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Pieces of Lifetime Bound into Quilts
Paula Mariedaughter’s Creations Blend Past, Present & Future

Paula Mariedaughter spent a lifetime gathering up the pieces that would become her quilts -- fabric, yes, but also memories, stories, adventures and the abandoned quilts that other women left unfinished. The resulting three-dimensional collages are not your grandmother’s quilts -- but don’t say that to Mariedaughter.

“Our grandmothers deserve all the credit,” the St. Paul resident asserted. “Everything I do is rooted in the skills our grandmothers had. They did incredible things without the time and tools we have. All my creativity comes from what went before. I’m just adding my own chapter.”

Fifty-five of Mariedaughter’s quilts went on display recently at the Arts Center of the Ozarks in Springdale, AR. It was her first one-woman retrospective, but she’s quick to say it wasn’t all about her.

“I wanted this to be a community event,” she said. “I wanted people to go away understanding that not all quilts are alike. Once you have the basic quilting skills, you can go off and do your own thing. It’s not about being limited to someone else’s pattern.

That could be the mantra for Mariedaughter’s life. Born and raised in Miami Springs, FL, she earned a bachelor’s degree in political science at Maryville College, a private liberal arts school near Knoxville, TN. When she couldn’t find a civil service job, Mariedaughter went to work as a flight attendant in Kansas City, MO, -- and her real-world education began.

It was 1969, and Mariedaughter soon discovered that women were not treated the same as men in the airline industry workforce. Pilots got in-flight meals, she said, but flight attendants didn’t. Pilots also got single hotel rooms, and flight attendants were expected to double up. Mandatory eight-hour rest periods were often reduced by weather and mechanical problems.

In short, she said, “I quickly realized how important a union was.”

It was the beginning of Mariedaughter’s lifelong passion as an activist and a feminist.

“Feminism was pivotal for me,” she said. “It opened my eyes to the fact that the world isn’t necessarily fair.”

The quilter’s history shows up in Mariedaughter’s quilts: “Union Made,” for example, is a reference to both the Independent Federation of Flight Attendants and the Kansas City Women’s Liberation Union.

Another of her quilts includes the text of the Equal Rights Amendment which, she reminds, still hasn’t become law -- and both quilts recall “that exciting feeling of sisterhood and connecting with other women,” she said.

Another, titled “Richmond 1895,” ties her family heritage to her modern art. “It’s the quilt I imagine my grandmother might have been making in 1895 Virginia.”

Oftentimes, Mariedaughter incorporates real pieces of the past in her new creations.

“‘Time Span’ quilts add my creativity to vintage quilt blocks or tops,” she explained. “There are many ways to honor our foremothers, but certainly finishing projects they had to set aside for unknown reasons would please them. I enjoy adding my own creativity to the original work. It pleases me to imagine some unknown quilter discovering one of my UFOs (unfinished objects) in the future and her choosing to add her own ideas to mine.”

Mariedaughter’s mother -- Marie, of course -- didn’t quilt. But she was a “fabulous seamstress,” her daughter said, “a stay-at-home mom who was a feminist in her own right” and a collector of fabric who passed that passion along to Mariedaughter.

“My father, Paul, carried home his gift of silk from halfway around the world in 1946 when he returned from his military service in the Philippines,” she remembered. “He brought two silk kimonos, one for Mother and one for me, his infant daughter. I have fond memories of shopping for cloth with my mother, of fingering it and oohing and ahhing over quality fabrics. I believe her enthusiasm for creating with cloth is one source for my lifelong passion.”

“I’ve always been a collage artist,” Mariedaughter added to explain her conversion to quilting. “I like scrapbooks. I like putting pieces together. I like the fluidity of fabric. And it’s all tied into my respect for women and my admiration for the endless creativity of women.”

Mariedaughter and her partner moved to 40 acres in Madison County in 1987, and they turned that creativity toward building a house -- with their own hands. Then, in 1988, she discovered she had breast cancer. It’s not a time in her life she chooses to discuss, but she will say that part of her path of alternative healing was adopting the “right livelihood” concept. She left behind her day job and started using flowers from her garden for dried flower crafting.

“I couldn’t make a living at it,” she said, but when she discovered quilting in 1994 -- well, she still wasn’t making a living.

“Now we have a Web design business, designing Web sites for quilt shops,” Mariedaughter said, “and I don’t have to try to make quilts that sell.”

Instead, Mariedaughter wants to make quilts that inspire. It was her hope that her quilt show at the Art Center of the Ozarks would be an avenue to bring quilters together and new artists to quilting.

“In the last 30 years, women in quilting have challenged the definition of art and the definition of quilt,” she said. “The idea most people have in their heads is a stereotype. There are incredibly elaborate quilts, fun quilts, statement quilts, quilts that have a dream embodied in them and quilts that tell a life’s story. As a quilter, you never know what’s right around the corner. It’s an adventure -- and I want that sense of adventure to rub off.”

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Artist’s Statement
“Our quilts are a reflection of who we are and where we come from. Often our ancestors did a lot more, usually working with a lot less.

I grew up living with a mother who loved fabric and loved creating with fabric. I have fond memories of shopping for cloth with my mother, Marie, of fingering it and oohing and ahhing over quality fabrics. I believe her enthusiasm for creating with cloth is one source for my lifelong passion.

The other major influence on my consciousness about creating with fabric was the emphasis on the endless creativity of women acknowledged by those of us involved in the Women’s Liberation Movement of the early 1970s. We were rediscovering the inventiveness of women and their desire to weave beauty into their daily lives—often by creating with needle and fabric.

The excitement of seeing each project unfolding, fuels my passion for piecing and quilting. When I start something I have a general idea of where I’m heading, but I’m constantly open to ongoing ideas and inspiration. It’s building without a blueprint. It’s vernacular building, that is, the building of the common people. I value my roots as an “untrained artist.” In fact, I have built my own house in this way. Yes, of course, I take classes, but I have no formal art training to unlearn. I am interested in the ideas and opinions of others who create. At the same time, I value my own intuition, interests, opinions and passions as I create with fabric and needle. For me, much of the fun and joy of quilting is the sharing and the connecting.

I see myself as a lifelong collage artist. I graduated with a degree in political science in 1967 from Maryville College, a small liberal arts college in Maryville, TN. For 16 years, I worked for TWA as a flight attendant and also worked as a union activist. Since 1990 I’ve been actively creating art – first with growing, drying and crafting with flowers and herbs. Since 1994 I’ve designed and quilted over 185 quilts; about half of those quilts I have given away. During the same period, I taught classes, and gave lectures, programs and trunk shows in the region. I am co-owner, with Jeanne Neath, of Quilt Professionals, a web design business for quilt shops and quilt-related businesses, at www.quiltprofessionals.com. The adventure of following different avenues in the quilting world keeps stimulating my imagination.”

—Paula Mariedaughter

This article was written by Becca Bacon Martin, entertainment editor of “The Morning News” in Springdale, AR; www.nwaonline.net. Photos by: J.T. Wampler.

Paula Mariedaughter, along with her business partner Jeanne Neath, are longtime columnists for Quilting NOW and the trade magazine SQE Professional. They offer Web site design services for sewing and quilting shops. Check them out at www.quiltprofessionals.com.

Reprinted from Quilting Now, May 2008