TRANSCRIPT - Quilt Project - 90_81_1
Interviewee: Lula Williams (LW)
Interviewer: Deborah Smith Barney (DSB)
Date: February 23, 1990
Place: Detroit, Michigan
Transcriber: Sasha Franklin

Abstract:
In this interview, Lula Williams discusses her accomplishments in quilt making. She learned how to quilt watching her mother at a young age, but did not pick it up as a hobby until later in life. Once she did, however, she became a prolific quilter, gifting. selling, showing, and winning awards for her quilts.

Unknown Speaker: The house.

Deborah Smith Barney (DSB): Oh. [Tape cuts out briefly] This is Deborah Smith-Barney, on February 23, 1990, recording an interview for the Michigan Quilt Project, Michigan State University Museum. This interview is being conducted with Mrs. Lula Williams, who is an African American quilter. And it's being conducted in her home on the northeast side of Detroit. Thank you, Mrs. Williams for talking with us about your quilting.

Lula Williams (LW): And thank you for asking me.

DSB: Let's see, now, you are from what area of the country — what city. And when were you born?

LW: I was born in Seneca, South Carolina, 12-12-25.

DSB: Now, tell me about your parents: your father's name and where he was, what kind of work he did, and your mother, what kind of work she did.

LW: My father's name was Jesse Wardlaw, and he was a City employee. My mother's name was Laura Wardlaw and she was mostly a housewife. She did a little work once in a while.

DSB: And what about brothers and sisters? How many and where did you fit into the group?

LW: I'm the middle child. Three older, three younger, three deceased.

DSB: Okay. So there were ten altogether?

LW: Well, really 11. There was a set of twins.

DSB: Oh, okay. Big family.

LW: Yes.

DSB: Or regular sized for those days, right?

LW: Yes.

DSB: Okay. For that time. All right. Let's see. Now, how long were you in Seneca and then when did you come to Detroit?

LW: Well, it seems funny now, but my mother was expecting and she wasn't allowed to travel. I was born in December and we came here in April. My father had gainful employment here and he sent for us.

DSB: Okay. So just a few months in Seneca?

LW: That's right.

DSB: All right. Let’s see. Now, once you got to Detroit, you went to Detroit Public Schools?

LW: Yes.

DSB: Okay. And how far did you go with your formal education?

LW: At first, I went to 11th grade, and I dropped out and started working. Then I went back to adult day school and I got a diploma. And then from there I went to Wayne County Community College, one year, for business.

DSB: Okay. See. Now, when did you get married, and how long were you married? And what about children?

LW: I was married in 1952, one son, and I was married 36 years.

DSB: All right. Now, what religious affiliations do you have? What church do you attend?

LW: I'm Protestant. I attend Elyton Baptist Church. I've been a member there for 45 years or more.

DSB: Do you have any other hobbies or any other clubs you belong to?

LW: Social club, Club Lemans.

DSB: What do they do?

LW: Nothing, at the time.

[Both laugh]

LW: We would be 45 years old this year. We're still meeting at random.

DSB: Okay. 45 years?

LW: Yes.

DSB: Okay. What kind of activities did they have when they were busy?

LW: Well, we had quite a few social activities, the community church, et cetera.

DSB: Right. Now, we're here to talk about your quilting. So let's say, when did you first see quilting done, and who was doing it?

LW: First time I saw it done was my mother. And she quilted on the table. Sometimes she would use a two by four for a weight.

DSB: And did you want to do it as soon as you saw it or how did you get involved with it?

LW: Not really. I would help her with the colors and she liked the way I coordinated the colors. And a lot of times I would help piece the pieces together. Then I got interested because as I would piece and you get a block, then after you get all these blocks and put them together, you would have a whole piece top. And I was always anxious to see the finished product.

DSB: So, at what age did you actually begin quilting yourself?

LW: Myself, mm — let’s see. I can't think right now, but my boy was 13 years old, and that's when I actually started quilting. I stopped working and I came home. And at first, I started doing volunteer work at Sinai Hospital.

DSB: Let's see, now…

LW: And then I decided that I would start quilting. My boy brought some literature home from school.

DSB: You said you had stopped working — what kind of work had you been doing?

LW: Well, I had been working at Winkleman’s and I was selling hats and wigs. I was used to hair products because I'm an ex-beautician.

DSB: You had your own shop for a while?

LW: Yes.

DSB: How long was…

LW: Jade Beauty Room, and I had it for seven years. And I served a apprenticeship at Eva's Beauty, three years.

DSB: So, you had left your work as a salesperson at Winkleman’s and so your son brought home some literature and saw that they were doing a class?

LW: Yes, they had offered different classes. And I said, well, maybe I would try the quilting since I knew something about it. And I went and I took a six weeks course. And it just all come back to me.

DSB: When you were a child and you saw your mother doing it, you enjoyed seeing her doing it?

LW: Yes, but I didn't have the patience for it. I would help her get started and then sneak off.

DSB: So what was the — what made it click the second time, do you know?

LW: Well, I always had a love for quilting. My husband and I had traveled south once and I tried to buy a quilt. And some of the quilts that they wanted to sell, I didn't like them and I didn't like the price. And I decided, well, one of these days I'm going to make my own quilt. And I always like looking at quilts.

DSB: Now, do you remember your very first quilt?

LW: Yes, I do.

DSB: What did it look like? What was the pattern?

LW: Well, the pattern was Pinwheel and the material was polyester. And the reason for that is my sisters and her friend, one of them — my younger sister's friend — my middle sister's friend was named Nuala (??) Thornton, and I think she had the most fabric. But between her and my sisters, they gave me boxes of fabric. And most of the fabric was polyester. And I made this pinwheel pattern quilt and it had a navy blue background with vivid polyester colors. It come out quite well for a first quilt.

DSB: Do you still have it?

LW: No, I haven't. But I have access to it. I gave it to a friend.

DSB: See, you mentioned your sisters did you and…

LW: But the other first quilt that I made in cotton is — the pattern on it was Tumbler, another name for glass. And it had a lot of colors and it turned out quite well, but very large because I cut pieces and pieces and pieces. We had a little sewing circle, and I was a quilter. Some of them did crochet, some did regular sewing. And they tease me about cutting all these pieces.

DSB: And this is larger than the size you normally make?

LW: Yes, it was larger than the size that I wanted, but at that time, I didn't know about the pieces and how to make my measurements and how to go about it.

DSB: But still pretty good for a first quilt?

LW: Oh yeah.

DSB: And you still have it?

[Phone rings]

LW: Yes.

DSB: Now, you mentioned your sisters and that your mother was a quilter. Did you and any of your family members ever make a quilt together?

LW: I imagine my sis — my mother and her sister did when they were younger, you know.

DSB: Your mother and sister.

LW: Before she migrated here.

DSB: Okay.

LW: I'm told at a lot of the quilt shows, some of the first Windy quilters were in South Carolina. My mother's sister quilted until she was 85.

DSB: Did you ever get a chance to make a quilt with any of them? With your…

LW: No, but I have one of her — one of her quilts.

DSB: One of your mom's quilts?

LW: No. Her sister's.

DSB: Her sister's.

LW: My aunt's.

DSB: Okay. Now, let's see. How many hours or days in a week do you quilt? Is there a set pattern to it?

LW: No, because I'm a widow and just — any time. I love quilting and any time at random, I’m subject to quilt. I quilt mostly looking or listening at TV, sometime in tapes.

DSB: Why do you think your mother and her sister quilted? Why do you think quilting was important in South Carolina at that time?

LW: Well really, it was needed, you know, because both of them had large families and women those days, they used quilts for warmth as well as, you know, just to be quilting in quilting bees.

DSB: And why do you think people quilt today? Why do you quilt?

LW: Oh, I love it. It's good therapy and it also helps me — I'm a widow — it also helps me financially at times.

DSB: All right. So, you are then a professional quilter?

LW: Oh, yes. Of course.

DSB: [Laughs] You say of course. How long have you been professional?

LW: Well, I would say in the last ten years. I've spoke on quilting; I have a quilting class. And…

DSB: Where is this class?

LW: It’s at Evans Recreation Center.

DSB: Okay.

LW: I teach senior citizens there.

DSB: Okay. Here on the North — Northeast side of Detroit?

LW: Right. Right. It's on Joseph Campau [Avenue] off of Six Mile [Road].

DSB: And how many students do you have?

LW: It's about ten to 12 in my class.

DSB: Mm. Now, how long have you been teaching that class?

LW: It's about five years now.

DSB: How…

LW: It’s under the Parks and Recreation.

DSB: Okay. Now, how can you tell among your class members who is becoming really great at quilting or who's really hooked by quilting? What is it about them that says, “This is a quilter here”?

LW: Well, once they're hooked, you know, you can tell by their interest. They start wanting to at least work on one or two patterns. They can't, you know, they can’t stop. They'll start another one before they finish one. You can tell who the quilters are going to be right away because the others will fall off after one or two classes. But the interested ones, they hang in there.

DSB: Are they working on something just individually or what kinds of projects do you have them working on?

LW: Well, most of the time, they're working on two different things. Right now, we're making a friendship quilt. It's a sampler quilt, where each person makes a different block, a different pattern.

DSB: And what's going to happen with it once it's done?

LW: Well, we decided to either sell it or raffle it off and have the proceeds go to a charitable organization.

DSB: That's great. Now, when you do your own quilting, where do you do it? Do you have a favorite room? A favorite spot? Tell me about the set up when you get ready to quilt.

LW: Well, my favorite spot is in my den where the TV is and where I can play tapes. I have a favorite chair and I have a lamp. One is a special lamp for sewing — [inaudible] work.

DSB: And what about the equipment? What kinds of quilting equipment do you have? Tell us about it.

LW: Oh, well, I use all different types of hoops, different — oval, round, large, medium, small. And they're lap hoops. And I also use the floor frame, what we used to call a horse, like our mothers and grandmothers used. I also use that. Sometimes, I use that right up here in my living room because I have nice lighting that comes in the picture window. And I don't have to worry because the way my floors are — with the — the red strings.

DSB: Because they're light colored, so it's easy to see the thread?

LW: Right.

DSB: Okay. Now, how many quilts do you think you've made?

LW: Mm, I would say, counting baby quilts, well over 100.

DSB: Okay. Do you have a favorite pattern?

LW: Mostly — mostly the Nine Block variations.

DSB: Okay. What do you like about it?

LW: Well, you can take that, you can make different patterns from the Nine Blocks. You can make Shoo Fly, Bears Paws — number of different patterns.

DSB: Okay. And where do you get your templates and your patterns?

LW: Sometimes I buy the templates that come in the magazines that you buy, and sometimes I make them if you're making an original quilt.

DSB: Let's see. Now, tell me about a pattern that you created, a favorite pattern, and what name you gave it.

LW: Well, I guess the favorite one would be the religious quilt, and I titled it “I Am.”

DSB: Mm-hm. And describe it to us.

LW: Okay, each block is different pattern and it is an appliqué quilt. And it's really not the seven “I Ams” of the Bible. It's like I took it from the minister when he's making his summary and saying, “I am the light, King of Kings,” you know, “bright morning star,” et cetera. And each block represents one of those things. It's been shown in quite a few places. It's been shown at a museum in Chicago where Dr. Reeves took it. I had won a ribbon at Hartford.

DSB: Hartford Memorial Church?

LW: Right. It's also been shown at the Fisher Building. And it's also been shown at the Lincoln Bookstore and Lutheran Church in Ferndale. They had their first religious art show last year.

DSB: See, try to make you think back a little ways. Do you remember the first pattern you purchased and how much it cost?

LW: It was mostly a book — The How-Tos of Quilting. They had simpler patterns in there that I was trying. And I imagine the book costs less than five dollars. However, I've bought some much more expensive since then.

DSB: Mm-hm.

LW: Usually when I go to quilt shows or different places that I travel.

DSB: You're talking about traveling. Do you like to go to a lot of shows and—

LW: Oh, yes. Yes. Sometimes I go with my quilting group and sometimes I go alone. One thing about it, I've met quite a few quilters, and this one particular one — we were talking about it — you can think you're pretty good until you go to these shows and it keeps you humble.

DSB: All right. Now you're a professional quilter. You've had — won awards, you’ve had your quilts displayed. When you look at someone's work, what makes you say “This is a good quilt”?

LW: I would guess mostly the construction and the coloring.

DSB: A little bit more specific, what kinds of things jump out at you and say, “This is good work”?

LW: Well, I can remember one quilt that I saw at the Greek Orthodox Center. Uh, I've always remembered it. It was so pretty. It made me think of a very rich-looking rug. It was extraordinary.

DSB: The colors and…?

LW: Oh, the colors were beautiful, vibrant.

DSB: And do you have any favorite colors that you like to work with?

LW: Not really. I'm a color person. I love colors, all colors.

DSB: Let’s see…

LW: However, I have one quilting friend that — she has a favorite color, black. She uses a lot of black in her work and her quilts are very pretty. Her name is Elaine Hollis and also the Amish — Amish women may use quite a bit of black in their quilts.

DSB: But you like to use all kinds of colors?

LW: Yes.

DSB: Do you have favorite materials you work with?

LW: Mostly cotton. However, nowadays we use part poly[ester] and part cotton. 50/50.

DSB: Okay. And what do you use to mark patterns on your quilts?

LW: On the templates, mostly pencil. My eyes are still doing good, so I just mark lightly with a pencil. I don't like the marking pencils that have these marks, heavy marks, even though they're supposed to wash out.

DSB: They don't do well enough for you.

LW: I just don't like the heavy marking.

DSB: Okay. Do you know anybody who does marking for others?

LW: You mean the tops?

DSB: Yes.

LW: It's one lady that did some stenciling for some of my ladies in my class. I was telling them those were the type of tops that my mother used to call Counter Panes.

DSB: Mm-hm. Let's see. Now, so you sell quilts. How do you determine how much you're going to sell a quilt?

LW: Well, mostly by the amount of money it takes to make the quilt, but I have a hard time there when it comes to pricing. It depends a lot of times whether it's a family member, neighbor, friend, or whatever. But usually out on the craft trail, it's usually, you start and price goes by the amount of material it takes to make the quilt.

DSB: How many different kinds of quilts do you know about? Can you name them for us?

LW: You mean patterns or the different type of quilting?

DSB: Types of quilts, like you have comforters and lap quilts and things like that.

LW: Comforters, lap quilts, wall hangings. You can even go into dial quilts, then toys. I've even made some toys out of quilting. I have one patchwork dog. I'll show you how it's made — out of pieces.

DSB: Do you have an affinity or love for one type over another or just whatever the occasion calls on you to do?

LW: I mean, you mean the type of quilting?

DSB: Mm-hm.

LW: I think I like patchwork the best. It's just regular line quilting. Then it's pieces — that's called patchwork. And then you have appliqués —appliquéing. But, I think I like patchwork the best.

DSB: Why is that?

LW: Little more of a challenge. You have to select the pieces and then you have to coordinate them together.

DSB: Okay. Now, you ever done any special occasion quilts before?

LW: Yes, I did a wedding quilt.

DSB: Mm, tell us about it.

LW: It was quite pretty.

DSB: Tell me about it.

LW: Well, the mother was having this quilt made for her daughter and she sent out all these blocks which she thought would come back in time. And they did, I think it must have been about 56 blocks, I'm not sure. And they were from friends and relatives, teachers, coworkers. And it was quite pretty and like, for instance, one person she used to have breakfast with — her block actually had a plate with the bacon and eggs on it. Her godmother, she used to bake her cakes and pastries. She had a block with the cakes and the apron and everything. It was quite interesting.

DSB: Let's see, now, what do you do with quilts that are worn?

LW: Well, usually — none of mine are worn yet. They're not old enough, I don't guess. But usually if friends give me a warm quilt — worn quilt, you can make pillows or different things from them — lap robes. I had one woman — I did some repair work on a quilt that had caught on fire — where her grandchildren were playing in the cabinet caught on fire. And she was just storing these quilts. And I had her to promise that she would use them if I restored them for her. They were very pretty quilts. One pattern was a Drunken Path. The Drunken Path and the T Quilt. Very pretty.

DSB: So she heeded your warning and now uses these quilts?

LW: Oh, she promised she would. She said, because she wanted them restored so badly.

DSB: Now, how do you…

LW: I'm sorry. It's not good to store quilts anyway, because some people put them in tight chests, air-tight, and they will dry rot.

DSB: Now, where do you store your quilts? Or do you just — you keep them in circulation?

LW: I try to keep them in circulation. Sometime I hang them, sometime I fold them.

DSB: And how do you launder them or clean them?

LW: The best way is just to laundry them in a mild detergent. And then, if you can, just let them [inaudible] dry on the line. That's the best way — outside — because the dryer, in time, will rotten the threads. And they'll last longer the other way.

DSB: Now, where do you go to the different shows? Where are these shows? Do you just stay in the Detroit area or do you go outside of this area to see quilting shows or participate in quilting shows?

LW: Well, sometime in Detroit, sometime in the outlying areas. The only place that I've been out of town, I think, is to Washington — Smithstonian [sic] — and down south, of course. But other than that, it's always usually here or the suburbs that I go to the quilting shows.

DSB: Now, when you participate in — submit a quilt or some quilts for judging, what are the criteria? What are the standards that they're looking for? And who are the judges?

LW: Well, usually they look for your quilting, whether your stitches are small and even, they look for your color coordination, and they look for the material type of the materials that you use.

DSB: Now, do you have a tradition of giving quilts for any special occasions? To whom have you given quilts?

LW: Oh, baby quilts. Any number of baby quilts to most of my son's friends, some of my friends. And I don't give quilts in my family for wedding gifts. I couldn't afford it.

DSB: Too many weddings?

LW: Yes, and too many nieces. I'm down in great-nieces and nephews, so I don't try to do that. I've given my — all my sisters, my brothers. One particular brother, I gave him a quilt — van quilt.

DSB: And was that — why a van quilt?

LW: He had just bought a new van, and I made the quilt extra long because he's over six feet. He's about six feet four. He actually cried when he received it because it had a big bird in flight. I'll show it to you. It's the bird that is distinct, the condor. And it had the sun at the top. And at the bottom, I even had a van on it — miniature van on there.

DSB: Any other special presentations you've made with quilts?

LW: One Christmas, all three of my sisters, because when I first started quilting, they didn't believe I was going to last. My husband and my sisters would always tease me that I wasn't going to be a quilter. They didn't think I had the patience for it, so they were quite surprised at Christmas.

DSB: So, did we talk about any special awards you received? I know you said you received awards for the I Am quilt. Any others? Any special recognition you received?

LW: Well, I won — in one year, I won three ribbons at the Hartford Afro Quilt Show.

DSB: Okay. At Hartford Memorial Church?

LW: Yes. And it was for Grandma's Fan, Shoo Fly in the I Am quilt. And then, I also won blue ribbon at — with another woman that I — she has arthritis real bad. She only quilts the top pieces and I do the quilting. I think the name of that one was the Broken Star.

DSB: Now, do you have a special scrapbook or anything that you put your…?

LW: Yes, I have an album with pictures of the quilt. Then I also started a scrapbook from different events or different thank you notes or things from people.

DSB: Now, what does that scrapbook mean to you? Why do you keep it?

LW: Sentimental reasons.

DSB: How do you feel when you look through it and see the work you've done?

LW: It feels rewarding.

DSB: Let's see. Now, do you have any sayings or any songs, or anything else connected with quilting that you could share with us?

LW: Oh, the only thing is a little saying that I have in my album.

DSB: It’s a big album. I guess, if we have pictures in there, it might hold maybe, what, 200 maybe pictures or something. But you've got it…

LW: It’s — once it’s filled, it probably will.

DSB: But you've got pictures of your quilts and your ribbons are in here.

LW: Mm-hm.

DSB: That's beautiful.

LW: Thank you.

DSB: It's beautiful. And that saying you were going to share with us?

LW: It says, “The man who works with his hands is a laborer. The man who works with his hands and his brain is a craftsman. The man who works with his hands, his brains, and his heart is an artist.”

DSB: Okay. It's definitely the category, certainly, that you belong with all these beautiful quilt designs that we see here. Now, you've got a son. He's married.

LW: Right.

DSB: Okay. Does his wife — well, first of all, did your — did your son ever show any interesting quilting?

LW: No. Just when he particularly liked one, he would say that one's mine, ma. I also made him, when I first — one of my first quilts, out of polyester, and he told me something which I found out later was very true: that the polyester quilt was extremely warm. He said, “Now, this is a quilt that you use on the zero days.” And this is true because polyester is a warm fabric. And then when you put that batting and the backing to it, you got a extremely warm quilt.

DSB: Now, he's married.

LW: Yeah.

DSB: Does his wife show any interest in — in quilting?

LW: I'm going to teach her.

DSB: Did she ask or did you…

LW: She wants to learn to sew because she has three daughters. They have three daughters now, And, I gave her, as a matter of fact, a sewing kit for Christmas. And I'm going to start her off with plain hand sewing first, and then get into machine sewing, and then into quilting.

DSB: What about the three granddaughters?

LW: Well, the oldest one shows an interest.

DSB: She's been to shows with me. Craft shows or quilt shows. And she also, when she's over here, she wants to do some crafts or piece something. So, I'm going to start her out. My son keeps saying she's not too young.

LW: And, she's how old?

DSB: She'll be six.

LW: Now, you demonstrate so much creativity and artis — artistry in the quilting. Do you have any other hobbies or any other ways that — you mentioned hand sewing? Is it just on the quilting pieces?

DSB: Just the quilting mostly.

LW: Okay. And that satisfies?

DSB: Oh, yeah. Good therapy.

LW: Okay. Do you have any last words you wanted to share with us about quilting?

DSB: Yes, I always tell ladies in my class or anybody that I help that’s stuck with a quilting project to always try to teach another person quilting so that it would last and continue in our race.

LW: Okay. And you feel that's very important?

DSB: I do, really.

LW: Okay. Do you find younger women when they meet you at shows or see your work displayed, that they come up and ask you about it?

DSB: All the time, and they said they wish they had time to do it. Most of them work and I find some of the younger women even work two jobs, or either they have a side, you know, school— schooling or whatever, but most of them seem interested.

LW: But that's the one thing you'd encourage them to do, learn it and teach somebody else.

DSB: Right. Right.

LW: Anybody that learns it, teach — pass it on, teach somebody else.

DSB: Thank you very much for talking with us about your beautiful work.

LW: You’re most welcome.

DSB: Thank you, Mrs. Williams.

[Tape stops, then resumes]

[Very muffled speech]

LW: The best way to do it is to — well, my washing machine wasn’t big enough fro some of them because a few of them are extra large.

DSB: [Inaudible] We're really glad you’re here. We're really glad you made it. [Inaudible] I was just overwhelmed about everything, the amount of time [inaudible].

[One minute of inaudible speech]

[Microphone is adjusted]

LW: You can think that you're pretty good, but when you go to these quilt shows, you get real humble [laughs]. And we laugh about it because she likes — you were speaking of a favorite color. She likes black. And when she works with black, her quilts are striking. They’re very pretty. It seems almost like the black is the background. You know, the Amish women work a lot with black. So, that's a special touch to her work. Then, my other friend, her name is Doris — Zalma (??) Doris, I went to her house once to look at her quilts. Oh, that was a person I didn’t even think of. She's been quilting since she was eight or nine and she has a collection out of this world. She has quilts that — states — state quits, and just all kind of quits. And she loves quilting also. She visits my class all the time. She's working, but she says when she retires, she's going to be there every week. And we always enjoy her because she always has a different quilt than us.

DSB: What makes a good quilt?

LW: The construction, first of all, material construction. The stitches. The more you quilt, and the older you get, the more arthritis you get. [Laughs] It's hard to make those smaller stitches, but they say that a good but should be about eight to ten inches — I mean, eight to ten stitches a inch, keep your stitches small and uniform.

DSB: Anything else to…

LW: Keep your — make sure when you've cut your patterns, all pieces are exactly fitting. Usually a quilter, they can always find something wrong with the other quilter’s quilt.

DSB: What do you look for? I mean, not that you look to cut it up, but…

LW: I don't actually look for…

DSB: …but what are the kinds of things that make you say, “Ah, this is a good quilt,” or “This could have been a better quilt”?

LW: I don't know. I guess just the pattern itself. Some patterns are so unique, it's just amazing what some women can do. You know, sometimes I look for originality, sometimes I just look for preciseness. And then, I think my main thing is color. I think one of the quilts that I enjoyed most was at the Greek Orthodox show. In this particular quilt, it looked almost as if it was a rug. The pattern, you know, a very designed and pretty rug. But it was actually a quilt.

DSB: So like, the intricacy of the pattern?

LW: Oh yeah.

DSB: Now, what is your favorite quilt that you've done? Do you have a favorite that you've done or one that you say is maybe the best example of your work? Would it be the I Am quilt [a religious quilt designed by Mrs. Williams] or another?

LW: Another one that I won a ribbon at Hartford Afro-American Quilt Show is the Sawtooth [inaudible]. I sort of like it because it was kind of challenging to make, you know, [inaudible] challenge. I kind of like it.

DSB: You won an award for that one?

LW: Yes.

DSB: Have you entered other competitions? Do they — do the other shows that you go to — are there always ribbons awarded or some kind of prize or how does…

LW: Most of them, if you would like to enter you’ve got to enter. I have another quilt in my album and I'll show you. I won a blue ribbon on it with another woman. It's a woman named Lauren. She has arthritis very bad and she just pieces quilts and I would quilt them for her. And this particular one we won a blue ribbon for it. It turned out really pretty. It's a Broken Star.

DSB: Do you know of any customs or any songs or rhymes or anything involving quilting little rhymes or any customs about, “If you do this with the quilt, then this will happen”? Any kind of associations with quilts, that kind of thing?

LW: You mean like songs or sayings or?

DSB: Songs or sayings or any customs? Like maybe needing 12 tops before marriage, or something about placing an imperfect piece on an otherwise perfect quilt.

LW: Trying to think of — I've read books, you know, a book with different sayings in it that I found amusing, but I can't think of one…

DSB: But none that you really…[Laughs]

LW: …me and my quilting friends use, you know?

DSB: Okay. [Do] ou have any set ritual that you do before you sit down to quilt, like a special chair or something? Special cup of coffee or special cup or just anything?

LW: Oh yeah, I have a special chair.

DSB: Okay.

LW: Special lamp.

DSB: Mm-hm.

LW: And, because I usually have it triggered on the side of a little table if I want to drink tea. I — I don't know. Just thank goodness for quilting, because I was a smoker and that was a hard job, to stop smoking. I stopped once and wasn't successful, so I stopped the second time and I made it. But then quilting allows me to have something to do.

DSB: Other than eat.

LW: Right.

[Both laugh]

DSB: All right. Did you ever attend a quilting party?

LW: Quilting party?

DSB: You know, I don't know, with food involved and people just quilted all day. Ate part of the time. Ever been to anything like that?

LW: We did that in our class the — the — the day of the last day of our class. It's like a brunch. We all bring something, you know, and a lot of times I get the class three times and extra hours, you know, because our class is only 3 hours. So what we do is we stop for lunch and then we'll go back for another 2 hours. And that makes for a good time, you know, because we all [have] lunch together and then we go back to what we're going to do with this quilt we're making, because I don't teach during the summer, June, July and August. I start back in September. What we're going to do during those three months — they're going to meet at my house [for] a month here. And then we're going to meet up at the cottage. Not at mine, but at Gwen’s. [Inaudible].

DSB: And this is your group from the…

LW: Center.

DSB: Center? Okay. That’s nice. And you mentioned giving — surprising your sisters and giving them quilts one time. And is there any other memorable time you can remember presenting a quilt to somebody special [inaudible]?

LW: Yeah. My big, six-foot brother. I have a brother that's six foot four and I made him a van quilt.

DSB: A van quilt?

LW: Uh-huh. Quilt for his van. And I actually had a little van on it, you know, and he was so thrilled until he cried and that kind of touched me.

DSB: Aw.

LW: [Laughs] I have made them a quilt since. But this particular one I made, and I made it extra length because he’s tall and I made it for his van. I also have that in my album. I made it with this bird that's almost extinct or is extinct: the condor. This big condo bird in flight. And then I added like the sunshine at the top. And at the bottom, I had a little van. He was quite pleased.

DSB: Have you — see and then you say you've had some classes. Have you had any friends that have asked you to teach them to quilt?

LW: Yes.

DSB: And family members?

LW: Mm-hm.

DSB: And how has that worked out?

LW: I've helped, like, people that are making, like, maybe a baby quilt or, like, one little thing and got stuck and I’d help them. But what I'm in the process of doing now, I'm going to teach my daughter-in-law to sew and from then I'm going to teach her to quilt. And, I'd also like to teach my granddaughter who's only six years old but her father is dying for me to teach her quilting. I've already thought about starting letting her just piece. She's always saying, “Granny, let me do it.” And I've taken her to several shows. Is it [?] with people. So, make grabs.

DSB: The process starts again.

LW: Right.

DSB: She wants to do something.

LW: Let's see, you tell me that you have a scrapbook.

DSB: How long have you been keeping it?

LW: I guess about eight years or so. I wish I had started it early — started it earlier.

DSB: And you document all the quilts that you've made?

LW: No, I just put different pictures in there. Because if I would duplicate a quilt, I wouldn't put it in, you know, or take pictures. I would — but I don't have the pictures in there that I should have. I always tell the people in my class to start right away taking pictures. Even if you don't think it's the nicest quilt, you know, still take a picture of it.

LW: And why do you encourage them to do that? Why?

DSB: Because I wish I had’ve done. When I started working on them.

LW: [Inaudible] What is…

[Tape cuts out and then resumes]

DSB: …scrapbook? What does it — does it do for you?

LW: Well, you enjoy it. It's your work. Never saw… [inaudible] …duplicate a quilt.

DSB: I know you said you are a professional quilter. There's no doubt about that. Do you consider yourself an artist?

LW: Oh, yes. Yes.

DSB: Did you…

LW: In fact, I have a little thing in my — in my album about that.

DSB: [Inaudible]

LW: See?

DSB: What is it?

[Both laugh]

DSB: Big scrapbook.

LW: Yeah.

DSB: Big album. You’ll read it for us?

LW: Okay: “The man who works with his hands is a laborer. The man who works with his hands and his brain is a craftsman. The man who works with his hands, his brain, and his heart is an artist.”

DSB: Oh. Where did you find that?

LW: I can't remember, but I liked it.

DSB: And that's how you feel? Because you know you're an artist because you work with all of that.

LW: Right, yes.

DSB: Thank you so much for talking with us. Do you have any last words you wanted to say about the quilting?

LW: Well, I would hope, like I tell the girls and the ladies that I quilt with that I would…

[Tape cuts out]

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[Tape resumes briefly]

Other speaker 2: I said maybe it ran it and overheated it or…

DSB: Well if not, it clicked. Isn’t that interesting.

[Tape cuts out]

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