Interview with Carter Houck, November 12, 2001

Interview Summary

Houck describes the quilt she has brought to the interview, which is a remake of a 1930s quilt. She discusses the use of feed sacks in quilting and sewing. She talks about how she originally became interested in quilting. Houck began a quilt magazine for the Ladies' Circle Patchwork Quilts and spent twenty years working for them. It is because of this experience that she often gets called an "expert" on quilting. She says that she became an expert by learning how to handle, photograph, and research quilts. Due to Houck's expertise in quilting, she became a judge for quilt shows. Houck says she is part of two guilds, the Charlottesville Guild and the Crotez Guild. She has also made a quilt book of art for the Quilt Encyclopedia Illustrated. She says that it is not a how-to-quilt book, but a book that focuses on the beauty of quilts she photographed. She discusses trends in quilting. She talks about the importance of quilts in America, quilting's impact on women's history, and how quilt preservation has changed over time.

Interview Keyword

Fabric - Feedsack Quilt exhibitions/shows Ladies Circle Patchwork Quilts Magazine Quilt magazines Judges Female quiltmakers Female artists Gender in quiltmaking Gender roles Quilt purpose - Artistic expression

Interview LC Subject

Quilts Quilting Quiltmakers Quiltmaking process Quilters Quiltmaking Art quilts Artists Arts and crafts Craft and art Quilts--United States Quilts--United States--History--20th century.

Interview Rights

All rights to the Quilters' S.O.S. -- Save Our Stories (QSOS) oral history project, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred from the Quilt Alliance to the University of Kentucky Libraries. Please contact the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History regarding rights pertaining to individual interviews.

Interview Usage

Interviews may only be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.