Interview with Shirley Johnston Shelly, February 13, 2004

Interview Summary

Shirley Johnston Shelly begins by sharing her childhood, education, and career background. Shelly says the first time she saw quilting was when she was in high school. Her friend's mother had made a quilt for her twin beds that were in patchwork style with Nine Patch at the bottom. Shelly was inspired by the beauty of the quilts and eventually had worn them out. Once she retired, she got involved with the Cardinal Quilters. She mentions that quilting gave her a hobby, and she learned how to quilt from meetings and workshops from the guild.

Shelly describes the quilt she has brought to the interview, a Log Cabin-designed wall hanging with autumn-like colors. The quilt is strip quilted and strip pieced. A few years later, Shelly became a bobbin lace maker and took classes at a church. Once she learned how to make lace, she added strips of plain Torchon lace to the quilt. Her quilt has been shown in quilt shows. Shelly talks about others' quilts she has bought from quilt shows and auctions.

Shelly was vice president of Cardinal Quilters twice, and then president for two terms. She says that people that completed projects were given a moon or star as motivation for people to quilt. She taught Crumb Piecing and make a basket. She was a historian for the Virginia Quilt Documentation Research Project and had to document all quilts she could find in Virginia. She would train others on how to document quilts as well, which included photography, identification, and description. She found quilts from the Civil War and possibly the Revolutionary War period.

Interview Keyword

Quilting community Quilt design Fabric choice Quilt guilds Hobby Fabric - Printed patchwork Log Cabin (quilt pattern) Strip/string piecing Design walls Quilt shows/exhibitions Home sewing machines Quiltmaking classes Color theory

Interview LC Subject

Quilts Quilting Quilting--Patterns Quiltmakers Quilts in interior decoration Strip quilting Log cabin quilts Virginia Quilt Museum Museums Quiltmaker's club Quilts--United States--History--20th century.

Interview Rights

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Interview Usage

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