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The text is provided by each interviewee and is unabridged and unedited.
1) How do you prefer to be described as within the field of textile history?
If you have a business, please tell us
about that.
"I use the title Appraiser because this is currently my main
activity. I also enjoy teaching others about quilts, textile history, and
appraisal."
2) When and where did you begin your serious interest in the history of
quilts, textiles or garments?
"My card says " Quiltmaker - Instructor - Appraiser" in
that order because I began by making quilts. However, I was soon possessed and
began to read everything I could get my hands on regarding quilts and textile
history. This passion was discovered in a quilt shop in Poway. CA in 1982.
Several years later, the shop owner persuaded me to teach and I found I loved
it! Two years later, in 1987, I began to teach for our local community college -
a position I held for 14 years.
"In 1990, I decided to put the knowledge I had acquired to use as an
appraiser of
quilted textiles and took the skills course offered by The American
Quilter's Society. I was certified in 1991. The appraisal process is a challenge
I enjoy. Two years ago, I retired from teaching at the college to devote more
time to my appraisal activities and to Quilt San Diego/ Quilt Visions."
3) What “known” individual or group influenced you most and why?
"I was inspired by Jinny Beyer and her early books. I loved her use of
fabrics and methods of drafting patterns."
4) Who became your personal mentor as you began your learning?
"It would be impossible to mention all the individuals whose work I
have admired and been influenced by over the years. As an appraiser, I use the
information gathered and published by countless historians to identify textiles
brought to my table. I put their findings into practice."
5) What aspect of study were you most passionate about at first? How has
this changed over time and why?
"In the beginning, I was excited by the endless design possibilities
and what could be created with fabric within the format of the quilt. As I
studied the traditional quilt styles, I became more and more in awe of the women
who created the early masterpieces. Their skills still inspire me. At the same
time I was excited by the contemporary Art Quilt movement and pursued this area
of study with equal vigor. For me, the study of traditional quilts and textile
history provides a context and frame of reference from which to appreciate new
work."
6) What is your current “pet project”?
"I retired from teaching with a STACK of unfinished projects - the
students got to finish quilts in between semesters - I was already on to the
next class project. I am currently trying to finish some of these."
7) What aspect of your research or contribution to textile studies has
satisfied you the most?
"I have been involved with many aspects of our field from Instructor to
Appraiser to Fabric Designer. In the early 1990s my friend Dianne Ferguson and I
designed 5 lines of reproduction style fabrics (shown on the right) for South Seas Imports division
of MMFab. It is very satisfying to see antique fabric patterns from our
collections given new life and used both in traditional and non-traditional
ways.
"A nomination by my
students for Teacher of the Year sponsored by The Professional Quilter was
a great compliment and one of which I am very proud.
"I have just finished a
second term as President of Quilt San Diego/ Quilt Visions; producers of
the Visions quilt exhibitions, and a group I helped found in 1985. My
involvement with this organization, dedicated to the promotion of the
quilt as art, has been the most challenging. Editing the catalog for the
2002 exhibition has been one of my contributions to the field of
textiles."
8) Within this arena,
what would you like to do, but haven’t done yet?
"I would like to make more quilts!!!!"
9) Any further comments are invited.
"Appraisal is a challenging field but one that offers many
satisfactions. The appraiser never knows what is going to be unfolded on
the table. The entire process from examination of the item,
identification, market research, to the writing of the final report is
like putting together a puzzle. In addition to the family treasures,
equally interesting are the stories behind the quilts and quiltmakers.
Each textile has a story to tell. I never get tired of the quilts and
the stories!"
Please describe (in a list) the contributions you have made via
books, exhibits, presentations, contests, articles, fabric lines,
research papers and the like.
Professional Affiliations
-
American Quilter's Society
-
American Quilt Study Group
-
Back Country Quilter's
Guild
-
California Heritage Quilt
Project - (former member, no longer active)
-
Canyon Quilter's Guild
-
Professional Association
of Appraisers of Quilted Textiles - Charter Board member and Past
President
-
Quilt San Diego / Quilt
Visions - Charter Board Member - Past President
Exhibition And Publication
History
My work has been exhibited in the following shows:
-
San Diego Quilt Show
-
Valley Quilter's Show,
Hemet, CA
-
Inland Empire Show,
Riverside, CA
-
Flying Geese Quilter's
Guild, Irvine, CA
-
Capitol City Quilt
Festival, Sacramento, CA, 1986
-
Show Case, Southern
California Quilter's, 1986 Quilt Market, Los Angeles, CA
-
San Diego Art Walk, April
1988
-
The 1989 Hoffman Challenge
Tour
-
Visions Community Quilt
1994 - Layers Of Excellence
-
The American Quilter's
Society Show, Paducah, KY, 1990, 1997,
Faculty Exhibit in 1996
-
Pacific International
Quilt Festival, Palm Springs, CA, 1996
-
Visions - 1996 -
Educational Exhibit
-
2001 Pilgrim/Roy
Invitational Challenge, Opening at the AQS Show, Paducah, KY.
-
Fiber Of Coronado - Quilt
Visions Members Invitational Exhibition -
Nov 2003, Coronado, CA
My work has been included in the following publications:
-
Quilter's Newsletter
Magazine:
May 1987 - "Beyond Providence"
Nov/Dec, 1987 - "The Holly and The
Ivy"
Jan 1988 - "Charmed Ogee"
Dec 1994 - "Layers of
Excellence" - The Visions Community Quilt
-
Traditional Quiltworks
Nov/ Dec 1989 - "Julian Pine
Tree"
-
American Quilter
Winter 1993 - "Imprint Of an Earlier
Era: Authentic Prints" by Dianne Kernell
-
Quilt Challenges - c. 1991
- Betty Boink Publishing.
-
The Classic American Quilt
Collection - One Patch. 1995. Rodale Press, Inc.
-
Fast and Fun Machine
Quilting - c.1998 - Rodale Press, Inc.
-
Design Essentials - c.1998
Lorraine Torrence - That Patchwork Place, Inc
-
American Quilter - Winter
1999 - "Whole-Cloth Techniques By Machine"
by Julia D. Zgliniec
Publications
Quilt
Visions 2002. Edited by Julia D. Zgliniec.
Published by Visions Publications. San Diego, CA
Quilt Visions Web page: http://www.quiltvisions.org
Julia,
you stand out for me in this field because you
have immersed yourself and your talents in both ends of quilt history
spectrum: from antique and arty to appraising and teaching. I have been
to Vision's exhibits over the years. The art quilts exhibited have
enthralled and enlightened me, offering hours of viewing pleasure. The
exhibit jury picks a wide variety of styles and techniques that grow and
change each time. Visions is on exhibition every other year in the
winter months, in San Diego county. To me, it's like the West Coast
version of Dairy Barn or Quilt National.
My
stash of reproduction fabrics is meant to be saved as a record of our
quilt history first, and used secondly. Your and Dianne's fabric line
was one of the early reproduction lines to come out for quilters. It was
so exciting to see them in the stores and on my shelves! Over the years,
I have acquired quilts and tops with fabrics that match your line. I
have seen one of the fabrics (the fifth one down) made into a dress at a
museum exhibit on pioneers, and also made into men's shirts for sale in
a CA retail shop.
Thank
you for all you have done for the quilt world. May 2004 bring you time
to quilt! |
