Now it’s time to listen to all those quilter’s stories. This article, written by Pauline Macaulay, chair of the Talking Quilts Committee, and Vicky Martin, Talking Quilts project Manager, outlines a summary of the project, from initial aims and objectives and getting started, to the projects achievements and taking the stories forward.

The first time I read about the Talking Quilts project was in The Quilter and immediately I knew it was for me. I can’t resist talking to those who share my passion for quilting. I love to find out why they choose their fabric, how they decided on a piecing method, what is their preferred quilting style and, perhaps most importantly, why a quilt was made.

I have become an oral historian. Who would have thought that quilting would lead me to this? But it has, and I’ll tell you how. I’ve been involved in the Talking Quilts project for the past five years. Pioneered in the UK by Pauline Macaulay, Talking Quilts is based on an American model called Quilters’ Save Our Stories (QSOS).

The three-year project is being led by volunteers. Quilters are trained to conduct oral history interviews using audio recording equipment, as well as to complete interview transcriptions. The interviews focus on a ‘touchstone object’ – a quilt or quilted object made by the interviewee – and explore the story behind it. The interview then broadens out to explore the quilter’s relationship with quiltmaking and the role quiltmaking plays in their life.