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Audio Recording "I couldn't let nobody have my pattern."

"I couldn’t let nobody have my pattern."

About this Item

Title

  • "I couldn't let nobody have my pattern."

Names

  • Johnson, Geraldine Niva, 1940- (Interviewer)
  • Todd, Zenna, 1916-2012 (Interviewee)
  • Todd, Zenna, 1916-2012 (Creator)

Created / Published

  • Ennice, North Carolina

Headings

  • -  income
  • -  Ethnography
  • -  Interviews
  • -  United States -- North Carolina -- Ennice

Genre

  • Ethnography
  • Interviews

Notes

  • -  Mrs. Todd started making quilts for her family to use when she was 25. She teaches quiltmaking and makes quilts to sell through a local shop to supplement her income. Geraldine Johnson described her as "a bubbly, enthusiastic person who would be a natural à interpreter of Blue Ridge quilts." This interview includes good information on the economics and practice of making quilts to sell, criteria for selection of materials to use in quilts, and how quiltmaking has changed over time.
  • -  Transcription: ZT: Well, Mrs. Yates has talked about it and also at the Rooftop, and I've had people up at the Trading Post talk about it. You know they like for you to, and I'll tell you something else about a lot of your craft work. If you can get a design or pattern or something that you can do, and you don't need to let everybody else have it. Now this swan pattern that I crocheted by, I've had that I guess for twenty-five years. I've had that, yeah, and I ordered the thing and made it, and I never did make another one. And then I got to thinking about it, and I thought, well, I'll make another one. And, I couldn't find the thread, couldn't find the heavy thread. And, Mrs. Berry come up here and I, I finally run on to enough thread to make one. And I said, do you think you can sell this? She says, well I don't know why not. She says, crocheting is coming back. People's a-looking for that. She took it down there and she sold it, and she called me and had a order for five or eight more. And, I said to her, I said, The thread's going to be my problem. I said, I've been a long time trying to find thread to do that. You have to have heavy thread, you know, real heavy. And, she says, well if you can get the thread, says, now we want that many. And, so I kept a-trying and I got hold of some more and kept making. Now then she wants about a half a dozen more. And that's, and said to me, she says, well now if you can't do 'em, would you mind letting me have the pattern? Says, I know a lady, that could do 'em. I said, no, I couldn't let nobody have my pattern.
  • -  For rights information please contact the Folklife Reading Room at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.afc/folklife.contact

Medium

  • Sound tape reel : 7 in.

Call Number/Physical Location

  • AFC 1982/009: BR8-GJ-R102

Source Collection

  • Blue Ridge Parkway Folklife Project Collection (AFC 1982/009)

Repository

  • American Folklife Center

Online Format

  • audio

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress believes that some of the materials in this collection are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions, and are therefore free to use and reuse. For example, the fieldwork in this collection is in the public domain in the United States.

However, the Library has obtained permission for the use of other materials, and presents additional materials for educational and research purposes in accordance with fair use under United States copyright law. For example, some of the recordings contain copyrighted music, and not all of the performers and other individuals who were recorded signed releases for public use of their work.

In addition, the American Folklife Center and the professional fieldworkers who carry out these projects feel a strong ethical responsibility to the people they have visited and who have consented to have their lives documented for the historical record. The Center asks that researchers approach the materials in this collection with respect for the culture and sensibilities of the people whose lives, ideas, and creativity are documented here. Researchers are also reminded that privacy and publicity rights may pertain to certain uses of this material.

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Credit line: Blue Ridge Parkway Folklife Project collection (AFC 1982/009), American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Johnson, Geraldine Niva, Zenna Todd, and Zenna Todd. "I couldn't let nobody have my pattern.". Ennice, North Carolina, 1978. Audio. https://www.loc.gov/item/qlt000091/.

APA citation style:

Johnson, G. N., Todd, Z. & Todd, Z. (1978) "I couldn't let nobody have my pattern.". Ennice, North Carolina. [Audio] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/qlt000091/.

MLA citation style:

Johnson, Geraldine Niva, Zenna Todd, and Zenna Todd. "I couldn't let nobody have my pattern.". Ennice, North Carolina, 1978. Audio. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/qlt000091/>.