Q.S.O.S. Volunteer Spotlight
By Evelyn Salinger
May 27, 2011
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Left: Q.S.O.S. Volunteer Evelyn Salinger photographed for her 2004 Q.S.O.S. interview with Ruth Duncan.
Thoughts on Q.S.O.S.:
Little did I know when I received a notice from the Virginia Quilt Museum (VQM) that they were presenting a gathering about Quilters' Save our Stories, in June of 2002, what my involvement would be. I had always intended to write up my quilts. Each quilt has its story: the fabrics, the design, and for whom is the quilt. And each person doing the quilting has a story: What influenced the quilter in the choices made, what was going on in that person’s life, and what was going on in the world at the time of the quilt.
So, when Le Rowell (MD), Bernard Herman (U of Delaware) and an assistant told us about this project at the meeting at the VQM, it struck me that it was not my story, but that I was being recruited to find out other people's stories. I never was good at expressing myself verbally, let alone knowing how to ask pertinent questions, and while I was listening to the answers, formulating the next questions. But I decided to try. It so happened that at our next meeting of Cardinal Quilters (CQ) in Alexandria, Virginia, we had a guest quilter, Viola Canady, the founder of the Daughters of Dorcas (D of D) in Northeast DC. I asked her if I could do a practice interview, just twenty minutes, at our meeting. She agreed. So I lugged my old recorder and microphone, and we became spellbound as Viola, a real storyteller, spoke. Even after we turned off the machine, the words kept coming. Two years later I finished the interview! Read part one and two of Viola Canady's Q.S.O.S. interview here.
In the meantime, with Ruth Duncan, we tried to document the active members of our small group, Cardinal Quilters. Ruth was involved with every interview, as scribe, then transcriber, as the editor of my transcriptions, and a few times as the interviewer. She had an interest in genealogy which is why we included some background if people wanted to tell it and their maiden names. We started with the founder, Beth Ford, and then continued with the elder ladies in their upper eighties. We have also done three interviews in memoriam with input from other members. See all 14 Cardinal Quilters Q.S.O.S. interviews here.
At Penny Rigdon's suggestion, (she is a member of both CQ and D of D as well as one of the original members of (NQA) National Quilting Association), we interviewed Thelma Barr, a longstanding active quilter from the NQA from Dale City, and I traveled to Maryland to interview our oldest interviewee at ninety-five, one of the founders of the National Quilting Association, Margaret Todd. Margaret died the following year, and it was a major part of her memorial service that the family told of the interview she had had for this project and how this really validated all those years of her devotion to the NQA.
Quilters gathering together because of our shared interest in quilting seldom get to know much more about each person. We have found that by these interviews, with a copy to the guild for anyone to read, that we began to bond together more and enjoy each other even more.
After almost completing the project at the Cardinals, I began to interview the ladies and one gentleman from the Daughters of Dorcas and Sons. Each interview has been delightful and interesting. Again, I tried to focus on the most active and the eldest members first with a couple in their upper eighties. Each person interviewed really appreciated our interest in her/his life. And I think this has made for a stronger group feeling. In 2010, I interviewed seven more members of the active and younger/newer members of D of D. Browse all 29 Daughters of Dorcas Q.S.O.S. interviews here.
In February, 2006, I bid farewell to Virginia/DC and moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico. I still do travel back and forth a few times per year and visit my quilt groups there. Although I declared that I would not do more interviews but instead work on my UFO's, I soon was drawn in by the stories of the quilters in my small group at the Bear Canyon Senior Center. So I began again to interview the Bear Canyon Quilters (New Mexico Q.S.O.S).
Each interviewee has been so appreciative of our interest in her passion of quilting. I find that each interview by these ordinary quilters (non-professionals) holds some gem in her/his words. The funniest spot goes to Renee Lessner (Cardinal Quilters Q.S.O.S.) from May 2005, when she stated, "Oh, I got banned from quilting in bed." Internet connections, when family members were doing genealogy, came from the interview by Joyce Frashier (The New Mexico Q.S.O.S.) and united family members after a generation of separation. And we all share the predicament of Shirley Hodge (Daughters of Dorcas Q.S.O.S.) when she "rented a storage unit" for her fabrics!
As the interviewer, I feel that I have benefited the most. It has become much easier to think what I want to ask and to follow up on the answers. I feel closer to many people that I only knew a little. And the stories of people's lives are so varied and interesting. I hope this project does help some future researcher. Read Evelyn's own 2004 Q.S.O.S. interview with fellow Cardinal Quilters member Ruth Duncan.
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