Phase II Thoughts, Ideas – Margaret
Bingham
Research Question:
Even though not supported by
the huge commercial enterprises of today, the art and occupation of
quilting
activities were a vibrant and vital part of women’s lives, practically,
recreationally and socially in the 1950’s and 60’s.
- Survey Questions:
Demographics information:
Name:
Birth year:
Gender:
Current address:
Resident state(s) in 1950 – 1969:
1.
When did you start quilting?
2.
Did you learn from:
- a relative,
- on your own
- or did you attend formal
classes?
NOTE: multiple option replies
(radio buttons)
3.
Did you piece the tops only or did you
quilt the
layers and finish the piece?
4.
Were there any specific types or styles
of quilts
you liked and made?
5.
Specifically after 1950, what were your
sources of
fabric?
- Did you use scraps you already
had?
- Did you buy new fabric?
6.
Did you share your fabrics?
7.
Specifically after 1950, what were your
sources for
patterns?
- Did you use shared or
- Published patterns?
8.
Did you quilt with a group or alone?
9.
Were there organized quilting functions
or events?
10.
What
did you do with your quilts after completion?
11.
Why
did you quilt?
Second set of questions related to motivations:
12.
How
does the process of quilting make you feel?
13.
What
purpose does the process of quilting serve in your life?
14.
When
you complete a quilt, try to describe your sense of completion.
15.
What
purpose do your finished quilts serve?
One of the fundamental research decisions that must be made
is whether this research will be strictly historical related to the
past
activities or current related to current quilting activities or a
combination
of both. Distributing a version of this
survey to current quilters would use the same avenues.
The questions would be modified to reflect a
current time frame.
By combining survey research of both past and current
activities, there may be interesting comparisons possible, valuable to
understanding the art and the industry currently supporting it. This may also shed light on the social aspect
of guilds and how they fulfill several needs for the members – the need
of
belonging, acceptance, sharing their work, praise and evaluation of
their
handiwork. My concern is that this would
produce such a volume of information as to be beyond the scope of a
master’s
thesis.
- The survey could be distributed in
many ways: through guilds, emailed to shops and friends for
distribution; setup online survey with newsgroup notification.
http://www.quiltchat.com/
- Compilation of the resultant data
could be done in a spreadsheet format. There
may be some quantitative data derivable from birth years and locations. Most, however, would be anecdotal and
descriptive.
- There may be some opportunity to
orally interview some respondents to develop even richer data.
- Literature to peruse:
- Title:
Quilting as age identity expression in traditional women
Author(s): Cheek
C, Piercy KW
Source:
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AGING & HUMAN DEVELOPMENT 59 (4): 321-337
2004
- Title: “It Says You Really Care”:
Motivational Factors Of Contemporary Female Handcrafters
Author: Joyce Starr Johnson,
Laurel E. Wilson
Source: International Textile
& Apparel Association (23) 115-130 2005
- Title: Quilts as Material History:
Identifying Research Models
Authors: Elizabeth Richards,
Sherri Martin-Scott, and Kerry Maguire
Source: Uncoverings 1990 149-163
- Contact Professor Cheek at Penn State. While
most of her research appears to relate to age issues rather than
quilting & handiwork, much of her lit review would be worthwhile to
investigate.
- Participant Observations
With long-standing quilting groups
to determine how the group continues to thrive, how it has changed over
the
years, what the individual members value in the group.
Casually and verbally ascertain some of the
survey answers. This would enrich
current data the social aspect of quilting motivations.
From a historic aspect, the life cycle of a
group, especially spanning the 1950’s & 60’s, would be a
fascinating
component to the research.