ID number: TQ.2015.055
Name of interviewee: Iris Martin
Name of interviewer: Celia Jones
Name of transcriber: Take1
Location: Iris’s home
Address: Lostwithiel, Cornwall
Date: 30 November 2015
Length of interview: 0:27:58
Summary
Iris talks about her first quilt, an English paper pieced Lucy Boston quilt. It was made, from dressmaking scraps, when she needed to keep busy as her granddaughter was poorly. Later she talks about growing up in Wales and seeing Welsh quiltmaking, seeing quilt exhibitions and what appeals to her in quilts. Iris also talks about some of the other quilts she has made, including one with Chinese fabric, and the Sew What group.
Interview
Celia Jones [CJ]: This is… This is Celia Jones interviewing Iris Martin in her home in Lostwithiel, Cornwall. TQ2015.055. 30th November 2015. Well Iris, what can you tell me about this lovely quilt?
Iris Martin [IM]: Well, made it how many years ago? About 18, 18, 17 or 18 years ago, when my granddaughter was very ill and I was up looking after her, not after her, looking after the rest of the family while Lauren was taken into hospital, and I wanted something to do. So I went down to this paper shop and asked them if they’d gotten any books on quilting. I’d never made a quilt before but I’d seen lots of quilts so that’s how I managed to get in, started. Bought a book by Lucy Bok… Boston, and… I liked the quilt and I thought, ‘Well, I can have a go at that,’ so and that’s how I started.
CJ: Is it all hand sewn, Iris?
IM: Yes, hand sewn all done, each little square. It’s… I had two, I had two daughters of my own and I always made their own dresses, smock dresses, so there’s… I knew that I had quite a few bits about of… pretty girl’s dress material and cotton, ideal for a quilt, and I bought some. Main colour is… background is blue so I definitely had to buy the blue, from what I can remember. But [there] wherever I went then, even on [laughs] holiday, [noise] I always had my little bag with some hexagons cut out ready and I could sew!
CJ: So you took it away with you then?
IM: Oh yes! Yes, of course. My, [laughs] my husband said once, ‘Come on you can come.’ While he was doing what business he had to do I’d be sitting enjoying the view doing a little bit of sewing! So I had my little bag with me. Yeah! I can’t… I haven’t added up to say how many motifs I’ve made, how ma…, but anyway. This hasn’t been washed or cleaned since I’ve made it. And it ha… it has been in use on the bed. I throw it over the bed. Looks pretty.
CJ: How long did it take you to make?
IM: Oh. Well [laughs] it see…, it seemed to go on forever. We had to have… ha… we… The girls at the Sew What they were very kind. They, they, when it came to the end and they could see it was quite big and a bit unwieldy for me they’d help and we got going! And, oh I can’t say how long. Over a year. Easily over a year.
CJ: When you say the girls at Sew What…
IM: Yeah.
CJ: …that’s a sewing group?
IM: Yeah. We had a sewing group attached to the church and they sold for Chris… for fairs, Christmas fairs so, when we’d younger ones joined, ‘course we were after different things, sim… can’t call it simple but… we, we never made small. I think I’ve made a, a quilt for practically every [noise] one of my [laughs] grandchildren now that’s … of their… with the colours of their choice. But anyway that’s it.
CJ: You’ve made a quilt for each one of your grandchildren?
IM: Yeah. Yeah. Lauren is going to have this eventually, but I’ve already made her a single bed one when she was little. Throw it over the bed. Yeah.
CJ: So when did you start to sew, Iris?
IM: Sew, I’ve been sewing as long as I can remember. My mother was a dressmaker, my aunt was a tailoress, so I know all there is to know, I think, at my time in life what about sewing.
CJ: And, and where was this you started to sew?
IM: Well, in my…
CJ: Where were you brought up?
IM: … in my mother’s kitchen! Yeah, she sewed over in Wales.
CJ: So did the people in Wales make quilts?
IM: Not like this. They had a different… I, I don’t think in those days they had… the soft … in-between, the interlining. It’s, it’s nice and soft. Then we had we just pieces of… of material which were lengths of material I think, and they were… they weren’t so, they weren’t so comfortable as the quilts now.
CJ: Why was it… Why weren’t they comfortable? What were they like?
IM: Well, on the outside there’d be large pieces of usually paisley pattern, and then in-between would be a stretch um length of material of, I don’t know what would, but it would be just ordinary plain… dark material, [noise] and then a lining on the inside… made on a fr-frame. It j… They’d have a big frame. I saw one of them. I saw it an exhi… on a exhibition up in London, Welsh quilts, and I thought, ‘Oh, darn it all, I’ve seen plenty of them.’
CJ: So the people that were quilting in Wales, did they do individual quilts or work in groups?
IM: Well I, I can’t really remember what, what, what exactly what happened ’cause it… they didn’t do it in my time. I mean they… those quilts were the, the ones that were made [laughs] years and years and years ago. But then obviously these present-day quilts are much nicer. Softer.
CJ: What do you use to line your quilts with…
IM: Well…
CJ: … to put in-between?
IM: Yeah, I don’t know what you, what you call it. I, I can’t remember.
CJ: A sort of wadding?
IM: Yes, buy it by the yard. And… that’s the idea. It’s nice and soft. Folds. Okay.
CJ: Have you got a label on it?
IM: Not yet.
CJ: Not yet.
IM: I’ve started ’em but I never seem to finish ’em.
CJ: So Iris, what, what do you look for in quilts when, when you, you… You’ve been to quilt shows have you?
IM: Oh yes. Yes. Joan and I used to go up to… London. We saw a very good one at is, is it the V&A? [Victoria and Albert Museum] And, no, yeah.
CJ: What do you look for in a quilt? How do you decide you like it or you don’t like it?
IM: Well just appeals. Some appeal to you and others appeal. Strong colours, I’m not very keen on strong colours. But that’s because I probably started with the bits leftover from little girls’ pretty dresses! Cotton.
CJ: So in your quilt you’ve got a wide variety of colours and patterns haven’t you?
IM: Yes. Well I never bought a dress did I, never for the girls? I always made my… made the clothes, made, made their clothes.
0:09:56 CJ: So…
0:09:57 IM: I probably had to buy the basic blue background ‘cos is made…
0:10:05 CJ: So can you tell me about any of these particular patterns? Do you remember what any of these pieces are?
0:10:09 IM: No. Not really, no. No. You have to have enough… of one colour to give a, a background. And I chose a blue and that was my background so. If you look it’s usually all the same so I must have bought a few yards of that, that colour. I, I wouldn’t have had that amount leftover from, from dresses. But… no.
CJ: Do you recognise any of these from the girls’, your daughters’ dresses?
IM: [Laughs] No. No.
CJ: No, you don’t.
IM: Not now, no. Not now.
CJ: No.
IM: I, I don’t think anything strikes me as remembering, no.
CJ: So how do you go about sorting out your patterns and how you’re going to put the pieces together?
IM: Well you have to choo… Probably it’s… I have… Sorry, I ca… I haven’t got the Lucy Boston book at hand, but they had a pattern and you worked it out from there! And then just repeated the same thing only in different colours!
CJ: But how do you decide about arranging the colours? What do you do?
IM: Oh, just put them together. If they please my me, I just… Look at this one. That’s a contrast exactly with that one but they, in a quilt they seem to go together, so.
CJ: Mm… What do you feel about machine quilting, Iris?
IM: It’s all right. I would, I would, I wouldn’t like to do it on … small things, like some of these squares that I’ve got here are just under an, an inch. I, I wouldn’t have the patience to fit them in … under a machine. I’d do it by hand. It’s much easier to do by hand. But I suppose it could be done.
CJ: But have you used a machine for larger quilts, larger, larger pieces?
IM: For lar… For larger pieces, yes. But not… I’m… That’s the advantage of having these small bits of material; you can pick ’em up and do them if you’ve got a few mo… few minutes to spare!
CJ: What, what about your family? What do they feel about your quilts? You said you’ve given them all quilts.
IM: Yes, if I remember rightly. Well it’s usually a, a cot quilt and that isn’t very big. It’s… They… I don’t know what’s happened to them, whether they’re still in existence or not, but
CJ: And how about the lap quilts?
IM: Yeah. They…
CJ: Can you tell me about those?
IM: Oh, well, you all need one of them, sitting, sitting around the television with a fire. Nice and comfortable. Yeah, I made one for my husband somewhere. Where is it? A navy one ‘ere. Yeah.
IM: Yeah, that’s right, that was William’s.
CJ: And how is that different from this quilt?
IM: Well it’s gonna… had a lot of wear, so the colours are… look more sturdy and it a wee bit bigger! Triangles. They’re triangles.
CJ: So these are triangles on, on your…
IM: All… hexagons they are and s… and squares. Hexagons and squares. And the backing, I don’t know what you call this backing. What d’you call it?
CJ: A fleece?
IM: Yeah it’s like a fleece. Navy because something that you use in front of the fire [sniffs] in the winter. You want it to be dark and… Anyway, my husband was happy with it.
CJ: The col-colours are stronger, aren’t they? Colours are…
IM: Yes.
CJ: Yeah. More of a man’s quilt. So you think there’s a difference between a man’s quilt and a woman’s quilt?
IM: [laughs] Well, well it doesn’t show the dirt so much if you have darker colours [laughs].
CJ: And what about children’s quilts? What do you do with…
IM: Well usually they like nursery rhyme pictures. If you, if you got a… cut-out of that on that line they’re, they’re very, they appeal to the children.
CJ: So you’d buy fabric with characters on it?
IM: Yeah, wi… With… Yeah, usually. Yeah, that.
CJ: So why is quilting important to you, Iris?
IM: Well I wouldn’t say it’s desperately important. I not… don’t do an awful lot now. Well, it’s interesting. Something you can pick up, drop down. And you don’t have to… The finished product takes a long time, but to finish, make it, but it’s okay. No other reason.
CJ: C… Can you tell me a bit about the, the Sew What group?
IM: Well, it’s…
CJ: How long’s it been going?
IM: Oh dear, how long! Oh I, I can’t, I can’t remember exactly. We’ve been going about 15 years at least, 15 to 20 years. And … we s… I think before I joined or they used to make things just for Christmas. The older ladies used to make an up… they’d have a Christmas fair. ‘Course when you get a lot of younger people they have other ideas and then we … met I think it was once a week. Not, not once a week, it must have been once a month, and we were able to… We had pe-people come and give us a, a, a talk about quilts, and quilts seemed to be getting popular in the area, and … that’s, that’s how it started.
CJ: People gave you talks?
IM: Yes on a pattern. We’d have a… We ha… We had, I can’t remember exactly, shops that were selling … selling g… material for quilts. They’d come, send somebody out and was prepared to give you a talk. And then as people were beginning to get interested in quilting, there was always somebody in another quilting group that would come and give you a talk, about the patterns and all the rest of it. Anyway, it worked.
CJ: So, did you learn different techniques from different people then?
IM: Well, I d… I think technique is the wrong word isn’t it? It’s a question of putting them together, and you’ve got an idea in your head and… The-These are hexagons in this quilt now. Well hexagons together there’s only one way of doing ’em is sewing ’em together and just make a pattern. Patterns vary.
CJ: Mm. Mm. I noticed you’ve got a border ’round the edge.
IM: Well, it finishes it off doesn’t it? If you’ve got a border you’ve got… it finishes off the quilt.
IM: Yeah.
CJ: How hard is it assembling the whole thing? This is a really big quilt. How hard is it to put the whole thing together?
IM: Well you, you… Well you, you just do a motif, I call it motif or the… you know square one at a time. That’s, that’s not an easy job… there, but two ladies to help you and you’ll soon get them together and you can carry on from there!
CJ: So do people usually help each other to put them altogether then?
IM: Oh yes, yeah, they, they, they’re very kind. They help. They help me. I went to the… I had to go down to the dentist, and they knew that I was trying to put my pieces, my … together. When I came back, after I’d been out for about half an hour to three-quarters, there was my… they, they had all had a go and they’d pinned ’em together waiting for me to sew them up. Very kind of ’em.
CJ: That’s very lovely.
IM: Yeah, it’s all right. It’s a m…
CJ: What, what other kinds of patterns have you used for your quilts? Are they all done with hexagons?
IM: No. No, I can’t remember. Can’t remember. One, one of my… One of my grandchildren, he wanted black. I said, ‘You ca… I can’t put black in.’ But I did keep him happy. Put strong colours. He liked strong colours. He liked red, bright red, green and black, that was, that was all of ’em. And he obviously likes… He didn’t want these pale, delicate; he just wanted strong colours.
CJ: So you listen to what your family want rather than using books to decide on?
IM: Oh no, we use, we use both, books. Sometimes I don’t give ’em any choice. I just make it and… they… they’ve, oh, they, they always seem pleased with what I’ve done.
IM: I don’t, I don’t [laughs] go and check up and see if they’re still using ’em.
CJ: I notice you’ve got some lovely cushions, Iris, that are very different in their quilting.
IM: Ah, they’re … the Ch…
CJ: What did you use for those?
IM: Chinese. My son-in-law, he went to China, and he… he, he thought of me and he bought all those patterns, mater… the material back. And they’re really only… They’re a bit flamboyant for a, for a bed don’t you think?
CJ: [Laughs] Yes.
IM: So I made cushion covers. He brought. He had a good choice ’cause he, he brought me a ba… a black background, look there’s a black background, and then the gold, gold with a bit of blue. And the red, the lady in red, that was… Anyway. I just… I thought, ‘Oh, well what am I gonna do with this,’ and I thought, ‘Well, cushions, that’s what I’ll,’ so that’s what I did.
CJ: They’re lovely.
IM: Mm. I do… I… It’s a t… It was… The material came from China ’cause he was, he was working in China at the time.
IM: Yup.
CJ: So these… Oh, each pattern is very different isn’t it on your main quilt? Each one.
IM: They’re all… It’s… It’s the sa… it’s the same, same f… si… same size. They’re not different. They look different because of the different colours!
CJ: Mm.
IM: But if you look at that one, no.
CJ: Do you recognise what this fabric is from?
IM: No. No. It looks… Looks like school dresses. Just plain cheap… squares.
CJ: Mm.
IM: No, as I say … y… if you look it’s all, it’s all, it’s all put together exactly the same.
CJ: Mm. So it’s got a mixture of just hexagons and squares?
IM: That that’s the same as that. That’s the same as that there. No. And the… You get the impression they’re all different just because of the different colours but they’re not!
CJ: Mm.
CJ: Even when you do the borders, even… is this hand sewn as well, the border?
IM: No, I expect they mat… That’s machined. Always put… look inside.
CJ: Oh.
IM: No, I can’t.
CJ: What’s this for, this hole in the…
IM: Oh, that’s a bit of material. I had to sew a bit of material in. They hung it, they hung it up in church when they want… had an exhibition in church and they put a rod in there.
CJ: In there.
IM: And that’s what I had to… Yeah, that’s right, the rod went in there, to hold it up.
CJ: And did it stay in the church?
IM: No, only, only when we had an exhibition. Something was on [noise]. That’s right, that’s where the rod went in. I was wondering how we, how we, you know, sh-showed it off, and that that’s what it was, a rod. I really have to have it cleaned now I think. Been going for a while. Yeah, comes out there. And that was I don’t know in… I, I never mended that. I should have.
CJ: When you had the exhibition in church were there lots of quilts or was it different things that were exhibited?
IM: Yes. Yeah, toys. Toys that some people had made and, and must have been some coming up to Christmas. So. And if anybody had made a small quilt, a baby’s quilt, I don’t know, yeah ’cause everybody did different things.
CJ: Well I’m sure Lauren will love having this one. I’m glad to hear she’s well enough to enjoy it.
IM: Yeah well, looks as if I’ll have to have it cleaned!
CJ: How would you clean it, Iris?
IM: I’ve no idea!
CJ: Dry clean it?
IM: I think I’d better I think. I wouldn’t want to wash it.
CJ: No.
IM: No.
CJ: Oh, thank you very much, Iris.
IM: Okay.