Nellie Bly Interviews PaperGirl: Interview XX (Part One)

NB: Hi.

PG: Nellie Bly!

NB: Good to see you.

PG: Where have you been? It’s been months.

NB: I’ve been here and there. Intrepid reporting takes you away from stuff.

PG: But things are good?

NB: Yeah, yeah. Good.

PG: Great! You look great.

NB: Thanks. So…

PG: I know! I know. Who’s being interviewed here? (Laughs.) Go ahead, I don’t have a lot of time.

NB: That’s one thing I wanted to ask you about. In the past, there was a new PaperGirl entry every single day, really without exception. You’d move heaven and earth to make sure you blogged every night. Lately it’s been a little sporadic. Why is that?

PG: I’m so busy. But busy in a new way. I kind of have a new job. Sort of.

NB: That’s great. What is it?

PG: You know how I’m on public television with my mom? I’ve done the quilting show with her over the years. In the past couple years, I’ve been doing more and more as I got better with my sewing and just wanted to do more of it. Well, over the past year, I’ve been churning out all these quilt tops and creating these quilt designs and immersing myself in all of it. I have lots and lots of what I believe are really solid ideas about how to connect with the newer quilters out there who didn’t have the sewing lesson or home ec- instruction that our mothers had. There are a lot of women — and a few men — who would really love making quilts but simply don’t have the skills to even be able to think about doing that. The American quilt has this incredible legacy that will fade totally if there’s not a kind of updated way of showing them how and why they would want to make a quilt.

NB: There’s a show involved, I see.

PG: It’s called Quilty. Do you love that title?? I love it. We have to have sponsors to go forward, but we’ve filmed the first four episodes and they’re amazing. It’ll all be online, since that’s where my generation gets all our information. The look and feel of the show is fresh, modern, engaging; it’s honestly really fun to watch. Cool motion graphics, special guests, and solid quilting instruction.

NB: That sounds great.

PG: You should make a quilt, Nellie Bly.

NB: I’ve made lots of quilts.

PG: Oh, right. You were born in 18. You know how to do all that stuff. You could probably make a damned house out of twigs and sod or whatever.

NB: Probably. Okay, so tell me about the Quilty blog. That’s part of the new job.

PG: Yes. But…

NB: Let’s come back to it.

PG: Yeah. Because I need to eat something or I’m going to eat your petticoats.

NB: Uh…

PG: Wait. That sounded sorta –

NB: Mm.

PG: I’m sorry.

NB: It’s okay.

PG: I’m going to get some dinner now. Need anything?

NB: We’ll see you when you get back.

PG: Peace! (She runs out the door.)