QSOS Interview with Sherri Lynn Wood

Partial Transcript: This is Karen Musgrave and I'm conducting a Quilters' S.O.S. Save Our Stories inverview with Sherri Lynn Wood. Sherri is in San Francisco, California and I am in Napperville, Illinoise so we are conducting this interview over the telephone.

Segment Synopsis: Karen Musgrave introduces herself and Sherri Lynn Wood. Sherri Lynn explains the process behind the quilts she worked on with her mother's clothes after her passing. She describes the process of going through her mother's clothes with her family and making the quilts for them.

Keywords: Karen Musgrave; Mourning/Grief; Naperville, Illinois; QSOS; Quilt Purpose - Mourning; Quiltmaking for family; San Francisco, California; Sherri Lynn Wood; The MacDowell Colony; bereavement quilts; clothing; grief; interview; telephone interview

Partial Transcript: Now you hand quit them?
Yeah, I do hand quilt all of my quilts. to me that is a big part of the process. For me improvisational quilt making has become like a spiritual practice.

Segment Synopsis: Wood talks about hand quilting and its significance to her. She then talks about piecing together her quilts and the way that she works with clothing to make each quilt fit the clothing it is made out of. She discusses the emotional and spiritual effects quilting has on her, as she finds it a meditative practice.

Keywords: Hand piecing; Improvisational piecing; Quilt Purpose - Memorial; Quilt Purpose - Therapy; Quilt memory; clothing; fashion; hand quilting; handwork; meditation; memories; patterns; quilt; quiltmaking process; recycling; spiritual

Partial Transcript: Are they machine done or hand done?
They are a combination. There is a lot of machine piecing. I try to do as much machine piecing as possible, but there is a a lot of hand work too, because the neckline of a shirt or a frilly edge of a piece of lace or handkerchief, if I want to keep the integrity of those details then I have to hand applique the detail onto some other piece rather than doing a pieced in seam.

Segment Synopsis: Musgrave asks if Wood's quilts are machine done or hand done. Sherri Lynn responds that she uses a mixture of both and when she uses which. She then talks about fitting together the pieces and sections of her quilts.

Keywords: Hand piecing; Home sewing machine; applique; composition; details; hand done; machine done; puzzle

Partial Transcript: What else can I say? I used to make lots of wall hangings and decorative pieces and narrative pieces and I got very interested in how materials carry language and stories rather than images. I also moved away from an art practice that was more object based to an art practice that was more service based, to develop a process of grief facilitation, bereavement and life transition work with quilt making.

Segment Synopsis: Wood talks about using recycled materials and fabric she already has for her quilts. She describes moving away from an art practice that is “object based” to one that is “service based,” which is reflected in her choice to repurpose materials rather than purchase new ones. She then talks about a quilting workshop she participated in Penland, North Carolina. She goes in depth about helping other people with making bereavement quilts or and other types quilts what it means for the herself and the people she teaches to work through their grief or issues through the quilts.

Keywords: 9-11; Art quiltmaking; DIY; Home sewing machine; Penland School of Crafts; Penland, North Carolina; art; bereavement quilts; comforting; creation; decorating; expression; fabric; freedom; grief; recycling; scrap quilting; sewing; transformation; workshop

Partial Transcript: Tell me about your interest in quilt making. When and how did you being?
I started making quilts for friends as gifts when I was in grad school right out of college, I was probably like 24, 25. I had sewn all my life and I just started making these simple checkerboard quilts and they came out real pretty and just with my color combinations or stuff and I really enjoyed it and I thought I would love to make these and try to sell them. I did.

Segment Synopsis: Wood talks about starting her interest in quilting in her 20s and giving them as gifts to friends. She goes on to talk about selling her quilts at a farmers market and how that affected her. She mentions several quilting art exhibits that inspired her when she was starting out. She says that her quilts are an ongoing, long-term creative project for her and a means of connecting artistic practice to her emotions.

Keywords: African American quilts; Arrowmont School of Craft; Masters of Fine Arts; Nancy Crow; Passage Quilts; Quilt Purpose - Gift or presentation; Quilt Purpose - Personal income; art; beginning; bereavement quilts; community; crafting; crochet; emotion; farmers marked; improvisational quilting; interest; involvement; quiltmaking class; sculpture; stitching

Partial Transcript: How do you balance your time?

Segment Synopsis: Karen Musgrave asks Sherri Lynn how she is able to balance her time. Sherri talks about her job and how she she balances her time between quilt making and her art. She also discusses how she is able to fund and sell her art. She says that she always comes back to quilting, even when she is doing other things.

Keywords: Quilt Purpose - Personal income; St. Gregory's Episcopal Church; art; balance; money; parish administrator; quilt making; time

Partial Transcript: Do you belong in any art or quilt groups?
I don't at the moment, I've only been in San Francisco since July and I have gone to the local quilters' guild a few times. I did join the Northern California Quilt Association mainly because I want to teach more so I wanted to make those connections. It is a networking thing. When I first started quiltmaking, I was active in the local guild in Durham, North Carolina.

Segment Synopsis: Wood discusses not currently belonging to any quilting or art groups, but that she does often go to events and impromptu things and values networking with other quiltmakers and crafters. She then talks about groups she belonged to in the past prior to moving to San Francisco. She says that she currently belongs to more professional groups dealing with end of life issues than to quilt groups.

Keywords: Bay Area Care; Durham, North Carolina; End of Life Network; San Francisco; art groups; mending parties; quilt groups; quilters guild; social crafting; stitch and chatter groups; women's groups

Partial Transcript: How do you want to be remembered?

Segment Synopsis: Wood describes wanting to be remembered by her quilts and the legacy her quilts will provide. She then talks about Passage Quilts being used with the death and bereavement processes. She is working with therapists in hopes that quilting will be more accepted as a form of therapeutic grieving.

Keywords: Passage Quilts; Quilt Purpose - Therapy; bereavement; culture; death; grief; history; legacy; memory; remember; therapeutic

Partial Transcript: Is there anything else you would like to share before we conclude?

Segment Synopsis: This interview finishes up with Wood talking about being happy to be a quiltmaker and be a part of the quiltmaking community, while viewing her work as a form of activism. She views quiltmaking as a powerful metaphor. She goes on to say that she is both and artist and a quiltmaker. She finishes up by saying that she finds quilt making both powerful and joyous.

Keywords: African American quilts; Gee's Bend; activist; art; artist; community; healer; powerful