Top of page

Audio Recording "This quilt I gave to my grandson."

"This quilt I gave to my grandson."

About this Item

Title

  • "This quilt I gave to my grandson."

Names

  • Johnson, Geraldine Niva, 1940- (Interviewer)
  • Stanley, Lura (Creator)
  • Stanley, Lura (Interviewee)

Created / Published

  • Laurel Fork, Virginia

Headings

  • -  Gifts
  • -  Quilting
  • -  Quilt patterns
  • -  quilt tops
  • -  quilt lining
  • -  quilt binding
  • -  star quilts
  • -  wishing star quilts
  • -  Ethnography
  • -  Interviews
  • -  United States -- Virginia -- Laurel Fork

Genre

  • Ethnography
  • Interviews

Notes

  • -  Lura Stanley was interviewed on September 28, 1978, at her home. Geraldine Johnson described Mrs. Stanley's quilts as "truly exquisite." She grew up on a farm and learned to quilt as a child, worked as a school teacher, and now makes quilts for herself and her family. She also has some older quilts which she bought at auctions. The highlights of this interview include Mrs. Stanley's comments on individual quilts as they were photographed.
  • -  Transcription: LS: This is the Wishing Star, is what I call it, the Wishing Star. And it has, right much quilting on it. / GJ: It sure does. It's beautiful. This is the Wishing Star. It's done in blues. What kinds of fabrics are those? / LS: Well, the middle of that square is cotton. Those calicos, those prints are cotton, but the outside is poly woven polyester, because I couldn't get a blue that, I couldn't find any cotton that would match it, and that was all I could find. I made that quilt last winter. / GJ: Oh, you did that / LS: That last winter. And it's hard to find cottons. And, but I prefer cottons to anything else, but it's hard to find 'em sometimes. / GJ: Now what kind of quilting is that in, in the, in the white blocks? What do you call that pattern? / LS: I call it the feather, feather wreath, is what I call it, but it may have another name. And, I filled in the center, you can, you can have different ways of doing it. You see, I blocked the center of it. Instead of making it, the feathers on both sides of the circle, I blocked it in. Little faster. / GJ: And you used a printed back on this one? / LS: Yes, I used a printed back to, so my stitches didn't, you, you make longer stitches on the back than you do your front. And, the long stitches don't show up quite as much. Maybe I should say the longer stitches doesn't show up quite as much on a printed back. And I thought the printed back went well with the, with the front, too. Most of that front is plain material, so a printed back I thought looked well with it. / GJ: And then this time you turned your back up to the top when you finished. / LS: Yes, I used it as the binding. / GJ: Why did you do that? / LS: Well, it was convenient, [laughter] and I was trying to finish two quilts for Christmas presents, and, and that had a nice border on it, and so that was a, easiest, quickest way to do. And it makes a nice border, to do that. / GJ: It surely does. Now who does this quilt belong to? / LS: This quilt I gave to my grandson. For, for Christmas. For his Christmas gift. I didn't have the, those squares finished when I gave it to him, but I quilted around the, the stars, and had everything finished except that big square there. And I told him, says I hadn't finished it but I would give it him, and get it back and finish it. And that's why I have it. I finished it but never have given it back to him. But he lives close by. He knows where it is. [laughter] / GJ: He doesn't worry about it. Is blue his, one of his favorite colors? Is that why you chose that for him? / LS: Well, yes and no. I thought it suited a man better than pink.
  • -  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-R108

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.

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. 

More about Copyright and other Restrictions

For guidance about compiling full citations consult Citing Primary Sources.

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, Lura Stanley, and Lura Stanley. "This quilt I gave to my grandson.". Laurel Fork, Virginia, 1978. Audio. https://www.loc.gov/item/qlt000220/.

APA citation style:

Johnson, G. N., Stanley, L. & Stanley, L. (1978) "This quilt I gave to my grandson.". Laurel Fork, Virginia. [Audio] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/qlt000220/.

MLA citation style:

Johnson, Geraldine Niva, Lura Stanley, and Lura Stanley. "This quilt I gave to my grandson.". Laurel Fork, Virginia, 1978. Audio. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/qlt000220/>.