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The Alliance for American Quilts is a nonprofit whose mission is to document, preserve and share the stories of quilts and their makers. One major way the Alliance does this is through an oral history project called Quilter's S.O.S. - Save Our Stories. So far, more than 1,000 quilters have been interviewed: the interview transcripts are posted on the Alliance website and archived at the Library of Congress.

Alex Anderson, a proud member and supporter of the Alliance, is helping to raise attention about the Q.S.O.S. project by letting her interview be conducted in front of the crowds at International Quilt Festival. Normally, these interviews are conducted privately and quietly. Alex will be interviewed by Meg Cox, president of the Alliance, at 10:30 am on Saturday, November 5 in the Festival Theater, located in the exhibits hall. Admission is free.

As with all Q.S.O.S. interviews, Alex will bring along a "touchstone" quilt that has special meaning for her, and that quilt will begin a wide-ranging conversation about her personal quilt history. If you can't come to Houston, don't worry, the full interview transcript will be available to everyone, once it is transcribed and posted on the Alliance site. 

Just so you know, not all the quilters interviewed for the project are famous ones, like Alex. A great many are everyday quilters with terrific stories to tell. This is a grass roots project in which volunteers learn the AAQ's protocols to conduct interviews, and anybody can get involved. 

While at Houston, you may notice a bunch of people running around with lapel pins reading: "I'm Volunteering at Festival for Team Q.S.O.S." They are volunteers helping the Alliance interview some 60 quiltmakers who are all included in the forthcoming book by Karey Bresenhan and Nancy O'Bryant Puentes, Lone Stars III: A Legacy of Texas Quilts, 1986-2011. They are being interviewed for the Q.S.O.S. Project in a dedicated area of the hall, in private curtained booths. To learn more about volunteering opportunities with the Alliance and read some of the posted interviews, click here.