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 After a break of far too many weeks, we are finally bringing you a new featured quilter post! I'm excited to introduce Shirley Bruner! I actually had the honor of meeting Shirley in person last week and can't wait for all of you to learn more about this wonderful quilter!
MQResource: First, tell us about your family! I have a jack-of-all-trades husband who can repair or build anything. We are
both retired, my husband, Jim, from AT&T and me from the
government…Veterans Administration. Jim builds and repairs computers to keep
himself occupied…as if all the work on this property isn’t enough. LOL My only son lives in Granbury, Texas
with his wife and their 9 dogs, 2 horses and a parrot. I have 2 teenage
grandsons who live in Illinois
with their mother. We have 2 rottweilers who protect our 40 acres. Shimmy, the
oldest, spends most of her time on ‘her’ couch and has passed the ‘security’
reins to SuzyQ, the youngest. Suzy’s job is to keep the cows in line….she hates
for them to get too close to the house and is constantly herding them back up
the pasture.
MQR: Where do you call home?
Well, let’s see….I was born in Illinois; lived in St. Louis,
Missouri; Little Rock,
Arkansas, 20 years in Dallas,
Texas; Houston,
Texas; back to Illinois
and now retired in Cherryville,
Missouri. We are in the Mark Twain
National Forest but
hardly a bump on the map. The town is long dead….very few people live here any
more….no stores, no gas stations, no grocery, no fast food, no nothing. The
population is way less than 100 but we can round up a couple thousand if we
count the cows. But it is quiet and peaceful...our nearest neighbor is ½ mile
away. We like it here.
MQR: How long have you been quilting? How did you get into it?
I’ve been ‘quilting’ since I was in my twenties…if you want to call it
quilting. I made a lot of quilts on my
domestic machine. Mainly small ones for babies and family. I have always done
some kind of craft…crocheting, painting gourds, macramé…my, that dates me,
doesn’t it…. woodworking. If my day had about 20 more hours I would probably be
doing painting and woodworking along with my quilting. But I had to make a
choice.
 About 5 years before I decided to retire, I bought a small frame that sits
on an 8 foot table and made quilts for family and friends. I even sold a few. I
had seen advertisements for the longarm machines and thought they looked
intriguing. Once I tried one, I knew that is what I was going to do when I
retired. I am sure I drove folks crazy talking about buying a longarm and all it
could do. My friends couldn’t quite grasp the idea and my family just thought I
was nuts. But I tried them all and went to Paducah 3 years ago and bought my APQS
Millennium and have been having fun ever since.
MQR: Do you still do much piecing, or are you all about the quilting?
I TRY to get some piecing in….usually I have about 5 projects going at once.
I get tired of working on a quilt and sit down and piece for a while. I have a
machine in the kitchen at home, so sometimes I piece at night. Sometimes it is
a project for me and sometimes for others. I seem to be getting more people
wanting me to make the whole quilt for them. I really don’t like doing that for
others but have a problem saying NO.
Lately I can’t seem to stay in the studio and quilt like I should. I have
about 11 quilts in line to do, but find any reason not to do them. Sometimes I
just get tired of other people’s quilts….either I don’t like the pattern, the
fabrics, their choice of quilt design or something. But if I just get started
and say I will just quilt for an hour, usually I keep at it longer. Sometimes I
have to reward myself….just quilt for 2 hours…then you can go online and check
out MQR. LOL
MQR: Do you have a quilting business? If so, what is your favorite part of quilting for other people?
Yes, I have a business….kind of….sort
of. My sister says I will never make any money. I don’t care. I quilt mainly
for family and people in my quilting class group. I am kind of slow and usually
take about a week to quilt something. (I take a lot of breaks..LOL). I don’t want to do too many because I don’t
want it to be a ‘job’…I want to have fun. So when someone gives me a quilt to
do for them, they know they won’t see it again for 2 or 3 months. They seem to
be OK with that. In fact, people are bringing 2 at a time now.
Siggghhh!!!! My favorite part is when
they give me their quilt and say ‘just do whatever you think is best’. Then I
hang it on my design wall and look at it for a few weeks while I work on other
quilts till it talks to me.
MQR: What is the most challenging part of quilting for you?
Coming up with new designs…sometimes I get stuck in a rut. I have about a
million books, but forget to look in them for ideas. Or if someone wants
something quilted that I can’t do at the time. Last year someone wanted a cable
in their border…..I bought rulers….read the directions….tried it on paper…just
could not figure it out. I felt like an idiot. Had to do something else that
time. Last week someone wanted a cable…I got out the instructions again, read it,
and did it…no problem. Now, why couldn’t I have done that the first time.
Sheesh!!
MQR: What are your favorite quilting tools?
My 8” ruler that I use for SID and most
all line work; chalk; and Marvy purple markers. Oh, and adding machine
tape….that can be counted as a tool, right? Oh, and Renae’s arcs.
MQR: What hobbies do you have (beyond quilting)? Gardening and canning the results.
Reading murder mysteries. Taking road trips with my sister to find new quilt
shops. And watching HGTV while on the treadmill. I love those design shows…I am
constantly moving furniture around…drives my husband nuts.
MQR: Anything else?
I want it all and I want to try it all.
Jean’s class opened up a whole new world for me with the fabric painting. It is
very addictive. I painted a t-shirt last week…such fun. I am going to paint
more fabric and then make myself a quilt with all my yummy fabrics. I only have
to live another 40 years to make all the projects I have in line. The next
quilt in line is for me and the back needs to be red or black….naturally, I
don’t have enough of anything to use as a back….so, today I decided I could
paint a backing from muslin. (Thank you, Jean). So, tonight I am painting a red
and black backing for my next quilt.
MQR: What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?
French vanilla…with perhaps some
Hershey’s syrup on top. Yum…. OH, and
remember the dreamsicle from when we were kids…..the vanilla ice cream with the
orange sherbet inside….i really like those.
MQR: Do you prefer salty or sweet snacks?
Sweet is my all time favorite but I am not opposed to some pretzels or
chips. Better yet, is pretzels dipped in chocolate. My daughter-in-law makes
these for me for Christmas…I love that girl.
MQR: What is your favorite beverage? Raspberry Iced Tea…no lemon, please.
After that, just plain water.
MQR: What is your least favorite food? Oatmeal…can’t take it….gags me. Yuck…also, cooked cabbage, cooked okra. BUT, oatmeal is GREAT in cookies. LOL
MQR: What are your favorite books/authors?
Murder mysteries are my number 1 choice.
I pretty much read them all. I like the series where the characters stay the
same and time seems to progress. I have read all of Ed McBain. Years ago I read
all of John D. McDonald. Now I skip around and read lots of different people.
We go to the used book store in Rolla…about 25 miles away. They trade books….I
have not paid for a book in years. We take our books in and trade for different
ones. Sometimes I get them at yard sales for a quarter and take them in to
trade.
MQR: What are your favorite movies? Usually I prefer comedies….I like Jack
Nicholson and Eddie Murphy. I like Meryl Streep. I used to stay up late into
the night to watch Sidney Poitier….I just loved his movies. But I do like to
watch murders, too.
MQR: What is your favorite quote?
I don’t guess I have a favorite quote. My favorite thing to say if someone
ticks me off is “Bite Me”. I don’t guess
that counts…does it? LOL
MQR: What is one of your goals for 2008?
To learn to be more
patient. And have a little more tolerance.
All photographs were provided by Shirley. Don't forget, you can visit the forum here, if you would like to comment. Thanks for playing along, Shirley! Tune in next week for the next Quilter In the Spotlight! |
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drawing the eye
across the surface of the quilt. Texture
can be as important as color, value, line and shape in creating a design that
is successful. The possibility for creating texture in our quilts is limited
only by our imaginations. Let’s explore
some of these possibilities together and create a quilt full of texture and
fun.
Instructor
had made
a shop sample when I worked at the shop. It wasn't until we moved here to
Durand that the bug hit me bad. The first winter we were here we rented a
house out in the country, seven miles from town. I had many fabrics in my
stash as my DM had just closed her shop and I was able to stock up cheap.
The winter brought lots of snow and I was at home with a 3 Y/O and an
infant. I had an old knee operated machine, that got a good work out that
year. Time passed, I had a couple of jobs and a move to town. In the
summer of 2001 I started my hunt for a longarm quilting machine, I hit a
couple shows, and looked at a couple of older used machines. I happened to
be at home sick on September 11th and watching the today show as the events
of the day unwound. I called the machine manufacturer that very day and
bought a used machine that they had. I wasn't gonna work at job I didn't
love, life was to short. On my birthday 3 weeks later my machine was
delivered. I was since able to purchase a new A-1 machine and continue to
love what I do (well most of the time) So 1976 to 2008, that makes 32 years
I have been at this quilting thing.
MQR: Do you have a quilting business? If so, what is your favorite part of quilting for other people?
MQR: What is one of your goals for 2008?
