00:00:00Cassino Richardson (CR): This is Cassino Richardson and todays date is
November 3rd and its 11 oclock AM and Im conducting an interview with
Patricia Wright for Quilters S.O.S. Save Our Stories and project of The
Alliance for American Quilts. Patricia Wright and I are at the International
Quilt Festival in Houston, Texas. Patricia will you tell me about the quilt you
brought today?
Patricia Wright (PW): Ill be happy to. This was, I started this back in,
around 2001. The quilt fabrics I had bought a stack of fifty ten-inch squares,
there was, no there was more than that, probably seventy-five ten-inch squares
of oriental fabrics at the quilt show, five years prior. I had this little stack
00:01:00of quilt squares in my sewing room, not knowing what to do with these were all
so different, and I was thumbing through a magazine, saw an article and a
pattern for a New York beauty quilt, and I thought, Wow, I would love
that, I had not done the New York quilt before and decided thats what I
would do with all of these ten-inch squares of fabric, so, thats how it
began. I knew how I wanted the border of this quilt, I knew I wanted this
serpentine border, so I made the border first, which is different [laughs.] and
it took me about, oh a year and a half, maybe even two years because I was in no
hurry, it was just a labor of love, putting the New York beauty blocks together
was so much fun. Hadnt done a lot of paper piecing prior to that and all of
00:02:00the points were paper pieced so I just truly enjoyed doing it, Id do it for a
while, wed go to retreat, Id take it to retreat, Id make it at the
retreat, put it up on the board and everybody would of course at retreat it has
an idea of how they want the blocks to go, so I let them [laughs.] and thats
how it started and progressed on, and it was just a, its memories have been
times back when I bought these squares, a friend and I, Sue Floyd, would make,
take a vacation for the quilt show, and even though she lived in Houston
[Texas.] and I lived in Texas City near Galveston [Texas.] we would spend the
few days up here at one of the hotels, and go to the show, like three days in a
row so we can take it all in. Thats when I bought that particular batch of
00:03:00quilt squares.
CR: Oh, okay.
PW: So it has very good memories.
CR: Oh I guess so. You built this quilt from the outside in, then?
PW: Yes.
CR: You didnt find a pattern in a book and follow that; you just kind of
built your own design?
PW: Yes.
CR: Thats interesting, very interesting.
PW: It was fun to figure it out, it put together well, I enjoyed it.
CR: So how many years did, do you think did it take--
PW: I worked on it probably two years, yeah probably two years.
CR: About two years off and on.
PW: Right, right. I love making quilts, but Im in no hurry to finish them
because I know when I finish them, Im going to start another one, so I enjoy
the process so much, you know, I dont hurry to get it finished.
CR: Do you work on more than one quilt at a time?
PW: Yes, I do, I do. Ive got about three right now; one needing a binding,
one needing quilting, another top that needs to be put together so.
00:04:00
CR: And one in your head youre getting ready to start.
PW: Exactly [laughs.]
CR: How do you use this quilt?
PW: This quilt, because its a square, I dont, I just love it, I dont
use this particular one, I dont have the space to hang it up, Id like to
be able to hang it, and eventually if I get enough wall space I will. Right now
it just stays folded on my shelves with my other quilts.
CR: You dont put it over a quilt rack or anything?
PW: No, no. Were remodeling and theres just no way to leave that out with
the remodeling process.
CR: What are your plans for the quilt? Are you going to keep it, or are you
going to pass it down?
PW: Ill keep it until someone shows a great interest in preserving it
[laughs.] I have three sons and just one daughter-in-law, and I have five
00:05:00grandsons, so its probably going to be a grandchilds wife that it will
eventually go to, but I will definitely pass it on.
CR: And just decide which ones going to take the better care of it I guess [laughs.]
PW: Thats exactly right.
CR: I know how that is. Tell me how you got interested in quiltmaking, did
someone in your family quilt, your grandmother or your mother?
PW: Both my grandmother and my mother were quilters, but my first recollection
of quilts was sitting under them. They always had a suspended quilt, always had
a suspended quilt that they would be working on and when it wasnt, when they
werent working on it they would wind it up to the ceiling, it was usually
over a dining room table, but my first recollection was nothing under the quilt
00:06:00but me, just playing under the quilt, it was just, I think its a comfort
thing, but thats my first recollection. I, my mother always sewed and I
didnt get the sewing bug until I had children, and started making their
shirts and play clothes and things like that. I have always loved quilts but I
didnt really start making quilts aside from maybe, quilting with my mother
and grandmother until about 1980. A friend of mine, the same lady Sue Floyd, was
interested also but she hadnt done much to it, so together we started talking
it up and started doing our own things, self-taught and then after I got into it
00:07:00of course I took classes and its progressed from there.
CR: Did you have a local quilt shop where you could take classes?
PW: Yes we did, in Galveston [Texas.] Quilts by the Bay was started in Galveston
[Texas.] and Patricia Stevenson was there was a wonderful teacher, so thats
actually was my first quilt class, in Galveston [Texas.] at her class.
CR: In the early 1980s, your first quilt was probably a sampler quilt?
PW: No, it was a full-sized quilt [laughs.]
CR: No I meant sampler blocks.
PW: No, it was the basket, just a little basket quilt with an appliqud handle
and it was a full size, it had some great little sashing, extra sashing in
there. That was my very first quilt that I started and finished.
00:08:00
CR: Okay. What are your favorite techniques? I know this quilt is plain
English, not English paper pieced, its foundation paper pieced. What are your
favorite techniques? What other techniques have you tried?
PW: Hand appliqu, needle turn appliqu is, I love, its a passion, its
a, I have a lot of blocks [laughs.] that need to be put together and some wall
hangings. I never, Ive got enough blocks I think now to do a full size quilt,
but Id never put a full size appliqu quilt together, but thats going to
be my next step, is to gather all my blocks together, they are mostly [inaudible.]
CR: Just add sashing and--
PW: Right. Appliqu I would say is my very favorite, even though I like it all,
00:09:00I like, I love the pieces, I love sitting at a machine, I love the paper
piecing, its just, I think because I worked for so many years, and that was
my relaxation time, and I retired and of course was able to do it more, but then
I went back to part-time so now its back to a relaxation time so thats
what it is for me.
CR: Hand-work.
PW: Its not a pressure thing at all.
CR: Do you do your own quilting?
PW: I handquilt with our church. We do quilts for the public, and our group has
dwindled away, weve lost a lot of them, and a lot of them have moved away
because its an older church. Were not doing any of that now, but I do
00:10:00handquilt. I machine quilt only when I have to [laughs.] theres so many
wonderful machine quilters and in our area we have some that are just
phenomenal. This one was machine quilted.
CR: Its beautiful.
PW: If its something that I want to keep and put away or to show, its,
Ill have someone else do it. If its a quilt that I made for the grandkids,
its going to go in and out of the wash and the floor, and Ill machine
quilt it. I do a little bit of it [laughs.]
CR: So you do your machine quilting on your regular sewing machine, you dont
have a longarm?
PW: I dont have a longarm, and I dont ever want one.
CR: You dont--
PW: I dont ever want one because theres so many people that do it and do
00:11:00it well, but Im ot going to be able to do that [laughs.]
CR: Tell me about your work space? Where do you sew? Do you have a room to--
PW: I do, I have a spare bedroom that is, you cannot sleep in because it has all
of my, theres no bed in it. Thats where my work room is. I have a design
wall, which is, you can, I think if youre a quilter and you, I have to have a
design wall.
CR: Tell me about your design wall, theres so many ways to build one, how,
what is yours like?
PW: Right now what I have is quilt battings, Ill tack it up, and it just, the
quilt batting it just holds, holds the squares and if I have a, you know like a
row thats put together thats kind of heavy I can pin it to the quilt
batting, the cotton batting and it makes just a wonderful surface. Ive used
00:12:00mine and I like it okay on the insulator board, that works nicely but right now
I just have the quilt batting.
CR: You have a designated room then for sewing.
PW: Yes.
CR: Thats nice. You mentioned that you had gone to several quilt retreats,
tell me--
PW: With out guild. Our guild, I belong to two different guilds, the Galveston
[Texas.] Island Quilters Guild is the name and also the Mainland Morning Quilt
Guild. Through the Galveston [Texas.] guild, they have two retreats a year, and
theyre wonderful yes. Then thats been going on since almost, well since
the beginning of that guild and Im not quite sure of the year, but they start
00:13:00off with one retreat a year like a Saturday and Sunday, and then it went to two
retreats a year a Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, sometimes Wednesday,
Thursday [laughs.] We have a wonderful location near our house. Were just
within ten minutes of our homes so if we forget something, which is not likely,
we can just swing back and get it [laughs.]
CR: Since it is close to your home though, do you when you go to these retreats,
you stay overnight? Is that right?
PW: Oh yes, yes, yes stay overnight. Some of the ladies quilt all night, Im
not an all night quilter, Im an early morning quilter and, but some of the
ladies stay up all night quilting, sleep in, all our meals are prepared and
its just wonderful to be able to not think of anything else but your quilting
00:14:00and sharing with the other quilters.
CR: Youve been quilting for approximately thirty years now, who is your
inspiration? Do you have someone that you like to go to for advice or patterns
or do you have a famous quilter that you admire?
PW: Oh, thats a really, thats a difficult question because I think if you
belong to a group, I think youre constantly getting information from those
people. The Morning Guild, most of that group is retired, older ladies who are
really experienced and if you think you know it all, you dont because they
are so much fun to be around, to learn from them, and let them learn from you,
its amazing how just the interaction of the quilters is where I get my inspiration.
00:15:00
CR: I know in the 80s we didnt even have rotary cutters, you know, whats
new and innovative if thats the word, do you think has impacted quilting in
the last thirty years?
PW: Oh, like you said the rotary cutter, and now of course the internet, online,
theres so much information that you can grab just like that. If I have an
idea, for instance recently I was thinking about, I dont do machine
embroidery, I dont do that, but I saw some bobbin work embroidery that I
thought was really fascinating and it would be something that I would enjoy
doing. So, I just went to my computer, typed it in, and there it was, any kind
00:16:00of information you need. Of course, I think originally I got that idea for the
bobbin work was maybe a TV show, or a magazine, Im not sure theres just a
lot of information out there. Were really lucky. The rotary cutter had just
changed the face of quilting and piecing.
CR: Yeah.
PW: And I love the fact that with groups, they do so much charity work. They
give to others that just need, that are in need that just, they want, they need
covers, and they need to be warm.
CR: You mentioned that you were working this morning on the pillow cases?
PW: Theres a booth here.
CR: Yes.
PW: Thats right. I had like an hour before our interview and I thought,
Okay, Ill get a look around, and right over there, just right around
00:17:00the corner, they had everything set up, its just so easy, and I made a couple
of pillow cases and they appreciated it and I appreciated the having a place to
sit [laughs.] and do what I do.
CR: And something to do, yeah. Do you do other charity work? Baby blankets or?
PW: Right, we do, we have a great, in our morning quilt guild, a great lady who
does, who gathers us a lot of information as far as the need in our area and we
do baby blankets, or baby quilts, and pillow cases for children and for the
ladies shelter, womens shelter, and for children that are taken from their
home, things like that. Weve got a great network of charity work we do in
00:18:00that particular guild.
CR: Youve already told me about your, about machine quilting, and how you
feel about machine quilting [laughs.]
PW: I love it; I just want somebody else to do it.
CR: How else do you think quilts can be used, other than putting on a bed?
PW: I sleep under a quilt.
CR: Do you?
PW: Every night, summer and winter, I love quilts. I make quilts for my
grandchildren and they love me, its just, I dont know, its a connection
there. I have quilts that my mother made, that I can look and I can find the
skirt or a blouse or shirts, I had four brothers, shirts that she made, in this
quilt. Its just so comforting, so personal, but I can say I think I use them
00:19:00for gifts. I do a lot of baby quilts of course for the grandchildren
[inaudible.] they have to be redone, you know have to have more, because they
wear them out. I do believe in giving them, using them, washing them, you know I
dont think there should be just be hung on the wall, I think they should be loved.
CR: Yeah. Lets see, youve pretty much answered all of these. What do you
think is the biggest challenge confronting quiltmakers today? What do we run up
against that we need to work on?
PW: Oh.
CR: Thats a hard one.
PW: Thats a hard one, its probably the cost of everything. With this
drought that weve had in Texas, and the cotton, and everything is surely
00:20:00going to go up, and the economy is the way it is at this point. It is, its
tough to buy the stuff that you want more, but quilters usually find a way.
CR: [laughs.]
PW: It may, it may make us use that stash that weve been hanging on to that
we bought because, you know, we had a project in mind and then another project
came up. As far as a challenge, you know I think quilters forever, when our, my
parents were young, they, those were challenging times, yet they made the time,
it was a necessary thing to keep warm. I think as far as quilting goes, I think
00:21:00were blessed to be able to do our craft and pass it on. So challenges, I
dont see a lot of them.
CR: Okay. You mentioned passing on our craft, do you teach?
PW: I do, I teach at our local quilt shop. Anyone who wants to learn a new
technique that Im fairly good at, Ill be happy to help them, we have bees
that get together , and we learn from each other. So that, yes I do teach. I
dont teach on a full-time basis just on a part-time, I still work part-time.
CR: What type of work do you do?
PW: I work at a, our community, our college [inaudible.] I work in the senior
adult department, and plan trips and classes, and take trips and take classes.
00:22:00Its a wonderful place to work.
CR: Theres a good outlet for your quilt teaching as well.
PW: Everybodys my age, so [laughs.] I worked at the main campus, and I really
enjoyed it, but everybody was so young, but at the senior adult program,
theyre all my age, so thats really fun [laughs.]
CR: You mentioned belonging to a couple of guilds and sewing bees, tell me a
little bit more about your guilds. Do you bring speakers in, do you have workshops?
PW: Yes both. They will originally there was the Galveston [Texas.] quilt guild
and when we decided to start a daytime quilt guild, of course they met in the
evening, teres a lot of professional people that live in Galveston [Texas.],
00:23:00you know the medical center, and things like that so the nighttime guild was
necessary there. But, a daytime guild was just a really a good thing, I thought.
When we started our daytime guild, we decided to meet on the same day as the
Galveston [Texas.] nighttime guild, so we can share speakers and things like
that, so thats worked out really well. Weve got, had some really wonderful
devoted speakers come in, and of course a lot of our ladies are really tentative
so we have workshops and its, we do it all. [laughs.]
CR: Okay. Now, the quilt you brought today is, would you consider a contemporary quilt?
PW: Yes I would say yes.
CR: Do you also do traditional patchwork?
PW: I do, and in my appliqu I love the traditional floral appliqus. I do, I
00:24:00love bright colors and so you know, that lends to traditional [inaudible.] I
think. Right now, and I like to do mystery things, mystery quilts, just be
surprised at how that comes out. What was the question? [laughs.]
CR: Do you also do traditional quilts and patterns?
PW: Yes, yes, mostly I do. I see something I get an idea, and I put it together.
CR: So you might take a pattern and put your own twist to it?
PW: Right, right.
CR: And originality?
PW: Right.
CR: Thats very good. Have you ever participated in a quilt history
00:25:00preservation survey such as this?
PW: No--
CR: This is your first.
PW: I was really excited that I was invited for this. I knew about it, one of
the ladies in our guild had encouraged us to pursue it, because I think she did
an interview last year and, but after the quilt, the quilt that was put in the
Lonestar book, the Texas [inaudible.] Lonestar book, and they invited me for
this and I thought, Yay. [laughs.]
CR: Now you mentioned your quilt in the Lonestar Three book, tell us about that quilt.
PW: Oh what a fun quilt. It was in our area, you know we have Houston [Texas.]
thats [inaudible.] and the, each county has their own little association and
00:26:00we live in Galveston [Texas.] county, and the Galveston [Texas.] county rodeo
association had contacted the quilt guild to see if they would make a quilt for
the rodeo, you know this is an ongoing thing each year, and the Galveston
[Texas.] guild started it, they were the first guild in Galveston [Texas.]
county, and they made one, then we started the daytime, the daytime guild, you
know we alternate years, so it was our year to make a quilt. Me and two other
ladies, Ruth Syllamin and Peggy Mote volunteered to make a rodeo quilt, so we got
together and we gather all of our fabrics that you know, we thought sounded like
rodeo, and we talked about it, we just [inaudible.] and we designed it and put
00:27:00it together and Karen Overton, a local [inaudible.] quilted it for us and we let
them enter it into the quilt portion of that section of the rodeo in I believe
it was 06, it was 06 or 07. We had to finish it in December of 06,
so then it must have been 07 rodeo and we called, we called it Happy Trails
because we were looking at it, and there were a lot, several depictions of Roy
Rogers and [inaudible.] and his horse and its just a, its not a particular
pattern its an overall theme. We were looking at it and the first thing that
came to my mind was, Happy trails to you, because whenever I see Roy
00:28:00Rogers, I think of that song, and so we named it Happy Trails. They entered it
into the rodeo quilt competition and it won best in division, which was such an
honor for that, you know our guild, and the quilt itself it was, we used it for
our raffle quilt that year. In December of that same year, at our Christmas
party, a name was drawn and it was mine, what a privilege, what an honor. One of
the other ladies that was instrumental in making the quilt, Peggy Mote, her
husband, John, always, James [Mote.] Im sorry, James would always come to our guild
meeting and James drew the name, and it was mine and it was just really a shock
and you know, it was wonderful. So I own the quilt and Karen Overton the quilter
00:29:00contacted me and said, Theyre doing this book on Texas quilts, and I told
them about your quilt, and they would like to see it, and so we, and it had
to be sent in that day [laughs.] so I gathered it up, I took it to her house, we
boxed it up and shipped it off and [inaudible.] which was really excited, Im
still in awe, and the book is out now, its a beautiful book. Thats how
that quilt came about [inaudible.]
CR: And its in the book.
PW: Yes it is.
CR: Is there anything else that you would like to tell us about yourself or your
quiltmaking that we havent covered so far?
PW: No I cant think of anything, I think we covered everything [inaudible.]
00:30:00
