Interview with Sue Herbst, August 27, 2008

Partial Transcript: This is Tomme Fent, and I'm here with Sue Herbst, doing an interview for the Quilters' S.O.S. - Save Our Stories project. And it is Wednesday, August 27th, 2008, at 12:00 noon, and we are at Sue's office, in Sioux City, Iowa. So, hi, Sue, and thank you for agreeing to do this interview... Why don't you tell me a little bit first about this quilt that you've brought?

Segment Synopsis: Herbst made the touchstone quilt in 1993, when she owned a quilt shop. Two customers came to the shop every Tuesday to quilt. One of the customers saw a version of the quilt in a magazine and wanted to make it. Herbst had to draft a pattern for the quilt from the magazine picture. Herbst also made her own version of the quilt, along with the two customers. She calls it her "Tuesday Morning Quilt," because that is when they worked on the quilts together. Herbst's family calls the quilt "Circles." Herbst describes the process of drafting the pattern in more detail, including the challenge of drafting the circles and incorporating the background pattern. Herbst says her favorite types of quilts to make, like the touchstone quilt, are based on traditional patterns but made with different variations.

Keywords: Fabric/Quilt shops; Log Cabin - quilt pattern; Quilt shops; Quiltmaking process; Teaching quiltmaking; Tomme Fent

Subjects: Quilts--United States

Partial Transcript: What's your favorite aspect of quilting? What do you like the best?

Segment Synopsis: Herbst's favorite part of quiltmaking is planning the quilt and choosing the colors. She gets bored if she makes the same quilt more than once. Although she has made other log cabin quilts, Herbst says they are different variations. Herbst's least favorite part of quiltmaking is the binding. She says that some of her quilts have waited for months to be bound. Fent also mentions that she has a six-year-old quilt that is almost finished except for the binding.

Keywords: Binding; Color balance; Fabric choice; Fabric selection; Log Cabin - quilt pattern; Tomme Fent

Partial Transcript: So you mentioned that these fabrics came from your quilt shop. What was the name of your quilt shop?

Segment Synopsis: Herbst's quilt shop was called Strawberry Patch Fabrics. She bought the shop from Eileen Helvig and updated it with new fabric lines. Herbst thinks that quilt shops reflect the personalities of their owners. She ran the quilt shop for three years and really enjoyed doing it. Fent says Herbst mentioned that it was her favorite job she ever had and asks why she closed the store. Herbst replies that she ran the shop entirely on her own. It required a lot of time and interfered with her family obligations and personal quilting projects. Herbst says the touchstone quilt was the only project she made while owning the shop that felt like a creative outlet. She also did not have prior business training and found that aspect of owning the shop to be stressful. However, Herbst says she enjoyed connecting with people and having lots of fabric. She has a great appreciation for quilt shops after owning one and likes to support them as much as possible.

Keywords: Eileen Helvig; Fabric/Quilt shops; Family; Jinny Beyer; Quilt shops; Strawberry Patch Fabrics; Teaching quiltmaking

Subjects: Sioux City (Iowa)

Partial Transcript: What's your first memory of a quilt?

Segment Synopsis: Herbst's grandmother hand-quilted utility quilts for her family to use on their beds. Herbst describes her as "quite an artist, too, because she did all scrap quilts, but her scrap quilts were color-coordinated." As a child, Herbst played with the scraps her grandmother kept for quilting. Herbst thinks her grandmother taught her how to quilt so that she would have her own scraps to play with. Herbst was eight years old when her grandmother taught her to quilt. She took a break from quilting during her teenage years but has been quilting since then. Herbst quilted by hand for many years but eventually transitioned to doing most of her quilting by machine.

Keywords: Family; Grandmothers; Hand piecing; Hand quilting; Learning quiltmaking; Machine quilting; Quilt Purpose - Bedcovering; Quilt Purpose - Utilitarian; Scrap quilts

Partial Transcript: Do you do your own machine quilting on your home machine?

Segment Synopsis: Herbst has sent a few quilts out to be long arm quilted, but she mainly does her own machine quilting at home. She "sort of feels like" long arm quilting is cheating. However, Herbst used to think that machine quilting was cheating, because she was a hand quilter, until she realized how difficult it is to do good machine quilting. She is now working to improve her machine quilting skills. Herbst says that she find hand quilting to be relaxing. Machine quilting isn't as relaxing for Herbst, but it allows her to finish projects faster.

Keywords: Hand quilting; Home sewing machine; Long arm quilting; Machine quilting

Partial Transcript: Do you remember what that first quilt was, that you made when you were eight years old?

Segment Synopsis: Herbst's first quilt was a four patch doll quilt with small blocks. Herbst describes her grandmother as a perfectionist and remembers that she made Herbst redo knots because they were too big. She no longer has the doll quilt, but Herbst thinks it was probably about 20" x 20". When asked how she uses the touchstone quilt, Herbst says it is used on her bed in the winter and as decoration in the summer. She thinks it is probably the only utility quilt that she has, and Herbst calls it "truly a Grandma quilt," because it's a utility quilt.

Keywords: Doll quilts; Family; Four patch - quilt pattern; Grandmothers; Learning quiltmaking; Quilt Purpose - Bedcovering; Quilt Purpose - Home decoration; Quilt Purpose - Utilitarian

Partial Transcript: So were your grandmother's utility quilts -- see, when I think of utility quilt, I think of the quilts with the big stitches and no real pattern and just a bunch of squares put together. So were your grandmother's, what you're calling utility quilts, more like this, with real design to them?

Segment Synopsis: Although she made quilts for utilitarian reasons, Herbst's grandmother always made quilts with designs and color coordination. Her grandmother made quilts to give as gifts, quilts to use, and also nicer quilts that "were kept for good." For example, if the doctor was going to make a house call, her grandmother would substitute the fancy "doctor quilt" for the utility quilt that was normally on the bed. Most of her grandmother's quilts were auctioned off after she died, but Herbst still has one. She also has two quilts from her maternal grandmother.

Keywords: Basket - quilt pattern; Crazy quilts; Family; Four Patch - quilt pattern; Grandmothers; Log Cabin - quilt pattern; Nine Patch - quilt pattern; Quilt Purpose - Utilitarian; Quilt purpose - Heirloom; Wedding Ring - quilt pattern

Partial Transcript: Are most of the quilts that you make bed-sized quilts?

Segment Synopsis: Herbst mostly makes bed-sized quilts, although she has started making smaller wall hanging quilts. Herbst gives most of the quilts she makes away to her family or as gifts. When asked about art quilts, Herbst says she is amazed by other people's art quilts. She does not think of herself as an accomplished art quilter, but Herbst likes experimenting with elements in smaller art quilts. Herbst has noticed other people are also moving toward making art quilts instead of bed quilts. She thinks one reason is because art quilts usually do not take as much time to make as bed quilts.

Keywords: Art quilts; Children's quilts; Quilt Purpose - Bedcovering; Quilt Purpose - Birth; Quilt Purpose - Gift or presentation; Quilt Purpose - Home decoration; Quilt Purpose - Wedding; Quiltmaking for family; Quiltmaking style

Subjects: Art quilts

Partial Transcript: So after your grandmother taught you to quilt when you were a little girl, then were you self-taught after that, or did you take classes? How did you learn the rest of the techniques that you've accumulated?

Segment Synopsis: Herbst learned more about quiltmaking by subscribing to Quilter's Newsletter magazine. She also joined her local quilt guild, the Siouxland Samplers Quilt Guild, where she has taken classes and learned more. Herbst has also taken classes online from Quilt University. The Siouxland Samplers Quilt Guild was started in 1986 by Lerlene Nevaril. Herbst was one of the charter members and attended the first meeting, where they chose a name and decided what the guild wanted to accomplish. There were about thirty-five to forty women at the first meeting. Herbst was surprised at the turnout, because she did not know other quilters at the time. Herbst dropped out of the guild for a while, but she missed communicating and sharing work with other quilters. She was Program Chairman of the guild for six months after it began. Herbst is now the Quilt Show Chair for 2009.

Keywords: Guild activities; Learning quiltmaking; Lerlene Nevaril; Quilt University; Quilt guilds; Quilt shows/exhibitions; Quilters Newsletter Magazine; Siouxland Samplers Quilt Guild

Subjects: Sioux City (Iowa)

Partial Transcript: What do you think makes a great quilt?

Segment Synopsis: The two things that Herbst looks for in a great quilt are its use of color and workmanship. Pattern is not a major consideration for Herbst, because she likes almost every quilt pattern. Herbst thinks a quilt is worthy of preservation in a museum if it has historic value, such as the original Baltimore Album quilts or Civil War quilts. She is also hopeful that contemporary art quilts will eventually "be preserved in the same way."

Keywords: Baltimore Album quilts; Color theory; Quilt history; Quilt preservation

Subjects: Art quilts; Quilts--United States--History--20th century

Partial Transcript: So you think that quilts have an important part to play in history and in women's history?

Segment Synopsis: Herbst says quilting has an important role in women's history, because it is the only creative outlet for many women. She says being creative was often not encouraged for women in the past, but quilting has always been a way for women to express their creativity. When asked about the impact of quilting on her family, Herbst says her family members are supportive, even though she sometimes spends days on end working in her quilt room. Her children have developed an appreciation of handwork, because they know the time and effort needed to produce it. They have also picked up the names of a few quilt patterns.

Keywords: Basket - quilt pattern; Children; Family; Home studio; Nine Patch - quilt pattern; Quilt history; Wedding Ring - quilt pattern

Subjects: Quiltmakers--United States

Partial Transcript: You mentioned, kind of, you're in your quilt room. Tell me a little bit about your quilting space.

Segment Synopsis: Herbst had a small room in her house, which she expanded to be a larger quilting space. She says it is "absolutely jam-packed." Herbst discusses the contents of her studio, including her fabric stash, a table for sewing, her design wall, and quilting books. Her husband also made Herbst a large cutting table. Herbst says the studio is small and not very organized, but it is the "one room where I don't have to clean. I don't have to do anything, except just for me, in that room."

Keywords: Design walls; Fabric stash; Family; Home sewing machine; Home studio; Husbands; Work or Studio space

Partial Transcript: So, you have a fabric stash?

Segment Synopsis: Herbst says she has a large fabric stash. She thinks she should get rid of some of the fabric in her stash, but Herbst cannot bring herself to do it yet. Some of her fabric is leftover from the quilt shop Herbst owned. Her fabric is organized by color. Herbst says she has to refold and reorganize her fabric every three or four months when her studio gets messy. Herbst sometimes buys several yards of fabric when she is traveling and may not be able to buy the same fabric again. When Herbst is at home, she tries to buy smaller amounts of fabric, because she already has a lot in her fabric stash.

Keywords: Fabric selection; Fabric stash; Fabric/Quilt shops; Quilt shops; Shopping for fabric

Partial Transcript: Do you use the internet at all or a computer in your quilting?

Segment Synopsis: Herbst has taken Quilt University classes online, but she does not use her computer for quilting projects. She prefers to design her quilts using graph paper instead. When asked about preserving quilting for the future, Herbst says that the Quilters' S.O.S. - Save Our Stories project is one way of preserving quilting and its history. She thinks it is important for people to know that quilts require a lot of time to finish. Other ways of preserving the quiltmaking tradition are teaching children to quilt and educating the general public about quilting. Herbst mentions the Siouxland Samplers Quilt Guild show and the guild's Sunshine Quilts project as examples of engagement with the community. Herbst would like to see more community involvement from her guild and other quiltmakers, but she understands that people don't always have extra time for those projects.

Keywords: Knowledge transfer; Quilt Purpose - Charity; Quilt University; Quilt design; Quilt history; Quiltmaking classes; Siouxland Samplers Quilt Guild; Teaching quiltmaking; Techniques; Technology in quiltmaking

Partial Transcript: Well, what do you think makes a great quilter?

Segment Synopsis: Herbst thinks a great quilter is someone who loves fabric and "is always wanting to do the next project, wanting to do the next pattern, seeing a pattern and wanting to do it." Herbst says wanting to keep learning and working on new projects is what motivates her to continue quilting. Fent suggests that using quilting for the good of the community is another value that would make a great quilter. Herbst agrees and says she thinks everyone has a duty to help other people. When asked about other topics she would like to talk about, Herbst says that quilters tend to compare their work to "spectacular" quilts. She doesn't want people to think their quilting isn't good enough when compared to other quilts. Herbst thinks there are "some guidelines" for how to quilt, but there are no real rules to follow. She says that anyone can quilt, "and their quilt is just as good at the next person's." Herbst likes having her work judged at shows as a way to evaluate how she can improve. However, Herbst worries that some people feel inadequate when judging seems competitive and their work is compared to other quilters'.

Keywords: Quilt purpose - Challenge or contest entry; Quilt purpose - Exhibition; Quilt shows/exhibitions