Lyn Brown

Lyn Brown

4/8/2011

2019oh1177_qsosscm0014

audio

Lyn Brown

Pam Schultz

4/8/2011

Hastings, Michigan

Pam Schultz

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<title>Touchstone quilt</title>
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<partial_transcript>This is Pam Schulz. It's Friday, April 8th, at 12:30. I'm interviewing Lyn Brown at Quilt Camp at Mishiwana Camp in Hastings, Michigan.</partial_transcript>
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<synopsis>Brown and her mother made this quilt, while Brown was visiting her parents in Australia. She scheduled the visit so that she would have a week in Australia before the rest of her family arrived. She and her mother spent almost all that week working on the quilt. Brown's contribution was the machine sewing and free motion embroidery. Her mother did the hand sewing. The quilt is extremely meaningful for Brown, because she made it with her mother and because talking about quilting is an important part of her relationship with her mother. Brown chose to bring this quilt to the interview, because it is one of a small number she has retained from those she has made. Brown has used the quilt on her bed occasionally, but mostly displays it on a quilt rack. In the long run, she expects, in the fullness of time, to convert a child's bedroom to a guest bedroom and will put the quilt on the bed in there. Brown describes several of the blocks on the quilt, including a couple that were actually made by her sister, rather than either of the primary quiltmakers. She also discusses the crochet on the quilt, which was done in advance, largely, but not entirely, by Brown's mother. While Brown and her mother were actually making the quilt, her father did the cooking, so that Brown and her mother could keep working.</synopsis>
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<time>173</time>
<title>Learning to quilt</title>
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<partial_transcript>Tell me about your interest in quiltmaking.</partial_transcript>
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<synopsis>While Brown was in college, she had a quilt made by her mother on her bed, although she says of the method of its making, "I don't even know if we, either of us called it quilting in those days. It was just, a blanket to, you know, put on your bed." Some of the fabric in that quilt was left over from clothing Brown made before she left home. Brown does not think that her mother did any other quilting during that time period. Brown herself learned to quilt after moving to the United States. She did not work full time for a while. During that period, she took a quiltmaking class and made a sampler quilt. Afterwards, she chose to mostly machine stitch, because she was not happy with her hand stitching on the sampler quilt. She also made a couple of strip quilts. Later, she made some Log Cabin quilts, after (she thinks) taking a Log Cabin class. When her children were born and were growing up, Brown shifted focus to children's clothing and dance costumes. She did not entirely stop quilting, however. She always had a quilt on her bed (not always the same quilt) and she quilted some items for neighbors. She did not, however, make as many quilts as she does now. Brown learned quilting from the teacher of her first quilt class. A year after taking her Log Cabin class, she taught her mother and her friends how to make that pattern. That was when her mother, who was retired by then, really began to focus on quilting.</synopsis>
<synopsis_alt/>
<keywords>Quaker quilts; Log Cabin - quilt pattern; String quilts; Learning quiltmaking; Sampler quilts; Family</keywords>
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<time>348</time>
<title>Time spent quilting / Family history of quilting</title>
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<partial_transcript>How many hours a week do you quilt?</partial_transcript>
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<synopsis>When asked how many hours a week she quilts, Brown replies, "Many as I can." She elaborates that the year before the interview, she tried for a while to quilt for an hour every night. She kept going with that for a while, but eventually stopped. That said, she has been a much more productive quilter in the two years leading up to the interview than she was when the children were younger. She estimates that "on a good week," she spends six or seven hours a week quilting or doing related tasks, like designing quilts or reading quilting books. She thinks that, at a minimum she "do[es] something quilting, every few days...." Brown's first quilt memories are of the quilts her mother made for family beds. When asked if there are other quiltmakers in her family, Brown describes her mother as "the quilting queen." One of Brown's sisters is also a quilter and another is learning to quilt. </synopsis>
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<keywords>Patchwork quilts; Family</keywords>
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<time>435</time>
<title>Using quilting to get through difficult times / Family dynamics</title>
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<partial_transcript>How does quiltmaking impact your family?</partial_transcript>
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<synopsis>Brown says that her family is "used to" her quilting. Other family members are interested in basketball. Her husband sells basketball nets for Shoot-A-Way. Brown thinks that her family members are pleased she has a hobby of her own and is "not bugging them all the time to, do their thing." She thinks her husband is proud of her quilting, based on his suggestion that she make one for the Shoot-A-Way office and his reaction to a baby quilt she made for the child of her his assistant coach. Brown describes her husband as "supportive." He also has no objection to her spending money on quilting. When asked about using quilting to get through difficult times, Brown says "Sometimes when I'm worried about stuff, I might go and sew, but more likely, if I'm really worried about something, I don't sew. I'm just not in the mood." When asked if she cuddles with quilts, Brown says that she is "not a cuddler." She adds that she does have a quilt she uses while looking at television. Her son, however, does like to cuddle in a specific old quilt.</synopsis>
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<keywords>Shoot-A-Way; Final Four; Basketball; Log Cabin - quilt pattern; Double Irish Chain (quilt pattern); Family; Cal-Co Quilters Guild</keywords>
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<time>581</time>
<title>Likes and dislikes about quilting</title>
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<partial_transcript>Tell me about an amusing experience that has occurred from your quiltmaking.</partial_transcript>
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<synopsis>When asked about amusing experiences related to quilts, Brown talks about her daughter teasing her about Brown's "quiltaholic quilt," which Brow made herself. Her daughter teasing about this quilt and Brown's in general notwithstanding, the daughter is pleased that her mother regularly makes quilts for the daughter's friends. When asked what she finds pleasing about quiltmaking, Brown says, "I like the challenge" and then discusses the Brown Bag Challenge that her quilt group is doing at the time of the interview. She describes the contents of the bag she received for the challenge (which include fabric reminiscent of her home country, Australia, and materials that would not normally be used in a quilt). The interviewer admits that the bag came from her, and they discuss the fabrics and how much the interviewer will like the quilt, once it is returned to her. They also discuss the logistics of the exchange, which Brown might not be able to attend, due to her son's travel basketball. When asked what she does not like about quilting, Brown instead talks about what she "would enjoy" (finishing), "do[es]n't mind" (binding), or is "getting better at" (free motion quilting). That said, she thinks owning a long arm would increase her enjoyment of "the whole process. Brown also likes planning quilts. Brown designs many of her own quilts, but likes using patterns, too. She has a lot of projects involving hand work, so she can bring them when she travels, something she does with some frequency. The conversation digresses to a fairly involved discussion of her son's travel basketball.</synopsis>
<synopsis_alt/>
<keywords>Cal-Co Quilters Guild; Brown Bag Challenge; Basketball; Family; Lazy Sunbonnet Sue (block pattern)</keywords>
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<time>862</time>
<title>Quilt groups / Advances in technology / Favorite techniques and materials.</title>
<title_alt/>
<partial_transcript>What art or quilt groups do you belong to?</partial_transcript>
<partial_transcript_alt/>
<synopsis>Brown belongs to the Lawton Country Quilters (Lawton, MI) and the Cal-Co Quilters Guild (Battle Creek, MI). She says that she joined the Cal-Co Quilters Guild "by accident." Although that group meets at more of a distance from her home than she would like, she thinks "it's worked." When asked, Brown agrees that her quilting has changed in response to technology. Judging by her phrasing ("when you first started, you were tying quilts,"), from Brown's perspective, tying rather than quilting was common practice when she began quilting: When asked specifically about new technology she makes use of, Brown talks about a sewing machine of higher quality, applique spraying glue, and the rotary cutter, as well other "little things out there that make your job. easier." Brown is particularly fond of using the Flying Geese pattern in quilts. Her favorite techniques include applique, satin and buttonhole stitching, and piecing (especially in borders). She likes trying a variety of different approaches. She says, "I will tackle anything...."</synopsis>
<synopsis_alt/>
<keywords>Cal-Co Quilters Guild; Lawton Country Quilters (Lawton, MI); Technology in quiltmaking; Techniques; Pfaff; Quilt groups; Flying Geese (quilt block pattern)</keywords>
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<time>985</time>
<title>Studio space / Time management</title>
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<partial_transcript>Describe your studio or the place that you create.</partial_transcript>
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<synopsis>In 1992, when Lyn Brown's family built the house they live in at the time of the interview, they included a sewing room for her. Brown feels that she has "outgrown it" and she has expanded into an "old dance room, which was a toy room." She intends to put the long arm quilter she plans to buy in that room. Since, as of the time of the interview, Brown has "a kid at K" [identified in a transcript note as Kalamazoo College], she does not feel that she can purchase one yet, but intends to check into second hand long arms and take her time in buying one. Brown balances her time, in part, by minimizing the time she spends doing housework and cooking. Nevertheless, Brown has to balance her quilting with her full-time job and her son's basketball nights. She gets a bit of quilting done on evenings during the week, but does most of her quilting on weekends. She quilts less in summer, when gardening and bike riding take up some of her time. Brown does not have a design wall, but uses the floor or a table instead. She acknowledges that quilts appear different to a viewer when displayed on a wall, rather than horizontally, and that she has a wall she could make over into a design wall, but has been too busy to put in the time to actually create the design wall.</synopsis>
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<keywords>Work or Studio space; Long arm quilters; Time management; Design Wall; Kalamazoo College (Kalamazoo, MI)</keywords>
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<time>1129</time>
<title>What makes a great quilt / Quilts in special collection's</title>
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<partial_transcript>What do you think makes a great quilt?</partial_transcript>
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<synopsis>Brown is rather tentative about identifying particular quilts as great. She notes that it would not be appropriate to tell the maker of a particular quilt that it is not great. She adds, "just because you don't like it, doesn't mean that, it's not a great quilt." Speaking from her perspective as a quiltmaker, she focuses in on the design process, which she thinks requires significant thought ahead of construction. She says, "You've got to spend some time and research into a great quilt." Nevertheless, "some great quilts can be very simple, too." On the topic of artistically powerful quilts, Brown starts by talking about what she is not particularly attracted to - quilts based on "1930s look" (although she is starting to find them more appealing) and "Civil War colors." She likes brighter colors. Workmanship is important in her evaluation of a quilt, but even a technically excellent piece has to have a good color scheme to appeal to her. Brown thinks a quilt "probably has to be pretty special" to be appropriate for a museum or special collection. Since she has not gone to a large number of quilt exhibitions, she is a little tentative in her reply, but speculates that a quilt would need to incorporate techniques typical of its time period to be appropriate for a special collection. For her, quilts are objects to be put on beds, rather than displayed on walls. She says that many of the quilts displayed at "the Chicago show" that she attended worked for her better if, instead of thinking of them as quilts, she thought of them as art.</synopsis>
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<time>1292</time>
<title>Quilt inspiration</title>
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<partial_transcript>What makes a great quiltmaker?</partial_transcript>
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<synopsis>When asked what makes a great quiltmaker, Brown mentions both patience and creativity, but thinks the latter is more important. The creative process, as she understands it, involves experimenting with different ideas and fabrics until "til you get it right." Brown denies knowing much about or paying much attention to the work of prominent quilters. She tosses out a few names she know, including Eleanor Burns, Amy Bradley, Kaye Woods and "Kate Kaffe". [The last name given may actually be quilter Kaffe Fassett, whose name came up repeatedly in different Google searches using various spellings.] She says, however, that she pays no attention to brand names. When asked which artists have influenced her, she says that her mother, as well as her friends and various quilt groups, have influenced her work. She is mostly unaware of artists known more widely in the quilting world, as she does not look at people's names in quilt books and magazines. </synopsis>
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<keywords>Eleanor Burns; Amy Bradley Designs; Kaye Woods; Kaffe Fassett</keywords>
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<time>1418</time>
<title>Quilting techniques / Influence of quilts</title>
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<partial_transcript>How do you feel about machine quilting vs. hand quilting?</partial_transcript>
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<synopsis>In Brown's opinion, hand quilting is both slow and "very frustrating." She thinks that machine quilting lasts better. While well-done hand quilting looks good, overall Brown prefers the appearance of well-done machine quilting. She likes long arm quilting, but, for both financial reasons and because she wants all the work going into the quilt to be her own, she does not want to pay to have someone else do it. When asked about the ways in which her quilting reflects her region, Brown discusses the difference between Australian quilts and those of her area of the American Midwest. She thinks the quilting aesthetics of the two regions are quite different, to the extent that, despite some overlap in fabrics, the quilt shops in the two regions look noticeably different. Australian aesthetics favor "the brights, the thirties," and the "trendier," but the quilt shops in her local area favor "more subdued" colors. She suggests that these differences may be related to climate and the interviewer suggests they may be related to culture. Brown adds that the trends she notices may be specific to her local area in the States and her mother's local area in Australia. Quiltmaking is important in Brown's life, because it is a creative outlet for her. and she "love[s] seeing colors go together." She finds quilting exciting and she likes giving quilts away.</synopsis>
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<keywords>Machine quilting; Hand quilting; Long arm quilting; Australia; Aesthetics</keywords>
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<time>1581</time>
<title>Importance of quiltmaking in American life</title>
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<partial_transcript>What do you think about the importance of quilts in American life?</partial_transcript>
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<synopsis>Brown thinks that quilts are quite important in American life and that people (in context, specifically recipients of quilt gifts) find them memorable. Brown does not particularly enjoy making labels, because they are the "last little finishing touch you're going to do," but recognizes the importance of doing so. The interviewer points out that it is "wonderful to have that date, place, and person on there" and suggests making the label first, rather than last. Brown says that she adds the occasion for the gift of the quilt to the label, as well. She uses permanent marker on commercial labels. In regards to the meaning of quilts in women's history, Brown says, "I think historically we make do with what we have, only modern quilters don't, we just run to the store...." She sees getting through one's supply of scraps instead as quite challenging. She makes a comparison to the challenge she is working on: "That's why I like the challenge so much...you had to use these and you had to use your brain, to work out, come up with something nice out of that" Brown thinks that quilters of the past excelled at that sort of creative use of "what they had."</synopsis>
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<keywords>quilt label; Quilt history</keywords>
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<time>1682</time>
<title>Preservation of quilts / Biggest challenge confronting quiltmakers today</title>
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<partial_transcript>How do you think quilts can be used?</partial_transcript>
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<synopsis>Brown gives some routine, obvious uses of quilts (on beds, walls, and couches). They can also be displayed in public areas; she says "I think they have a lot of uses that way, especially, [you know?], if they tell a story." She sees quilts as "comforting" and "meaningful." Brown describes a specific charitable use, making quilts for the Sherriff's Department to distribute to crime victims. She concludes her discussion of quilt use by saying, "'Cause everyone has to stay warm, somehow. You may as well stay warm with something that's nice." To Brown's mind, museums have a role in the preservation of quilts. Beyond that, she recommends giving care instructions to recipients of quilt gifts, but acknowledges that the quilt's creator has no control over how a quilt is treated once it has been given away. Some of her own family's quilts ended up in a garage sale, after being used until they were quite worn. Brown characterizes quilts as being either "a show horse" or "a work horse." Work horses on beds have a useful life of perhaps five to seven years, and then may be repurposed to whatever is needed, possibly including use as a dog blanket. A show horse, however, "sticks around and [is] given a special purpose and taken care of." Brown thinks time is the biggest challenge facing quiltmakers today. Access to fabric and other materials is not only not a problem, but much improved from the era twenty or thirty years prior to the interview. Brown says that in Australia at that time depth, quilting "was not a big industry." Instead, women sewed to dress their families. She feels that, given that people mostly buy clothes these days, women need some other creative way to use their sewing skills. Brown notes that there is also a social aspect to quilting.</synopsis>
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<keywords>Quilt preservation; Quilt care</keywords>
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<type>Oral History</type>
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<transcript>Pam Schultz (PS); This is Pam Schultz. It’s Friday, April 8th at 12:30. I’m
interviewing Lyn Brown at Quilt Camp, at Mishawana Camp in Hastings, Michigan.
How are you today, Lyn?

Lyn Brown (LB); I’m good, thank you.

PS; Good. Tell me about the quilt you brought today.

LB; Well, I brought a quilt that my mother and I actually made together. In
2007, I believe, we st arted it when I went home to Australia to see my mom and
I arrived in Australia seven days earlier than my family and we sat for six days
and did nothing but make this quilt. I have done all the machine stitching and
free motion embroidery and my mother did all the hand work on it. So, it was
kind of combined mother-daughter effort.

PS; What special meaning does this quilt have for you?

LB; Everything because I made it with my mother and she and I,
we just talk quilting every week end when I call home. So that’s what we do.

PS; Why did you choose to bring this quilt?

LB; Well, one, it’s one of the few that I actually have that I haven’t given
away, and I only keep t he ones that are really meaningful, so this was one of those.

PS; How do you use this quilt?

LB; Actually, I slept under it a couple of times. I guess I’ve used it
occasionally, but usually I hang it on the quilt rack and admire it and keep it nice.

PS; And what are your plans for this quilt?

LB; Eventually I think I’ll put it in a guest room when my youngest kid leaves
for college, it’s going to go in that guest room.

PS; Tell me about some of the things appliquéd on there.

LB; Each block is, well, my sister also came and gave her two cents worth. I
think she did one of the ones with the umbrella on it, and the pot of flowers.
This one, it has
my husband’s and my wedding date, when we got married and it has my
mother-in-law and father-in-law’s wedding date, and then it has my parent’s, and
it has my daughter’s birth date and her ballet shoes. My son’s block has a
basketball hoop and his date of birth on his one. So it’s kind of a bit of a
story quilt as well. Then the others we just put in there, and of course we’ve
got a lot of hand done crochet and things we put on it.

PS; Who did the crochet?

LB; My mother probably did two-thirds to three-quarters of it and I did several
little pieces that I put on. And we prepared those months in advance. I knew I
was going home to do it, so the year before we started getting little bits and
pieces tog ether. So we had a little box full of crochet and things ready to go.
And my dad was there, he cooked our meals and made sure we just sewed all the time.

PS; Tell me about your interest in quilt-making.

LB; I actually slept under a quilt, a patchwork quilt that my mother made,
when I was at college. That’s the one I can remember most. I can’t remember much
before then, but I remember seeing patches of dresses that I had made because I
sewed my own clothes, when I was growing up as a teenager. There’d be bits of
squares that she’d use of the leftovers in the quilt. It was just a simple quilt
using a four-patch block. I don’t even know if we--either of us called it
quilting in those days. It was just a blanket to put on your bed. So, that’s
kind of my earliest memories. And my mom didn’t make anything more than that at
that time. Yeah, she didn’t get into it until later.

PS; At what age did you start quilt-making?

LB; I probably made my first quilt, actually, when I came here to the United
States in 1985, married in ‘84, came here in ‘85 and then we went up North,
actually to Rose City/West Branch [Michigan.] area. That was the only place my
husband could get a teaching job.
I got a job substituting after awhile, but, I took a class in a sampler quilt
which was all done by hand and I remember I was extremely frustrated because my
stitches were not near as tiny as I thought they should be. But looking back at
it, it’s pretty good. It was just, you know, I wanted to get them perfect and it
was hard, so I don’t do much hand quilting. That’s kind of my first one. Then I
did a couple of ot her strip quilts at the same time and then after that I moved
to Mattawan and had a full-time job. There I made a few Log Cabin quilts. I
think I took a Log Cabin class, did the classic L og Cabin Quilt in a Day, you
know, down at the Viking store back in ‘86 or ’87, and then I made a few runners
and a few different things and then the kids came along and I got busy with
dance and everything else. I made dance costumes and kids clothes and things
like that. In the last twenty years I’ve always had a quilt on my bed that I
have made. My first was a Log Cabin or then it’d get a bit better every time, and
I made the neighbors some, I probably--I guess I kept my hand in it, when I look
back at it. But not, prolific, like I am now, but always just dabbling kind of.

PS; From whom did you learn to quilt?

LB; I’d have to say my first class in West Branch. I don’t know the name of the
instructor. I don’ t even think I made any little patchwork quilt or anything
before that. Not my mother, because I went back to Australia the year after I
did the Log Cabin Quilt in a Day, and I taught her and her friends how to do
that one. And then she just took off because she was retired, so she just went
quilting crazy.

PS; How many hours a week to you quilt?

LB; A many as I can. [chuckles.]

PS; [laughs.]

LB; I went through a phase last year where I thought, ‘I’m going to do an hour a
night,’ and I’d put the music on and I’d sit for about an hour a night
and that lasted okay, but I’d say in the last two years I’ve been pretty
prolific. Up until that I was too busy with kids and whatever to be that
prolific, but I’d say now I probably do, on a good week, several hours, I don’t
know, six, seven hou rs a week maybe, even with working full-time I just go down
in the sewing room or plan quilts, or read quilt books or sketch stuff. I do so
mething quilting every few days at least.

PS; What is your first quilt memory?

LB; That’d have to be my mother making those little patchwork quilts for our
beds out of our left over clothes.

PS; Well, that kind of leads to the next question. Are there other quilt-makers
in your family?

LB; Yes. I have the quilting queen as a mother, [both laugh.] and my sister Sue,
when we talk, all we talk now is quilting. And she’s going to quilt camp with
mom and I next August when we go home to Australia

PS; Oh, good.

LB; So, the three of us will be there. And my younger sister, Paula, is getting
lessons from mom
and her mother-in-law are taking classes and they’re making heart quilts at the
moment. Vicki has made a couple of quilts. She’s not as prolific. And then I
have my older sister who can’t sew a button. [PS laughs quietly.]

PS; Awesome.

LB; Yes.

PS; How does quilt-making impact your family?

LB; They’re used to it. They have their thing. They go to their basketball stuff
all the time. I think they’re kind of glad I have a hobby and I’m not bugging
them all the time to do their thing. In fact, my husband has been doing the
“Shoot Away” business. He’s selling basketball hoops.

PS; Oh yeah?

LB; Gets $400 for every one he sells.

PS; Wow.

LB; He was off to the Final Four last weekend with my son and my son’s the
demonstrator. He does the shooting and demonstrates so they get their way paid
for and all their meals and hotel and everything. He’s into that pretty much big
time now. I called him last night and he said, ‘I think we should make a quilt
for the Shoot Away office. Can you make a quilt for the Shoot-a-Way office?’
[laughs.] So I think he’s
proud of what I do because when I took over a baby quilt to his assistant
coach’s house after they had the baby, he seemed quite proud. He doesn’t get mad
at me or anything. I spend what I want on it and he doesn’t care. He’s supportive--

PS; That’s it.

LB; --very supportive. When I was coming away for this retreat, my son, Thomas,
commented to me, ‘ Another quilt camp?’ I was at camp four weeks ago with the
Lawton group. I said, ‘Yes, yeah.’ So--

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

LB; As in sewing them? Sometimes when I’m worried about things I might go and
sew. But more likely if I’m really worried about something I don’t sew. I’m just
not in the mood.

PS; Do you ever cuddle with them?

LB; No, I’m not a cuddler. I have a flannel quilt I made at my first camp with
Cal Quilters [Cal-Co Quilters’ Guild, Battle Creek, Michigan.] that I have by my
recliner and I’ll put that on when I’m watching TV.
But more likely my son is the one wrapped up in them. And actually, he’s wra
pped up in one that is hand tied, that’s in shreds. It was a Double Irish Chain.
One of the first quilts I made after maybe that Log Cabin one and I remember I
hand tied it, and I hadn’t even stitched in the ditch or anything. The backings
is shredding off it. It’s been used to wrap the gun, that Shoot Away machine
when they haul it to places, and Thomas just won’t let me throw it away. It’s
long enough and it’s what he likes to cuddle up in on the couch.

PS; Tell me about an amusing experience that has occurred from your quilt-making.

LB; An amusing experience? Oh, God. We’ll have to come back to that one. I have
a “quiltaholic ” quilt that I
made that my daughter laughs about all the time. She gives me a bit of curry
about it, but I’m always making quilts for her friends and her boyfriends and
she loves it, but she makes fun of me. You know, especially with that one she
made fun of me.

PS; What do you find pleasing about quilt-making?

LB; I like the challenge. I just did the Brown Bag Challenge for the Cal
Quilters for the first time this year and I love what I did. I don’t know whose
it is, but I just love it. I wish they’d give it back to me. I opened the bag
and in it were fabrics that screamed Australian. Really different stuff, stuff
you wouldn’t use in a quilt at all, but, to give them to me, for me to pick it,
was unbelievable because I had little Australian appliquéd animals that I put on
this quilt. That was the only thin g I added to her fabrics, were little
broderie perse Australian animals.
So--

PS; This is cheating, but it’s mine.

LB; You’re kidding. [shouts.]

PS; [laughs.]

LB; You gave me that fabric? Oh, you’re going to love the quilt.

PS; I am. I love the fabric. [chuckles.]

LB; Well, it was so unusual.

PS; I’ll pretend it’s a surprise when I get it.

LB; Black swirly stuff? And black and white dots?

PS; I bought that up northeast of Traverse City. [Michigan.]

LB; I thought you’d given me this because you’ve got no idea what to do with it.

PS; Nope, oh no, I just loved them.

LB; Oh, you’re going to love what I did with it.

PS; I will. I know I will. Now I can’t wait. [chuckles.]

LB; I don’t know if I can be there for the exchange, because I might be
traveling with basketball my son.

PS; Well, I’ll be calling you or seeing you.

LB; No, Debbie will bring it. She said she’s definitely going to be there too
because she loves the exchange.

PS; What aspects of quilt-making do you not enjoy?

LB; I guess I would enjoy the finishing, I don’t mind putting on the binding,
I’m getting better at the machine, the free motion bit, but I’d really like to
get a long-arm so I could really enjoy doing the whole process. I like planning them,
I didn’t think I’d enjoy the challenge as much as I did, but I loved it, and my
mother gave me nine little, I’ll show them to you later, nine little Lazy
Sunbonnet Sue things that are just outlined on, someone was practicing their
machine embroidery. They were done on really crummy fabric. But she gave them to
me to use in the quilt. I spent sixty dollars on fabric to go with these crummy
little nine squares. [lau ghs.] That was kind of a challenge. Also I do a lot of
my own designing. I probably make blocks and put them together the way I want
more often than I follow a pattern. Not that I don’t mind fo llowing a pattern,
I love it because it’s no-brainer. You know, you just kind of do it and you move
on. But, a lot of the stuff I have now to be finished, like the wool one I did
by hand has to be finished. And I did an English paper piecing one in batiks and
it’s all done by hand, because I have to have hand projects when I travel.
When I travel to Australia in August I’ve got to have something to do by hand.
And when I go to twelve weekends away with travel basketball with my son, I have
to have something to do by hand. I got into those wooly projects I do by hand.

PS; What was the twelve-week thing?

LB; The twelve month one was one I did in wools.

PS; I meant the other trip.

LB; Oh, I’m gone. Next weekend I start, well, next weekend I’m in New York at a
wedding, but my son starts travel basketball next weekend and we’re gone--

PS; Oh.

LB; --twelve weekends.

PS; Oh.

LB; Half of April, all of May, June he does with his dad’s school program and
July he does travel basketball again. We go to Orlando [Florida.], Minneapolis
[Minnesota.], Louisville. [Kentucky .] Great quilt shop in Louisville. What’s it
called? Ah, it’s wonderful. Been there two years now. Told the lady I’d be back
one more year to that quilt shop, beautiful quilt shop.

PS; So you travel all those weekends.

LB; Oh, yeah. Hotels every weekend. And then--

PS; That’s rough.

LB; And then you sit in between games and sometimes I take papers to grade if
I’ve got a lot of grading to do, but other times I take handwork to do. So three
of the quilts I’ve got at home
are hand done. Either backstitched or English paper piecing or wooly stuff.

PS; No, you’ve got mine. I don’t know whose I have. What art or quilt groups do
you belong to?

LB; I belong to the Cal Quilters group and the Lawton Country Quilters. I got
into the Lawton group by accident. No, I’m sorry, the Cal Quilters group by
accident. And it’s a little far from my house, but it’s worked.

PS; Have advances in technology influenced the way you work?

LB; Oh, yes. Obviously. Because you know when I started I was tying quilts. And
then you were stitching in the ditch and now, obviously, the finish of them is.
I think quilts look better when they’re quilted down more and finished. Not too
tightly. I don’t like them too tight because they’re not very soft.

PS; What kinds of, what, I don’t know how to explain it now. What differences in
technology do you use?

LB; Well, I have a better sewing machine. I’ve always had the walking foot
because I’ve had a Pfaff for a long time. A lot more little tools that make your
job so much easier. I mean, obviously, the rotary cutter revolutionized quilting
anyway. I’m trying to think of other things I use. Like appliqué spraying glue,
I mean, there’s just kind of little things out there that make your job easier.
Fast Flying Geese patterns, you know, things like that.

PS; What are your favorite techniques and materials?

LB; I love Flying Geese. I do a lot of applique. Machine appliqué mostly,
usually satin stitch, so metimes buttonhole stitch. I just, lots of piecing. I
love doing pieced borders because I don’t want my borders too plain. So
I like putting more interest in the borders. I will tackle anything. And if you
look at the quilts I have unfinished, some are bright, some are dull, some are
pieced, some are, there’s a real wide variety of what I do, I think. I haven’t
met a quilt I don’t like.

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

LB; When we moved here in ‘85, from Australia, we bought a house in January of
‘86 and six years later, in 1992, we bought the lot next door and built a house
right next door to the one we lived in. And when we did that we made sure we
actually built a room in there that was my sewing r oom.

PS; Oh, great.

LB; I have a sewing room, but I’ve kind of outgrown it because I’ve moved into
Katie’s old dance room,
which was a toy room and that’s where I’m going to put my long-arm when I get
one. So I have a designated space, yes. So I’ve outgrown it, yes. So--

PS; And you’re getting a long-arm?

LB; I hope so. I don’t know. I have a little budget and I’m going to go look at
second hand ones so I think I’m not going to rush into it. I have a kid at K
[Kalamazoo College.] so I can’t afford it right now, but when I do I’m going to
get me one. I’m young enough to get one.

PS; Tell me how you balance your time.

LB; I hardly do any housework. Only what I have to do. Because I’m at work at
6;30, I don’t get home until about 3;30. I have a son still at home so I have to
do basketball games at night and try to cook as little as I can. I try to do a
little bit of sewing during the week on weeknights, but usually it’s the weekend
till I get some done. And I garden a lot, in the summer.
My husband’s a big bicycle rider and I bike in the summer, also, so quilting
kind of gets put on the back burner a bit because there’s Monday night bike
group and Wednesday night bike group and weekends we try to go for longer rides,
that kind of thing, so I’m a busy kind of person, but I’m not going to worry
about my house much. So, it suffers. Nothing else does.

PS; Do you use a design wall?

LB; No. I have a big mirrored wall there, I could probably do that over it, but
I use a design floor or design table, you know what I mean. I probably would be
better because I know quilts look different when you hang them up than when you
lay them down. They do, but I just haven’t got ‘ro und to it. I’m too darn busy
to get around to that.

PS; What do you think makes a great quilt?

LB; Well, I don’t think you can say any quilt’s not a great quilt to the person
who’s made it
and j ust because you don’t like it doesn’t mean that it’s not a great quilt. I
think you really have to thi nk about them long and hard before you jump into
it. I mean, I like the designing process and I li ked the challenge for the Cal
Quilters. I mapped that out several different times before I finally hit on
something that I thought, ‘Ah, that works.’ But I think you’ve got to spend some
time and research on a great quilt, I guess. But some great quilts can be very
simple, too. They don’t have to have a lot of work in them.

PS; What makes a quilt artistically powerful?

LB; What am I drawn to when I look at an artistically powerful quilt? What I’ve
found is, my sist er’s really into the 1930’s look and that kind of thing, that
hasn’t in the past done a lot for me, but I’m kind of warming up to them. I tend
to be more of a
bold, bright person as far as idols go. Civil War colors don’t do a whole lot
for me either. I think I prefer things that pop more. I like the workmanship, if
I can look at a quilt and say, ‘Wow, that person is really talented. You know,
there was difficult piecing and it really looks good.’ That, I guess helps. But,
if the colors are wrong, it doesn’t matter. It’s still not going to appeal to you.

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

LB; Oh, that probably has to be pretty special. I haven’t been to many quilt
shows or exhibits, so I guess for a collection you’d want something that was
historically important somehow for a peri od of time. What techniques were in
fashion then? I can imagine if something was contemporary, what I saw at the Chicago
show is that most of them are contemporary art work, they’re not something
you’re going to put on your bed and they’re very, overly, heavily quilted. But I
know that for a piece of artwork that’s probably what it is, but they didn’t
particularly do a lot for me as qui lts, but if I looked at them as a piece of a
wall hanging or a piece of artwork, they’re nice, but to me when I think of
quilts, I don’t think of an art show.

PS; What makes a great quilt-maker?

LB; You could say patience, but I think creativity. I think willing to just work
at stuff and keep doing your ideas until you get something right. Auditioning
fabrics and being willing to throw it out if it doesn’t work and start again
until you get it right. I think it has to feel right. That’s with me anyway.
When I put something together, it has to feel right. Otherwise I’m not going to
do it. I
wouldn’t be happy with it.

PS; Whose works are you drawn to and why?

LB; I have no idea. People talk about designers and I know Eleanor Burns. That’s
about it. They talk about Amy somebody’s bags, I don’t do the name brand thing.
I never have. I just don’t know who’s out there or who does what. Kay Wood. I
know Kay Wood and Eleanor Burns. [PS laug hs.] That’s it. I really don’t know
because when I shop I don’t look for, oh, brand names, I know Kaffe, because Sue
wanted me to pick up some of hers and I really kind of know her style now
because I just picked them up, but I really am not out there looking at who’s
doing what, if you know what I mean? I’m just, not aware of it, I guess. Not
important in my life, so I’m not aware of i t.

PS; Well, which artists have influenced you? Any? [chuckles.]

LB; My mother.
PS; That’s good, though. Who else has influenced you?

LB; Oh, gosh. In my quilting? More my mother and friends probably and quilt
groups and, guilds. I can’t say anybody who’s out there. I never look at a
person’s name when I’m looking at a magazine or book either. I don’t say ‘Ooh,
that’s a so-and-so design,’ I just, ‘I like it,’ so I don’t know. I don’t know
who they are. So, I don’t get excited when someone says someone’s coming. I find
out what they are doing first and then I see if I want to go.

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

LB; I find hand quilting very frustrating and way too slow for the number of
quilts that I want to make. And I don’t think it holds together as well. I think
machine quilting holds together better. Good, fine hand quilting is nice to look
at and that kind of thing, but I truly, I think I prefer the look of machine
quilting. Done right.
PS; What about long-arm quilting?

LB; I love it, but I don’t want to pay anyone to do it. [PS laughs.] And I don’t
want other people’s work on my quilts. Because the long-arm quilters are so good
at it and their designs are so beautiful people are looking at all the beautiful
swirls and everything and they’re not looking at my piecing or my appliqué. And
if there’s going to be quilting on my quilts, it’s going to be my quilting.
Regardless of how it looks.

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

LB; I would say that it’s a whole different taste of quilts here than there is
in Australia. Australia leans more towards the brights, the thirties, from what
I can see over there. The colors we have here are more subdued, more
traditional. There’s just a whole different flavor if you go into a quilt shop
in Australia and if you go into a quilt shop here. It’s really different. I mean
some prints are the same, but there is a different feel, I think, to what’s out
there. Maybe it’s to do with the climate.
PS; Or the culture.

LB; Or the culture. I mean, you’ll find some of the same stuff too, obviously.
But I notice they tend to be a little bit trendier over there. [chuckles.] And
that’s probably just because we’re in the Midwest, too, or maybe it was just the
area I was in where my mother lives. But they make quilts that look similar to
what we make here too. So, I guess it is a hard question.

PS; Why is quilt-making important to your life?

LB; Oh, wow. I think I have an expression for my creativity. And I love seeing
colors go together. And I just get excited about it. You know? How would you
feel if you could never quilt again? I mean, don’t you get excited about it?

PS; Yeah.
LB; Yeah. And I love giving them away. I like seeing the expression on their
faces as you pass them on. I always get a photograph of the person I’m giving it
to with the quilt.

PS; That’s a good idea.

LB; Yeah.

PS; It’s a really good idea.

LB; So they can remember the occasion.

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

LB; I think they’re really important. And I think people remember them. I say
‘They won’t remember how clean my house wasn’t, but they’ll remember the nice
quilt they got and maybe they’ll still have it or maybe they’ll pass it down to
someone else.’ I don’t like putting labels on my quilts, but I’m getting used to
it because I know that it has to be done so that people can remember the quilt-maker.

PS; Why don’t you like the labels?

LB; Oh, it just takes time, you finish the quilt and then you have to turn
around and put on the stupid label.

PS; But you know, it’s wonderful to have that date, place and person on there.

LB; I know. And now that I’m giving them away like to Jake, I wrote, ‘For your
21st birthday,’ and then they can look back at it and see who made it and for
what occasion. [PS responds in background.] So they’re important, I know, but I
just, you know, the last little finishing touch that you’ve
got to do--

PS; Then make the label first.

LB; Yeah, I should.

PS; You don’t have to write on it, but make it so it’s ready to be written on--

LB; Well, I only write on mine. Mom always embroiders hers or she does them on
the machine, but I just buy the premade ones and just stitch them on and write
on them with a felt pen, permanent--

PS; There you go.

LB; --marker. So it’s not a big deal.

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

LB; I think historically we made do with what we had, only modern quilters
don’t, we just run to the store, we don’t try to make do. I think it’s a real
challenge to try and make do. You use your scraps up and to do that is a
challenge. That’s why I like the challenge so much. You had to use what you were
given and you had to use your to come up with something nice out of that. And I
think early quilters were very good at that because they had to be. They had to
be frugal and make use of what they had.

PS; How do you think quilts can be used?

LB;
Well, other than on the bed? And on the wall. And on the sofa. And, obviously,
hanging in public places. I think they have a lot of uses that way, especially
if they tell a story. They’re comforting. You make them for the Sheriff’s
Department; they give them out to the victims of crimes and things like that. I
think they’re meaningful. So they have a good place in the world, because
everyone has to stay warm somehow. You may as well stay warm with something
that’s nice.

PS; How do you think quilts can be preserved for future use?

LB; Well, obviously museums. People who have quilts have to be told of the the
importance of them and keep them nice, but once you give a quilt away you really
don’t have any say about what people do with it. You have to give it up. So, you
really can’t do that. [laughs.] I warn them and say, you know, ‘These are
prewashed or it’s
a wool batting, just wash it in cold water,’ but, you know, that could be water
on a duck’s back. The young kids, wrapping their kegs in it or whatever they
might do with it, [both laugh.] you know.

PS; Whatever they need it for, huh?

LB; Whatever they need it for, I guess. Yeah.

PS; What has happened to the quilts you have made for those of friends and family?

LB; What has happened to them? Well, my immediate family have worn some out and
put them in the garage sale. And I guess I have a difference between a show
horse and a work horse. If it’s a work horse, it’ll do five, six, seven years on
a bed and I’ll probably get rid of it somehow. Use it as a dog blanket if people
need a dog blanket, or whatever. If it’s a, you know, a show horse, it sticks
around and is given special purpose and taken care of. So, I guess it depends.
We’ve still got some work horses that are twenty years old lying around in
shreds. I don’t know if I
have any of my really early work. I’ve probably got a couple of pieces, but they
were just small wall hangings, things like that.

PS; What do you think is the biggest challenge confronting quilt-makers today?

LB; Time. It’s just hard to find time to do something that’s creative like that
unless you’re retired or unless you really find, put away, a special amount of
time to do it. I don’t think there’s many challenges as far as getting supplies
or fabric or anything else. I think that’s come leaps and bounds from, you know,
twenty, thirty years ago. Because quilting, I don’t know about here, but quilti
ng in Australia, I don’t think was, a big industry, twenty, thirty years ago.
There weren’t the quilt shops; people were still sewing clothes for their
families. And now that we all buy clothes, I think women need some kind of
creative outlet for their sewing skills. And the camaraderie. I mean, getting
together in your quilt groups and that kind of
thing. Because they used to have those quilting bees, or they used to have those
things hundreds of years ago which brought people together.

PS; Is there anything else you’d like to talk about?

LB; I think you’ve covered everything pretty well.

PS; Well, thank you. I enjoyed this.

LB; Well, good. I’m glad. I’ll tell Debbie I have your quilt challenge.
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