ID number: TQ.2015.019
Name of interviewee: Margaret Strathdee
Name of interviewer: Avril Clark
Name of transcriber: Take 1
Location: Margaret’s home
Address: Grange Keith
Date: 19 April 2015
Length of interview: 0:25:41
Summary
Margaret introduces her quilt, Rosebay, which is made up of different blocks that she then designed how to put together using graph paper. Later she talks about hand and machine piecing, and explains the Mola work of the Kuna Indians.
Interview
Avril Clark [AC]: Talking Quilts ID number TQ.2015.019. Interviewee Margaret Strathdee. Interviewer Avril Clark. Location at Margaret’s home in Grange Keith. And today’s date’s 19th April 2015. Margaret, the quilt you’ve brought along today, called ‘The Rose Bay’, perhaps you could tell me a bit about it, maybe, starting with maybe the colours, and…
Margaret Strathdee [MS]: Yes, it…the colours were, mauves and, reds, and, for the background, pinks, soft greens and beige. The designs for it were different for each block and all done on graph paper, and arranged to be put together using this graph paper.
AC: What about the size of the quilt, what, si, size is it?
MS: It’s, it’s almost 90 is it? 90, 90. It turned out a big quilt, the fillin’ in between the blocks seemed to… centred up a bit in size, and but it, I thought it looked good when it was put together with fillin’ in blocks. And um…
AC: So the, the design, you had the blocks first, and then you, you finished off the design on graph paper. And … how, how is it pieced would you say?
MS: It’s pieced, just the usual patchwork for piecing, you know, with my machine, and each, each block is, has been done by machine, including the fillin’-in blocks which were big patches, you know. It was quite easily done, because to fill it out because there were big pieces to quilt.
AC: The… what about the, the sort of wadding, can you remember what kind of wadding you used in it?
MS: I think it could have been a wool wadding, because it was wool wadding I find is easily to quilt by hand, which I, you know, I quilted by hand, and it’s soft, and well of course it’s especially quite soft for, for hand stitching.
AC: What about your hand quilting patterns, h-how did you arrive at them?
MS: Well, I sort of drew it onto the quilt top, using sort of… I think it was, what do you call the… paper?
AC: Like tracing…?
MS: Tracing p-paper, and it, and used, I think I used pennies to create the, you know, the plumes of the, the feather designs. And drew it all on in pencil and from each corn… and the filling in, was just all fitted in, drawn in to, you know to make it, quilt it all together.
AC: Er, your hand quilting, you know, had you had previous experience of doing the hand quilting with these sort of designs beforehand?
MS: Yes, I’ve done, quite a bit in, this p-plumes and on a wholecloth quilt. And so I enjoy doin’ it, and it’s, comes easy, and I did it on a, a wide frame, rolled onto a frame, which makes it fine and easy to handle.
AC: Um, how, how do you use this quilt, or … had you any plans for it at the time?
MS: Well it, it’s a good size, it’s a, it’s a good size with a good drape over the bed…which I quite like, when you’re making a quilt, and this certainly gives me a good bit of, you know, to drape over the side.
AC: And how, how do you feel about it, this one in particular?
MS: Well it was, different blocks, were all different, each one, and by the way of, arranging them it was away from the usual, sampler quilt block, quilt, and, I just liked the idea as using different blocks put together.
AC: Perhaps you could tell me when you first started making quilts?
MS: Well, I first started making quilts after being shown the…at, at an evening class how to put together this American style of piecing, which was in the 19, the late 1980s, and once I started with this, it was just endless seeing this blocks and how it, you know, started putting them together and the effects, and the…and books, and I found in all the different blocks that you could do with this, and then when you put them together which often created a new pattern, and it was just a, a wonderful introduction, and I met this, so-called at the time American quilting.
AC: From there… did you keep going with the evening classes, or did you, move on to, other, things?
0:07:23 MS: Our class finished, so, our teacher, she was … had a quilters cla… group, and I joined in there, and, enjoyed what I saw, and the company, and in-introduced me to a whole new world of quilting, patchwork and quilting. How to put them together, books, magazines, and then go…went onto exhibitions which was just wonderful.
AC: Are there any other quiltmakers in your family?
MS: No, I… no quiltmakers, but…
AC: So you were the sort of first in your family to do it?
MS: I have no quilts that belong to any, an-ancestors or anything. But they all stitched in, bygone days, out of necessity, and, and a little bit of fancy embroidery, but that was about it.
AC: What, what are your sort of preferred styles and techniques with patchwork and quilting?
MS: Well, I still like the, piecing, just the way that I was shown, but also this foundation piecing on paper, which is exact, very exact, and, once I got a… going with it I started enjoying it, especially for the, you know, the stars, anything like that, it, it was, I needed small pieces, and I just went on and on from there. I think that was about it.
AC: So, so the foundation piecing, a lot would, of that would be done by machine. Do you piece by hand as well?
MS: Oh yeah, we as, I mean from the start I did a lot of piecing and I did quilts by hand, the whole thing. But well, I found that it wasnae quick enough, your mind was going and seeing all these patterns and the, the hand stitching wasn’t quick enough, and although it was relaxing, but once I got the hang of the machine it was just so much, you know, it’s exact and made a good job, so enjoyed.
AC: So do you th, do you still feel that about, or have you reverted back to hand piecing more?
MS: Yes, I’ve had a, er had if I hadn’t anything in and much going on, I still enjoy piecing by hand. But if I’m doing a quilt that I would like to get on with it and do it, I just do it on the machine.
AC: Yeah. What technology, or do you use any technology when you do your patchwork and quilting?
MS: Very little, it’s just, I’m nae into the computer at all, I just haven’t mastered that. I feel as if I’d too long to learn, and… but I’ve got plenty to do with just, with the magazines and the, and, you know, going to exhibitions and seeing what’s goin’ on there, and having a look, that’s, that’s fine for me.
AC: You’ve been quilting a long time, and you’ve mentioned a couple of styles already that you’ve, worked with, like wholecloth quilting, and foundation piecing. Are there any other areas, that you’ve covered fairly extensively as well?
MS: Yeah, it’s I, found a book on mola work. Mola work is done by the Kuna Indians, out in the San Blas Islands of South America, and I thought their work was just wonderful, and the, the, just their patterns, and I started, you know, doing some of the simple ones. And, well, they were never bigger, big pieces because they stitched them onto the front of their dresses, and it was a good way of using up all your little scraps, and, it was nice to sit and do it with a little bit of stitching, hand stitching, with the telly and, and creating all these colourful de-designs. Which I think is similar to what you call reverse appliqué, because it was, was cut in holes and put in a colour piece of fabric, underneath, and, well, it goes on and on.
AC: What sort of size for your mola work did you do, did you keep them small, or…
MS: I did, sometimes for a start I did small ones to, just practisin’ the little shapes, and shapes I made up myself. But, you know, the ones similar to mola, the, the mola and the Kuna Indians’ ones were maybe about 16 inches square, or thereabout, and, I have, I, I do have a couple of the ones that, were for sale from the Kuna Indians, and I bought them at a, a quilt show, just to, to have a closer look at what, how they were doing it, and I think they’re just, you know, is just so interesting and wonderful to…I mean they, out there they at one time did this for barter, you know, exchange for their food and their, and that and, it’s just a good story, I enjoyed doing the patterns on that.
AC: You mentioned that you had picked the… some, of the mola panels up at shows. What shows have you visited?
MS: Well, the ones, the mola pieces I bought were Birmingham. It was a lady for Austria, it was, funnily enough that was selling them.
AC: And have you… had you visited Birmingham, a couple of times, or…
MS: I’ve been three times in, in at Birmingham. Great show.
AC: What about up in Scotland?
MS: Oh, yes, in Edinburgh, the shows there… almost went every year. Havnae been down, down lately, but enjoyed them, enjoyed them all, because there were sometimes lovely exhibitions of well-known quilters there, and it was good to view their work.
AC: What about exhibiting yourself, where have you exhibited?
MS: Well, yeah, I’ve been… I think we were down at, yeah, Stirling at one time, and Loch Lomond. And, well on the, all the local, our own local exhibitions. May be sometimes in Aberdeen, we did, and maybe Inverness I don’t… but, no, it was, was fun.
AC: So where, where do you do all your quilting, and when do you do your quilting?
MS: Well, it’s just any spare minute, in, especially if I’m really into something, it’s in the back of my mind all the time… to get a, a bash at it in a spare minute. A lot of, sometimes hand stuff, do when I’m watching telly, and just at any time and…
AC: Do you have your machine set up all the time?
MS: Yeah, ah ha, ah ha, yeah.
AC: So like a, a sewing room, or a…
MS: Oh, I have a sewing room. It’s, it’s not very big, so therefore it’s a battle to have it tidy, well, tidy enough to spread them out, you know what I mean, and it… but it’s better than having to shift your machine when it comes to supper time and all that. No, no chance. [Interruption].
AC: How, how do you go about your, how do you go about making a quilt?
MS: Well, it… I have an idea perhaps, and then a choice of fabric.
AC: What about inspiration, where…
MS: Right, well, colours, sometimes I’ve looked at, you know, flowers and the colours in gardens, and colours that go together, and, and the…and then, well, of say a pattern that might suit what you have in mind. And, and then of course, looked to the stash to see what you have, and usually there’s a trip to the, to the fabric shop, cause there’s never enough. And that’s just about it, and…
AC: So… would you say you spend a lot on quilting, or…?
MS: I haven’t spent so much lately, cause I’m, I’m trying to use up, some of my fabrics I’ve collected and bought at sales, cause when it was, on a, in a bargain. But I find that to coordinate with some of the modern-day fabrics is difficult, but we usually manage to find something somewhere in my local, well, local shop, Inverurie, and Elgin, Veroniques in Elgin, and Rainbow, that’s our nearest, you know, or may be I shouldn’t say that!
AC: I know you’ve been a, a member of Speyside Quilters for a long time, can you perhaps tell me what, it means to you to be part of a group like that?
MS: Well, it’s nice to, to be a member of a group, to meet people with…that is, interested in, in the same as yourself. And, at the meetings we usually have a programme, something going on, and something, there’s always something new to be picked up. And, wer cup of tea, and we’d chat, and we just, nice to be socialising. And then, that’s once a month, but in between the next meeting we have a meeting which is, for charity work, like Linus quilts for, and quilts for charity, which is, I enjoy doing because it uses up some of our, pieces that we’ve, havnae completed, and will complete it for charity. And find it, it’s nice to be able to pass something on to somebody that would appreciate wer work.
AC: What, what do you look for in, or notice in other quilts? What do…what appeals to you in other quilts?
MS: At exhibitions? Well, it’s, looking at their colour, and, their, their choice of, choice of fabric, and also their, interest in, you, you know, their idea of pattern, and, also, whatever technique they’ve used in the doing of it. And the, the…usually the size, and, well, I think that’s about it, I don’t…
AC: What do you do with the quilts you have made?
MS: Well there’s some I’ve given away, to…if, if…it’s usually family members, or may be somebody; I’ve done knee, you, you know and lap quilts, for elderly folk. But you know, for folks that are sitting in their chair. Quilts for charity, but, but I have, some put on the top of the wardrobe for all that, taking up space, I don’t know. And some of them, they’re, are just, I like to keep for, a memory. And, you know I’ve enjoyed putting together and there’s just something special about them, so I hold on to them. And well the wallhanging type of thing, well, I’ve done quite a lot of them, and, and took to the…took part in, the competition work I suppose, suppose. And, it was amazing sometimes what turned out to be different that what you thought when you started.
AC: The… I… you had an exhibition of your own work at Speyside Quilters. How did you find selecting for that?
MS: Well, it, it was, it was quite easy once I got the idea of, just picking out the ones where I started with it… where I started all this, and just going on and on, and, and picking out pieces, as much as there was room for. It was quite an experience, a surprise, I just never thought I would, I would have this, but I a-appreciate it and look back, and that was a good time.
AC: So it was almost like a, a timeline of your, quilting experiences really?
MS: Yeah, yeah and, it was a… that was an enjoyable day, and, and realised how far I’d come when I saw things all hanging up, and it was of… there again, it’s a, sort of a trip down memory lane because that’s just what quilts are I think aren’t they, for some anyway?
AC: What is the biggest challenge you face as a quilter today?
MS: Well, you know, sometimes it’s using up the, the stash, you know of the fabric I’ve bought years ago, and looking at and, and then finding a, you know, a pattern to suit, and as I said, coordinating it with something that you’ve got. And, and also, the Speyside Quilters is a distance from where I stay, and it’s that driving at night. But, well, I’m sure that my driving has improved, or, or is better through attending the meetings than if I hadnae been attending the meetings [laughs].
AC: So, why is, why would you sum up, why is quilting important in your life would you say?
MS: Oh, yeah, yeah. Well, it, it’s something to look forward to, and keeps, keeps me active. And I’ve, as I said, keeps me driving, and, you know, I’m always looking for a new book, or something new, and somebody else’s work, and, I think it’s, it’s good for a… for me at my age anyway that I have this, you know, to look forward to.
AC: That’s great. Thank you Margaret. That’s super.