Interview with Joyce Paterson, March 9, 2007

Partial Transcript: This is Karen Musgrave, I'm doing the Quilters' S.O.S. - Save Our Stories interview with Joyce Paterson, it is March 19th, 2007, oh, March, 9th, excuse me, March 9th, I'm getting tired, 2007, 3:52 in the afternoon, and I'm in Ukiah, California.

Segment Synopsis: Paterson's touchstone quilt, "An Antique Start of Something New," is constructed from five old Log Cabin squares, with silk ties around them, all on a square of red fabric. She used Trapunto quilting and created a pattern using an art deco book. She had bought some of the material three years before making the quilt and it took her a while to figure out what she wanted to do with it. She made it in 2006 and it won something at the one show she submitted it to.

Keywords: American Quilter's Society Quilt Week (Paducah, Kentucky); Ann Horton; Art deco; Log cabin (quilt pattern); Trapunto quilting

Partial Transcript: So, is it typical of your work?

Segment Synopsis: Paterson thinks that this quilt is "pretty orderly," and thus representative of her personality and her work. The quilt is displayed in her great room, alongside other quilts and plants.

Keywords: Quiltmaking style

Partial Transcript: So tell me about your interest in quilting.

Segment Synopsis: Paterson's initial response to a question about her interest in quilting is "vast." As a homework assignment for a class, Paterson has been writing down everything for which she is grateful, and quilting and the relationships she has formed through quilting come up frequently. Paterson belongs to a quilt group that she and Ann Horton began in roughly 1991. It has eleven members and has not had much turnover for about seven years. Paterson reports that this group both helps its members stretch their quilting abilities, but also functions as a support group, which has allowed her to develop friendships with the other members.

Keywords: Ann Horton; Quilt groups

Partial Transcript: When did you start making quilts?

Segment Synopsis: Paterson was involved in a production of "Quilters," a musical about Pioneer women's lives, which is organized around quilt pattern names. A number of small quilts were needed for the production. Paterson volunteered to do one and was assigned a Double Wedding Ring quilt. Paterson had perhaps made one quilt previously, had had no idea how hard a Double Wedding Ring quilt is, and did not really know what she was doing. Ann Horton said she would help her. Paterson and her parents immigrated from the British Isles. Her parents both had jobs that involved sewing. Her father worked as an upholsterer for many years and her mother altered clothing. Paterson learned to sew from her mother.

Keywords: "Quilters" (musical); Ann Horton; Double Wedding Ring - quilt pattern; Family; Learning quiltmaking; Sewing

Partial Transcript: So how did you end up in California?

Segment Synopsis: When Paterson was eight, her then-eighteen year old sister moved from Portage, Michigan, where the family was living, to California. Paterson's family moved to the San Fernando Valley after visiting her sister. There Paterson met her husband, to whom, at the time of the interview, she has been married to for twenty-eight years, in high school. Paterson and her husband, after a couple of different moves, ended up in Willets and then in relatively nearby Ukiah. Paterson helped get a hospital birthing center up and running and later worked for the local American Cancer Society. While there are good reasons to move elsewhere, Paterson says that her quilt and singing groups are keeping them there.

Keywords: Family

Partial Transcript: So what are your favorite techniques in quilting?

Segment Synopsis: Paterson likes working with color, applique, and machine quilting. She discusses the pros and cons of working with silk. After finishing a prior quilt, Paterson did not think she would use silk again. After finishing this quilt, which uses old silk, she says that she will not use old silk again, because it falls apart so readily.

Keywords: Applique; Fiber - Silk; Machine quilting; Techniques

Partial Transcript: Have, um, advances in technology influenced your work at all?

Segment Synopsis: Paterson agrees that she thinks technology has been an influence on her work. She describes the features of her new Viking Designer sewing machine at some length. She also mentions the rotary cutter as a tool that has made a lot of difference. She made photo transfer quilts for several family members for Christmas the year before the interview. Paterson has access to a number of scanned family photos, and she enjoys trying different things (like changing colors) with them. She expects to make a collage quilt for her deceased father, based on photographs, and has chosen a particularly exuberant photo to be the center. When asked if she uses her computer to design, Paterson said that she got EQ5 (or EQ6?) software recently, but, other than photo transfer, she has not done much with it, in large part because she prefers to quilt. She does expect to try to figure out what aspects of the program she can make work for her.

Keywords: Beryl Taylor; Collage; Home sewing machine; Leslie Riley; Photography/photo transfer; Rotary cutter; Technology in quiltmaking

Partial Transcript: So, um, what do you think makes a great quilt?

Segment Synopsis: When asked what makes a great quilt, Paterson replies, "Heart." She talks about how, if a quilter wants to compete with other quilters, they generally have to do risky and original work. Nevertheless, there are quite a lot of nice quilt patterns, and quilts made from them can also have "heart." Paterson's initial impression of a quilt is based on the colors used and the pattern is less important. Paterson notes that her quilt group talked about the blurbs quilters write up for their quilts in exhibits. Some people did not want to see them and preferred to do their own thinking about the piece, but she, personally, likes knowing was is in the creator's mind.

Keywords: Art quilts; Karen Stone; Quilt patterns

Partial Transcript: So how many hours a week do you quilt?

Segment Synopsis: The number of hours that Paterson works on quilting varies, but, assuming that she is home, the maximum is about twenty hours a week. The aspects of quilting that Paterson enjoys least are ripping out (or, in Paterson's phrase "un-sewing"). At the time of the interview, she was ripping out stitching from a quilt and frustrated, because she wants to submit the quilt to a competition. She also dislikes hand quilting. Nevertheless, she likes hand applique, in part because it is portable enough to bring on trips.

Keywords: Applique; Hand quilting; Ripping out

Partial Transcript: So, describe your studio.

Segment Synopsis: Paterson's studio has windows on two walls, all of which look out over the garden. It has storage space, which is better set up for her needs than was the case with a previous arrangement. She has both a quilting table, with space for her sewing machine, and another large table, as well as lots of music to listen to while working. She describes her husband as being "supportive" of her work and her hard-won understanding of her work as art. Other family members enjoy "see[ing] pictures" and "see[ing] quilts" and watching her "friends quilt when they come over."

Keywords: Diana Gabaldon; Family; Work or Studio space

Partial Transcript: Do you collect any quilts? Do you buy work from anybody else?

Segment Synopsis: Paterson owns one antique quilt, but does not collect quilts. There are quilts on the beds in Paterson's room and both guest bedrooms, but she admits that she out-sourced the work of doing the actual quilting of the quilt on her bed, as her previous attempt to quilt a king-sized quilt was too physically stressful. She is, however, about to try a technique that involves cutting the batting into thirds and quilting each third separately. Paterson thinks long arm quilting allows the quilter to do "some really interesting things" and that it requires as much skill as other types of quilting, but she would like quilts made using that equipment to have their own category at quilt shows.

Keywords: April Sproule; Long arm quilting; Techniques

Partial Transcript: Um, so, what do you think a-, about the importance of quilts in the world?

Segment Synopsis: Paterson sees quilts as "a very accessible form of art for people." People are drawn to touch quilts. In the States, many people have a relative who made them a quilt or whose quilt they have, so quilting is an art form with which they are relatively comfortable. The interviewer observes that quilting "makes a great connection" and Paterson says that the way people respond is similar to the way they respond to someone who is walking with a dog. When asked what advice she would give to new art quilters, Paterson notes that she and Ann Horton "kind of help to move our group forward..." and that they have been trying to figure out what leadership is a teachable skill. For the new quilter, finding some kind of support is essential, but there are different forms that could take, such as groups of different sizes or reading, and then a beginner should "just start playing with it." Paterson feels that art quilting relies less on technique and is more tolerant of imperfection than other quilting.

Keywords: Ann Horton

Partial Transcript: So, um, does your group have, are you leaders, are you and Ann the leaders of the group?

Segment Synopsis: Paterson and Horton effectively, if not officially, lead their quilt group. Paterson feels that the group as a whole has learned to work well together, as demonstrated by the fact that despite the group's small size, they have won the Ultimate Guild Challenge several times. She thinks that partly is a result of Horton's and her guidance of the group, but acknowledges that sometimes the other members "push back," and she and Horton try to give them more space. A couple of years prior to the interview, something the group worked on at a retreat did not turn out as expected. This sparked group discussion and Paterson's husband, in his role as "professional facilitator" participated in one of their meetings, giving all of the members, including the quieter ones, space to give their opinions. As a long-term result, Paterson and Horton try even harder to solicit member opinions and contributions before projects get underway.

Keywords: Ann Horton; Facilitation; Leadership; Ultimate Guild Challenge

Partial Transcript: I mean, part of our retreat is obviously doing projects, but a large part of it is just, we have, so much fun.

Segment Synopsis: The group's retreats include fun activities. At last year's retreat they had a showing of Grease on a big screen, along with dress-up materials for appropriate costumes. The retreats also include "great food" and opportunities to get to know each other better. The retreats have been going on for at least ten years and have become longer. Paterson and Henderson have found that some participants need basic information about what projects they will be doing in advance. Last year they changed their usual process and did just one quilt, as a group. The group also has a shorter, not very structured retreat at a member's house..