We’ve just posted several new interviews with quilters from Northfield, Minnesota and nearby towns from interviewer Heidi Rubenstein. Their interviews are a wonderful reminder of how different each quilters’ voice can be. Though all of these women live in the same area, they each have a different perspective about the kinds of quilts they love to make and explore.
Jean Vick told Heidi Rubenstein about her favorite quilts:
“I would say they probably have some striking colors. Color is important to me even though I struggle with it. I don’t like overly designed quilts. I still like to think of them as blankets.”
Sandra Dockstader talked in her interviewabout whether quilts were ‘art’ or ‘craft’:
“[Quilts are] art. Definitely. Craft to me is a Nine Patch, machine quilted, thrown on a bed. That’s a craft. For me, I do wall quilts. I don’t do bed quilts. I do pictorials. I do art. I try to push the envelope to make it realistic. I consider it art. I’m not so thrilled about the painted quilts. I don’t think that’s really quilting. That’s textile art. There’s a fine line where we are pushing theboundaries and it’s not the fabric that’s making the quilt, it’s the paint. I’m not sure that’s the way to go. That’s the next fight. There was that whole thing between machine and hand. It just changes every year. It’ll go back to the traditional or it will go beyond. We’ll have to wait and see.”
Rosie Werner said she was looking backwards in time for inspiration lately:
“I don’t get thrilled by contemporary quilts. I love to look at them, but I see trends in quilting today that I don’t want to follow… I don’t think I learn a lot from them. I like to look at them and they are beautiful. They are art pieces. But I find that my inspiration oftentimes comes from old quilts and from the designers I’ve been studying. Lately I’ve found that I enjoy taking an unfinished old quilt and finishing it or making it in the style of. I think I’ve retro-moved to the 1900s…”
You can also read more stories about quilts and their makers at the Quilters’ S.O.S.- Save Our Stories page on the Quilt Alliance’s site.
Posted by Emma Parker
Project Manager, Quilters’ S.O.S.- Save Our Stories
qsos@quiltalliance.org