Telling the Stories Behind the Quilts in Our Lives

While at The National Quilt Museum recently to teach a three-day fish class (more on that next week) and visit my “Specimens” exhibit of fabric collage quilts, Rebecca Glasby, Director of Learning & Engagement at NQM, recorded a “Go Tell It!” quilt video. “Go Tell It!” is a project organized by Quilt Alliance. It encourages quilters to tell the stories of their quilts in a three-minute video format. On their website they have hundreds of recordings already and are adding more all the time.

For my three-minute video I chose to tell the story of my eight-foot tall polar bear “Winfrieda.”

I have since remembered that I recorded another “Go Tell It” video during Maine Quilts 2018. This one was about my life-size saltwater crocodile quilt “Crocodylus Smylus.”

The stories captured by “Go Tell It” give voice to quilts that cannot tell their own stories. Long after we who created or inherited these quilts are gone, video recordings preserve their history.

Not everyone enjoys being recorded on video—Does my voice really sound like that? I shouldn’t have worn that outfit!—but I want to encourage those who have a quilt story to tell to visit the Quilt Alliance website that describes how to create a “Go Tell It!” video. The guidelines are commonsensical and don’t require much technical equipment. There’s also a link to submit your video once you have completed your recording.

Thank you Becky, for getting me in front of your camera to talk about Winfrieda’s story. And here’s Becky’s “Go Tell It!” story of one of her NQM exhibit quilts, “Star Gazing.”

Quilt Stories Help Collage Construction

I find that, to one extent or another, my quilts usually develop some sort of narrative as I work on them, though they often have full-blown origin stories even before I begin the collage. I like to research my subjects both ahead of time and as I proceed. The more I learn about my subject—the more I understand it—the more that knowledge can help me make decisions throughout the fabric collage process. I capture these thoughts and progress in the blog post category: “Quilt Stories,” which you can browse here.

I encourage my collage students to consider developing stories for their quilts as well—imagined stories are perfectly acceptable. If you can tell me the history, personality, and preferences of your subject, decisions on everything from color and fabric selection to composition to backgrounds and binding, can be more easily guessed at. Otherwise a kind of choice paralysis may set in since our options on design and fabric choices in particular can often seem overwhelming.

Specimens at The National Quilt Museum and their Quilt Stories

The National Quilt Museum is a very accessible and sizable building in the downtown area of Paducah, Kentucky. The gallery space itself accommodates multiple exhibits, mine is just one of a few displayed at this time. Come take a walk with me through my Specimens exhibit… and be sure to click on the smaller gallery photos to view them larger.

In the photo below, Winfrieda and I are joined by Meredith Schroeder and her daughter, Lynn Loyd. Meredith is the founder of the National Quilt Museum! Thank you, Meredith, for creating such a wonderful institution and beautiful space where all of us can share the love of quilting.