QSOS Interview with Lyn Brown

Pam Schultz (PS); This is Pam Schultz. Its Friday, April 8th at 12:30. Im interviewing Lyn Brown at Quilt Camp, at Mishawana Camp in Hastings, Michigan. How are you today, Lyn?

Lyn Brown (LB); Im good, thank you.

PS; Good. Tell me about the quilt you brought today.

LB; Well, I brought a quilt that my mother and I actually made together. In 2007, I believe, we st arted it when I went home to Australia to see my mom and I arrived in Australia seven days earlier than my family and we sat for six days and did nothing but make this quilt. I have done all the machine stitching and free motion embroidery and my mother did all the hand work on it. So, it was kind of combined mother-daughter effort.

PS; What special meaning does this quilt have for you?

LB; Everything because I made it with my mother and she and I, we just talk 00:01:00quilting every week end when I call home. So thats what we do.

PS; Why did you choose to bring this quilt?

LB; Well, one, its one of the few that I actually have that I havent given away, and I only keep t he ones that are really meaningful, so this was one of those.

PS; How do you use this quilt?

LB; Actually, I slept under it a couple of times. I guess Ive used it occasionally, but usually I hang it on the quilt rack and admire it and keep it nice.

PS; And what are your plans for this quilt?

LB; Eventually I think Ill put it in a guest room when my youngest kid leaves for college, its going to go in that guest room.

PS; Tell me about some of the things appliqud on there.

LB; Each block is, well, my sister also came and gave her two cents worth. I think she did one of the ones with the umbrella on it, and the pot of flowers. This one, it has my husbands and my wedding date, when we got married and it 00:02:00has my mother-in-law and father-in-laws wedding date, and then it has my parents, and it has my daughters birth date and her ballet shoes. My sons block has a basketball hoop and his date of birth on his one. So its kind of a bit of a story quilt as well. Then the others we just put in there, and of course weve got a lot of hand done crochet and things we put on it.

PS; Who did the crochet?

LB; My mother probably did two-thirds to three-quarters of it and I did several little pieces that I put on. And we prepared those months in advance. I knew I was going home to do it, so the year before we started getting little bits and pieces tog ether. So we had a little box full of crochet and things ready to go. And my dad was there, he cooked our meals and made sure we just sewed all the time.

PS; Tell me about your interest in quilt-making.

LB; I actually slept under a quilt, a patchwork quilt that my mother made, when 00:03:00I was at college. Thats the one I can remember most. I cant remember much before then, but I remember seeing patches of dresses that I had made because I sewed my own clothes, when I was growing up as a teenager. Thered be bits of squares that shed use of the leftovers in the quilt. It was just a simple quilt using a four-patch block. I dont even know if we--either of us called it quilting in those days. It was just a blanket to put on your bed. So, thats kind of my earliest memories. And my mom didnt make anything more than that at that time. Yeah, she didnt get into it until later.

PS; At what age did you start quilt-making?

LB; I probably made my first quilt, actually, when I came here to the United States in 1985, married in 84, came here in 85 and then we went up North, actually to Rose City/West Branch [Michigan.] area. That was the only place my husband could get a teaching job. I got a job substituting after awhile, but, I 00:04:00took a class in a sampler quilt which was all done by hand and I remember I was extremely frustrated because my stitches were not near as tiny as I thought they should be. But looking back at it, its pretty good. It was just, you know, I wanted to get them perfect and it was hard, so I dont do much hand quilting. Thats kind of my first one. Then I did a couple of ot her strip quilts at the same time and then after that I moved to Mattawan and had a full-time job. There I made a few Log Cabin quilts. I think I took a Log Cabin class, did the classic L og Cabin Quilt in a Day, you know, down at the Viking store back in 86 or 87, and then I made a few runners and a few different things and then the kids came along and I got busy with dance and everything else. I made dance costumes and kids clothes and things like that. In the last twenty years Ive always had a quilt on my bed that I have made. My first was a Log Cabin or then itd get a bit better every time, and I made the neighbors some, I 00:05:00probably--I guess I kept my hand in it, when I look back at it. But not, prolific, like I am now, but always just dabbling kind of.

PS; From whom did you learn to quilt?

LB; Id have to say my first class in West Branch. I dont know the name of the instructor. I don t even think I made any little patchwork quilt or anything before that. Not my mother, because I went back to Australia the year after I did the Log Cabin Quilt in a Day, and I taught her and her friends how to do that one. And then she just took off because she was retired, so she just went quilting crazy.

PS; How many hours a week to you quilt?

LB; A many as I can. [chuckles.]

PS; [laughs.]

LB; I went through a phase last year where I thought, Im going to do an hour a night, and Id put the music on and Id sit for about an hour a night and that lasted okay, but Id say in the last two years Ive been 00:06:00pretty prolific. Up until that I was too busy with kids and whatever to be that prolific, but Id say now I probably do, on a good week, several hours, I dont know, six, seven hou rs a week maybe, even with working full-time I just go down in the sewing room or plan quilts, or read quilt books or sketch stuff. I do so mething quilting every few days at least.

PS; What is your first quilt memory?

LB; Thatd have to be my mother making those little patchwork quilts for our beds out of our left over clothes.

PS; Well, that kind of leads to the next question. Are there other quilt-makers in your family?

LB; Yes. I have the quilting queen as a mother, [both laugh.] and my sister Sue, when we talk, all we talk now is quilting. And shes going to quilt camp with mom and I next August when we go home to Australia

PS; Oh, good.

LB; So, the three of us will be there. And my younger sister, Paula, is getting lessons from mom and her mother-in-law are taking classes and theyre making 00:07:00heart quilts at the moment. Vicki has made a couple of quilts. Shes not as prolific. And then I have my older sister who cant sew a button. [PS laughs quietly.]

PS; Awesome.

LB; Yes.

PS; How does quilt-making impact your family?

LB; Theyre used to it. They have their thing. They go to their basketball stuff all the time. I think theyre kind of glad I have a hobby and Im not bugging them all the time to do their thing. In fact, my husband has been doing the Shoot Away business. Hes selling basketball hoops.

PS; Oh yeah?

LB; Gets $400 for every one he sells.

PS; Wow.

LB; He was off to the Final Four last weekend with my son and my sons the demonstrator. He does the shooting and demonstrates so they get their way paid for and all their meals and hotel and everything. Hes into that pretty much big time now. I called him last night and he said, I think we should make a quilt for the Shoot Away office. Can you make a quilt for the Shoot-a-Way office? [laughs.] So I think hes proud of what I do because when I took 00:08:00over a baby quilt to his assistant coachs house after they had the baby, he seemed quite proud. He doesnt get mad at me or anything. I spend what I want on it and he doesnt care. Hes supportive--

PS; Thats it.

LB; --very supportive. When I was coming away for this retreat, my son, Thomas, commented to me, Another quilt camp? I was at camp four weeks ago with the Lawton group. I said, Yes, yeah. So--

PS; Have you ever used quilts to get through a difficult time?

LB; As in sewing them? Sometimes when Im worried about things I might go andsew. But more likely if Im really worried about something I dont sew. Im just not in the mood.

PS; Do you ever cuddle with them?

LB; No, Im not a cuddler. I have a flannel quilt I made at my first camp with Cal Quilters [Cal-Co Quilters Guild, Battle Creek, Michigan.] that I have by my recliner and Ill put that on when Im watching TV. But more likely my son is the one wrapped up in them. And actually, hes wra pped up in one that 00:09:00is hand tied, thats in shreds. It was a Double Irish Chain. One of the first quilts I made after maybe that Log Cabin one and I remember I hand tied it, and I hadnt even stitched in the ditch or anything. The backings is shredding off it. Its been used to wrap the gun, that Shoot Away machine when they haul it to places, and Thomas just wont let me throw it away. Its long enough and its what he likes to cuddle up in on the couch.

PS; Tell me about an amusing experience that has occurred from your quilt-making.

LB; An amusing experience? Oh, God. Well have to come back to that one. I have a quiltaholic quilt that I made that my daughter laughs about all the time. She gives me a bit of curry about it, but Im always making quilts 00:10:00for her friends and her boyfriends and she loves it, but she makes fun of me. You know, especially with that one she made fun of me.

PS; What do you find pleasing about quilt-making?

LB; I like the challenge. I just did the Brown Bag Challenge for the Cal Quilters for the first time this year and I love what I did. I dont know whose it is, but I just love it. I wish theyd give it back to me. I opened the bag and in it were fabrics that screamed Australian. Really different stuff, stuff you wouldnt use in a quilt at all, but, to give them to me, for me to pick it, was unbelievable because I had little Australian appliqud animals that I put on this quilt. That was the only thin g I added to her fabrics, were little broderie perse Australian animals. So--

PS; This is cheating, but its mine.

LB; Youre kidding. [shouts.]

PS; [laughs.]

LB; You gave me that fabric? Oh, youre going to love the quilt.

PS; I am. I love the fabric. [chuckles.]

LB; Well, it was so unusual.

PS; Ill pretend its a surprise when I get it.

LB; Black swirly stuff? And black and white dots?

PS; I bought that up northeast of Traverse City. [Michigan.]

LB; I thought youd given me this because youve got no idea what to do with it.

PS; Nope, oh no, I just loved them.

LB; Oh, youre going to love what I did with it.

PS; I will. I know I will. Now I cant wait. [chuckles.]

LB; I dont know if I can be there for the exchange, because I might be traveling with basketball my son.

PS; Well, Ill be calling you or seeing you.

LB; No, Debbie will bring it. She said shes definitely going to be there too because she loves the exchange.

PS; What aspects of quilt-making do you not enjoy?

LB; I guess I would enjoy the finishing, I dont mind putting on the binding, Im getting better at the machine, the free motion bit, but Id really like to get a long-arm so I could really enjoy doing the whole process. I like planning them, I didnt think Id enjoy the challenge as much as I did, but I loved it, and my mother gave me nine little, Ill show them to you later, 00:12:00nine little Lazy Sunbonnet Sue things that are just outlined on, someone was practicing their machine embroidery. They were done on really crummy fabric. But she gave them to me to use in the quilt. I spent sixty dollars on fabric to go with these crummy little nine squares. [lau ghs.] That was kind of a challenge. Also I do a lot of my own designing. I probably make blocks and put them together the way I want more often than I follow a pattern. Not that I dont mind fo llowing a pattern, I love it because its no-brainer. You know, you just kind of do it and you move on. But, a lot of the stuff I have now to be finished, like the wool one I did by hand has to be finished. And I did an English paper piecing one in batiks and its all done by hand, because I have to have hand projects when I travel. When I travel to Australia in August Ive got to have something to do by hand. And when I go to twelve weekends 00:13:00away with travel basketball with my son, I have to have something to do by hand. I got into those wooly projects I do by hand.

PS; What was the twelve-week thing?

LB; The twelve month one was one I did in wools.

PS; I meant the other trip.

LB; Oh, Im gone. Next weekend I start, well, next weekend Im in New York at a wedding, but my son starts travel basketball next weekend and were gone--

PS; Oh.

LB; --twelve weekends.

PS; Oh.

LB; Half of April, all of May, June he does with his dads school program and July he does travel basketball again. We go to Orlando [Florida.], Minneapolis [Minnesota.], Louisville. [Kentucky .] Great quilt shop in Louisville. Whats it called? Ah, its wonderful. Been there two years now. Told the lady Id be back one more year to that quilt shop, beautiful quilt shop.

PS; So you travel all those weekends.

LB; Oh, yeah. Hotels every weekend. And then--

PS; Thats rough.

LB; And then you sit in between games and sometimes I take papers to grade if Ive got a lot of grading to do, but other times I take handwork to do. So three of the quilts Ive got at home are hand done. Either backstitched or English paper piecing or wooly stuff.

PS; No, youve got mine. I dont know whose I have. What art or quilt groups do you belong to?

LB; I belong to the Cal Quilters group and the Lawton Country Quilters. I got into the Lawton group by accident. No, Im sorry, the Cal Quilters group by accident. And its a little far from my house, but its worked.

PS; Have advances in technology influenced the way you work?

LB; Oh, yes. Obviously. Because you know when I started I was tying quilts. And then you were stitching in the ditch and now, obviously, the finish of them is. I think quilts look better when theyre quilted down more and finished. Not too tightly. I dont like them too tight because theyre not very soft.

PS; What kinds of, what, I dont know how to explain it now. What differences in technology do you use?

LB; Well, I have a better sewing machine. Ive always had the walking foot because Ive had a Pfaff for a long time. A lot more little tools that make your job so much easier. I mean, obviously, the rotary cutter revolutionized quilting anyway. Im trying to think of other things I use. Like appliqu spraying glue, I mean, theres just kind of little things out there that make your job easier. Fast Flying Geese patterns, you know, things like that.

PS; What are your favorite techniques and materials?

LB; I love Flying Geese. I do a lot of applique. Machine appliqu mostly, usually satin stitch, so metimes buttonhole stitch. I just, lots of piecing. I love doing pieced borders because I dont want my borders too plain. So I like putting more interest in the borders. I will tackle anything. And if you 00:16:00look at the quilts I have unfinished, some are bright, some are dull, some are pieced, some are, theres a real wide variety of what I do, I think. I havent met a quilt I dont like.

PS; Describe your studio or the place that you create.

LB; When we moved here in 85, from Australia, we bought a house in January of 86 and six years later, in 1992, we bought the lot next door and built a house right next door to the one we lived in. And when we did that we made sure we actually built a room in there that was my sewing r oom.

PS; Oh, great.

LB; I have a sewing room, but Ive kind of outgrown it because Ive moved into Katies old dance room, which was a toy room and thats where Im going to put my long-arm when I get one. So I have a designated space, yes. So 00:17:00Ive outgrown it, yes. So--

PS; And youre getting a long-arm?

LB; I hope so. I dont know. I have a little budget and Im going to go look at second hand ones so I think Im not going to rush into it. I have a kid at K [Kalamazoo College.] so I cant afford it right now, but when I do Im going to get me one. Im young enough to get one.

PS; Tell me how you balance your time.

LB; I hardly doany housework. Only what I have to do. Because Im at work at 6;30, I dont get home until about 3;30. I have a son still at home so I have to do basketball games at night and try to cook as little as I can. I try to do a little bit of sewing during the week on weeknights, but usually its the weekend till I get some done. And I garden a lot, in the summer. My husbands a big bicycle rider and I bike in the summer, also, so quilting kind of gets put 00:18:00on the back burner a bit because theres Monday night bike group and Wednesday night bike group and weekends we try to go for longer rides, that kind of thing, so Im a busy kind of person, but Im not going to worry about my house much. So, it suffers. Nothing else does.

PS; Do you use a design wall?

LB; No. I have a big mirrored wall there, I could probably do that over it, but I use a design floor or design table, you know what I mean. I probably would be better because I know quilts look different when you hang them up than when you lay them down. They do, but I just havent got ro und to it. Im too darn busy to get around to that.

PS; What do you think makes a great quilt?

LB; Well, I dont think you can say any quilts not a great quilt to the person whos made it and j ust because you dont like it doesnt mean that its not a great quilt. I think you really have to thi nk about them long and 00:19:00hard before you jump into it. I mean, I like the designing process and I li ked the challenge for the Cal Quilters. I mapped that out several different times before I finally hit on something that I thought, Ah, that works. But I think youve got to spend some time and research on a great quilt, I guess. But some great quilts can be very simple, too. They dont have to have a lot of work in them.

PS; What makes a quilt artistically powerful?

LB; What am I drawn to when I look at an artistically powerful quilt? What Ive found is, my sist ers really into the 1930s look and that kind of thing, that hasnt in the past done a lot for me, but Im kind of warming up to them. I tend to be more of a bold, bright person as far as idols go. Civil War colors dont do a whole lot for me either. I think I prefer things that pop more. I like the workmanship, if I can look at a quilt and say, Wow, 00:20:00that person is really talented. You know, there was difficult piecing and it really looks good. That, I guess helps. But, if the colors are wrong, it doesnt matter. Its still not going to appeal to you.

PS; What makes a quilt appropriate for a museum or a special collection?

LB; Oh, that probably has to be pretty special. I havent been to many quilt shows or exhibits, so I guess for a collection youd want something that was historically important somehow for a peri od of time. What techniques were in fashion then? I can imagine if something was contemporary, what I saw at the Chicago show is that most of them are contemporary art work, theyre not something youre going to put on your bed and theyre very, overly, heavily quilted. But I know that for a piece of artwork thats probably what it is, 00:21:00but they didnt particularly do a lot for me as qui lts, but if I looked at them as a piece of a wall hanging or a piece of artwork, theyre nice, but to me when I think of quilts, I dont think of an art show.

PS; What makes a great quilt-maker?

LB; You could say patience, but I think creativity. I think willing to just work at stuff and keep doing your ideas until you get something right. Auditioning fabrics and being willing to throw it out if it doesnt work and start again until you get it right. I think it has to feel right. Thats with me anyway. When I put something together, it has to feel right. Otherwise Im not going to do it. I wouldnt be happy with it.

PS; Whose works are you drawn to and why?

LB; I have no idea. People talk about designers and I know Eleanor Burns. Thats about it. They talk about Amy somebodys bags, I dont do the name brand thing. I never have. I just dont know whos out there or who does what. Kay Wood. I know Kay Wood and Eleanor Burns. [PS laug hs.] Thats it. I really dont know because when I shop I dont look for, oh, brand names, I know Kaffe, because Sue wanted me to pick up some of hers and I really kind of know her style now because I just picked them up, but I really am not out there looking at whos doing what, if you know what I mean? Im just, not aware of it, I guess. Not important in my life, so Im not aware of i t.

PS; Well, which artists have influenced you? Any? [chuckles.]

LB; My mother.

PS; Thats good, though. Who else has influenced you?

LB; Oh, gosh. In my quilting? More my mother and friends probably and quilt groups and, guilds. I cant say anybody whos out there. I never look at a persons name when Im looking at a magazine or book either. I dont say Ooh, thats a so-and-so design, I just, I like it, so I dont know. I dont know who they are. So, I dont get excited when someone says someones coming. I find out what they are doing first and then I see if I want to go.

PS; How do you feel about machine quilting versus hand quilting?

LB; I find hand quilting very frustrating and way too slow for the number of quilts that I want to make. And I dont think it holds together as well. I think machine quilting holds together better. Good, fine hand quilting is nice to look at and that kind of thing, but I truly, I think I prefer the look of machine quilting. Done right.

PS; What about long-arm quilting?

LB; I love it, but I dont want to pay anyone to do it. [PS laughs.] And I dont want other peoples work on my quilts. Because the long-arm quilters are so good at it and their designs are so beautiful people are looking at all the beautiful swirls and everything and theyre not looking at my piecing or my appliqu. And if theres going to be quilting on my quilts, its going to be my quilting. Regardless of how it looks.

PS; In what ways do your quilts reflect your community or region?

LB; I would say that its a whole different taste of quilts here than there is in Australia. Australia leans more towards the brights, the thirties, from what I can see over there. The colors we have here are more subdued, more traditional. Theres just a whole different flavor if you go into a quilt shop in Australia and if you go into a quilt shop here. Its really different. I mean some prints are the same, but there is a different feel, I think, to whats out there. Maybe its to do with the climate.

PS; Or the culture.

LB; Or the culture. I mean, youll find some of the same stuff too, obviously. But I notice they tend to be a little bit trendier over there. [chuckles.] And thats probably just because were in the Midwest, too, or maybe it was just the area I was in where my mother lives. But they make quilts that look similar to what we make here too. So, I guess it is a hard question.

PS; Why is quilt-making important to your life?

LB; Oh, wow. I think I have an expression for my creativity. And I love seeing colors go together. And I just get excited about it. You know? How would you feel if you could never quilt again? I mean, dont you get excited about it?

PS; Yeah.

LB; Yeah. And I love giving them away. I like seeing the expression on their faces as you pass them on. I always get a photograph of the person Im giving it to with the quilt.

PS; Thats a good idea.

LB; Yeah.

PS; Its a really good idea.

LB; So they can remember the occasion.

PS; What do you think about the importance of quilts in American life?

LB; I think theyre really important. And I think people remember them. I say They wont remember how clean my house wasnt, but theyll remember the nice quilt they got and maybe theyll still have it or maybe theyll pass it down to someone else. I dont like putting labels on my quilts, but Im getting used to it because I know that it has to be done so that people can remember the quilt-maker.

PS; Why dont you like the labels?

LB; Oh, it just takes time, you finish the quilt and then you have to turn around and put on the stupid label.

PS; But you know, its wonderful to hav that date, place and person on there.

LB; I know. And now that Im giving them away like to Jake, I wrote, For your 21st birthday, and then they can look back at it and see who made it and for what occasion. [PS responds in background.] So theyre important, I know, but I just, you know, the last little finishing touch that youve got to do--

PS; Then make the label first.

LB; Yeah, I should.

PS; You dont have to write on it, but make it so its ready to be written on--

LB; Well, I only write on mine. Mom always embroiders hers or she does them on the machine, but I just buy the premade ones and just stitch them on and write on them with a felt pen, permanent--

PS; There you go.

LB; --marker. So its not a big deal.

PS; In what ways do you think quilts have special meaning for womens history in America?

LB; I think historically we made do with what we had, only modern quilters dont, we just run to the store, we dont try to make do. I think its a real challenge to try and make do. You use your scraps up and to do that is a challenge. Thats why I like the challenge so much. You had to use what you were given and you had to use your to come up with something nice out of that. And I think early quilters were very good at that because they had to be. They had to be frugal and make use of what they had.

PS; How do you think quilts can be used?

LB; Well, other than on the bed? And on the wall. And on the sofa. And, obviously, hanging in public places. I think they have a lot of uses that way, 00:28:00especially if they tell a story. Theyre comforting. You make them for the Sheriffs Department; they give them out to the victims of crimes and things like that. I think theyre meaningful. So they have a good place in the world, because everyone has to stay warm somehow. You may as well stay warm with something thats nice.

PS; How do you think quilts can be preserved for future use?

LB; Well, obviously museums. People who have quilts have to be told of the the importance of them and keep them nice, but once you give a quilt away you really dont have any say about what people do with it. You have to give it up. So, you really cant do that. [laughs.] I warn them and say, you know, These are prewashed or its a wool batting, just wash it in cold water, but, you know, that could be water on a ducks back. The young kids, wrapping 00:29:00their kegs in it or whatever they might do with it, [both laugh.] you know.

PS; Whatever they need it for, huh?

LB; Whatever they need it for, I guess. Yeah.

PS; What has happened to the quilts you have made for those of friends and family?

LB; What has happened to them? Well, my immediate family have worn some out and put them in the garage sale. And I guess I have a difference between a show horse and a work horse. If its a work horse, itll do five, six, seven years on a bed and Ill probably get rid of it somehow. Use it as a dog blanket if people need a dog blanket, or whatever. If its a, you know, a show horse, it sticks around and is given special purpose and taken care of. So, I guess it depends. Weve still got some work horses that are twenty years old lying around in shreds. I dont know if I have any of my really early work. Ive probably got a couple of pieces, but they were just small wall hangings, 00:30:00things like that.

PS; What do you think is the biggest challenge confronting quilt-makers today?

LB; Time. Its just hard to find time to do something thats creative like that unless youre retired or unless you really find, put away, a special amount of time to do it. I dont think theres many challenges as far as getting supplies or fabric or anything else. I think thats come leaps and bounds from, you know, twenty, thirty years ago. Because quilting, I dont know about here, but quilti ng in Australia, I dont think was, a big industry, twenty, thirty years ago. There werent the quilt shops; people were still sewing clothes for their families. And now that we all buy clothes, I think women need some kind of creative outlet for their sewing skills. And the camaraderie. I mean, getting together in your quilt groups and that kind of thing. Because they used to have those quilting bees, or they used to have those things hundreds of years ago which brought people together.

PS; Is there anything else youd like to talk about?

LB; I think youve covered everything pretty well.

PS; Well, thank you. I enjoyed this.

LB; Well, good. Im glad. Ill tell Debbie I have your quilt challenge.