The Quilts of Nancy Scoville Sartor
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Nancy was born and
raised in Missouri. She has a lovely lilt to her
soft-spoken Midwest speech She has the beauty of a porcelain Madonna. She appears
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be a simple country girl but is definitely not - she is a scholar. She has
degrees from Univ. of Missouri in painting and drawing and in cultural anthropology
with an emphasis in fabric and costume. Her scope of knowledge about quilting history is very strong.
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| Project History | Table of Contents | Interview |
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Foothills Websites: 1 and 2 |
Interview Questions |
Nancy's Quilts
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Red Bug Leaves
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Mr.
Blackwell
(front view) This is a quilted purse named after Joe and Nancy Sartors cal - "Mr. B". The back view is marlbed. This purse was done in a workshop at the Rown County Public Library conducted by Jennifer Reis.
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Mr. BlaBlackwell Purse (back view)
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Art Deco Flowers |
Cosmic
Particles
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Scrap
Abstract A wall hanging made from scrial from other people. The pieces are arranged with moon batiks in the backgroun.
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Fanastia
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Birds flying Over a Garden
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Bowl of Flowers
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The
Night Before the Full Moon |
Sprouts The wall hanging depicts the warmth of the sun bringing the sprouts to life. This was an early effort of Nancy's and emphasizes shapes rather then linear lines. |
Imari
Dresden This wall hanging won Honorable Mention in a Ashville, North Carolina Quilt Show titled "Dressed in Dresden" in the 1980's. It imitates Japanese fabric pattern and colors. |
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Silk
Flowers |
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Butterfly This wall hanging looks pieced but it is appliqued. The colors lavendar and royal blue and green are favorite colors of Nancy's in the past but are not so much favorites now. |
Christmas
Floral A decorative hanging using cutouts of holly leaves appliqued with yo yo flowers on a black backgroud. |
Several
Somebodies This wall hanging is made in a variation of the Log Cabin style. It is made from scraps left over from a two and a half day workshop done at a Carter Caves Quilters retreat. |
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Christmas
Floral |
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Interview Questions for quilters
How did you get into quilting?
` Do you have a history of quilters in your family – who?
Who taught you to quilt?
How many quilts have you made?
Why do you quilt?
Do you
quilt for a creative outlet, for social reasons or other.
Are you a traditional quilter or a modern
quilter?
Do you quilt by yourself or with a group?
What materials or
patterns do you use?
What kind of batting do you use?
What are your favorite fabrics? Colors? Patterns?
How do you pick out a
quilt pattern?
What quilting techniques do you use , snippets, stippling, others?
What equipment do you use? For quilting? For sewing?
Where do you learn new quilting skills?
Do you feel you must quilt – why?
Are you a member of a quilt guild?
What does quilting do for you?
Do you think quilting is dying out?
How
can we stop the quilting art from dying?
Interview
with Nancy Sartor for the
Foothills Quilt Trail of Rowan County Kentucky
How did you get into quilting, etc.: Nancy comes from a long line of quilters. Her mother and grandmother were always quilting. They also used other handicraft art forms such as crocheting, embroidery, tatting and knitting to make tablecloths and other household items. They primarily quilted for utilitarian reasons.
Nancy’s aunt started Nancy quilting when she was five years old. She taught her how to quilt a baby doll bed quilt out of feed sack. Eventually Nancy learned all the other handicraft skills from her family and uses them all in her wall hanging quilts. She has made many quilts, perhaps too many to count.
Why do you quilt: Nancy quilts for the satisfaction of seeing the end result and for the fun of actually doing the artwork. She likes that idea of having something to show at the end of the day. For that reason she quilts only wall hangings. The largest quilt she has made was coffee table sized. She also does wall hangings because it is an expression of her creativity that is not messy, smelly or overly time consuming. She does quilt for social reasons as well. She belongs to a group (stitch and bitch) of 6 quilters who meet once a month to work on their individual quilts. Their group does not critique or evaluate each other work. The group does not make quilts for charity. They share ideas and techniques and have become fast friends.
Are you a traditional or modern quilter: Nancy is a modern quilter. She uses beads, hand dyed batik fabrics, glitter and marbling for her wall hangings. She embellishes her art with appliqués and embroidery. She prefers bright colors, abstract prints and floral patterns. Nancy uses luxurious fabrics such as velvet and velour, and metallic ribbon but will use polyester if the color is right. Any fabric is used if it has the right texture and color. She uses both old and new fabrics. Nancy is particularly interested in historical fabrics.
She likes her art to evoke a feeling of originality as well as quiet inspiration. She doesn’t necessarily preplan her artwork. She lets her artistic eye tell her how to form the hanging in terms of color, shape and embellishment. Nancy says that during the 1970’s more fabrics became available supplementing the usual cotton used to make bed quilts and patch work curtains. Nancy’s stash of fabric is huge just like most quilters I have met. Quilters even “will” their fabrics to friends upon their death. Nancy says she will use it all at some time or another.
What quilting techniques do you use: Nancy’s art quilts are always done by hand. She doesn’t use a machine at all. She does use special embroidery needles and micropoint scissor, which have a 5-inch very sharp point. She also uses a glass top table to facilitate even stitches. She doesn’t use “stab” (up and down thru the fabric) stitching as often as gathered(?) stitching.
Nancy shares a studio in the Rowan County Arts Center in Morehead KY with another quilter, Linda Lowe. She stores her fabric and displays her art there.
Where do you learn new quilting quilts: Besides her quilting group, Nancy also belongs to Kentucky Heritage Society. She goes to the large Paducah KY Quilt show quite often to see new techniques first hand. She also buys and subscribes to quilt magazines.
3.
Quilt Mania
Nancy shares fabric with a woman in New Zealand. They send each other fabric avoiding the excise tax on purchased fabrics. Nancy particularly likes the aboriginal designs. It broadens both of their fabric collections.
Nancy is also aware of Internet based sources of quilting knowledge. There are listservs (groups of quilters who share information online as a group), websites on a large variety of quilting topics. Designing quilt patterns can be done using computer software. One is called Electric Quilt.
Is quilting dying out: Nancy is emphatic about quilting NOT dying out. The plethora of magazines and Interest resources attest to the vitality of quilting. Nevertheless, quilting is changing from a utilitarian skill into an artistic art form. Nancy says new techniques and equipment makes quilting into a multimedia art form today. Quilts are still made for utilitarian reasons but anything goes today in quilting. The practice of designing a quilt and having someone else quilt it is still done today as in past times. Morehead has a quilt shop called the Quilter’s Paradise, which uses long carriage sewing machines to quilt.
Email Nancy at: pecantal@hotmail.com if you would like to contact her.
The Interviews with Rowan County quilters have been sponsored by a grant from The W.Paul and Lucille Caudill Little Foundation Inc. to the Sheltowee Environmental Education Coalition for the Foothills Quilt Trail of Rowan County, KY.
