Interview with Carmel Washington, November 16, 2004

Partial Transcript: Today, November 16, 2004, we are having an interview with Carmel Washington in Northeast Washington, D.C. during a Daughters of Dorcas meeting. Her number is 20002-008. The interviewer is Evelyn Salinger. The time is 11:25 a.m. Hello, Carmel.

Segment Synopsis: Washington has brought several items to the interview. The first touchstone quilt is a wall hanging that features a landscape. Washington used the stained glass quilting technique, and she says that she enjoyed using different colors and materials to make the quilt. Washington was previously an embroidery teacher, and she incorporated embroidery into the wall hanging. The second touchstone object is a series of small wall hangings, which Washington made for friends who do not have a lot of space for larger pieces. Washington also says she could stitch them all together into a quilt. Washington and Salinger describe several blocks that show teachers and students learning in classrooms. Washington has been a teacher for a long time, and she hopes the designs please some of her friends who are also teachers.

Keywords: Daughters of Dorcas; Embroidery; Evelyn Salinger; Quilt purpose - Gift or presentation; Quilt purpose - Home decoration; Stained glass quilts; Techniques

Subjects: Quiltmakers--United States

Partial Transcript: I enjoy matching colors for some reason. I have a sense of color.

Segment Synopsis: Washington talks about how happy it makes her to work with color. She describes looking through multiple bags of fabric "just to find the right piece that makes the finished product real." Salinger asks Washington if she organizes her fabric by color in any way, but she says she does not. In fact, Washington says she often finds one piece of fabric, and then realizes she saw another piece earlier that she needs to go back and find again. Washington and Salinger describe another block that shows a grandmother in a rocking chair holding her grandson.

Keywords: Color theory; Fabric selection; Grandchildren; Grandmothers; Pictorial quilts; Fabric stash

Partial Transcript: I was going to ask you, what are your earliest memories of quilts?

Segment Synopsis: Washington was not familiar with quilting before she began, but she used to teach embroidery. She spoke with a woman in a fabric store and asked her about the fabrics she was buying. The woman explained that the fabric was for quilting, and she was preparing to teach a quiltmaking class. She invited Washington to join the class. The class was about piecing and lasted for six weeks. Washington found the class to be frustrating and was not happy with the work she made. However, at the end of the class, the teacher invited Washington to join her quilt group, the Azalea Quilters in Tacoma Park, Maryland. Washington attended meetings with the Azalea Quilters and learned about applique, which she preferred to piecing.

Keywords: Applique; Learning quiltmaking; Maryland; Piecing; Quilt guilds; Quiltmaking class; Tacoma Park; Techniques; Azalea Quilters

Partial Transcript: And that really -- I choose to do the applique, because I used to do the same thing with embroidery but using thread -- because we were making sheets, tablecloths, and all kinds of linen dresses for the tourists, because I worked at the Department of Commerce in Haiti.

Segment Synopsis: Washington taught embroidery full-time for the Department of Commerce in Haiti. Washington found that she could use her knowledge of embroidery to do applique. She only took one class in quiltmaking and considers herself to be self-taught. Washington still has the first quilt she made, but she says she didn't really know what she was doing then. She started looking at quiltmaking books and discovered one book by Georgia Bonesteel, as well as her television shows about lap quilting. At one point, Washington was working on five quilts simultaneously, and she would rotate through them on a daily basis. Now she works at her own pace, but Washington has become skilled enough so that she can finish even a large project in a relatively short time.

Keywords: Embroidery; Georgia Bonesteel; Haiti; Learning quiltmaking; Teaching

Subjects: Bonesteel, Georgia. Bright ideas for lap quilting; Bonesteel, Georgia

Partial Transcript: You seem, you do pick up, for instance, the little butterflies and the little birds and things. Do you pick those up at a store or someplace?

Segment Synopsis: Salinger asks Washington about her technique of adding embellishments to her quilts. Washington says that she used to do that a lot, but now she prefers to work faster. Washington sometimes used to begin quilting early in the morning, take a break midday, and then continue working until the late evening. Now that she is a faster and more confident quilter, she may only spend two hours a day working on her quilting projects. Creating the design is an important part of the process for her. When Salinger asks if Washington sometimes dreams of her designs, she says yes. Washington may think about the design while in bed and "see the full quilt." Sometimes, Washington will draw the designs she sees on paper. Because creating the quilt design is so important to her, Washington does not want to make the same quilt more than once.

Keywords: Embellishment techniques; Quilt design; Time management; Design process

Partial Transcript: Do you mostly make large quilts, or do you do wall hangings?

Segment Synopsis: Washington generally makes wall hangings, rather than large quilts. Salinger asks about a series of wall hangings Washington made depicting different women. When asked if she found making that series boring, Washington says she was not bored because the clothing for each of the thirteen women was different. She may add to that series later. Washington sometimes sells her quilts to make money to buy fabric. She describes her earlier fabric buying habits as "an addiction" and says that she needed to break that habit. Washington jokes that she has so much fabric now that she could open her own store. Now she donates some of the fabric she does not want to her church bazaar. Washington also donated a queen-sized quilt to her church. She notes that quiltmaking is a very expensive hobby.

Keywords: Quilt purpose - Charity; Quilt purpose - Personal income; Fabric stash

Partial Transcript: Would you tell us about how you learned your sewing skills as you were growing up in Haiti?

Segment Synopsis: Washington explains that in Haiti, students start learning how to sew the first week of school, at age five. Embroidery is taken very seriously, because students have to pass an embroidery test to graduate from high school. When Washington was in school, all sewing was done by hand. Washington had a natural talent for embroidery, but her sister had a very difficult time with it. However, her sister was an excellent seamstress.

Keywords: Family; Haiti; Sewing; Sisters; Embroidery

Partial Transcript: Do you keep track of all the things you've made? Did you keep a photo or anything for yourself to remember?

Segment Synopsis: Washington has some photos of her work. Although she is not a good photographer, Washington has friends take photos for her. Washington's work has been exhibited at the Charles Sumner School and the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. Washington explains that she decided to leave the Azalea Quilters because the group became more focused on socializing than quilting. After that, she joined the Daughters of Dorcas.

Keywords: Charles Sumner School; Daughters of Dorcas; Photography; Quilt documentation; Quilt guilds; Azalea Quilters

Subjects: Smithsonian Institution

Partial Transcript: When you go to a quilt show and see some quilts, what do you look for, in a good quilt?

Segment Synopsis: Washington's main focus for evaluating a quilt is the size of its stitches. She is able to sew very small and consistent stitches by hand. Washington is proud of her own work, but she realizes that not everyone can meet her standards. She thinks that older people who did not learn how to embroider at a young age will have a difficult time learning now. Washington avoids criticizing other people, because she is aware that she is not a perfect quilter and also makes mistakes. When asked about machine quilting, Washington says she is not interested in trying it.

Keywords: Embroidery; Machine quilting; Quilt shows/exhibitions; Stitching

Partial Transcript: Would you have some advice for new quilters?

Segment Synopsis: Washington recommends being patient to new quilters. She also advises them to strive for perfection in their work. She recommends continuing to learn from a variety of resources. Washington says Daughters of Dorcas is a good venue for her to learn and share ideas with other members. Salinger mentions that Washington enjoys spending time alone doing creative work. Washington talks about how focusing quilting and doing creative projects can counteract feelings of loneliness.

Keywords: Daughters of Dorcas; Quilt purpose - Meditation/relaxation; Quilt purpose - Personal enjoyment; Quilt shows/exhibitions; Learning quiltmaking