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Quilteposten is proud to present Ami Simms, the woman with the funny, comprehensive newsletters on the Internet. She is the quilter who really has learned from her mistakes, who has made a point out of all the blunders and the traps she was caught in, and who has become famous because of that.Today Ami's work is a success, and her courses are cherished. She lives in Michigan in USA with her husband and child, and runs her own business, Mallery Press.

"Paranoia is a wonderful motivator"

says Ami Simms in an interview with Quilteposten by the end of September 2001.

- Ami, for Norwegian quilters that never have heard of you, who is Ami Simms?

I'm just a quilter, like your readers. I found I have a knack for teaching. That and not knowing how much I didn't know made me think I could write books too. That was the beginning!

- You wrote in your amusing book How NOT To Make a Prize-Winning Quilt about how your quilting career began. It this true? How did it all start?

It's all true, just like in the book. I know it's hard to believe, but I was quite ignorant about quilts when I started. Encouragement and practice were all it took to make me think I wanted to make more quilts.

- The small book is a gift! It gave me a couple Norwegians a good time. And for how many Americans?

I think there are about 25,000 copies of How NOT To Make A Prize-Winning Quilt in print right now. I'm also having a price reduction until the end of September and donating $1.50 for each book sold to the American Red Cross Relief effort should your readers want to have a copy of their very own. Details are at www.AmiSimms.com.

- Why did patchwork quilting become of absorbing interest for you?

I liked the way it felt, quilts look pretty, I was experiencing what I thought was success, and I thought if I made a quilt for my bed than I would actually be motivated to make the bed after I got out of it in the morning. Newly married and all that. I thought that was important. Now I know it's only important when company comes.

- How did you happen to jump into public life?

Accidentally. I talked about my quilts to a local guild. A woman in the audience asked if I would give the same "lecture" to her guild. She lived in another state. I had no idea I had just done a lecture! Very impressed with myself, I said yes!

- How did American quilters get to know you?

Early on I wrote articles for Quilt magazine. I probably had several dozen published in the early 80s. Quilters still remember them. I also created the Worst Quilt In The World Contest. That reached a lot of people.

- Do quilters in any particular European country know you?

I've taught in Italy and the Netherlands and England---(also in Australia and New Zealand) so a few quilters may have heard of me. I also write a newsletter for about 10,000 quilters on the Internet each month. I would imagine some readers live overseas.

- I have a treasured book called Classic Quilts: Patchwork Designs From Ancient Rome, because of the designs from ancient Rome and all the ready-to-use templates for quilt blocks. Please tell something about the making of this book.

That was a bunch of fun. I had lived in Italy as a youngster and studied in Perugia in college. My husband and I adore visiting Rome and one year it finally hit me that the designs I kept seeing could be quilts. Arranging for permission to photograph and publish was the biggest headache, and the photography in the hot summer sun was grueling, but it was fun anyway.

- Do you have other experiences or happenings to share, that lead to a book or something else gripping, moving, stirring?

Not really. I get inspired like most other people. 90% of my great ideas aren't. Those that I decide to go with just require lots of work. I like to let my ideas percolate for a while and then when I do start working on them, I tend to keep them secret. Paranoia is a wonderful motivator.

- Do American quilters buy quilts from one another? How is this arranged?

I really don't know. I think that non-quilters buy quilts from quilters and they can be American, but most people I know make quilts for themselves or to give as gifts to very special people. Many Americans also make quilts for charities. I would expect that every guild contribute quilts to the needy in their community.

- Can you also buy modern quilts in shops or anywhere else?

Some shops sell quilts, but for the maker to get enough money out of the purchase to make it worth their time the price would be so high nobody in their right mind would pay it! I imagine that fact motivates many quilters to learn to quilt!

- Is Internet a place where Americans buy quilts?

There are many quilts for sale on www.eBay.com.

- Do you sell your own quilts?

No. I'm an only child. I keep everything I ever made. I have done commission pieces for very select people (and I charge a lot of money) and I have made quilts for my family and friends, but I don't usually sell my work since I use most of what I make as samples for my students when I teach.

- What are the quilt prices like today or how are quilts priced?

Anything less than $400 is a bargain for a hand made quilt. I've heard of quilts at auctions going as high as $12,000. Quilt artists who sell their work in art galleries can get $25,000 I would imagine. You can buy poor quality by handmade Chinese quilts in department stores for $35.

- The quilts we see here are genuinely yours. They are not copies. What inspires you, Ami? Do you have a sort of quilt philosophy to share with us?

I only make quilts that interest me. As my interests shift, I make different kinds of quilts. I've been interested in traditional patchwork designs, reproductions of Old Order Amish quilts, pictorial quilts, Roman floor mosaics turned to fabric, photo-transfer or memory quilts, and Picture Play Quilts for children. I find color is also a motivator. I see periods when I used a lot of black, just solid colors, purples and greens, teals and blues, and now I'm into brights!

- Can you describe for us the process in short of making some of these quilts?

No. That would take too long and I wind up writing another book!

- Have you written other books? If so, please tell a bit about them.

I've written 8 books. It would probably be best to read the descriptions on my web page. www.AmiSimms.com/amisbooks.html

- I know you give many quilt classes around in the states. As I've come to know you, I bet you have great fun, do you?

I love to teach and I love to lecture. My immediate fear right now is how can I justify the possible danger of traveling by air after the hijackings. This has been a great concern to me. I would be devastated if I had to stop teaching.

- What is the most important thing for you to emphasize when giving a class?

Have fun. Be gentle with yourself. There is no one right way to do anything. You'll get better with practice.

- Do you have any favorite authors, singers, food, film, animals and people that inspires you or that you can use in the making of a quilt?

I love to read mysteries, but so far no quilts have resulted. I like rock and roll or classical music. Nothing there either. Film, nothing. Animals? I designed a Puppus Doggus block. (It's free on my web page if you either send a block or $1.00 for Leader Dogs For The Blind)

- Is there a patchwork quilt future? How do you see this future?

Certainly. I'm sure we'll see more innovative combinations and re-combinations, new tools, new fabrics and colors to inspire us.

- Have you ever been to Norway?

Yes, I visited Oslo when I was in college one summer. I was amazed that the sun didn't set until after 10 o'clock at night!

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