Quilters' S.O.S.- Save Our Stories Surpasses 600 Interviews

April 27, 2007

Asheville, North Carolina, April 27, 2007 - In less than 10 months, Quilters' S.O.S. - Save Our Stories, a project of The Alliance for American Quilts, has added more than 100 interviews at the Center for the Quilt Online (www.centerforthequilt.org). The project began in 1999 and has been steadily growing and expanding. There are now more than 600 transcribed interviews of quiltmakers with photographs of their quilts online. The interviewees include quiltmakers of every type, from those who simply dabble to those who are professionals. "These stories are important for they encapsulate, into one compact package, information, knowledge, context and emotion about quiltmaking today," said Karen Musgrave, chair of the project.

In 2005, to ensure that all aspects of those involved in quiltmaking are represented the Quilters' S.O.S. - Save Our Stories volunteer Task Force conducted a study of the interviews to identify any gaps. Filling those gaps has been the main focus of the Task Force for the last two years. This year a modest grant from the Salser Family Foundation enabled 40 interviews of the mostly Latina cooperative quilt group Los hilos de las vida to be documented and included in the project. Interviews that are currently in process include interviews with a Polynesian-American quiltmaker, a Palestinian-American quiltmaker, Nancy Crow, David Walker and other involved in Ohio's art quilt movement. The Daughters of the American Revolution also continue to add interviews. In addition, The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. recently became the permanent archive for Quilters' S.O.S. – Save Our Stories interview materials.

This extensive online resource consists not only of the transcribed interviews but a newsletter, an extensive manual on how to conduct a Quilters' S.O.S. – Save Our Stores 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.

The Alliance for American Quilts is a national nonprofit member organization, committed to preserving and sharing the rich stories that quilts tell about our nation's diverse people and communities. The Alliance's Center for the Quilt Online, www.centerforthequilt.org, offers a wealth of free resources related to quilts and quiltmakers.

For information on The Alliance for American Quilts, www.centerforthequilt.org, contact Amy Milne, Executive Director (amy.milne@yahoo.com or 828-251-7073 Mon- Fri 9-5 Eastern). For more information on Quilters' S.O.S. – Save Our Stories, contact Karen Musgrave karenmusgrave@sbcglobal.net or 630.579.1024).

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