With it being the Houston International Quilt Festival this weekend, we thought we would bring you a Quilters' Save Our Stories (QSOS) that was recorded at the festival over twenty years ago. This story from the Quilt Alliance's program features Velda Newman as "she explains her design process, including studying, sketching, and creating enlarged patterns of her natural subjects." One such enlarged pattern discussed is her quilt Sunkissed, which measures 5.5 feet x 14 feet, and was also featured when she visited us on The Quilt Show.

What are Quilters' Save Our Stories interviews you ask? "Quilters’ S.O.S. – Save Our Stories (QSOS) is a project of the non-profit Quilt Alliance. The project creates, through recorded interviews, a broadly accessible body of information concerning quiltmaking, both present-day and in living memory. Our archive for the original audio recordings and photographs is the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. QSOS volunteers from across the country conduct and transcribe these interviews. We appreciate their generosity of time and dedication to the project!"

From Quilters' Save Our Stories and the Quilt Alliance:

"Velda E. Newman was interviewed in 1999 at the International Quilt Festival in Houston, Texas. She explains her design process, including studying, sketching, and creating enlarged patterns of her natural subjects. Newman also presents her use of dye and paint, and her careful handwork, to achieve her design goals. Her earliest experience as a quilter is shared, as well as her working style, time management, family, and art education."

Click Here, or the image of the quilt below, to hear Velda's story.

See Sunkissed and learn from Velda by watching her in How to Paint a Quilt and How to Add Dimension to a Quilt with Velda Newman.

(Quilt: Sunkissed by Velda Newman - Photo by Gregory Case)