about a quilt shop. You used to own a quilt shop?Herbst was the owner of the Strawberry Patch, a quilt shop in Sioux City, Iowa, for roughly four years. Running the quilt shop required working long hours, but Herbst found it to be very fulfilling. There were no other quilt shops in Sioux City at that time. Herbst bought the quilt shop from its previous owner. Herbst enjoys going to quilt shops because, she says it is a good way to learn about the shops' owners and their personalities.Fabric/Quilt shops;Quilt business;Quilt shops;Small businessQuilting shops;Sioux City (Iowa)171Quilt memoryWell, what is your very first memory of a quilt?Herbst says, "Quilts have been in my family forever." While Herbst was growing up, her family lived in a "trailer house" on her grandmother's property for part of the year. Herbst's grandmother was a quilter who made hand-pieced utility quilts using scrap fabrics. When Herbst was eight years old, her grandmother taught her to hand piece, as a way of keeping Herbst away from her own scraps and blocks. Herbst started making hand-pieced Four Patch quilts for her first quilts. Now Herbst does most of her work using a machine, but she continues doing some hand piecing and applique. Fabric stash;Family;Four Patch - quilt pattern;Grandmothers;Hand applique;Hand piecing;Learning quiltmaking;Machine quilting;Quilt Purpose - Utilitarian;Scrap quiltsQuiltmakers--United States294Favorite types of fabricWell, you mentioned that you have a fabric stash. What are your favorite types of fabric?Herbst loves fabric with Asian and Japanese prints. As far as color goes, she likes lavender and purple. She is preparing to move soon and says that she cannot get rid of any of her fabric. Some of Herbst's fabric stash came from owning her quilt shop, which she sold in 1992 or 1993. She usually only buys a yard or two of fabric at a time, except when buying more yards to be used as a quilt backing. Herbst enjoys making scrap quilts and prefers to use a lot of fabric types with different colors.Fabric selection;Fabric stash;Scrap quilts382Quilt guildWell, I know that you've been really involved in your quilt guild, the Siouxland Samplers Quilt Guild. What's your current involvement with the guild?Herbst is a member of the Siouxland Samplers Quilt Guild. She was also the chair of its quilt show at the time of the interview. She says chairing the quilt show is fun and involves interacting with members of the guild, but she also finds the responsibility intimidating. Herbst was one of thirty or thirty-five people who showed up for the first meeting of the guild, at Lerlene Nevaril's house. During the meeting, they chose a name for the guild and came up with ideas for the guild's goals. Herbst's primary source of quilting information before the guild was Quilter's Newsletter, and she did not know other quiltmakers. Herbst is not sure when the quilt guild began, but a member of the audience says it was started in 1986.Guild leadership;Quilt guilds;Quilt shows/exhibitions;Quilters Newsletter Magazine;Siouxland Samplers Quilt GuildNevaril, Lerlene, 1938-https://siouxlandsamplers.org/Siouxland Samplers Quilt GuildinterviewAll rights to the Quilters' S.O.S. -- Save Our Stories (QSOS) oral history project, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred from the Quilt Alliance to the University of Kentucky Libraries. Please contact the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History regarding rights pertaining to individual interviews.audioInterviews may only be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.0https://quiltalliance.net/ohms-viewer-master/viewer.php?cachefile=
Collection
Citation
“Sue Herbst,” Quilters' S.O.S. -- Save Our Stories, accessed October 15, 2026, https://qsos.quiltalliance.org/items/show/2585.