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 The Meeting
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Introduction | The Meeting Place | Show & Tell | Quilt Events | Ask The Experts | Product Demo | Home |
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Meet
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It's a perfect match. Glendora enhanced this deep-toned pieced Lone Star with her appliqué variation of the traditional Wild Rose. "Lone Star with Wild Rose Appliqué" (45" square) is a fine example of Glendora's ability to expertly merge the two techniques. Watch for the pattern in Quilting Today, Issue 84. |
A family tradition continues
Although both of her grandmothers were quilters, Glendora saw their quilts
only after they had died. Saddened that the present whereabouts of the quilts is unknown,
she says, "I now realize how important it is to keep track of a family's quilts.
Quilts are an ancestor's direct and enduring communication, more personal and vital than
any family records. A quilt is the textile legacy of someone's life. This is especially
meaningful if that life is related to yours."
| A simple appliquéd border is the perfect complement to the pieced Sagebud block. Glendora's "Sagebud Quilt" (42" square) won a 1st-place award in a Marin Quilt & Needlecraft Show. Look for the pattern in Issue 87 of Quilting Today. |
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Glendora's mother taught her to sew, but she wasn't the one to teach her how to quilt. Her mother was a professional news correspondent who never made a quilt in her life. Speculating on why her mother might not have learned this family tradition, Glendora says, "A hundred years ago, sewing and quiltmaking were integral parts of life in every home. However, I grew up during World War II when women's roles changed dramatically. Leaving the home to work in factories and offices, women began to smoke cigarettes, drive trucks, wear slacks, rivet battleships and bring home paychecks. There was a period when homemade things were not fashionable. Fortunately, only one generation failed to continue the quilting tradition, so it wasn't too late to re-connect the threads of history."
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Glendora used just three coordinating fabrics in "Alphabet Quilt" (50" x 56"), her original sampler. |
Glendora went on to personally help preserve this country's quilting heritage, but not until nearly 30 years after the war. Her real interest in quilts was born primarily through her interest in antiques. While studying antique furniture, Glendora discovered vintage quilts and began collecting them as well. The more she learned, the more she was inspired to make a quilt of her own as a way of keeping her family quilting tradition alive. The year was 1973 and Glendora didn't know anyone who taught quiltmaking. So she read the only three books she was able to find on the subject. As she read, she found that her background in teaching geometry, and her drafting skills in making clothes, enabled her to teach herself basic quilt construction techniques. To this day, Glendora is a self-taught quilter with the exception of a single class she took on Seminole piecing.
| "Schoolhouse" (46" x 54") shows how Glendora modified a traditional pattern to give it her personal touch. She renovated the traditional Schoolhouse by adding a school bell and two-paned windows. Look for the pattern in Issue 73 of Traditional Quiltworks. |
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Passing on needle an thread
Glendora's skills progressed rapidly thanks to an aesthetic eye coupled with
ability to do precise piecing. She began selling her quilts to Mary Strickler's
Quilts, a San Rafael shop that was so-owned by Linda Reuther and Julie Silber (current
owner of Quilt Connection). During the time that Linda and Julie were researching and
curating a quilt show, Glendora managed their shop. There, she sold antique quilts along
with a few that she had made. When quiltmaking experienced a revival triggered by the
American Bicentennial celebration in 1976, Glendora began teaching quilting at
Studio I in Oakland. There, she met Gerald Roy, who
was teaching painting in a nearby classroom.
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Glendora used a dozen 6" blocks for "Sailboat" (37" x 45"). A sawtooth inner border and ocean-wave quilting in the outer border add to the jaunty, nautical appeal of this piece which was one of Glendora's patterns produced by Pilgrim/Roy Productions. |
The demand for Glendora's work grew. She filled orders from Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York. Although she hired four women to help with the piecework, she struggled for five years to earn a living from teaching and making quilts. Needing more income, Glendora took on a demanding administrative position at an Oakland law firm. During the 14 years she worked there, she curated and judged quilt shows. Glendora also continued to teach quilting one night a week at a fabric store called Cotton Patch. Teaching provided her with the discipline needed to remain adept at a medium she loved.
Now that Glendora is retired, she devotes much more time to quiltmaking. She teaches at Bittersweet, a shop in Boscawen, New Hampshire. She encourages her students to take their time, believing that the process is as important as the finished project. She begins by teaching students to draft traditional patterns, emphasizing the importance of this skill for working with blocks in any size. According to Glendora, "Just as a musician begins by learning the scales, I teach my students basic quilting techniques so they can go on to successfully make more complicated pieces."
| Glendora alternated traditional pieced blocks with blue squares that are filled with feather wreath quilting in "Pine Tree" (36" square). The pointed effect of a series of pieced triangles is echoed in the setting and border of this two-color quilt. A pattern for this quilt in a reduced size appeared in Issue 52 of Miniature Quilts. |
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Glendora remains passionate about teaching quiltmaking, saying, "We live in a mass-media culture, full of disposable plastic products. To decorate so many look-alike tract houses, we can buy whole-room settings of furniture simply by dialing the phone. In a world where it is difficult to maintain our individuality, quiltmaking enables people to leave a legacy and a testament to their creative expression." It's no wonder that viewers of Glendora's quilts, can sense a style all her own.
