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Audio Recording "We use a worn-out quilt to pad that couch."

"We use a worn-out quilt to pad that couch."

About this Item

Title

  • "We use a worn-out quilt to pad that couch."

Names

  • Johnson, Geraldine Niva, 1940- (Interviewer)
  • Choate, Donna. (Interviewee)
  • Choate, Donna. (Creator)

Created / Published

  • Sparta, North Carolina

Headings

  • -  United States -- North Carolina -- Sparta
  • -  Ethnography
  • -  Interviews

Genre

  • Ethnography
  • Interviews

Notes

  • -  Donna Choate is an African-American woman who learned to quilt from her mother who was taught to piece quilts by the white family who raised her. Although at the time of the interview Mrs. Choate had not made quilts for several years, she describes the process, both as her mother practiced it and as she had done it herself. Mrs. Choate had made both utility and fancy quilts, for the use of her family, not for sale.
  • -  Transcription: GJ: Now the ones you use for everyday, what kind of patterns are they in? / DC: Why they're just everyday patterns, honey. They're wore out. There's one over there on that old couch. / GJ: Oh, is that right? / DC: Yeah. / GJ: Under the cushion there. / DC: Under the cushion and nothing to it but see it, I'll let you see the pattern of it. / GJ: Okay. / DC: Now that's a old quilt. / GJ: Look at that! Now, what's that pattern? / DC: Oh, good grief. / GJ: Look at that pattern. That's real interesting? What pattern? / DC: I don't know what it was. I think I saw the design in a newspaper. / GJ: That's a real pretty pattern. Kind of like star-like or something, isn't it? / DC: Now that's a old one. / GJ: And the other one you showed me was done in strips. Did you often do that? / DC: Yes, I did. I have did that too. Uh huh. But I don't have any real old, now this is the oldest piece here in this house. / GJ: Is that right? / DC: Yes, ma'am. / GJ: And how old is that one, do you think? / DC: Oh, my heavens. Ten or fifteen years. At the least. / GJ: Is that right. Ten or fifteen years old, huh? How come you keep it under the couch cushion there? / DC: Well, this couch, this couch doesn't have springs. I bought it during the depression when they wasn't a making now I don't want to hear this. Oh mercy. I bought that couch during the depression, when they wasn't making springs, just filling 'em with cotton or something like that you know. And, uh, that's filled with cotton. And it gives down, so I just sit on it. Sabe sits on that one, and now that one's mine. Fix me a bed over there at night, and I do a lot of reading. That's the reason my eyes are bad.
  • -  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-R94

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.

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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. 

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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, Donna Choate, and Donna Choate. "We use a worn-out quilt to pad that couch.". Sparta, North Carolina, 1978. Audio. https://www.loc.gov/item/qlt000046/.

APA citation style:

Johnson, G. N., Choate, D. & Choate, D. (1978) "We use a worn-out quilt to pad that couch.". Sparta, North Carolina. [Audio] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/qlt000046/.

MLA citation style:

Johnson, Geraldine Niva, Donna Choate, and Donna Choate. "We use a worn-out quilt to pad that couch.". Sparta, North Carolina, 1978. Audio. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/qlt000046/>.