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Audio Recording Interview with Fannie Lee Teals (17 August 1977), Tifton, Georgia, quilts and other aspects of her life

About this Item

Title

  • Interview with Fannie Lee Teals (17 August 1977), Tifton, Georgia, quilts and other aspects of her life

Names

  • Robinson, Beverly J. (Collector)
  • Teals, Fannie Lee

Created / Published

  • Tifton, Georgia, August 17, 1977

Headings

  • -  Folklore--Georgia
  • -  Field recordings
  • -  Interviews
  • -  Sound recording
  • -  United States -- Georgia -- Tift County -- Tifton

Genre

  • Field recordings
  • Interviews
  • Sound recording

Notes

  • -  Side A: part 1 of a 2-part interview with Fannie Lee Teals, Tifton GA: about Teals's quilts; says there is "no pattern, just in my mind, I just thank the Lord that I have that mind at this age"; Bicentennial dress that she designed and made; discussion of where to photograph the quilts; Teals talks about some of her quilts and their history, one is made cut from knitted material; Teals designs them herself, learned to quilt when she a child; Bicentennial Quilt, also made from scraps; about red, white, and blue quilt with circular motif; Teals ideas, "everything you see is out of my mind, I was just beginning to think when I was a girl how my mother used to piece different quilts, it has just come to me, and I had one or two [quilts] of hers, they were all worn out but I took her handwork and used it as I lived, I learnt when I was very, very young, I always wanted to learn to do very good things"; the pieces "was given to me, when they give them, I put them in a sack and keep them separated because I had it in mind to do [the circular design], I gets to piecing, singing, praising God, it makes me happy"; Teals fan [pattern] quilt, a favorite, her mother obtained the design, made from scraps, "this is one of my mother's hand work, it was raggedy, torn up, and I looked at it, I wouldn't throw it away and I just drew the picture from that quilt, [then] I just sat down one day and I put it together, you see in the older days like that [during her mother's time], their mothers pieced quilts by the fireside, I really just couldn't tell where she got it from but I got all this hand work from her"; Wheel of Fortune Quilt, idea related to the television show, Teals comments, "I got this from the fan, and I sit it down and paste them together and see if I could make that round wheel, and making that round wheel, I said, now next time I can do me a bit better, I ain't got as many pieces in there as in this one because I was just taking patterns from my own mind, all this comes from folks giving me [pieces?] after I quit work, it's pieced up by [sewing] machine but [the] quilting is hand work"; about the Odd Fellow, "the cream of my crop, I just love to piece beautiful quilts as far as my knowledge, I'm glad I can get somebody else to see them"; Teals draws an analogy between her and little fish out of the water in terms of how long it takes to do a quilt; Teals shows example pieced and quilted entirely by hand, pattern with six sides, Teals Flower Garden Quilt, so named "because it has so many beautiful colors and it looks more like flowers in it"; the price for quilts if she sells them, sells most of for about $15, sometimes to groups for $8 or $9, those quilts would not be as complicated; comments on young girls who don't know how to quilt, saying "I was raised with quilts, I don't have a blanket in my house, I just don't want them, because I'm smart enough to piece quilts and I gets the joy out of piecing them as well as looking at them, I really enjoys them because it inspires somebody else, young people ain't got time, they like to do they thing just like older people like to do theirs [smile] but I think they wasting more of their time than anything else, you see I ain't wasting no time and I'm glad to know I got that grip in my crawl (craw?) to really do the work"; about the originality of her designs and how ideas come to her; she used to cook at the Tifton jailhouse, has been quilting after working for 20 years; the log states that the interview is interrupted briefly; intermittently during the recordings, fieldworker Robinson takes photographs; other things Teals enjoys, gardening and quilting, about designs and how wonderful it is to have "that mind," adding that "the Lord sent me here"; Teals says that one of the things she likes to do best is giving; Robinson is heard saying good-bye, then returns.
  • -  Side B: part 2 of a 2-part interview with Fannie Lee Teals, Tifton GA, fieldworker's log indicates that one of Mrs. Teals's friends joins them during this recording: Mrs. Teals explains about her use of a single frame when quilting, nobody taught her but how it came to her and she does not use horses (sawhorses?); about the Singer sewing machine that Teals has had since 1929, she paid $2.00 for it, photograph of sewing machine at call number AFC 1982/010: 6-17617; Mrs. Teals was born in Randolph County GA, lived in Moultrie GA, and has lived in Tifton since 1933, duration of recording 12 minutes.

Medium

  • audiocassette

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Call number: AFC 1982/010: AFS 21131
  • MBRS shelflist: RYA 0969
  • Field project identifier: GA7-BR-C28

Source Collection

  • South-Central Georgia Folklife Project collection (AFC 1982/010)

Repository

  • American Folklife Center

Digital Id

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 or 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.

Researchers or others who would like to make further use of these collection materials should contact the Folklife Reading Room for assistance. Rights assessment is your responsibility. The written permission of the copyright owners in materials not in the public domain is required for distribution, reproduction, or other use of protected items beyond that allowed by fair use or other statutory exemptions. Permissions may additionally be required from holders of other rights (such as publicity and/or privacy rights). Whenever possible, we provide information that we have about copyright owners and related matters in the catalog records, finding aids and other texts that accompany collections. However, the information we have may not be accurate or complete.

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Credit line: South-Central Georgia Folklife Project collection (AFC 1982/010), 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:

Robinson, Beverly J, and Fannie Lee Teals. Interview with Fannie Lee Teals 17 August , Tifton, Georgia, quilts and other aspects of her life. Tifton, Georgia, 1977. Audio. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc1982010_afs21131/.

APA citation style:

Robinson, B. J. & Teals, F. L. (1977) Interview with Fannie Lee Teals 17 August , Tifton, Georgia, quilts and other aspects of her life. Tifton, Georgia. [Audio] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc1982010_afs21131/.

MLA citation style:

Robinson, Beverly J, and Fannie Lee Teals. Interview with Fannie Lee Teals 17 August , Tifton, Georgia, quilts and other aspects of her life. Tifton, Georgia, 1977. Audio. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc1982010_afs21131/>.