ID number: TQ.2016.031
Name of interviewee: Maureen McIlwraith
Name of interviewer: Diane Byrne
Name of transcriber: Take 1
Location: Maureen’s home
Address: Birmingham, West Midlands
Date: 24 May 2016
Length of interview: 0:14:32
Summary
Maureen’s ‘Scrappy Flower Quilt’ was based on a picture she saw in a magazine and incorporates applique flowers made from scrap fabrics she had. She describes making the quilt, stitch-in-the-ditch quilting, and being involved in making charity quilts. Later she discusses how she graduated from sewing household items such as bags and cushions to quilts.
Interview
Diane Byrne [DB]: Thank you for allowing us to come into your home and interviewing you Maureen.
Maureen McIlwraith [MM]: You’re welcome.
DB: Er, could you tell us about your touchstone please.
MM: My touchstone was made many years ago using scrap fabrics because I just love the mixture of small prints that we can get these days or that come from off-cuts of dresses and bags and all sorts. I just love to put them all together.
DB: That’s lovely. Could you describe sort of what colours you, you’ve got in your quilt?
MM: All of them I think, I wasn’t fussy about putting any particular fabric against any other. They just came out of my little box and were all joined together and likewise with all the petals of the flowers. The only consistent part was the background which was calico and the centres of the flowers which was yellow.
DB: And are the centre of the flowers all the same are they?
MM: Yes, they are, yes.
DB: Er, and what about the petals, are they all the same?
MM: The petals are all the same size. They’re formed over cards and ironed and then hand appliqued onto the background and then with the yellow circle on the top as a centre.
DB: Lovely. Um, how do you use your quilt?
MM: It’s on my bed [laughs].
DB: Um, how does it make you feel when you look, you look at your quilt?
MM: I still love to look at all the fabrics. I enjoy just looking at them and seeing them and remembering where they came from, that’s a great pleasure to me.
DB: Lovely. Um, you mentioned applique, could you explain to us, what applique is?
MM: It’s stitching one fabric on top of another fabric sometimes in a decorative form or, er, [laughs] [microphone noise].
DB: Um, you, I notice that sort of um, there is er, quilting on there. Would you like to er, explain about your quilting?
MM: The quilting on every other block was done with a variegated coloured [coughing in background] thread. The pattern was out of a book [cough], but it just fitted in with the little squares and I just felt it brought it all together with the mix of colours.
DB: Lovely and um, is it er, machine appliq… um, quilted or hand quilted?
MM: It’s both. There is some machine quilting in the ditch and the um, hand quilting is all round each flower and in every other square.
DB: Lovely. Um, could you explain in the ditch?
MM: In the ditch is stitching the line between one fabric or group of fabrics and another piece of fabric in the seam lines and stitching straight down the seam line.
DB: Thank you. Um, when did you first start making quilts?
MM: Er, actual quilts probably not straight away. I just used to do small projects and, and making big quilts was something I did when I joined a group many years later.
DB: So er, what did you do when you first started quilting?
MM: Oh bags, little, little purses, cushions, aprons, household things.
DB: Um, are there any other quilt-makers in the family?
MM: Um, my daughter-in-law’s getting very good at it. I’ve encouraged her but, and my mother used to sew but only, only as a necessity I think, just to make clothes for us children.
DB: Um, er have you been to any workshops or quilting courses?
MM: Yes I’ve been to a few. Er, sometimes the little ones they have in shows and sometimes bigger ones that we pay for, for an all day workshop.
DB: Um, and which do you prefer to do?
MM: The bigger ones, yes.
DB: What are your preferred er, techniques?
MM: Um, machine quilting, machine piecing for speed but I enjoy the process of hand work though I can’t do as much these days because my hands are a bit arthritic, but I just take pills [laughs] and carry on [laughs].
DB: What do you enjoy most about your quilt making?
MM: Um, seeing the end product of something made out of scraps or little bits that would otherwise be thrown away and I feel is, is really lovely.
DB: Is there anything that you um, you don’t enjoy?
MM: Um, sandwiching, sandwiching the layers together is a bit of a bind, especially if I have to do it on my own [laughs].
DB: Um, what technology do you use when quilt making?
MM: Um a good sewing machine [laughs].
DB: And er, do you um, do you always use your sewing machine? Is it, you’ve got one particular sewing that you use or…?
MM: Yes I have a, well I have two machines, both specifically for quilting, with the special gadgets and the platforms and the special feet, yes.
DB: Where and when do you quilt?
MM: [Laughs] Anytime, anywhere, when the necess…, when the necessity arises.
DB: How do you go about making a quilt?
MM: Oh, that’s the nice part, gathering all the fabrics together um, deciding on a design, gathering the fabrics and cutting out, is all, is all a pleasure to me.
DB: How much time do you spend quilt making?
MM: Um, it varies depending on what else is on my agenda, but it can be hours and hours and I can work into the night, get up early in the morning to carry on, if necessary. Then I might have a rest from it or just do small projects and other things that need to be done [laughter] [microphone noise].
DB: Um, do you er quilt alone or with friends?
MM: Both. Quite often alone when I’m in the house but we often get together, friends from the quilting groups that I go to and sit and do a particular project. Especially if it’s a charity quilt, something like that, we’ll join together and do it.
DB: Aw, would you like to explain about um, charity quilts?
MM: Er, charity quilts quite often are made small blocks by various members of a group of just friends. We put them all together and then when it’s finished, it is donated either to a charity for their sale or for what they want to do with it. Or we’ll raise money by selling raffle tickets to see if someone would like to buy it. And we’ve had over £100 donated in raffle money for two or three of the quilts that we’ve made.
DB: Oh that’s lovely. Um, what do you look, what do you notice when you look at other people’s quilts?
MM: Er, the design first, I love to see the designs um, um, I don’t take too much notice of the execution of these designs because a lot of people are very expert on joining pieces to the very, very best of, that can be joined and I just like to see a home-made um, quilt that’s, as obviously said something to the person that’s making it.
DB: What do you think makes a good quilt?
MM: [Sighs] variety, um, something new, some new design, something from the heart. You can usually see, I feel, that someone that’s put their heart and soul into a quilt for someone, it just seems to show, to me.
DB: Um, have you been to any quilt exhibitions?
MM: Oh yes, lots and lots [laughs].
DB: And have you ever had any of your work in an exhibition?
MM: Um, just once yes, I gave a little quilt to the Malvern Show, many years ago [laughs].
DB: Where do you get your ideas and inspirations from?
MM: From books, magazines, from shows, there’s always lots of variety especially now that we’ve got the very big show at the NEC in Birmingham. Er, I don’t know where everybody keeps getting their ideas from, but it’s wonderful to see and it does spark off my imagination in doing my own thing.
DB: What do you do with the quilts you’ve made?
MM: Give them away, most of them, either to the charities, to family, I’m sure they don’t want any more, but they keep getting them er, and um, I’ve got a few under the bed as well [laughs].
DB: What’s the biggest challenge that faces a quilter today?
MM: Um, sometimes I think it’s the cost because it can be expensive with the wadding and backing. You get the top free almost when you’re using scraps but then it is expensive to do, to finish it off sometimes.
DB: Why is quilt making important in your life?
MM: Because it’s creative and I’m that sort of person, I like art, I go to an art group as well and we did paint fabric for one of my quilts, at one of the art groups. So it’s, it’s an ongoing creative er, exploration for me.
DB: That’s lovely. Um, going back to um, your quilt, um, how many blocks are in, in your quilt, do you know?
MM: Depends on the size, of course [DB: No I mean your particular quilt.] Um, I think it’s twenty four, twenty four flowers and twenty five plain blocks, I think that’s how it works out. And lots of strips in between.
DB: Lovely, um, have you got a favourite block?
MM: Um, flowers, applique flowers are always a favourite. Yes.
DB: And have you got a favourite block in your touchdown quilt?
MM: Aw, um, no. Um, I love them all. They’re just, the variety is just, I remember some of the, the fabrics from long, long ago, some from my dress, some that I bought with my mum when we were out shopping many years ago er, some my friend gave me, oh there’s so many there.
DB: Do the um, do they, do the blocks have names or is it just as it [microphone noise] [pause]. Do you still buy fabrics or have you got um, er, sufficient in your collection of fabrics?
MM: I do have a lot in the collection but they tend to be smaller pieces, so if I need bigger pieces, I will go to the various outlets and shops that there are around for us now. I’ve even bought fabric online if I’ve seen just the right sort that I wanted [microphone noise].
DB: Um, how long did it take you to make your quilt?
MM: Oh, I didn’t actually time it, but it took a few weeks of sourcing the fabrics and just laying them out in a design that I enjoyed, that I thought looked nice.
DB: And er, why did you decide to do this quilt?
MM: I’d seen a picture in a magazine that was very similar and enlarged on that.
DB: So did you use a pattern or, or was it your own design?
MM: Phew, um, I suppose it wasn’t entirely my own design, only the fabrics used were mine, made it mine.
DB: Did you er, encounter any problems?
MM: No, I didn’t with this particular quilt. It went together very well.
DB: Lovely, and um, what, could you explain your backing fabric on it?
MM: The backing fabric, I bought from a show because it just seemed the right fabric to put on. It was a homely print and I thought ‘that’s just right for my quilt’.
DB: Lovely, I think that concludes our interview, um, thank you very much Maureen.
MM: You’re very welcome.