Quilters' S.O.S- Save Our Stories Reaches a Milestone

June 29, 2006

Louisville, Kentucky, June 29, 2006 - Quilters'S.O.S. - Save Our Stories (Q.S.O.S.) has reached a milestone of more than 500 transcribed interviews of quiltmakers and photographs of their quilts. Q.S.O.S., one of oral history projects of The Alliance for American Quilts, can be found by visiting the Center for the Quilt Online , www.centerforthequilt.org. The project was begun in 1999.

"These stories are important for they encapsulate, into one compact package, information, knowledge, context and emotion about quiltmaking today," said Karen Musgrave, one of the co-chairs of the project. The interviewees include quiltmakers of every type, from those who simply dabble to those who are professionals. This extensive online resource consists not only of the transcribed interviews but a newsletter, an extensive manual on how to conduct a Q.S.O.S. project of one's own and a place to ask questions. All of the work is done by dedicated volunteers. The goal of the project is to create, through recorded interviews, a broadly accessible body of information concerning quiltmaking and make it available through the Internet. To ensure that all aspects of those involved in quiltmaking are represented last year the Q.S.O.S. Task Force conducted a study of the interviews to identify any gaps. The Task Force has also put together a list of the top 100 quiltmakers who need to be included. These are the focuses for this year's interviews.

Q.S.O.S. was designed to be simple, inexpensive and inclusive. The format can easily be adopted by organizations and individuals eager to document the personal stories of quiltmakers in their communities. Each interview runs approximately 45 minutes. The quiltmaker to be interviewed is asked to bring a"touchstone object" that she or he considers significant, preferably a self-made quilt. The interview unfolds from observations and questions about the touchstone object, which provides a consistent point of reference. Interview equipment and techniques are easily acquired and used with minimum training.

This project of The Alliance for American Quilts works in partnership with the Regional Center for the Quilt at the Center for American Material Culture Studies, University of Delaware.

The Alliance for American Quilts, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, uniquely joins people who love, study, collect, and make quilts to ensure that our nation's great quilt heritage is documented, preserved and shared at the Center for the Quilt Online , www.centerforthequilt.org.

For information The Alliance for American Quilts, visit the Center for the Quilt Online, or contact The Alliance (502/897-3819 Mon- Fri 9-6 Eastern).

CONTACT:
Karen Musgrave, Marketing and Communications Director
The Alliance for American Quilts
(502) 897-3819 (telephone and fax)
www.centerforthequilt.org

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