On Sundays we have been featuring interviews from the Quilters' Save Our Stories (QSOS) program from the Quilt Alliance. Now Deb Josephs, the Quilt Alliance office manager of 16 years, wants to share some of her favorites that might have been missed the first time as the QSOS program celebrates its 25th anniversary next year.

From the Quilt Alliance:

"A note from QA office manager Deb Josephs:

I’ve been the Quilt Alliance office manager for 16 years and have recently been working with the Quilters’ Save Our Stories (QSOS) team to help migrate our interviews to a new platform. Next year will be the 25th anniversary of the QSOS project and our goal is to have every one of the more than 1,200 interviews public on our website by 2024 as we transition the interviews to a brand new platform. I’ve read so many interesting stories about where quilters were when they were interviewed, why they chose that particular quilt for the interview and what techniques they used to make their “touchstone quilt.”

For instance, Elizabeth Byrom was interviewed by email on July 3, 2009 while living in Paris. Her quilt that she called Sweet Tater Blossoms for Judy House was so important to her because it was for the Walter Reed Hospital where her friend was being treated. In her interview she talked about living in Paris with her husband and the differences she had found between American and French quilters.

Thomas Martinez, who was interviewed in Federal, CO on March 7, 2008 took 18 months to create a quilt for the International Order of Odd Fellows. His lodge was called Odd Fellows and Rebekahs. Thomas had to chase down his quilt for the interview because it was raffled annually and the winning lodge would display it for a year. Thomas was only 31 years old at the time of the interview and talked about his love of quilting that had begun at age 11.

I especially loved the interview in Dixon, CA on December 16, 2008 with Marie Villaneuva whose quilt is called Garfield Watercolor because one of my six year old twin grandsons is such a Garfield lover. Marie described this seven-year project for her son which showed Garfield as a wizard as a watercolor quilt made up of two-inch squares. And, she talked about how she felt when she used the fabric the husband of a quilter had generously offered her guild after his wife had passed away.

Hand dyed fabrics. Machine-pieced. Traditional quilting. Quilt history. Reclaimed fabrics. So much is discussed and recorded in these interviews. Please go to our website and meet both well-known and not so well-known quilters who have been interviewed over the years. And, if you’d like to become a part of the QSOS team, let us know. We’d love to have you join us.

You can read hundreds of stories like the one Deb describes online at qsos.quiltalliance.org. If you’re interested in helping copy transcripts and other interview information to the new QSOS website, let us know via this interest form. You don’t have to be a computer pro, just comfortable navigating around a webpage, copy and pasting, and switching between browser windows. You’ll get to find your own fascinating quilt story snippets as you work. Thank you!"