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Goshen, Indiana
When I was a little girl and all through my growing up my mother had quilt frames set up in our living room. My sisters and I were invited to help quilt. Mom taught us all the tricks of making a knot and pulling it through, using a thimble. On special occasions we would spend the day at a grandmother’s house or at an aunt’s house quilting. I remember thinking of myself as a quilter when I was 10 years old. Mom taught us how to use her sewing machine by letting us sew strips of rags end to end and roll them into balls that were eventually sent to a weaver to make into rag carpets. So at an early age I could use a sewing machine and handle a needle and a thimble. It became part of my identity.
I think sometimes my husband and kids don’t quite understand, and then I receive some recognition for something I made, or I sell a quilt, or one is published, and then they realize that someone else has appreciated and valued my efforts. They are supportive, but they are also the ones who put up with the mess, the disruptions, my running off to quilt shows and retreats and other quilting activities. Someday when I’m gone they will be selling all those books, magazines, notions and UFOs on eBay.
My parents came from Amish backgrounds and quilting was part of our heritage. I recently found a quilt made by my great grandmother published in a book of Illinois Amish quilts from the Illinois State Museum. That was pretty exciting. I knew that there were quilters in that family and I do have two quilts that my grandmother made, so it was exciting to be able to go back a generation earlier and see another quilt from this side of my family.
I live in Northern Indiana Amish Country. I was born here and have spent all my life here. While I love my community and the local quilting friends, I’m so excited about what the Internet has done for quilters. I’ve learned so much from my quilting friends online, around the country, in Canada and in Europe. I have a great quilter friend in the Netherlands. We’ve been emailing each other for about eight years. Last fall our family invited her and her husband to visit us in the US. They came and we had the best time! While she and I had gotten to know each other over the years, our husbands had never had even a virtual relationship, but they hit it off great. We spent ten days showing them our area – visiting quilt shops, Amish stores – it was a fantastic experience. We had never done anything like that before, so we were a little nervous about how it would work out – and I’m sure our friends were nervous too. But it was an awesome time.
Bible Study has been an important area of interest. I love digging into the scripture, finding layers of meaning in the text, understanding the context, the culture, the related scripture, the archeological aspects related to Bible places. Being able to combine this interest in the Bible with quilting has become a very important part of my life.
One of my earliest joys was stringing Cheerios on a piece of string. It took a long time to get the whole string filled, and only a few minutes to eat them. My mom taught us to embroider and we buttonhole stitched dozens of fabric butterflies for quilts.
I had a wonderful time of studying with a great artist, a Catholic nun, Sister Rita, at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods University (Terre Haute, Indiana). I spent several years in an external degree program and would get to visit her studio on campus several times a year. Between visits we corresponded and I sent her my work, my projects, photos of the process. It was wonderful to have the one-on-one experience with her. I wanted to major in Art, but since I was finishing my degree as an adult, I decided I had better get a degree that would lead me into a job, so I finished with a degree in Management Information Systems.
In real life I work as a Marketing Assistant for a church agency. I have also done some graphic design in the past. Learning computer software programs for desktop publishing and graphic design has definitely helped with quilt projects – being able to illustrate a design, or create a pattern and templates and printed quilt designs. I love computers. I took some web design classes in college too, and having that basic understanding is another asset.
My sewing room has become a sewing storage room and not a lot happens there. I have several sewing machines including my grandmother’s treadle machine, but I often use my Featherweight either at the kitchen table, or when I get together with friends for a day of sewing. We get together somewhat regularly to sew, including a couple of retreats each year and a 10-day quilting vacation on Lake Michigan each summer. LOTS gets done during that time!
My Featherweight is my favorite. I also have a 23-year-old computerized Viking that has been a regular work horse. Besides that, I have (for fun, but don’t use) two treadle machines. One belonged to my grandmother who died about 10 years ago at the age 95. My grandfather purchased it for her when they got married. The other treadle belonged to my husband’s aunt and it is in working condition, so if the electricity is ever out for any period of time, I could still sew!
I love hand quilting. It is a time of relaxing with a quilt – of being meditative, quiet, enjoying thinking about people, praying for people. Especially if the quilt is for someone in particular…while I quilt it, I spend a lot of time contemplating that individual and my connection to them. I love the process of the needle rocking back and forth, creating a pattern, highlighting areas, making the top look different and complete.
Favorite needle for quilting - Clover Gold Eye #9 Favorite thread - something with a "glace" finish - YLI Quilting thread (on a wooden spool) is very nice. A thimble with a ridge on the top - I just use the standard metal thimbles, but I prefer the ones with a ridge.
I almost always start out quilting in a large floor frame, with the quilt completely stretched out. This eliminates needing to baste it. I often do all of the borders and a some of the inside of the quilt in the frame, and as it gets smaller, I take it out of the frame and finish it using a 20" hoop. I like being able to sit in my big stuffed chair, feet up, and quilt while watching (listening to?) TV, so as soon as I can, I take the quilt out of the frame to finish it.
I don't think you can quilt without a thimble. If you think you can't wear a thimble, just keep trying until you find one that fits and works for you. The quilting stitch is a rocking stitch, it is rhythmic and relaxing. The most import thing is to work for a consistent size of stitch. I've seen beautiful quilting that has a slightly larger stitch - and that may depend on the fabric and batting you are using. Don't try to get 4 or 5 stitches on the needle - don't do "stab" stitching to make it look smaller. Don’t worry about making tiny stitches. Work at making your stitches consistent for your fabric and batting. Get into a rhythm and you'll do fine. Don't start out trying to quilt a batik fabric with a cotton batting! If you are learning, use soft cotton and muslin backings and polyester batting - that is the easiest thing to quilt, I think. Make a quilted pillow top, or a small wallhanging, or a baby quilt. Or use a preprinted panel and quilt around the designs. Make sure your backing fabric is larger than the top if you are using a hoop, so you can easily quilt the edges of the top. Find a good quilter and ask for advice.
Okay – here comes my “God the Creator” talk! I believe that God is a creator, and that God created us in his image – created us to be creators too. So I think by nature we are all creative. If you question that idea, just think about the ways that we imitate God’s creativity – we have a great interest in recreating ourselves (by having children). Art recreates the visual beauty of our world; music recreates the beauty of sounds. God is a God of order (but that is a whole other talk!) and isn’t a quilt just a form of ordered/mathematical art. Who created math?! God put us into a world of beauty and symmetry, a fantastically organized universe.
23 Listen and hear my voice; pay attention and hear what I say. 24 When a farmer plows for planting, does he plow continually? 25 When he has leveled the surface, does he not sow caraway and scatter cummin? Does he not plant wheat in its place, barley in its plot, and spelt in its field? 26 His God instructs him and teaches him the right way. 27 Caraway is not threshed with a sledge, nor is a cartwheel rolled over cummin; 28 Grain must be ground to make bread; so one does not go on threshing it forever. Though he drives the wheels of his threshing cart over it, his horses do not grind it. 29 All this also comes from the LORD Almighty, wonderful in counsel and magnificent in wisdom.
My quilting friends inspire me with their work. They are fantastic quilters. We’ve all learned a lot together. Being involved in a guild has been a very important part of learning for us. We challenge each other with round robin projects and other projects. By now we know that pretty much any quilt block can be made somehow! We’ve all grown tremendously because of our knowing (and loving) Brenda Papadakis and working on the Dear Jane and Dear Hannah quilts. We feel blessed to have a friend like Brenda. The experience of working on these quilts, the constant challenge of making small complex blocks has really helped develop our skills and ability to break down a complex block and figure out how to put it together. From Brenda I’ve learned to appliqué, to be precise in piecing, to put together colors and values. Prior to the Dear Jane book, I had never seen a quilt pattern that was just a line drawing with no templates or instructions. At first it was a little intimidating – but once you start quilting like that it’s the only thing that makes sense – it’s so flexible. It allows each quilter to use their favorite techniques and skills to make a block.
I hand quilt most of them and my mother does some hand quilting for me. She’s 84 and still quilts every day, including doing a lot of commission work.
The most important one is my parent’s wedding quilt. It was made for them by my Grandmother Susie. It’s a lovely red-white-and blue quilt – the pattern is called Snow Crystals. It’s so special to me because my Amish grandmother made it for her son (my dad) who had just returned from five years in the Army during WWII. The red-white-blue star theme is without a doubt a very patriotic statement coming from my grandmother, showing her pride in her son. It’s in very good condition for a 60+ year old quilt that has been used and loved.
No – but this is a dream. I’m waiting on God’s further leading, but I really would love to share my passion for quilting with women in a less developed country -- to learn from them, to hear their stories, and to share quilting with them. Quilting as a ministry is going on in places like Afghanistan, China, and Mongolia. We have a lot to share with and to learn from women in other cultures.
Blues and purples.
I belong to Maple Leaf Quilters in Goshen, Indiana. I actually started this group 10 years ago because there were no evening guilds in our area. I worked during the day, and I had longed to be part of a quilting community. On the first night we packed out the local quilt shop with people sitting in every free space, on the stairway, in every aisle and open spot. A business across the street from the shop rented out folding chairs and we got 50, planning to be optimistic. I think we had 80+ people there. It was very exciting. My best friends were all there that night – I didn’t know any of them at the time, but they’ve become my best friends over the years.
When I’m at the point of having a set of blocks ready to put together, I usually do quite a bit of planning so I know how to cut sashing and borders. I love how little mistakes can make changes in my plans, running out of fabric, mis-cutting a piece, it often turns the quilt into something other than I imagined originally. I like using Electric Quilt to design.
I usually use traditional blocks but put together my own design from them. I don’t like to make quilts that someone else has already made. What’s the point? One quilt that I WOULD like to reproduce exactly as done originally is one of Harriet Power’s Bible Quilts.
She was a freed slave who made at least two Bible quilts that survive and are in museums. We don't know what other quilts she may have made. I want to put together a pattern for one of these quilts and have begun research on it. Here's a link to info on Harriet Powers. http://www.historyofquilts.com/hpowers.html
I think I may be moving away from the very traditional quilts. I don’t think I’ll stray too far, but it is fun to do something more arty occasionally.
I love appliqué.
I really like to use freezer paper! I’m hoping someday to graduate to needle-turn. My Dream Quilt is a whole-cloth appliquéd quilt – vines, flowers, leaves covering the top – a great deal of random and naturalness, but enough symmetry to know there IS a plan. My other crazy notion is hand-piecing a fractal design quilt.
My friends and I have done a series of Dear Jane related quilts – a variety of round robins, swaps, challenges, all using Dear Jane (or the new book, Dear Hannah) blocks. We love the little blocks and the challenge of finding new ways to use them. We think we could possibly be happy for the rest of our lives if this were the only quilt book we could have. (I’m happy that we don’t have to test that theory, but I do think there is truth in the statement).
A few years ago one of my quilt friends and I did a lot of fabric dying together. I accumulated a nice stash. I love watching the colors develop. Katy Widger’s Color Wheel book and process is my very favorite fabric dying how-to book. Her process produces 25-30 fat quarters of rich deep colors all in one dye-run. It was this stash I used to make the Women of the Bible quilt.
If I’m sitting through a long meeting at work, and I usually have paper and pencil to take notes, it is really, really hard for me not to start doodling quilt designs. I love the math and the symmetry of quilt blocks. I love drawing vines of leaves and flowers that could be appliquéd or quilting line designs.
My first real book is in the works now.
Very scary! Amazingly exciting to be accepted into a big show or exhibit! Extremely humbling to see the competition – wanting to grab your quilt and run and hide.
Women of the Bible – semifinalist at AQS show in Paducah, 2005. Also, the story I wrote of my Grandmother’s quilt was published in Quilt Magazine, 1997. I had several articles on quilting published in Quilt Magazine during the 1990’s. I also designed the cover quilt for a book called “Shadow Quilts” by Pat Magaret and Donna Slusser.
Watercolor quilts – that’s my favorite. The class is a Saturday class and we meet for about 5 hours with a long lunch break for shopping, eating and regrouping. This class is appropriate for anyone – no experience necessary – I’ve had men, women, couples, mothers and daughters, friends, newbies and old time quilters. During the class time we design our watercolor – each person uses a design wall, gridded flannel mounted on a large piece of Styrofoam leaning against the wall. We don’t do any sewing in class – but I do demonstrate some easy ways of doing the sewing, and suggestions for borders and quilting.
It is such an easy class to teach and the rewards are so high for everyone. I love it!
My sister is a graphic designer and she is helping me put together books and pattern sets for my quilts. I love working with her. She’s a very creative person and we have a lot of respect for each other’s creativity and talents. We each feel that the other has gifts that when we combine them make for a great product. We are in the early stages of our business… but I’m hoping for some great things to come out of this.
Things I love: My Featherweight sewing machine, my 15” square ruler, my thimbles with a recessed top, my rotary cutter, my freezer paper and my plastic “Matchbox Car” case that I keep thread in. I also love the EQ5 software for designing. Those are my favorite quilting tools.
Join a guild, if there is no quilt guild in your area, start one. This is essential if you want to learn and grow. Don’t assume that you have to be at a certain level as a quilter to join a guild. If you don’t find one that welcomes beginners, start your own and recruit teachers. Take classes, get together with other quilters, search them out, spend time with them. You’ll learn more and more from each other than you could ever learn alone. If there aren’t any classes in your area, find a teacher and a room (community center, church fellowship hall) and organize a series of beginner classes. Make it happen, don’t wait for classes and guilds to come to your area.
I don’t clean like some people do. I go to bed with a messy house and dishes in the sink. I wish it weren’t so, but I’m not willing to spend all my time trying to be as neat and clean as I wish it were. I would not get any quilting done if that were the case. My family understands that “if mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.” They aren’t very demanding. The dog is more demanding then the family!
There is a new study starting in September. You can participate in the Bible study without needing to make the quilt. And you can follow along and just make the blocks, without really getting involved in the actual study. But most women who have really found this to be a meaningful journey having been working on both the blocks and going through the weekly study lesson. It is a year long study (actually about 13 months because we take several holiday breaks and cover 54 weekly lessons).
- I don't post the block pattern with the lesson. I do provide tips for how to make the blocks, but not the pattern itself on the group site. There isn't any fee for participating in the study. The only cost is the buy the pattern and the related book (optional) by Jean Syswerda and Ann Spangler. Here is the link to the new group which begins in September: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WomenoftheBibleQuilt/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/QuiltingthePsalms/
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