QSOS Interview with Beth Johnson

Ellen Cabluck (EC): Where did you come from initially?

Beth Johnson (BJ): I grew up in Tennessee. When I got married we lived at quite a few places. The last place we lived before Houston [Texas.] was Colorado.

EC: A lot of Tennesseans have come to Texas to help us, and helped fight in the Alamo; Im a docent at the history museum. Are we about ready? This is Ellen Cabluck. Todays date is November the fourth, 2011, it is 11 A.M., and Im conducting an interview with Beth Johnson for Quilters S.O.S. Save Our Stories, a project of the Alliance for American Quilts. Beth and I are at the International Quilt Festival in Houston, Texas. Beth, would you tell me about the quilt you brought today?

BJ: This is a quilt I did early, soon after I started quilting, and its based 00:01:00on a photograph I took of my son in Trafalgar Square in London [England.] This is when he was about six or seven, but he was a grownup when I did the quilt, since I wasnt a quilter back then. I just enjoy the pose and the body language so much. I drew it out, and I pieced it. Its all pieced except for the overhangs and his nose and mouth around there are appliqud where I didnt trust myself, but the rest is all pieced; the birds are all pieced. When I was working on it I realized it was too small of a quilt for what I wanted. Since I had already started and didnt want to work, re-design it, so I added this big border and when I did that, it made the quilt stronger because I didnt want the border to look like it was an after thought, you know like a mistake, Oh we got to make it bigger, lets add a border. I added these other birds and I think they really helped the piece. It was one of those things; mistakes make it better.

EC: I agree. This is just really great. Well youve told us about the meaning 00:02:00that it has, why did you choose this quilt to bring?

BJ: Why did I choose it? Because its my husbands favorite, I think [laughs.]

EC: Oh thats nice.

BJ: I kept saying, What quilt should I bring? and I was thinking about what Ive done, you know, the first quilt, or the quilts about my mother, or you know, 9/11. Those are sort of expected choices. He (my husband) kept saying, Bring the Kevin quilt, as he calls thisquilt. I realized thats one of his favorites. Ill bring the Kevin quilt [laughs.]

EC: Oh thats wonderful; wonderful story. How did you get interested in quiltmaking?

BJ: I was not a quilter until I moved to Houston [Texas.] In Colorado I was an art teacher and I painted, and I didnt even go into those fields until I was an adult and had a kid and then went back to school. I was in the math and education. Then I gott into the arts. When we were about to move here, my mother had just started quilting, so I wasnt with her when she started quilting. She was doing an art quilt. We had painted together, and so she kept 00:03:00saying, When you move to Houston [Texas.] youre going to become a quilter. All I needed was one more thing, you know to be jack of all trades and master of none. I kept poo-pooing. I sewed when my son was little and for myself, but I hadnt even sewn in years. She kept saying, And theres this big show, she couldnt remember the name of it, And youre going to have to go, and theyll be things about it, youll see it, and you have to go and youre going to be a quilter. Im just know. We moved here in June, we didnt get into our house until October and typical with new houses, youre waiting for them to come fix something. I was just real frustrated, didnt know people, and I saw the big (newspaper) thing that year on a quilt festival. I said, Im going to go downtown. I got in the car, The George Brown is next to a freeway, I can get there, well, we all made those mistakes [laughs.]

EC: [laughs.] Yes.

BJ: But anyway, I got here. It was a Friday afternoon: I was so blown away by 00:04:00the quilts. The show was smaller back then, it was two ballrooms. I was so blown away. I particularly liked the traditional quilts that were done in modern fabrics.

EC: Yes.

BJ: They had an exhibit on the Oklahoma bombing, the response to the Oklahoma bombing. I never thought about quilts as being in an artistic forum in that way. I was blown away. I went to see my mother about two weeks later and I was talking to her, how it (the show) was really interesting, and I really loved. I dont know about sewing all that, but I would love to design with these fabrics. I was just so excited, I had to come back (to the show) two more times that weekend.

EC: Great.

BJ: Didnt sew, didnt quilt, but I had to keep coming back. Then the last day of my visit after I talked to my mother about it, she comes popping out of the bedroom and said basically, Put your money where your mouth is. There was a call for Tennessee artists by a hospital for artwork by Tennessee (artists), and she says, We ought to design for it. We went over there and looked at the site. We started designing a quilt, but by then I had gone home, 00:05:00so were designing a quilt, if you can imagine, long-distance. She had made one art quilt, none of us knew the rules, and then we heard that we were about to, we were in the top three (finalists). and we still dont know how to quilt, so we start to panic, Even though this is going to be an art quilt, we need to know basics. So I signed up here for a beginning class, because Id rather know the rules before I tried breaking them. Then the hospital changed hands; they held up the selection. We thought, Gosh, we got to make one anyway. Anyway, we end up making the quilt,the hospital didnt want any fine art and I kept the quilt. It was wonderful because they didnt deserve the quilt. My mother did most of it, I designed it and painted it, but that was the beginning.

EC: Oh wonderful.

BJ: So, a good story anyway! [laughs.]

EC: I think its a terrific story, and the quilt show, the International Quilt Festival inspired you.

BJ: It did, it totally did.

EC: Thats great.

BJ: My mother was right; you know its one of those things. I was real close 00:06:00to my mother, but still she didnt have to be right about one more thing! [laughs.]

EC: [laughs.] So what is your favorite part about quiltmaking, the design process or the actual work?

BJ: Both.

EC: Great.

BJ: I like it. I think quiltmaking is like raising a kid. You know you have this thing in your head and youre all excited, so thats like when youre thinking about the pregnancy. Then its hard to translate that into paper, thats sort of the birth.

EC: Yes.

BJ: Then it comes along, and youre all excited. Youre getting your fabrics, youre touching stuff, and I love that part. Then you get to that stage when its not really what was in your mind; you know its sort of taking on its own little life and you have this little thought in your head and Im thinking. So I call that the, you know, the terrible twos stage.

EC: [laughs.]

BJ: Then you sort of get past that stage and you are doing really fine. Youre really get going, and youre responding to the quilt now. I love that part, 00:07:00where you just, Oh no, I can change that and make it work. Then I get to what I call the teenage stage.

EC: [laughs.]

BJ: Its almost done. You know its working, but its just not quite right, and you know its not going to take much, but something. So I had those little hiccup places, but I like it all.

EC: It doesnt look like it.

BJ: Oh [laughs.]

EC: Is there anything you dont like about quiltmaking or any processes?

BJ: I like the quilting process once I get into it, but its the hardest for me. I dont like the hand appliqu, but I can do it when thats whats needed. I dont enjoy it as much as handling the fabric. But yeah, I guess I enjoy most of it.

EC: Thats great. It obviously was meant for you. Lets see. Do you use a 00:08:00design wall?

BJ: Yes. I wouldnt do without it, yeah.

EC: Do you leave things up all the time, or do you put them up as youre working, or do you work all the time, thats a better question.

BJ: I wish I could say I worked all the time. The last two years I havent worked as much because my mother was ying of cancer and othre family matters.. But yeah, I pretty much continuously have something going, but I dont have tremendous output. I have something going, but it may take a long time in that incubation stage. I keep the drawings up, if Im in the drawing,. Where Im planning a design, I keep what Im thinking about up on the design wall where Ive got my drawing. Like now. I have a drawing up on there. and a first selection of fabrics up there. Yeah, and then as Im working I have stuff up there. Yes I have it all up there.

EC: Its really about your process

BJ: Yeah

EC: And its helpful to know

BJ: Yes.

EC: Im getting clues here.

BJ: Thats fine.

EC: What do you think makes a great quilt?

BJ: Im coming from my art background; I think strong design is number one

EC: Okay.

BJ: And I think the traditional quilts all have that. So. as much as I can think of myself as an art quilter, I think traditional quilts do that beautifully. I think technique has to be there, but I dont think it should be number one, but I think it cant be so bad that it gets in your way of the enjoyment of the quilt.

EC: Right.

BJ: That pretty much covers everything about a quilt.

EC: What do you think makes it artistically powerful as an art quilt?

BJ: The designs.

EC: Just that

BJ: Well I think its everything. I mean design covers everything; it would cover the texture

EC: The colors.

BJ: The colors. I like strong values but thats a personal aesthetic, I dont think necessarily that a quilt without that is bad, but I really like 00:10:00strong values in a quilt. I like color but not necessarily everything with a lot of color.

EC: Right.

BJ: Oh, the one thing I like about design or dont like about design, I hate things put on a quilt just because they can, you know. Whatever the new product, for example, you know you got the new yoyo maker so were going to fill our quilt with yoyos; I want the yoyos to be integrated into the design, theres a reason thats there. Im not really real fond of over abundance, endless, the quilt is about overabundance--

EC: Right.

BJ: Then its appropriate. I want it to be appropriate, I dont want a lot of quilting lines just because I have a new machine. I want every quilting line to add to the overall design. . I think those decisions are made in the designing, or as you progress. I know in this quilt, for instance, I put in a lot more quilting lines in, and I had to take them out because I thought they 00:11:00distracted. Thats not to say now I might have known how to do that in a different way to maybe enhance it. I think sometimes more is just more.

EC: Right.

BJ: Other times I think more is good.

EC: Are you quilting into it more now that you have more experience than you did?

BJ: Yes, I am.

EC: Well you already said your mother was your big influence, are there any quilt artists that were a big influence to you, art quiltmakers?

BJ: I think Ruth McDowell probably more than any other quilter. I bought her books before I ever became a quilter because I loved how she used fabric and that was something I wasnt seeing in the painting world, because we had to add all our pattern.

EC: Right.

BJ: Here she was taking this wonderful patterned fabric and using it. I bought also Katie Pasquini Masopusts books, her early art and inspiration book before I ever became a quilter. So yes.

EC: It sounds like your destiny.

BJ: Yeah, yeah.

EC: It really does. Are those the people whose works youre drawn to, or do you have other quilters who?

BJ: I like so many quilters now; those are the early ones just because I was working more in that style m with my painting. I almost hate to put names because theres just so many wonderful ones.

EC: Well its okay and we know that you might left some out, but its nice to hear a few.

BJ: Right now Im very fond of Peggy Browns work and I knew her as a watercolor, I mean I knew of her work as a watercolorist. I love how she translates it to fabric and its very abstract. I love Hollis Chatelains work, I love, theres just so many peoples work I love, I cant even start to do justice.

EC: Yeah.

BJ: And I have many good friends who work traditionally, and I felt like this show this year was very strong in that.

EC: Yes.

BJ: And resonated within me.

EC: Do you belong to a quilt group, an art quilt bee?

BJ: Yes. I belong to the Lakeview [Texas.] quilters guild which is in the Clear Lake area, south Houston [Texas.] Then I have, I belong to two bees. One 00:13:00is Kindred Spirits and we meet once a week in peoples homes. Its a mix of quilters, you know, and weve been together for years and are very supportive. Then I belong to an art quilt group, a critique group that meets once a month and that has great energy, so you come from one with the support of women and you come from one with creative synergizing energy.

EC: Thats wonderful.

BJ: Yeah, it is.

EC: Why is quiltmaking important in your life? I think youve partly answered that but thats one of my questions.

BJ: I think it just resonates with me. When I got into it, I thought I would both paint and quilt, but really quilting sort has taken over. I think I just enjoy handling the fabrics. I like all the choices out there. I like that 00:14:00its--I think its much more social than painting and I think I like that connection with other women even though other women arent doing my quilts. I think thats important to me. Every once and a while, Ill do a traditional quilt--just because, and I really like going back to that once and while because it makes me realize why people like patterns and like fabric because its something tremendously satisfying about just putting fabric together. So every year, I teach for my sister, who now has a quilt store. We brought her to festival one year, and, lo and behold, she owns a quilt store. So it all started from that first visit![laughs.]

EC: Thats amazing, and your mother knew! [laughs.]

BJ: Yeah she did, didnt she?

EC: Do you think that quilts have an importance in the history of women in America?

BJ: I do. I didnt really appreciate that before I got into quilting. I thought until that first show it was little old ladies quilting, and I take that back, because I actually did know people who were doing beautiful quilting in 00:15:00Colorado. I just, I just did not understand the interest or appreciate the interest, and they were doing beautiful though traditional type quilts. I had my painting and I couldnt imagine why this (quilting) would be more exciting and until I got into it, and the more Im into it, the more appreciation I have for its history and its influence and what made it important, what not important and the difference between countries. I think its an amazing thing, an amazing connection.

EC: Do you dye your own fabrics or do you by commercial?

BJ: Occasionally, both. I collect both [laughs.]

EC: Great. Well good.

BJ: Yeah I do both.

EC: What do you do with your quilts when youre finished? Do you give them away or do you sell them?

BJ: I do not sell. I do give some away.

EC: To your friends or your family?

BJ: Yeah, especially with the quilts, you know the big bed quilts and things. I 00:16:00dont make too many of those, but I usually have somebody in mind when I even make them. You know, my son, the grandchildren, of course, have to have quilts.

EC: Of course.

BJ: Sometimes theyre practical things like Ill give them to my sister for her shop samples, that kind of thing. The art quilts Im much more picky about who gets them.

EC: Yes.

BJ: I dont, I havent given them to my son yet, and its not because I dont think he wont love them or his wife wont love them, my daughter-in-law is very appreciative. I dont think theyre ready for them in their lives yet. They pretty much on the go, and to be honest, I dont have a single one of my quilts hanging in my house.

EC: Thats interesting.

BJ: It took me years before I put my paintings in my house and so the paintings are there, so I figure the next house the quilts will go up [laughs.] I dont know.

EC: Do you teach at your sisters shop or at any hops?

BJ: I teach at my sisters shop because theyre in a small town in Tennessee and they do not get many people. Their guild isnt like our guild which can bring in names, so they think anybody from Texas is and lives in Houston 00:17:00[Texas.] has got to be a big name [laughs.] Theyre really excited when I come.

EC: With all your wonderful quilts I think you are. What do you think is the biggest challenge that quiltmakers have today?

BJ: I think probably is the same challenge theyve had for years: making people realize what a contribution it makes; what an industry it is. Iin the art quilt fields-- the recognition it is indeed an art form and should be accepted as some. I think all those things are ongoing challenges, but I think the world is getting smarter.

EC: Yes, I think so. Your quilts are mostly hung on the wall, right?

BJ: Yes.

EC: They are not used?

BJ: The majority of them, yes.

EC: Do you think your quilts reflect where you live, or do you think they are more wide in scope?

BJ: I like to think theyre wider in scope than where I live. I would like to 00:18:00think they resonate with viewers that are not just from Texas.

EC: Absolutely. I think they are, but I wanted to be sure. I wanted to ask you.

BJ: [laughs.] Yeah, you know, yeah I do the quilt, mosly for myself, thats the reason I make a quilt

EC: Thats pretty important.

BJ: I wanted to make this quilt and I dont worry about competitions, I dont worry about possibilities, I have just learned to trust myself and to do that quilt. Then if theres a venue for it, then theres a venue for it, but it doesnt really make any difference. After I finish the quilt, Im not as concerned about it for some reason.

EC: Good. The awards are not important, its just the doing.

BJ: No, its a nice validation, I think all artists love to have their work validated, but I would be doing it without that. I appreciate that Ive had these opportunities to show work. For instance the 9/11 quilt I had to make that that year; I had to make it. , I went around to all my friends I knew \ to get 00:19:00the right fabric. Then to quilt shops. Anyway, I was thrilled later there was a venue to share my response, but it didnt make any difference: that quilt was being made and thats pretty much the way my other quilts, with one or two exceptions.

EC: You feel emotions of course, obviously when you make them.

BJ: Oh yeah.

EC: Did you make anything besides that 9/11 quilt that would commemorate a specific event like that?

BJ: My mother and I, we did the I Remember Mama quilts for three years. The first year was the first quilt my mother and I had made.That first year was all nurturing quilts, or quilts about nurturing your mother and they could be any quilt. My mother and I did that first quilt that we had made, that started the quilt career. We entered that and got in; well then, we had to remake half the quilt because we didnt want anybody seeing our first mistakes[laughs.] But we made the quilt and it hanged, and mother was always pleased because she felt like it (the quilt) hadnt gotten its just desserts Then next year it had to be a generational quilt, if you remember.

EC: Yes.

BJ: My mother, my sister, myself, (my sisters my twin, I shouldve said that). My mother, my sister, myself, my sisters daughters, she has daughters, I have a son, she, her daughter and her granddaughter all made, worked on that quilt. We had the great granddaughter who was four, we had her stamp fabric, my niece, so my sisters daughter whio would no more come near a sewing machine, but she sewed a few seams and anyway

EC: How wonderful.

BJ: Then it (the quilt) was all about pictures of us holding our daughters as babies and then we beaded it. Everybody sort of had a job; mother had a job of trapunto, and I had a job with the piecing and beading, and Jeanette had a job of this and, yeah, so that (quilt) had meaning. So the next year was to be in honor of my mother. She was present, and my mother-in-law had gotten very ill 00:21:00at that time, my mother kept saying, You have to finish this quilt, and I kept saying, I dont know if I can deal with it. I think I was sort of concerned too, you know, I dont mean this to sound morbid or anything, but when somebody has passed away, its easier to do a quilt about in their memory, than sometimes to do a quilt when theyre honored because you dont, you dont know what, how theyre going to react to what you are choosing to put in a quilt. I chose memories from my childhood and my sons memories of his grandmother and so forth and made this quilt. When she cried she saw it, I knew it was the right choices

EC: Absolutely.

BJ: So yeah, I almost always choose a quilt with emotion, or meaning to me, whether or not it has meaning to someone else.

EC: I think they evoke emotions, I definitely do. Well youve already said your mother and sister were quilters, now your sisters daughter didnt become a quilter, she just participated?

BJ: Thats right.

EC: Give her time.

BJ: The granddaughter is starting to quilt though.

EC: Oh how nice.

BJ: So Im starting to wonder if its skipping every other generation.

EC: It might be. How do you balance your time to have time to quilt?

BJ: Im lucky enough, Im not working. I used to teach in school system, I dont teach now. I probably dont use my time as wisely as women who work outside the home and are gainfully employed, so I have a lot of choices,. I have the option of choosing to be in my studio when I want to be.

EC: Whats your studio like?

BJ: Its wonderful. When we moved to this house my husband was so pleased that I had given up my studio and my friends back home, the big deal was to have a nice studio, so the childrens room, because we didnt have children then, our son was in college, they had a big playroom so I designed it for an artist studio, well thats not the same as a quilters studio. It gets you there 00:23:00and then I had later cabinets put in to store fabric. So its a nice big room, it has a sewing table and a sewing machine and a design wall.

EC: Great room. Do you have friends to come over to sew with you or do you solitary mostly?

BJ: I pretty much do my sewing solitary. Once Im in that groove, I dont do very well with people. You know, I like feedback, but not once Im sewing, I like feedback during the process, I dont want all my feedback at the end because then its too late, Im not likely

EC: Right.

BJ: To make any changes.

EC: [laughs.]

BJ: I like feedback during that, but generally when Im sewing and making color choices and all that, Im working by myself.

EC: How do you feel about, you do machine quilting, you dont do hand quilting?

BJ: I do.

EC: How do you feel about longarm quilting?

BJ: I think its beautiful work. I love the people who use it, especially when 00:24:00they put something of themselves in it and I see it in their work. I guess one of my concerns, and I dont know if I even want to be on record in saying this, but one of my concerns is we have strived for perfection so much, that I wonder if were losing some of the soul. I dont know how to stop that or get around it or how we can put the brakes on that. I think we just keep moving as these things become available, and the bar gets set higher and higher. Sometimes Im wondering if its starting to look mechanical, its beautiful but it doesnt have that substance. However, I think people can use a longarm and use these things and include emotion. I think Caryl Bryer Fallert-- theres no question her machine quilting you know, shes using a sit down longarm, but theres no question is has some soul. I think there are a lot of longarm quilters who do that, but as we get more help with the 00:25:00quilting, people feel that the quilt police are there, and so a stitch thats not perfect is not valued. I have some concerns, I think were losing, I think we have the tendency to lose some people who have opportunities to quilt and enjoy it because they feel like they cant achieve that perfection, or they cant compete. I dont think quilting should be that competing anyway but I think its a tough issue.

EC: Well obviously quilting is very important to your life.

BJ: Mhm. (Yes!)

EC: And your family

BJ: Mhm. (Yes1)

EC: Helps with that being to the extent that they support you.

BJ: My husbands been a wonderful support. He did when I was a painter; he now is when Im a quilter. I think hes excited when I get excited about what Im doing. Hes a scientist so were sort of at opposite poles [laughs.]

EC: Right.

BJ: Spectrum.

EC: Right brain and left brain.

BJ: Yeah its been, its very gratifying to have someone who, while they may 00:26:00not understand why you have to do it, but they understand that you do; and they support you so that you can. So you know if Im really in a creative mood, hes say, Well Ill do dishes, you go on upstairs, you know, or, Yeah you need this room and you need this. At the same time Im not crazy.

EC: Sounds real normal.

BJ: Yeah [laughs.]

EC: What do you think is somebodys looking at your quilt what they might conclude about you? Any of your quilts.

BJ: I dont think, I think they probably say shes sort of, my quilts seem to be pretty clean cut, so Im guessing they Im a nice, neat orderly person; I dont know what they would suggest [laughs.] I think I would really like to get more mystery into my quilts and Im sort of fighting it because its not coming naturally.

EC: Do you feel that youre still growing as a quiltmaker?

BJ: Well I think thats how I need to grow.. Obviously I like shape and I like 00:27:00value in those things I use consistently in every quilt, and I think those will always be important. I guess I want, not everything in front of me, I think when you look at that quilt you know everything there is about this story, or you can make up a good story.

EC: Right.

BJ: And I would like now to have a little bit more not quite so much story in the quilt.

EC: I didnt ask you what your favorite techniques were and the tools that you might lose for them, so how about that?

BJ: Techniques I do are mostly piecing or I do invisible machine appliqu. Im still fighting with raw edges [laughs.] and I think thats a bias thats mine individually thats really not just a fight. I think Im stuck somewhere and Im not sure thats a valid concern.

EC: Do you think that might have something to do with the length of the time that youve been involved with quiltmaking, maybe?

BJ: I really dont know. I just think Ive always liked the clean edges and turned edges. I think we some people first start using fusible it wasnt real neat and clean, and now it is so its better materials and better use of material. Im still stuck with I like that. I think the advantage to not having, of being able to use those things is you can respond very intuitively where once you start a quilt like this. I made changes but its more difficult to make changes, you know you get this thing pieced and then you realize that didnt work, well you have to either start over or cover it up somehow.

EC: Do you ever completely start over on something just because you decided it didnt work?

BJ: Yes, rarely, I mean very rare. But on the Quilter, which is in the museum

EC: Right I know that one, yes.

BJ: The design process took forever and then I actually did a painting to try to 00:29:00work out the color. I rarely work that way, its too planned. I just knew something bothered me and it just, I started that design over a million times.

EC: Well it works.

BJ: It works now, thankfully but yeah, it took, sometimes you just have to say either you got to figure out something else or you got to say this isnt going to work and I was almost at that point on that quilt in saying, Its okay then to give up this idea if its not working. I finally figured out what bothered me, and then I could go for it.

EC: Thats absolutely wonderful. Is there any other thing that would comment about what quilting has meant to you?

BJ: Well clearly its you know, changed my direction about the third year. My very first quilt was a response to my art group, my painting group, not art quilts, they didnt know anything and then I was so surprised I wanted to take myself seriously, so thats when I started to enter shows. The first quilt 00:30:00gets in the show; well, now I know just how extraordinary that is. My husband had to come to festival one year just to see what sparked all this change in my direction because I was a pretty serious painter. I still use some painting, like on this quilt I used soft pastel chalks to get my. you know, shading in the face and so Ive experimented with techniques that maybe other people dont use, but still Im using some of my painting, thats just the design skills. I dont think Ill ever go back to not quilting. You know, I cant quite give up my paints, but I dont think I want to be a whole cloth painter, I love those quilts, but I think theres something about

EC: You like the textiles too

BJ: The fabric, I like the fabrics

EC: Yes.

BJ: I like changing the fabrics. This year Ive really given, this year Ive been more introspective of why do I like this so its interesting having this interview and you asking these questions. I dont know if thats an age thing, or weve lost both parents within a few years. So,its an 00:31:00introspection thing, I know. Were at a different point in our lives.

EC: Absolutely. Looking to see if theres anything else that I havent asked. Youve answered these so well. One of the questions is have you ever used difficult times to get through, well you have because youve made these quilts.

BJ: Yes, in fact its the quilt thats in the juried show now was the quilt I worked on to get through my mothers chemo. The top was almost done. We had moved her (My mothers) bed into her studio, because that was the biggest room. I put the quilt up beside her bed and it was still most, I mean it was mostly pieced but it was still in pieces with decisions being made. Every morning she told me that the quilt got her through the night, that she would 00:32:00check and see what kind of fabrics I used. I mean it was unexpected fabrics. So yeah, it gets me through.

EC: Well thats wonderful.

BJ: Its a happy quilt, surprisingly but its over in the show. Ive done quilts in response to challenges when I felt like it was expected of me to participate. Ive liked those the least, but some of them have been the most recognized quilts. So its, I think they have a good place in pushing us, challenges and whatever. But emotionally, yeah I know Ill pretty much respond to anything. I dont know if that makes me a wimp or what.

EC: Do you think theres any special way to preserve quilts for the future? I mean, your quilts or whatever.

BJ: I sure the people there know more than I do. I take old carpet rolls or the 00:33:00rolls that upholstery fabric comes on; I cover them with batting and muslin; and then I roll my quilts around there.

EC: Oh good idea.

BJ: I think they do better than folding because of some of my surfaces. I think as long as were sort of careful. I want my quilts to not fall apart, so I try to pay attention to using good materials, and I felt that way about my paint. I think if I know its a bad thing to do, I try not to do it. At the same time Im not trying to let whether future generations may or may not have of my quilts rule what Im doing

EC: Good.

BJ: Because I think the process and the present is more important than what may be tomorrow.

EC: Yes, I agree. Well, Ive just learned so much about you from you this is just delightful

BJ: [inaudible.] Such a captive audience [laughs.]

EC: Youve, theres a list of questions, youve really answered them in part of what youre saying. So Id like to thank you

BJ: Youre welcome.

EC: For this interview and lets see for the, let me start that over. Id like to thank you Beth for allowing you to interview, allowing me to interview you for the Quilters S.O.S. Save Our Stories oral history project. Our interview concluded at 11:34.

BJ: Great.