If you’ve had the opportunity to read the I am GenQ interview with Alex Anderson in our brand-new-on-the-stands Summer 2016 issue, you’d probably guessed that we had a lot more content than we could fit in our pages. And we’re happy to share. Here’s a bit more Alex:
if you took this journey all over again, is there anything you would change?
Maybe have more kids. (Editor’s Note: Alex has a daughter, Adair, and a son, Joey.) When the babies were young I wanted so bad to be quilting, quilting, quilting. And then somebody said “Don’t judge how many kids you have by what’s going on in the moment. Judge by how many people you want around the table at Thanksgiving.” But now that they’re married and have babies, we have three granddaughters. We’re working on a guild.
you have mentioned getting a lot of Sunbonnet Sue gift-ettes over the years. did you get really funny ones, such as in the quilt pictured below, The Demise of Sunbonnet Sue?
Not the really funny ones. (And yes, Q-bies, it’s okay that Alex isn’t fond of Sunbonnet Sue, each of us has our likes and dislikes.) My dad and I were at a quilt show once. He was a vendor selling his beautiful handmade quilting frames. And he sat across the aisle from The Demise of Sunbonnet Sue quilt for four days and was entertained the entire time. And some of the things were so incredibly distasteful that it made me love that quilt even more! (The most distasteful one was the purple Kool-Aid one.)
we share your most fave quilt in the pages of the magazine, but would you tell us a little bit more about what makes quilts special for you?
I love quilts that tell a story, and sometimes you don’t even know the story, but every quilt tells a story because something is going in your life when you’re making it.
so, what is your second favorite quilt?
Door County Vacation, from a cartoon by Ed Larson. He does a lot of folk art, whirly gigs and stuff like that . You would tell him your story, and then he would cartoon it, and then you would make a quilt. My quilt is a snapshot of my family in Door County, Wisconsin, during Halloween one year. Ed’s quilts were, very satirical and politically oriented. He didn’t make the quilts, he would cartoon them and then he would and different sewists would make these quilts for him.
and a third favorite?
And the last one my son made when he was 3 1/2. He drew the pictures and we made it into a quilt and gave it to John for Christmas that year. We totally surprised John. This quilt has Joey’s and Adair’s hand prints.
how do you think the internet has changed the q-niverse?
I don’t care that quilters don’t always pay for instruction on the internet. The part that kills me is that quilt shops are becoming museums where people go in and say “I want that fabric, that fabric, that fabric.” Then they go order from other (online) places at 30-40% off. If we lose quilt shops, I think we’re in trouble.
when you see a new quilter “get it,” it’s the best moment, right?
The best! Katie, one of Adair’s friends, wanted to make a T-shirt quilt. So we had a sew day. Katie got hooked–you could just feel the fever in her! Toward the end I asked, “What do you want to do next?” She got my Start Quilting book and chose the Rail Fence. She came back for another sew day, and made the Rail Fence.
is she still quilting?
So, Fourth of July at our house is a big deal as we have a big party. Katie ran up to me on the porch, saying “I’m so excited! I have to tell you something! I taught the person who lives above me how to quilt!” Seriously, that’s what it’s all about. I call that passing the thimble.
prizes in the pages
Did you notice? There are a few opportunities in our Summer issue where you can win treats! Check out page 16, where we ask you to show us your stash on Instagram! Use this hash tag–#quiltersporn –we’ll choose a winner on July 5 and post a few days later.
You can also share pics of your summer “creativity in the wild,” using @genqmag and #genqcreative. See page 22 in Carrie Bloomston’s Jump-Start column for full deets! But share ’em fast…we’ll pick a winner on July 5, as well.
Quilt. Sew. Live. Breathe.
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