https://quiltalliance.net/ohms-viewer-master/viewer.php?cachefile=TX77010-061Littmann.xml#segment23
Partial Transcript: Erin Nesmit (EN): Tonya, will you tell me about the quilt you brought today?
Tonya Littmann (TL): This was the first pictorial quilt that I ever did. “Berek at the Koi Pond.”
Segment Synopsis: Tonya shares her background as a graphic designer and how she learned to make a pictoral quilt, which won a blue ribbon.
Keywords: Awards; Free motion quilting; Pictorial quilts
Subjects: Acrylic painting; Graphic arts; Watercolor painting
https://quiltalliance.net/ohms-viewer-master/viewer.php?cachefile=TX77010-061Littmann.xml#segment165
Partial Transcript: EN: How did you get started in quilts?
TL: My great grandmother quilted during The Great Depression for 10 cents a spool. I have lots of her quilts in my family.
Segment Synopsis: Tonya describes how she became interested and learned about quilting from her grandmother, who quilted during the Great Depression. She describes how she learned to quilt through various classes and describes picture quilts as her niche.
Keywords: Fabric - Batiks; Hand piecing; Knowledge transfer; Learning quiltmaking
Subjects: Grandparents
https://quiltalliance.net/ohms-viewer-master/viewer.php?cachefile=TX77010-061Littmann.xml#segment309
Partial Transcript: EN: How many hours a week do you quilt?
TL: That really varies. I have a graphic design business. I sit in my studio at my computer and if I don’t have approval on a job, or I’m waiting for changes or copy approval I can go sew. It varies a lot. Anywhere from none to the whole week.
Segment Synopsis: Tonya describes her quilting process and how it fits into her schedule as a professional graphic designer, as well as her process for conceptualizing a quilt.
Keywords: Donating quilts; Quilt Purpose - Exhibition; Time management; Work or Studio space
Subjects: Artists' studios; Graphic arts
https://quiltalliance.net/ohms-viewer-master/viewer.php?cachefile=TX77010-061Littmann.xml#segment369
Partial Transcript: EN: Are you a part of any quilting or sewing groups or guilds?
TL: Yes, lots. [laughing.] I’m on the show committee for the Quilters’ Guild of Dallas
Segment Synopsis: Tonya describes quilting as a social aspect. She names the guilds she belongs to and talks about why she enjoys being around other quilters.
Keywords: Guild activities; Guild leadership; Quilt guild; quilting bee
https://quiltalliance.net/ohms-viewer-master/viewer.php?cachefile=TX77010-061Littmann.xml#segment519
Partial Transcript: EN: Alright, talk about your stash.
TL: My stash is in the open; it’s breaking the rules. It’s sitting on wrap-around shelves in the open. You can see it when you walk in the door and it’s color rainbow coordinated. It starts from yellow and goes all the way around to black.
Segment Synopsis: Tonya describes her fabric stash, how she displays it, how she got involved in fabric dyeing, and what dyeing processes she uses. She goes on to explain that because she dyes fabric, she does not purchase fabric often.
Keywords: Fabric - Hand-dyed; Fabric dyeing; Fabric stash; Fiber - Cotton; Muslin; Sateen
Subjects: Shibori
https://quiltalliance.net/ohms-viewer-master/viewer.php?cachefile=TX77010-061Littmann.xml#segment610
Partial Transcript: EN: What aspect of quiltmaking do you really enjoy and what frustrates you and you want to get better at?
TL: I like the quilting. I like the free motion quilting. I use a home sewing machine-
Segment Synopsis: Tonya describes her sewing machine and why she enjoys using short arm machine for her quilting style. She talks about her piecing techniques like constructing a puzzle.
Keywords: Design process; Home sewing machine; Machine piecing; Machine quilting
https://quiltalliance.net/ohms-viewer-master/viewer.php?cachefile=TX77010-061Littmann.xml#segment793
Partial Transcript: EN: What does quilt making do for you?
TL: It is a creative process I can do for myself without having to please my clients.
Segment Synopsis: Tonya talks about quilting as her own creative process compared to working with clients, because she has more control in her design process. She talks about how she incorporates her background in graphic design into her design process, using Photoshop and an overhead projector.
Keywords: design process; fiber - cotton; quilt purpose - personal enjoyment; thread painting
Subjects: Graphic arts; Projectors
https://quiltalliance.net/ohms-viewer-master/viewer.php?cachefile=TX77010-061Littmann.xml#segment954
Partial Transcript: EN: As far as quilts as a whole, what do you think makes a great quilt?
TL: Well, I'm excited by the image first.
Segment Synopsis: Tonya says that the first thing that catches her eye in a quilt is imagery, and then she is drawn to the technical aspects of the work.
Keywords: Embellishment techniques
https://quiltalliance.net/ohms-viewer-master/viewer.php?cachefile=TX77010-061Littmann.xml#segment996
Partial Transcript: EN: What would you think would make a quilt appropriate for a museum?
TL: Definitely technical quality. I think it needs to be beautiful just as an art form. It needs to be technically well done and use quality materials.
Segment Synopsis: Tonya discusses her opinion of quilting as an art and what she believes to be a museum-worthy quilt. She says that technical expertise is key, and that a museum quilt should be beautiful and use quality materials. She goes on to say that quiltmaking is both an art form and a craft.
Keywords: Art quiltmaking; Quilt Purpose - Exhibition; applique
Subjects: Workmanship
https://quiltalliance.net/ohms-viewer-master/viewer.php?cachefile=TX77010-061Littmann.xml#segment1041
Partial Transcript: EN: Why is quilt making important in your life?
TL: It is a creative outlet and it is my social family. My blood family lives in another state so these women are my adopted family locally.
EN: Where are you from originally?
TL: Indiana. I grew up in South Louisiana and later Shreveport and Houston.
Segment Synopsis: Tonya describes the importance of quiltmaking in her life. She also talks about how the different places she has lived in her life has affected how quilting has been meaningful to her and her quilting style.
Keywords: Design process; Social quiltmaking activities
Subjects: Art, Regional
https://quiltalliance.net/ohms-viewer-master/viewer.php?cachefile=TX77010-061Littmann.xml#segment1122
Partial Transcript: EN: Yes. They have some questions in here that I think are very interesting about women’s history and quilting because how so many of these quilts that you’ll see in museums or exhibits or books will say ‘maker unknown’.
TL: Yes.
EN: You have been quilting for a little while, but have you seen a change in the recognition for quilters?
TL: Since I’ve been involved with it, everybody has always said ‘label your quilts’ or ‘sign your quilts’. We even went back while my grandmother was still alive, and labeled all of my great grandmother’s quilts.
Segment Synopsis: Tonya talks about the importance of recognition for quilters and how she and her family kept the quilting memory of her family alive by labeling quilts. She offers suggestion as to how use documentation as a method of keeping a quilting legacy alive and as part of her creative process.
Keywords: Antique quilts; Collecting quilts; Quilt documentation; Quilt history; Quilt memory; Quilt preservation
Subjects: Quilts--United States--History
https://quiltalliance.net/ohms-viewer-master/viewer.php?cachefile=TX77010-061Littmann.xml#segment1255
Partial Transcript: EN: What areas of quiltmaking are you excited about now?
Segment Synopsis: Tonya discusses her various ideas for new quilts and her UFO's that she currently has. She says time constraints are a barrier for her, because her interest goes in so many directions.
Keywords: Design process; Time management; unfinished objects (UFO)
https://quiltalliance.net/ohms-viewer-master/viewer.php?cachefile=TX77010-061Littmann.xml#segment1396
Partial Transcript: EN: Do you have a website?
Segment Synopsis: Tonya talks about the social aspects of technology in quiltmaking. She discusses her blog and the blogs that she follows. She says that this helps her connect with other quilters. She goes on to mention other social quilting activities she participates in.
Keywords: Blogging; Social quiltmaking activities; Technology in quiltmaking
https://quiltalliance.net/ohms-viewer-master/viewer.php?cachefile=TX77010-061Littmann.xml#segment1461
Partial Transcript: EN: It looks like you're doing primarily machine quilting on yours; have you done any hand quilting?
Segment Synopsis: Tonya says that although she primarily thread-paints with a home sewing machine, she has also hand quilted and hand embroidered some of her work.
Keywords: Embroidery; Hand quilting; Machine quilting; Thread painting
https://quiltalliance.net/ohms-viewer-master/viewer.php?cachefile=TX77010-061Littmann.xml#segment1525
Partial Transcript: EN: Whose work influences you?
Segment Synopsis: Tonya describes how others's work has influenced her quilting. She combines elements of many styles and has developed what has worked for her along the way. She does not want to teach quilting because she is nervous in front of other people. She does not want to make patterns because she feels her work is too individual for her. She names some of the artists she admires, including Deborah Boschert and Judy Coates Perez.
Keywords: Art quiltmaking; Blogging; Blogs; Hand quilting; Machine quilting; Pictorial quilts; Quilt Purpose - Personal enjoyment; Teaching quiltmaking
https://quiltalliance.net/ohms-viewer-master/viewer.php?cachefile=TX77010-061Littmann.xml#segment1693
Partial Transcript: EN: What areas do you want to grow in?
Segment Synopsis: Tonya talks about areas of her quilting practice that she'd like to improve upon. She mentions shading and fabric choice as areas that she wants to better herself in.
Keywords: Fabric dyeing; Pictorial quilts; fabric selection
Subjects: Shades and shadows in art
https://quiltalliance.net/ohms-viewer-master/viewer.php?cachefile=TX77010-061Littmann.xml#segment1742
Partial Transcript: EN: What do you want the viewer to experience when they're looking at your quilt?
Segment Synopsis: Tonya says that her primary hope for viewers of her quilts is the aesthetic aspect of her work. She hopes that people see beauty in her work.
Keywords: Aesthetics
Subjects: Art exhibition audiences
https://quiltalliance.net/ohms-viewer-master/viewer.php?cachefile=TX77010-061Littmann.xml#segment1800
Partial Transcript: EN: Tell me about your show experience. What made you take the plunge and think, okay, I'm ready to start entering shows?
Segment Synopsis: Tonya says that she started by entering shows that did not have a judging component. From there she began putting her quilts in more shows throughout the state of Texas.
Keywords: American Quilter's Society (AQS); Awards; Quilt Purpose - Exhibition; Quilt shows/exhibitions
https://quiltalliance.net/ohms-viewer-master/viewer.php?cachefile=TX77010-061Littmann.xml#segment1908
Partial Transcript: EN: What do you think is the biggest challenge that quiltmakers have today?
Segment Synopsis: Tonya says the biggest challenge quiltmakers has today is time to do the art. People have less time for themselves because of other work and family commitments, as well as more time spent with media.
Keywords: Quilt Purpose - Personal enjoyment; Technology in quiltmaking; Time management; computer
Subjects: Aging parents; Mass media