A signature quilt made between 1900 and 1929 in Le Sueur County, Minnesota.

 

An oral history interview with Merle Eddy Vollmer, 1903-2000, talking about quilting and about growing up in Le Sueur County, Minnesota.

 

0:00:01.1 Margaret Traxler: Now are we going? We're going.

0:00:03.3 Merle Vollmer: Okay.

0:00:03.9 Margaret: Okay. This is Margaret Trexler, and I'm interviewing Merle Vollmer today. And this is January 13th and her quilt at the show was numbers... Le Center. Oh, I put that piece of paper away. It was LC-0011, and okay, Merle, you can tell us your name and your address.

0:00:38.7 MV: Merle Vollmer, 80 North Lexington, Le Center, Minnesota.

0:00:45.5 Margaret: And can you tell us a little bit about your nationality background?

0:00:51.6 MV: My father was English and Irish and my mother was English.

0:00:57.8 Margaret: And her name was?

0:01:02.7 MV: Sarah Bell Bickle.

0:01:06.8 Margaret: Oh, Bickle? And your maiden name was?

0:01:09.9 MV: Eddy.

0:01:10.1 Margaret: Eddy? Right. Okay. Now I think we'll go to this next form here. And when did you first take part in quilting?

0:01:22.5 MV: I started quilting when I was a little girl, if you can call piecing a quilt part of quilting.

0:01:28.0 Margaret: Oh, absolutely.

0:01:28.7 MV: Because I was piecing a block every day and when I was eight years old, my grandmother in Wisconsin wanted me to come and spend the summer with her. So I went to stay with grandma in Wisconsin that summer. And I had to work on that block every day while I was there. The block...

[overlapping conversation]

0:02:02.2 Margaret: Just a minute. Well, that was a nice little interruption.

0:02:06.7 MV: Yeah.

0:02:06.9 Margaret: It was the library calling to say your book was in, right?

0:02:10.8 MV: Right.

0:02:10.8 Margaret: Now that tells us something about you that you're still reading and that's great. Okay, now, getting back to your quilts.

0:02:17.0 MV: Yes.

0:02:17.2 Margaret: And your grandma said you had... That was your grandmother, not your mother, right?

0:02:21.1 MV: Yes.

0:02:22.1 Margaret: Who kind of helped you with your quilting at first?

0:02:24.6 MV: Who helped with my block while I was in Wisconsin, yes. But then I brought the block home, the blocks home that I made and they were put into a quilt. But eventually we quilted at home. My mother and my father's mother, we all three quilted them at home.

0:02:52.1 Margaret: So your father did too?

0:02:53.2 MV: No, my father's mother.

0:02:54.4 Margaret: Okay.

0:02:55.1 MV: My father's grand...

0:02:56.0 Margaret: Your grandmother.

0:02:56.9 MV: Grandmother.

0:03:01.7 Margaret: And you were eight years old when you started quilting?

0:03:04.3 MV: I was piecing quilts.

0:03:06.3 Margaret: Piecing? Yeah?

0:03:07.5 MV: Mm-hmm.

0:03:08.1 Margaret: That's a good way to do it so that you knew that eventually those blocks were gonna become a quilt. What was the pattern that you made, that first pattern?

0:03:15.7 MV: It probably was a Necktie... Necktie quilt.

0:03:19.9 Margaret: Oh, and what did you call the pattern? Was there...

0:03:25.1 MV: It was a necktie. It was a block... One block in the middle, and then there were four at each corner, four blocks. It was a sort of square pattern, but it was called a Necktie quilt.

0:03:39.7 Margaret: And did you use neckties to...

0:03:41.1 MV: No, no.

0:03:41.3 Margaret: You didn't.

0:03:42.3 MV: That was just the name of it.

0:03:43.3 Margaret: That was just the name of it? And then your grandmother was the one who first taught you to quilt or did your mother teach you first?

0:03:54.9 MV: Well, probably mama taught me first 'cause she belonged to a quilting party at Cordova. The ladies at the church at Cordova used to get together and quilt. Probably once a month, they would go to each other's homes and quilt a quilt while they were there. And I remember having the quilting party at our house when all the ladies from this church came up in a wagon and pulled with horses, and then they stayed all day. They had... My mother made dinner for them, and they would quilt all forenoon, all afternoon, then home again, and they would probably make a quilt then during the day.

0:04:56.9 Margaret: And was one of these quilts... I mean, was this one of the quilts? You remember when this quilt was made, that you had at the quilt show, it was blocks contributed by many different ladies.

0:05:08.5 MV: That's right.

0:05:09.0 Margaret: They all had their names on it.

0:05:10.3 MV: All of these ladies that belonged to this quilting party made a block with their name embroidered on it. And then it was put together and then it was quilted by the group. That's right. And some of the stitches were little and some of them were not so little. There's was one thing my mother was very particular about, the knot in the thread was never allowed to be seen when she was quilting. It had to be quilted with a fine needle and fine thread, and the stitches were to be small without any knots or... things showing.

0:06:01.8 Margaret: And did you use little short needles or did you use longer needles? Do you remember the size of the needles?

0:06:08.0 MV: Well, they weren't long. They must have been a quilting needle because they were neither short nor long. They were nice, fine needle.

0:06:18.4 Margaret: And how did you hold your needles? Did you push them right from the back of the needle and then tip it, or did you hold the whole needle in between your two fingers here in the front?

0:06:30.0 MV: Yeah, it was our two fingers.

0:06:33.0 Margaret: Well, then you poke it up from the back with your other hand, huh?

0:06:38.5 MV: Mm-hmm.

0:06:40.0 Margaret: You know the latest thing now like I've seen where they just push from the very back of the needle and then just kinda rock it back and forth.

0:06:49.1 MV: Oh.

0:06:49.4 Margaret: Yeah. But you didn't do that, no?

0:06:51.6 MV: No.

0:06:58.2 Margaret: How were those ladies who taught you to quilt... Why do you think they instilled in you a desire to want to learn to quilt? Do you remember that?

0:07:09.7 MV: Well, in those days you had no other bedding except quilts. You didn't buy new material to make quilts. You used the best parts of the material that was left over when you made a dress, or an apron, or anything else that you were using in clothing, you saved all of the best pieces that were... Of the material that was left over. And then you cut your blocks out of those... out of that material.

0:07:51.6 Margaret: So how do you think that influenced you to want to do this? Did you just think this was part of growing up?

0:08:02.6 MV: Just a matter of course, that you were expected to make your own bedding.

0:08:13.8 Margaret: And then you said that the first thing you did was learn to piece the blocks together?

0:08:20.9 MV: Mm-hmm.

0:08:22.0 Margaret: And then how old were you when you actually sat down at the quilting frame and helped with the quilting?

0:08:26.8 MV: Well, probably not until I was 14 or 15 years old, I would think. 'Cause it had to be done and it had to be done well.

0:08:40.9 Margaret: Yes.

0:08:42.5 MV: Yep. When you were making a quilt, you didn't want any stitches in there that weren't good.

0:08:49.1 Margaret: Good. That's right.

0:08:49.6 MV: And you had to learn to do it well first.

0:08:52.4 Margaret: Okay. Do you remember the very first pat... You said the very first pattern you made was this necktie quilt. Huh?

0:09:00.6 MV: Mm-hmm.

0:09:01.3 Margaret: Did you mean like the Bow Tie? Is that the name of the pattern? I suppose. So that was called Bow Tie, but you called it necktie then, huh?

0:09:09.6 MV: Mm-hmm.

0:09:10.4 Margaret: I see. And that's the first pattern that you remember?

0:09:13.0 MV: Yeah.

0:09:13.4 Margaret: Was it a pattern like this, where it had a square in the center and then it kind of went out from there, in all these different directions and then it went kinda like that?

0:09:21.6 MV: Yes. Uh-huh. That's right.

0:09:23.1 Margaret: And then these two were colors?

0:09:24.6 MV: Mm-hmm.

0:09:25.1 Margaret: And this was a plain color maybe. Was that it?

0:09:28.1 MV: Yes. That's it.

0:09:29.8 Margaret: We call that Bow Tie now just to identify which, but you called it Necktie. Well, that's interesting. And then what other patterns?

0:09:43.1 MV: There were many, many patterns. I wonder if I can remember what all... Some of the patterns that there were. Some of the names that... Names don't come to me very readily anymore. They say that that's the first thing that leaves you.

[laughter]

0:10:10.6 MV: Our names.

0:10:12.0 Margaret: The names of things. Yes.

0:10:13.8 MV: Yes.

0:10:14.5 Margaret: Well, did you do things like grandmother's flower garden, or did you do things like crazy quilts?

0:10:23.3 MV: Oh, there's always crazy quilts. Yes. Lots of crazy quilts. What was that one that had the big diamond that went from a diamond into a big diamond in the quilt.

0:10:35.6 Margaret: Oh, and it was all diamond pieces that radiated out?

0:10:38.9 MV: Yes.

0:10:39.8 Margaret: I think they call that some kind of a star pattern now.

0:10:42.3 MV: Yeah, I suppose.

0:10:44.2 Margaret: There are different names for that.

0:10:45.8 MV: That took tiny little pieces of blocks?

0:10:49.3 Margaret: Mm-hmm.

0:10:50.3 MV: And see, a crazy quilt, you could use any size block that you wanted to in any shape that you wanted, but if you wanted something was precise, like a star quilt...

0:11:11.5 Margaret: Do you have any of the patterns that you used then?

0:11:14.3 MV: No, I haven't anything left?

0:11:16.4 Margaret: No. You didn't keep any of the pattern?

0:11:18.4 MV: I didn't keep any of them. No.

0:11:19.9 Margaret: And do you know where the patterns came from? Where did you get your ideas for your patterns?

0:11:24.8 MV: Well, it was handed down from generation to generation.

0:11:34.0 Margaret: And did you do some applique work to it? Or did you always just piece the pieces together?

0:11:40.2 MV: No, we never did any applique work. We didn't.

0:11:44.8 Margaret: And how did you plan a top? What... Why do you think people picked certain patterns or how did you go about planning one?

0:11:56.3 MV: Well, I think it all depended on what material that you had to use, how you would plan your top. You might have a block with small pieces and then you would have to get blocks of plain material to separate them, and...

0:12:25.9 Margaret: Did you ever buy any fabrics for quilts or did you just always use...

0:12:31.2 MV: We never did.

0:12:32.3 Margaret: You always used pieces of...

0:12:34.2 MV: That's right.

0:12:34.8 Margaret: Other clothing or pieces from other sewing projects?

0:12:40.2 Margaret: Well, I'm sure that my mother had to buy some material to go with... Especially for the backs of the quilt.

0:12:52.2 Margaret: Yes.

0:12:53.0 MV: And then I mentioned she did buy some pretty material to divide the blocks.

0:13:09.2 Margaret: Did people... Do you remember them sketching out any patterns or did they just say we're going to... They had this pattern and they just did it?

0:13:17.2 MV: That's right.

0:13:17.9 Margaret: That's the way they did it. And did you have any favorite patterns? Did that necktie quilt become your favorite one? Do you remember now being... that was your first one that you made?

0:13:34.1 MV: Well, perhaps. [chuckle]

0:13:35.5 Margaret: Or were there other ones that were more favored?

0:13:39.6 MV: Well, there were a lot of pretty tops. My mother-in-law devoted her life to making quilts. And...

0:13:54.1 Margaret: What was her name again?

0:13:57.0 MV: Christine Vollmer.

0:13:58.6 Margaret: Christine Vollmer.

0:14:01.0 MV: She quilted... She made a quilt for each of her grandchildren. Made... She made the top, planned the top, and made it and quilted it herself. And then she got cataracts and lost her eyesight.

0:14:20.9 Margaret: Oh.

0:14:23.2 MV: Well then she, she was afraid to have cataract surgery. Back in those days, that was a problem to have cataract surgery.

0:14:29.4 Margaret: Yes.

0:14:29.6 MV: And so she put it off until she finally went blind. Well, then she went and had the cataracts removed and after that she made three more quilts for her great granddaughter.

0:14:43.5 Margaret: Isn't that wonderful. What were those patterns? Do you remember?

0:14:46.9 MV: I don't have any idea what those were.

0:14:48.6 Margaret: Yeah. Did you ever see any sample blocks or patches anywhere that you copied? Do you remember?

0:15:09.2 MV: I suppose so. I don't really...

0:15:10.3 Margaret: Did they have quilt shows in those days?

0:15:12.2 MV: No. No, they didn't.

0:15:15.2 Margaret: And this... I interviewed another lady just the other day and she was with this group of quilters from Cordova, from that church in Cordova. And it was very interesting to know that this is a whole history of our area. It's been so interesting for me to hear all this stuff 'cause I was born and raised in Cordova area too.

0:15:35.8 MV: That's right.

0:15:37.0 Margaret: It really has been wonderful.

0:15:40.1 MV: Well, it was the group of ladies below Cordova that did more of this, you know?

0:15:44.5 Margaret: Uh-huh.

0:15:46.8 MV: Outside of my mother and grandmother, north of Cordova are the only ones that I know of that were quilters. The others all lived South of Cordova, toward Waterville and Elysian.

0:16:00.8 Margaret: Now, my mother never got in on any of that but I suppose that was after the time... My mother had eight children too, so of course you had a big family too.

0:16:10.8 MV: Five.

0:16:14.6 Margaret: She never... My mother never quilted. Did you ever do any embroidered quilts or any with a solid background and then just stitch the top?

0:16:29.1 MV: No.

0:16:29.3 Margaret: You didn't do any of those? You never embroidered any of the quilts?

0:16:33.1 MV: I did a lot of embroidery, but I never did it...

0:16:34.9 Margaret: With a quilt?

0:16:35.0 MV: Mm-hmm.

0:16:43.7 Margaret: Did you ever hear of a string quilt?

0:16:44.8 MV: No. No.

0:16:47.5 Margaret: And were you... Where did you get your batting for the stuff that you put inside of the quilts?

0:16:57.8 MV: We bought it at the grocery store in Le Center.

[laughter]

0:17:02.9 Margaret: They had those things there in those days, huh?

0:17:06.2 MV: Yeah.

0:17:06.2 Margaret: Do you remember the name of the company?

0:17:08.1 MV: Lynch's store, and [??'s].

0:17:13.3 Margaret: But the name of the batting was there?

0:17:15.1 MV: Oh, no.

0:17:15.6 Margaret: You don't remember the name?

0:17:16.8 MV: No.

0:17:17.0 Margaret: Was it cotton?

0:17:17.8 MV: Yeah. I'm sure it was cotton. Cotton.

0:17:23.7 Margaret: Did you ever order any of your things from Sears, Roebuck or anything like that from or from any of the...

0:17:28.5 MV: Well, I'm sure my mother ordered material that she... If she bought material for clothes, she bought it from Sears, Roebuck, 'cause she did most of her shopping through the catalog.

0:17:41.8 Margaret: And how about yourself now? When you did some quilting, where did you get your material?

0:17:50.1 MV: Well, after I was married, I didn't do any quilting anymore. I didn't have time. So I did my quilting while I was young and at home.

0:18:13.6 Margaret: What colors did you prefer to use? Do you remember that or you just used whatever you had I'll bet, huh? I'm listening to you, or did you really choose colors?

0:18:25.4 MV: Well, depends on what kind of a quilt you are making, if of course you were making a crazy quilt, why you could use almost any color you wanted to. But my mother didn't prefer very bright colors. She liked more pastel colors and...

0:18:55.0 Margaret: Did you learn anything about color as you were making quilts? Do you remember that? Did this influence you?

0:19:01.7 MV: Well, I'm sure you do learn a lot about colors when you're quilting, because you have to have colors that harmonize, and...

0:19:15.9 Margaret: And did you ever make any that were a real unusual color combinations?

0:19:23.4 MV: I don't recall that we did. Rather low-key.

0:19:33.5 Margaret: Well, some of these questions now are the same ones that I asked you before. And you've answered those already. Did you ever use ribbons or neckties or anything in any of the...

0:19:49.6 MV: No. I didn't.

0:19:50.1 Margaret: The men didn't wear so many neckties in those days. Did they? [laughter]

0:19:55.2 MV: No, they didn't. How many men really like to wear a necktie? Even now?

Margaret: Yes, that's right.

0:20:07.7 Margaret: Did you ever dye any material to get the right colors, or your mother?

0:20:12.0 MV: I imagine my mama did dye some materials.

0:20:18.1 Margaret: Do you ever remember the term Turkey red?

0:20:21.3 MV: Yes, I do.

0:20:24.3 Margaret: Did you ever have that in any of your clothes?

0:20:27.0 MV: I think so. I can recall the color.

0:20:32.1 Margaret: And where would you have bought that?

0:20:38.4 MV: I don't think that you would buy that Turkey red material. I think you would have it in something that you had used.

0:20:49.1 Margaret: Oh, okay. You got leftover, remnant or something. Did you ever use flannels? Outing flannel or...

0:21:00.4 MV: No, we never did.

0:21:03.3 Margaret: How about feedsack, flour or sugar sacks?

0:21:08.0 MV: No.

0:21:15.2 Margaret: Did you ever order any sample patches of silk or velvet to make any of those things? Or did you just use what you had?

0:21:25.0 MV: No.

0:21:25.5 Margaret: And what did you use for the backing then, like on the backside that use... I think you said that before though, too.

0:21:33.2 MV: Yes, I think that that kind of material we ordered from Sears Roebuck, enough to make a back.

0:21:46.6 Margaret: And what did you use for quilting frames?

0:21:49.4 MV: We had wooden clothing frames. I still had them when I moved to town. They had been made by my grandfather who was a carpenter. And they had the holes for the bolts. The bolts. Yeah. And we just moved them to certain position and put the bolts in.

0:22:28.6 Margaret: That's right. That's interesting.

0:22:33.4 MV: I always had to have four chairs to...

0:22:34.0 Margaret: And you'd put them up on chairs.

0:22:35.1 MV: Put them up on chairs, and you had clamps on the end to hold them tight. To move the quilt, you'll loosen the clamps and roll the quilt under. Used to... When I was little, I can remember loving to play with the other children under the quilt while the grownups were quilting.

0:23:09.8 Margaret: How often did they quilt?

0:23:12.8 MV: Well, quite often.

0:23:16.6 Margaret: You said that the ladies at the church got together about once a month, but then there must have been other ladies who...

0:23:22.9 MV: Well, yes, it was my mother and her sisters and sisters-in-law would get together and come and quilt. And grandma quilted too.

0:23:41.5 Margaret: And what days did they usually get together on?

0:23:44.1 MV: Well, it didn't happen to be any special day of the week, it is whenever they decided they had time to put a quilt on.

0:23:51.0 Margaret: Okay. Did they ever quilt without that quilting frame? Did they ever use like a hoop?

0:23:57.8 MV: No.

0:23:58.0 Margaret: They didn't?

0:24:00.0 MV: No.

[pause]

0:24:04.2 MV: I quilted one quilt alone after... Let's see. About 10 years ago, my sister was getting ready to make a quilt and she had cut all of the pieces and had them all prepared for a quilt and she died of a heart attack.

0:24:39.5 Margaret: Oh.

0:24:42.1 MV: And so I didn't do anything with them for a long time. And then I decided it was time to do something with them. So I took them, and I pieced them, pieced the quilt.

0:24:56.3 Margaret: And did you do that by hand or?

0:24:58.4 MV: By hand. I did it all by hand, and then, I got material and put the blocks together.

0:25:04.5 Margaret: And did you put a sashing in between the blocks?

0:25:09.4 MV: Yes.

0:25:09.7 Margaret: Is that right?

0:25:10.8 MV: Uh-huh. A harmonizing color. And then I got material and put a back on, and I... Then, I got the filler. It wasn't cotton. It was like Dacron or something like that.

0:25:30.8 Margaret: Polyester, I bet. 

0:25:33.7 MV: It was polyester, yes. And then, I borrowed a circular quilting frame, one of Dorothy [Simonson's].

0:25:43.0 Margaret: A hoop.

0:25:44.0 MV: A hoop. And I quilted it.

0:25:49.3 Margaret: Oh, that's good. And where is that quilt now?

0:25:52.5 MV: I gave that to Sheila.

0:25:53.4 Margaret: You gave it to Sheila too. And what was the name of that pattern?

0:25:58.3 MV: I couldn't tell.

0:25:58.3 Margaret: You couldn't tell me. That's too bad.

0:26:00.1 MV: Like I said, I can't remember the name.

0:26:04.1 Margaret: Yeah, that's true. Did you ever sit outside and quilt?

0:26:12.5 MV: No, never did. No.

0:26:14.2 Margaret: And you... Do you remember the size or you don't remember the exact size of the quilting needles? You told me before.

0:26:21.5 MV: No.

0:26:21.8 Margaret: I think they asked these questions more than once here.

0:26:25.4 MV: I know they weren't large, and they weren't too small. They were medium size needle, fine needle.

0:26:38.3 Margaret: And what kind of quilting thread, did you buy special quilting thread or did you just use?

0:26:43.8 MV: What I did for this quilt that I made, I brought a special thread, but used to just use special... We just used cotton thread that's all we used in the old days.

0:26:45.9 Margaret: In the old times. Did you ever get any bloods stains on any of your quilts when you pricked your fingers?

0:27:02.6 MV: I don't recall that you did... You'll have to be very careful if you didn't.

0:27:12.1 Margaret: Did you ever quilt for other people? Did anybody ever ask you to... So you never got paid for any quilt making?

0:27:23.9 MV: No.

0:27:24.5 Margaret: And did you ever sign any of the quilts that you made?

0:27:28.4 MV: Well, that one quilt that we made at Cordova.

0:27:30.5 Margaret: Yes. I know that one was signed.

0:27:35.8 MV: That's the only one.

0:27:38.4 Margaret: Do you... I would suggest that you, the one that you made for your granddaughter now, for Sheila, that you get that back from her and sign it, trace your name on it first and then embroider it. And put the date that you made it on there, or as close as you can remember. Because then that'll become that much more valuable to your granddaughter in times to come.

0:28:02.2 MV: I suppose so.

0:28:05.4 Margaret: But you never did that to any of your others? No. How were your quilts and comforters cleaned?

0:28:21.4 MV: I think that they were usually just washed. They were a material that could be washed, and I'm sure they were just washed.

0:28:36.4 Margaret: Did you ever just hang 'em out to air and stuff?

0:28:38.7 MV: Oh, yes. Yes. They always had to be hung out, to be aired.

0:28:46.0 Margaret: Did you ever put any extra little cloth at the top to protect them? That would be next to your skin or anything, or did you...

0:28:56.3 MV: Yes, usually, you get... You put a band of sheeting across the top, to keep quilt away from your face. That had to be taken off and washed.

0:29:10.9 Margaret: Sure. And what did you do with the old wornout clothes?

0:29:26.2 MV: That's a good question. [chuckle] Maybe you use... Maybe we used them for horse blankets.

[laughter]

0:29:34.5 Margaret: That's true. I've seen some people that... I've been at auction sales where they said it was being used as a mattress pad. Did you ever use them for a mattress pad? To cover the mattress and then put the mattress down? Was there someone known in the... In your quilt making community that was known as the best quilter?

0:30:01.5 MV: Yes. There were always a couple that were known as better quilters and there were some that were known as... Were not very good ones.

0:30:09.4 Margaret: Do you remember the names of the ones they considered to be the best out of Cordova?

0:30:16.4 MV: I can see their faces, but I couldn't tell you their name.

0:30:21.4 Margaret: Did Mrs. Frances Thur ever quilt with you?

0:30:27.3 MV: No.

0:30:28.4 Margaret: She's the lady who inspired me to like quilts when I was just a little kid. Her daughter, Lorraine, and I were very good friends. And when I'd be at her house, I would see these quilts on the frame, and I would stand and study those things for the longest time. And I said, when I grow up. You're going, I'm gonna learn how to quilt. And I did, even though my mother didn't know how to sew a stitch.

0:30:55.1 MV: Oh.

0:31:00.2 Margaret: In fact, I stitched through my finger one time on the sewing machine.

0:31:01.0 MV: Yeah.

0:31:02.4 Margaret: And my dad said, that'll teach you. And he knew, that I'd go right back at it. 'cause I really wanted to learn how.

0:31:13.1 MV: Well, Frances Thur was a good friend of mine. She never had any part in any of our quilting parties.

0:31:17.9 Margaret: I think she quilted by herself. Lovely. There were some of her quilts at the quilt show too. Did you get to see those there?

0:31:28.8 MV: No, I didn't.

0:31:30.0 Margaret: And was there anybody who was known to have the most quilts?

0:31:33.9 MV: No, I don't think so. I think everybody had a lot of them.

0:31:41.1 Margaret: And was there ever anybody in the community who had the quilt with the most number of pieces in it? You don't remember that?

0:31:51.3 MV: No, I don't recall.

0:31:57.0 Margaret: And then there's a question here about a friendship quilt. And that was a friendship quilt that you people made out there. Did you have a block in that quilt?

0:32:04.6 MV: Yes, I did.

0:32:05.2 Margaret: You did? And your mother had one in there too?

0:32:06.4 MV: Yes. And my grandmother.

0:32:07.2 Margaret: Oh, and your grandmother. That's wonderful that you wound up with it then, wasn't it?

0:32:13.8 MV: Mm-hmm.

0:32:15.8 Margaret: Yeah. I know one lady at the quilt show had... Her grandmother had a block in it and she visited that quilt show, was at the bank for one whole week, and she came every day and visited that quilt and looked at it and took pictures of it. And she was so, and thought it was...

0:32:33.5 MV: She should have had one too.

0:32:35.1 Margaret: Well, she did bring some to the...

0:32:37.3 MV: No, I mean, she probably should have had one too. If her grandmother had her name in there, she evidently had one of those quilts made back then.

0:32:45.4 Margaret: She might have one of her grandmother's quilts, but she didn't know that this quilt even existed.

0:32:49.5 MV: Oh, okay. But at that time, I'm sure that... Oh, I don't know.

0:32:55.3 Margaret: This was Hazel Holmes.

0:32:57.8 MV: Yes.

0:32:57.8 Margaret: Did you ever hear of Album Quilts?

0:33:06.1 MV: No.

0:33:07.1 Margaret: And was there ever any superstitions about quilting? Did they ever...

0:33:11.7 MV: Never heard of any.

0:33:14.4 Margaret: Were there days that you should quilt or shouldn't quilt like Good Friday or Ascension Day or anything like that?

0:33:25.6 MV: No.

0:33:26.0 Margaret: Was there a definite number of quilt tops that a girl had to have because she could get engaged?

0:33:31.3 MV: They expected the girl to have enough. Because you couldn't buy a blanket in those days. If you wanted it and getting it on, you had to make it, right?

0:33:49.8 Margaret: And your family was mainly English, both sides of your family, right?

0:33:55.3 MV: A little Irish in us .

0:33:56.2 Margaret: And a little Irish? Well, did any man ever take part in the quilting?

0:34:07.0 MV: No, not quilting. No. When it got to where we made a comforter and tied a comforter, then the men would help. I remember my father helping with that, tying a comforter.

0:34:27.7 Margaret: Okay, now, how many years did you actually make quilts? You started at age eight, and you're still quilting, right? And you're how old now?

0:34:42.6 MV: 90.

0:34:42.7 Margaret: 90 years old, so that's been a few years isn't it? And you stopped for a while when you were raising your little family? How many quilts do you think you might have made?

0:35:04.7 MV: I don't have any idea.

0:35:05.0 Margaret: You can't remember, huh?

0:35:06.1 MV: No.

0:35:07.8 Margaret: Did you ever make a quilt that was your very favorite?

0:35:12.0 MV: Well, probably, the one that I made all by myself, that first one, yeah.

0:35:16.9 Margaret: No, this last one, 10 years ago.

0:35:20.1 Margaret: What colors were in that one?

0:35:25.1 MV: Nothing in particular, it was all light colors.

0:35:28.5 Margaret: But you didn't actually choose the colors.

0:35:30.3 MV: No.

0:35:31.0 Margaret: It was your sister who chose the colors and cut the pieces and you just finished it. Well, that was wonderful.

[pause]

0:35:49.5 Margaret: And okay, I'm gonna read some ways people think of quilts and the functions of the quilt, and you can listen and tell me which statements reflect how you feel about the quilt and quilt making in your life. And you can say if it was not important, or somewhat important or very important, and I'll read through them all first, and then I'll go back and repeat them, and then you can respond. So you made quilts as an expression of love or as a creative outlet in color and design to fill utilitarian needs like for warmth and protection, as a link of past to present and continuing a tradition, as something women were expected to do and as a showcase for your skills, as a time for reflection and relaxation, as an activity that brought one together with a friend or friends, as a means of earning extra income, as a help in working through problems such as grief, or disappointment, or frustration, or anxiety or anger, as a comforting connection, to earlier, simpler, better time. I will go back and I'll give them to you one at the time, and then you tell me how important that was when you made quilts as an expression of love. Was that very important? Or not too important or somewhat important?

0:37:18.6 MV: No, not too important.

0:37:20.8 Margaret: As a creative outlet in color and design?

0:37:24.6 MV: No.

0:37:25.6 Margaret: To fill utilitarian needs?

0:37:28.2 MV: That was important.

0:37:30.9 Margaret: That was important and you said that already, didn't you? As a link of past to present and continuing a tradition.

0:37:37.7 MV: Yeah.

0:37:39.4 Margaret: That was very important. As something women were expected to do, and as a showcase for your skill.

0:37:43.6 MV: That's another one.

0:37:44.5 Margaret: That's another good one. As a time for reflection and relaxation?

0:37:49.6 MV: Perhaps.

0:37:51.1 Margaret: As an activity that brought one together with a friend?

0:37:55.5 MV: That was important.

0:37:58.4 Margaret: As a means of earning extra income, well, you said you never got paid for any of your quilts. As a help in working through problems such as grief, disappointment, frustration, anxiety or anger?

0:38:09.4 MV: No.

0:38:10.4 Margaret: No. But you did... That might have been a nice thing for you to do after your sister died.

0:38:15.3 MV: Well, it helped that time.

0:38:17.4 Margaret: I would think that would be a real good thing to do to help you over that grief, because you could do something to continue her tradition. And as a comforting connection to earlier simpler better times, do you agree with that, or do you disagree?

0:38:37.7 MV: Sure. That's true.

0:38:39.9 Margaret: Okay. Well, that was good. Now that concludes our interview. Now, can you think of anything else that you would like... Do you have any stories about, oh, maybe a snow storm that might have happened when you were quilting or somebody ruined a very good quilt or maybe something exciting happened, or...

0:39:04.6 MV: It's too bad I don't still have the picture... I don't know that I still have the picture of the wagon with all of these ladies from Cordova in the picture out in our driveway. And then, they were getting ready to go home after the quilting party.

0:39:22.5 Margaret: And you have that picture?

0:39:23.9 MV: I don't know if I still have it or not, I have to look.

0:39:28.3 Margaret: Would you do that, and if you still have that picture, I would like to take it somewhere, I'll have it copied, then I would bring your picture back. Or I would send it in and have it copied.

0:39:38.0 MV: Well, I'll look and see if I might have it.

0:39:43.4 Margaret: And can you think of any other stories that you... I think you told me some good ones though, that you finished your sister's quilt. And Sheila Vollmer now, or Sheila Vollmer, what is her married name?

0:40:00.7 MV: Thomas. Thomas.

0:40:01.7 Margaret: Sheila Vollmer Thomas is the one who has the quilt now that you made with the ladies from Cordova?

0:40:09.7 MV: No, her husband, Dan, works at... at this place.

0:40:15.0 Margaret: Oh. Minnesota weather.

0:40:18.9 MV: Yeah, Minnesota.

[overlapping conversation]

0:40:20.6 MV: They make this... I mean, they put this calendar out at the science museum.

0:40:31.5 Margaret: Oh, at the Science Museum.

0:40:33.2 MV: He works there at the Science Museum in the University of Minnesota.

0:40:40.7 Margaret: Okay. Sure.

0:40:42.0 MV: He sent me this the other day.

0:40:43.5 Margaret: Yes, the science museum. Oh, that's interesting.

0:40:46.5 MV: Yeah, he's important in that work up there.

0:40:52.6 Margaret: And she's your granddaughter. Well, if you can't think of anything else, we'll just pause now and then we'll talk a little bit.