Quilting for Peace

 We are so lucky today to be a stop on the blog tour for Katherine Bell's new book, Quilting for Peace: Make the World a Better Place One Stitch at a Time. This lovely book, full of stories of hope from people who quilt for charity and patterns for projects is published by Stewart, Tabori and Chang. You can pop on over to STC Craft Guru Melanie Fallick's blog right now and join the Quilting for Peace campaign, and have a chance to win a copy of quilting for Peace for yourself! Otherwise you will find Quilting for Peace at your local bookshop or Amazon.

I will be reviewing the book for Sewn's Christmas bonanza later in the week so make sure you go and have a look for an excerpt from the book, piccies and all the low down, (sign up for the newsletter so you don't forget!) but in the mean time, here are ten questions with Katherine herself!

When did you begin crafting, and who taught you?

My mom taught me the basics of piecing and tying quilts eight or nine years ago, so that I could make a baby quilt for a friend's newborn.

What is your favourite kind of crafting?

Definitely quilting. I used to knit but I never managed to finish anything. I do love letterpress printing and bookmaking too, but I've been focussing on fabric for the last few years. And I love to bake - I think of baking as a craft.

What gave you the idea for Quilting for Peace?

I was inspired by an exhibition at the New England Quilt Museum about nineteenth-century political quilts, which reminded me of the first time I saw the AIDS quilt, as well as a newspaper clipping my mom sent me about the Sleeping Bag Project, a grassroots organization that makes sleeping bags for homeless people.  And when I saw the book Knitting for Peace, I knew that Quilting for Peace should exist as well.

How did you find out about the groups you have profiled?

I found out about almost all of them online. Qulters have been going online to find each other almost since the beginning of the internet, so nearly all the groups I profiled have websites. Some, like the Heartstrings Quilt Project, organise themselves almost entirely online. One exception is the Sunshine Circle, a quilting group in rural Iowa that started in 1912. Most of the women in the group are now at least second-generation, and they're in their seventies and eighties. I lived in Iowa for a couple of years, and while I was there the University of Iowa Press published a book about Iowa quilts by Jacqueline Andre Schmeal. It's gorgeous, one of my very favourite quilting books. Ther's a chapter in it about the Sunshine Circle and I called Jacqueline and asked if she could put me in touch with them.

Tell us a little about the process of writing the book. You must have had an interesting time collecting the stories about all the different organisations.

I talked to a huge variety of quilters, old and young, conservative and liberal, people who live in cities and rural areas, who’ve been quilting for decades and who’ve only recently learned to sew.   What was incredible was how much they had in common - they're all such generous, resourceful, witty people.  

Do you have a favourite story about one of the organisations?

The two stories I found both most heartbreaking and most inspiring were Barbara O’Neill’s and Don Beld’s. Barbara’s son died in combat in Afghanistan when he was only 19 years old. “When there’s a tragedy,” she told me, “you do what you need to do, and then you recruit other people to help you.” Within days of her son’s death, Barbara and her best friend began an effort to make quilts for as many veterans as they could, with the help of quilters all over the world. After his son died of AIDS, Don made a panel in his memory for the AIDS quilt. A few years later, Don began another grassroots quilt memorial — the organization he founded, Home of the Brave, gives quilts to the families of soldiers and marines killed in Afghanistan and Iraq.  

What authors/ designers/ artists do you find inspiring?

I love Japanese artist Yoshiko Jinzenji's work.  And I'm often inspired by Japanese fabric designers like Naomi Ito.   And the Gee's Bend quilters.  Seeing those quilts in person really changed my approach to quilting.  I just went to the Bauhaus exhibition at MOMA in New York - it was absolutely invigorating. Many of the students' assignments, Paul Klee's paintings, and the furniture were just as relevant to patchwork as the textiles.  

http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/303

What craft projects are you working on at the moment?

 I'm learning how to hand-piece and appliqué.  I'm hand-piecing little hexagons at the moment - I'm not sure exactly what they're going to turn into!  I'm also working on a couple of quilts for friends who don't have kids.  They've waited patiently while I've made quilts for all my other friends' babies!

Do you have any plans for another book?

I'd love to write another book, but I'm not sure what it will be yet.  

What is the one thing you hope people take away from Quilting for Peace?

Most of all I want crafters to know that by making things and giving them away, and by letting their opinions and worries into their quilts, they can make a real difference in their communites and in the world.  

Thanks so much Katherine, it was great talking to you! Don't forget that there will be more Katherine Bell at Sewn later in the week, look out for your newsletter and if you don't already get it, go sign up! Have fun..... :) 

Comments

[amy]

Lovely interview! It's a beautiful book! Mine has been residing by the computer for handy perusals. I think I'll have another look before bed.

[Gillian]

It's lovely to do things for other people. I especially like the continuity of the sewing circle that has been going since 1912.

Interesting, too, the causes that attract our effort. I wonder whether anyone is making quilts for widows and orphans in Afghanistan? If the world is to be more peaceful, Afghanistan needs to be lifted out of its dire poverty, and those women live miserable lives.

Here in Australia the charity Mahboba's Promise supports schools for orphans in Kabul. And clinics. Check them out here. http://www.mahbobaspromise.org/content.cfm?id=1610

[Gaynor Clancy]

Is there any way Australian quilters could do something like the Quilts for Valor described in the book?