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• 1 2024-05-06T12:16:46-07:00 Sulphur Springs Home Demonstration Club 49 plain 1519599 2024-06-17T12:23:05-07:00

  The following interview with Stella Deakins Sherfey and Sandy Walker at the Sulphur Springs Home Demonstration Club, April 15, 1976, Sulphur Springs, Tennessee, was conducted by Richard Blaustein, a professor of Sociology and Anthropology at East Tennessee State University.  It is one of more than 600 recordings from the Broadside Television (T.V.) Collection at the Archives of Appalachia.
  
  Through grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, Tennessee Arts Commission, and private sources, Broadside produced a variety of programs on life in southern and central Appalachia in the 1970s.  Among the topics examined by Broadside were coal mining, energy and environmental needs and problems, land use, traditional arts, handicrafts, music, education, storytelling, aging and the needs of senior citizens, and regional history.
   

  At the beginning of this recording, Stella Deakins Sherfey (seated in the middle) talks about her family and life in Sulphur Springs. Born in 1897, Sherfey discusses the numerous changes in the Sulphur Springs area in her lifetime.  Stella is 79 years old and attended Sulphur Springs High School.   Sandy Walker (seated on the left) is Sherfey's niece.  Beginning at 7:20, the interviewer asks what they do for entertainment, Sherfey begins discussing that quilting bees were very common.
  
  
  Sulphur Springs Home Demonstration Club I (April 15, 1976), Broadside Television (T.V.) Collection, Archives of Appalachia, East Tennessee State University
  
  Sherfey:  We would gather in someone's home and quilt all day, and have lunch, and just have a party.
  Walker:  I’ve heard lots of people talk in the community about having quilting parties, during the day, then at night the men would come and they would have dinner and dance and music and all you know, in the community here. 
  
  Sherfey:  And lots of times they would have something called uh, a corn shucking, you know, in the fall.  The men would come in at night and shuck corn and the women would prepare supper for ‘em. 
  
  Interviewer:  Do you remember any customs that went along with the corn-shucking.  Was there anything to do with odd colored ears of corn.
  
  Sherfey:  Yes, there certainly was.  If you found a red ear, when they were shucking corn, why, I knew, uh, I’m not sure about this, but I believe the man or the boy that found the red ear of corn got to kiss his sweetheart. 
  
  Interviewer:  It’s a shame they don’t have customs like that anymore, but I guess _______ (08:30)
  
  Sherfey:  That has done away with.
  
  Interviewer:  When do you, how far back can you remember quilting bees?  How young were you when you went to your first?
  
  Sherfey:  Well, I don’t remember to many quilting bees until after I was married, when I was growing up I didn’t do very much of it, but I did my first quilting right after I was married.  And uh, my neighbor put up a quilt, over here, and I made my first quilt.  And some of the older ladies who lived here in the community came in and helped to quilt.  And I quilted two quilts that winter, and the ladies came in and helped quilt.
  
  Interviewer:  Can you remember the patterns they did by any chance?
  
  Sherfey:  Well now the first two I quilted were what they call comfort? You know you just bought the material and uh for the top and the lining you done pieces and put the quilt batting between the two, but it was a little while after I married before I pieced my first quilt.  And I can’t remember just exactly what the first pattern was I pieced, but I’ve pieced and quilted quite a few. 
  Other Interviewer:  Did you save any of the ones you worked on?
  
  Sherfey:  Well, most of the ones I worked on when I was young, they’re worn out.  You see we had to use so many quilts.  We just had an old fireplace, that was the only way we had to heat the homes, you know.  It took a lot of quilts to keep you warm at night, and of course, you had to wash them and that would wear them out you know, as well as using them on the bed.
  Other Interviewer:  How did you wash them?
  
  Sherfey:  By hand, if you’ll believe it. 
  
  Other Interviewer:  It was a big thing to tackle.
  
  Sherfey:  It was a big thing to wash.  It really was something hard to do, because we didn’t have washing machines till, oh, well, I can remember the first old washing machines I can remember, one that had a kind of a scoop like tub, and it had a, oh what did they call ‘em, a roller/rubber? That you worked backwards and forwards.  This was a thing that had a slotted thing that fit down in the bottom, and you did it like this, you know (motions her arm) backwards and forwards until you got your clothes clean.  Had to wring them by hand and everything.
  
  Other Interviewer:  So, you were strong women.
  
  Sherfey:  Strong women and uh, I can remember using the old washboard.  You’ve seen one of those.
  
  Interviewers:  Yes.
  
  Sherfey:  Using the washboard to wash with.  I’ll never forget one time I had put out a great big washing, that was right after we had built our home above Sulphur Springs.  And the yard was still, you know, didn’t have grass on it, and I put out this great big washing and the clothesline broke.  There my clothes went down in the red clay mud.  And you talk about, it wadn’t funny.  I could have cried.  I just had a great big was upon the line and had to wash everything over and it was something else to get that red clay mud out of everything.  You just couldn’t hardly get it out.
  
  Interviewer:  It seems to me that housekeeping hasn’t gotten a lot easier.
  
  Sherfey:  Yes, it has, but you know, we’ve got so many jackets now it keeps you busy
  
  Walker:  And also at that time, they didn’t have the cars, they weren’t able to go to be at meetings at a certain time, except maybe church on Sundays once a week was all that…
  
  Sherfey:  Once a month usually was all that we had church services.
  
  Walker:  So, you know they were at home all the time to work, and now we think we have to go, be here at a certain time, make this appointment at a certain time, and you don’t have as much time to work, you know.
  
  Interviewer:  I just wonder if some of these changes, you know, having cars and having, uh these other things have affected quilting?
  
  Sherfey:  I think so, but you know I believe there is a revival in quilting now.  A lot of the younger women who have never quilted are getting interested in it.
  
  Interviewer:  Well, why do you think that is?
  
  Sherfey:  Well, I just don’t know, uh, maybe it’s a desire to create something.
  
  Walker:  I really have a desire to learn to quilt because um, like for me, all the ladies my age really just had not, had maybe never seen a quilt quilted.  And they never seen the learning process.  I had seen it, but really you know I had never quilted myself until a year and a half ago.  And uh, I really wanted to learn so that this art wouldn’t die out.  As you say, we have this means of transportation and going here and there and instead of staying at home and working, and we have sewing machines to quilt, with by machine, you know, if we want to and uh, the art of quilting was really dying.  There just wasn’t that many people who wanted to uh, sit and quilt because it takes quite a while to quilt a whole quilt, you know, especially by yourself, and uh, I just really wanted to learn how so that I would know and I could teach my children and people around so that the art would not die.
  
  Interviewer:  Now what are your recollections of quilting when you were a young girl?
  
  Walker:  Um, I can remember by grandmother, and my great aunt having quilting bees, and I can remember watching them, but uh, you know, I had never quilted myself.  I was just at little girl, say the age of six or seven, and I had sewn, but I had never quilted.  This is the reason, that uh, I can remember the ladies meeting, they’d come in in the morning and uh, usually people would have to bring them because not very many ladies, you know, had their drivers license way back then, and uh, their husband would have to bring them, or someone would have to bring them, and lots of times, once in a while, they’d bring a covered dish, sometimes the hostess would have the meal cooked and they would just quilt all day until someone came after them, or until they had a way to go home, but uh never uh, I can’t ever remember having a party at night or anything like that.  Now this is just recollections of other ladies in the community, uh, speaking of the part where the men would come at night and they’ have supper and the music and the dancing, I don’t remember any of that, but they sure do. 
  
  Interviewer:  When was that uh, the celebration of the music and the dancing
  
  Sherfey:  Well, now I don’t remember too much about it.  I don’t have any recollection too much of that. Of course, now, that’s been several years ago.
  
  Interviewer:  Well, when do you think that would have been part of the community life?
  
  Sherfey:    I’d say at last 75 years ago.
  
  Other Interviewer:  So, like 1905 or something?
  
  Sherfey:  I just don’t, I can’t uh, remember any party like that, but I know that they’d have ‘em.
  
  Walker:  Some of the ladies, because they are younger than Aunt Sally, that remember quilting parties with the dancing and the music and uh, seems like there are a couple of others who remembered, you know, being there and their husbands being there maybe, or their boyfriends, their parents, their fathers, you know, but like I say, I have no recollection, just hearsay.
  Sherfey:  I believe that this partying and dancing must have gone on quite a while before I have any recollection of it.  And I kind of believe that it went along in different communities, I mean, some communities probably didn’t have it at all, while others did.
  
  Interviewer:  I was just wondering if uh, would the religious feelings of people have anything to do with it.
  
  Sherfey:  I believe it probably would because you know some religious groups don’t believe in dancing and things of that sort.  And, some don’t believe too much in partying and things like that, so, I think that that would have had an affect upon it.
  
  Interviewer:  Would you say this community played some role in the quilting tradition?
  
  Sherfey:  Yes, it did.  In our church, well, even before I was married, the ladies would make quilts for the church, you know, to sell, to raise money.   And right after I was married, they did it, uh, they’d meet every week and work on quilts, and when they got it done, they’d sell it, and give the money to the church, ‘cause you see women back in my time even, didn’t have much of a way to make money.  Their chickens and eggs and butter was the only way they had to make any spending money, and of course they uh…
  
  Walker:  Excuse me, One of the quilts that the church made, a Friendship Quilt, we do have it in our club, one of the lady’s had one, it’s kind of like a Crazy Quilt, and it has all the different people’s names in the community like, what did they pay, a dime?
  
  Sherfey:   You’d pay a dime to get your name put on it.
  
  Walker:  …to put your name on this quilt, and she has the quilt, you know, with lots of different names on each piece, there’s a different name on each piece. 
  
  Other Interviewer:  Does your church still do this?
  
  Sherfey:  Well, our church doesn’t do it anymore, but there are churches, over here at Fairview Church.  The ladies over there quilt every week.  And some of the, two or three times a week.  And they even uh, they go to the church, certain times in the week and quilt.  And then they uh, put up quilts in their homes and quilt for the church.  They are some of the most industrious women I’ve ever seen. 
  Walker:  There’s mainly about three, there’s different ladies, but there’s mainly about three ladies who do this all the time, you know.  This is what they’ve done for years and years and years and they’re super good quilters.  They’re really good.  They’re quilting is superb.
  
  Interviewer:  Now Sulphur Springs and Fairview can’t be more than three or four miles apart.  Now here in Sulphur Springs there has been a kind of slacking off of the tradition, but is now being revived.  Would you say it has been a continuous thing? 
  
  Sherfey:  No, I don’t think it has been continuous, but for the last several years they’ve been doing this, and they just get more work than they can do. 
  
  Walker:  I don’t know if they keep, uh, there is no, um, objective, right now in the club, is to teach every one that we can how to quilt correctly.  I don’t know that that is their objective, but they enjoy quilting, and they make money at quilting, and you know they do it to perfection, they’re really good at it.  So, therefore, they get lots of work because uh this is a means, one means of support for this group of ladies.
  
  Sherfey:  And then another thing, they give an awful lot of this money that they make to the church.  They have a loom in the church, and they keep a quilt up all the time.  And as the ladies have a little leisure time, they go quilt. 
  Other Interviewer:  Who do they keep quilting for?
  
  Sherfey:  People all over.  They just can’t keep up. So many people wanting them to do quilts.
  Other Interviewer:  Is it people like just a couple miles away, or…
  
  Sherfey:  Oh, no, from all over.  People that have heard of them, you know, and want them to do quilting.  Uh, they just did a quilt for my sister over here, she just got it one day last week.  Beautiful!  The quilt is just beautiful. 
  
  22:37
  Interviewer: Now there is another question that I have.  What…now you are a judge of quilts. 
  
  Stella Sherfey:  Well, I’ve not had very much experience at it.  I did go to Erwin last spring, and judged the Senior Citizens Quilt Fair.  They had a quilt fair.  And I went over there with one of the Fairview ladies and judged the quilts.
  Interviewer:  Are you judging these in Johnson City, too?
  
  Sherfey:  Tuesday, Tuesday we are going to be judging the Senior Citizens Quilt Fair up there.
  Interviewer:  What do you look for when you judge a quilt?  What qualities uh…
  
  Sherfey:  Well, uh mainly the uh stitching.  And the evenness of the stitching.  Now a good quilt, it doesn’t have to be just little tiny stitches, but they should be even, you know, every stitch the same length.  And another thing that you look for uh when you are quilting you pull your thread through, most people pull their thread from underneath, and you have to put a knot on that thread, you know, to make it hold, and you want to watch to make sure all those knots have been pulled between the lining and the top.  If you leave that knot on the bottom, why it makes your quilt look ugly on the bottom.  So you want to keep your stitches even and keep your knots all pulled through and make your designs in your quilt, you know for your quilting, and keep them even.  These ladies up at Fairview, they just have some beautiful quilt patterns on their quilts, and they’re just perfect when they get through with them. 
  
  Walker:  And another thing you look for, if you are piecing a quilt, each piece should be uniform, exact in size, and if you can imagine you know small pieces in a quilt, having each piece cut the same size so that it will go together uniformly and not be pleats and gathers.  That takes away from the value of the quilt.
  
  Sherfey:  Yes, And another thing you want to make your uh, when you are using different pieces, and different shaped pieces, you want to be sure that your seams all come right, I mean your seams come together.  You don’t want to have, like you’re putting two pieces together, you don’t want to have one seam way over here and the other one way over here.  You want to keep them together, or it’ll make a mess.
  
  Walker:  It’s not easy.
  
  Sherfey:  It’s not easy to do, no.  And cutting your pieces is not easy to either because you know sometimes you get ahold of some material that is kind of slippery and your pattern will slip on that and you don’t get it cut true, and if you don’t get it cut true you can’t have a perfect quilt at all.  That’s something else that you look for.  That your pieces are cut true.  So there’s quite a few things to look at when you go to judge a quilt.  How it’s finished up, whether or not it’s hemmed or bound, you know, a lot of people make their lining big enough, you know, so they’ll have enough left to, on the edge of it, to turn back over the top and make an edge.  That’s called hemming.  The perfect way to do it is to cut a bias binding and put around the edge of your quilt. 
  
  Interviewer:  Listening to all of that, there is a lot that goes into making a quilt.
  
  Sherfey:  There certainly is.
  
  Interviewer:  How long would it take a person to become, uh, to just have uh basically, you know uh..
  
  Sherfey:  Knowledgeable?
  
  Interviewer:  Knowledgeable or an expert at quilting?
  
  Sherfey:  Well, it wouldn’t take you too long, uh, if you had someone showing you who knew just how to put one together and everything.  Just anyone could learn in a little while. 
  Other Interviewer:  Have you been learning, Sandy?
  
  Walker:  Yes, I have.  Another reason that I really wanted to learn, I have two quilt tops from my husband’s family, you know, and uh, we inherited them, and I wanted to learn to quilt them.  That was my first quilt, you know, that I quilted. 
  
  Other Interviewer:          How long did it take you to quilt it?
  
  Walker:  Well, um, I quilted, two or three days by myself, and I had a quilting party, and I had, there were six ladies that came in to help, and then it took me a week after that to finish quilting.  And it sort of helped me, and Aunt Sally helped me a couple days, also, my teacher.
  
  Sherfey:  And you know she really learned fast, too.  She just learned real fast. 
  Walker:  It’s hard to get, you know some people try to get maybe ten stitches on a needle, and if you’ve ever tried to do that, I do good to get five. 
  
  Sherfey:  It’s really better to not try to put too many stitches on your needles, because uh, you can get it through so much better, you can get the needle to come through so much better than to have it just full of stitches. 
  
  Interviewer:  Is there any pressure to see how many stitches you can get on? Is there any rivalry?
  
  Walker:  Not with me!  I want it to look right, and so, you know, I can’t make it look right with ten stitches.  Lots of people, who maybe quilt a lot with each other and say, “Oh I get ten stitches, and I get nine, and I get eight.”  To me I’d rather it look right than get more stitches on the needle. But there is rivalry among some people.
  
  Other Interviewer:  Does it make any difference now that most people use a polyester batting instead of a cotton batting, about the number of stitches and the width of your rows.
  
  Sherfey:  Yes, I think it would make a difference because, uh, the polyester batting is so much easier to quilt through than the cotton batting.  And then, the polyester doesn’t pull apart like the cotton does, and you don’t have to quilt it as closely as you do when you’re using cotton. 
  
  Interviewer:  The modern quilts, the pieces seem to be bigger and the stitches seem to be larger.  I recall hearing that one of the reasons for having those small stitches on the old time quilts was because of that old fashion cotton batting pulling loose.
  
  Sherfey:  You had to quilt it closely to keep it from pulling apart.
  
  Walker:  And with the polyester batting, it’s thinner, it’s easier to wash, and the polyester batting will stack, whereas the cotton batting will knot up when you wash it, therefore, you don’t have to put as many stitches in your polyester batting as you would your cotton.  You wanted more stitches in the cotton so that there wouldn’t be cotton balls rolling around on the inside of your quilt.  So, the polyester wouldn’t ball up.
  
  Other Interviewer:  Have you been working a lot with like polyester materials?
  
  Sherfey:  I have. 
  
  Other Interviewer:  How does that compare with working with the older materials?
  
  Sherfey:  Well, I think the polyester is a heavier material than the cotton were and I think it’s a little harder to work with.