—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 10, 1973
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Mrs. Norman Hess
Ming Instructions, Encouragement From An Expert
By Sally Bair
Feature Writer
The old-fashioned art oi
quilting is rapidly becoming a
very popular hobby.
It’s time-consuming and
requires patience, but the effort
seems well worth it when the
finished product is considered as
a potential heirloom to be passed
on from generation to generation.
Mrs. Norman L Hess, who
teaches a course in quilting at the
Pennsylvania Farm Museum at
Landis Valley, is very en
thusiastic about quilting today
because “you can take advantage
of the miracle fabrics, and
modern frames are more
usable ” She says “more leisure
time” is the reason for the
growing interest in quilting.
The only prerequisite for
quilting, according to Mrs. Hess,
is a “basic knowledge of sewing.”
The first step in making your
own quilt is to select a pattern.
Patterns traditionally have been
designed to tell a story, whether
historical or biblical. Some
popular local quilt patterns are
the Log Cabin and Orange Peel,
both of which are pieced quilts,
the Rose of Sharon, the Double
Wedding Ring and the Distelfmk,
which Mrs Hess considers the
“aristocrat of Lancaster County
quilts ”
But for an interesting change,
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Mrs. Hess poses with some of the many quilts in her
collection.
you could design your own pat
tern For instance, a cherished
quilt could be made by depicting
events from your child’s life.
Mrs Hess says there are
people who will trace traditional
patterns on your fabric for you.
She suggests that if you trace'
your own pattern, you should
outline the pattern with a felt tip
marker to make it show through
the fabric. It can then be easily
traced with pencil or tailor’s
chalk onto the fabric. Plain white
paper or waxed paper can be
used for the original pattern.
The pattern which Mrs. Hess
selected to teach in her course is
the “Lancaster County Rose.”
The original design was created
by a Lancaster County woman
and had been sold as the “Ohio
Rose.” Mrs. Hess said she felt the
pattern should reflect the home of
its designer, so with a few
modifications, she is teaching it
as the “Lancaster County Rose,”
and it has become very popular.
This pattern is done in squares,
so the students can make either
individual squares to be used as
pictures or pillows, or they can
continue and make enough
squares to do an entire quilt.
When selecting materials to be
used in a quilt, select the solid
color you want to use first, then
choose prints to match. Mrs.
Hess stresses that you can use
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Mrs. Harry G. Brubaker (left) and Mrs. C. learned to quilt at Mrs. Hess’s class at
Edward Snavely work at the quilting frame Landis Valley. The frame belongs to Mrs.
on a Lancaster County Rose pattern. Mrs. Hess.
Snavely is Mrs. Hess's sister-in-law and
quilts in rooms with wallpaper if
you just take a little care in
selecting harmonizing colors and
small prints.
Traditionally, white or ott
white is used for the backing, but
any color is acceptable today.
Mrs. Hess suggests using a
dacron and cotton blend,
broadcloth or soft muslin as the
fabric. She adds that you should
“tear everything” when
preparing the fabric.
Most popular batting used
today is a 100 percent dacron
polyester fiberfill, which can be
purchased. It is possible to use
old sheet s or blankets as batting
for your quilt, but the desired
puffiness will not be achieved,
and the ease of care which the
dacron fill provides will not be
possible.
When binding your quilt, it is
customary to use a bias strip.
Mrs. Hess says that while this is
preferable, a straight strip can be
used with good results, and a
great deal less material.
An important consideration, of
course, in making your quilt is a
frame You can purchase a
quilting frame from various
stores in this county, from about
$2O, or you can improvise one of
your own. Your boards will need
to correspond to the size of your
quilt, and should be 2M> inches
wide. The boards need to have a
fold of denim or featherticking
attached to them so that the bak-
k l '
cing can be fastened to hold
the quilt in place while you’re
working on it. Saw horses could
be used to hold the boards, but a
quilting frame has height ad
justment built in. There must
also be a provision for rolling Ou
quilt as you progress.
If you don’t want to buy a
frame, can’t borrow one, or have
limited space, a large hoop can
be substituted. This makes the
quilting process a little more
difficult, but it serves the purpose
of keeping the fabric stretched
and is ideal if your work area is
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Mrs. Hess examines a Lancaster County Rose quilt.
small
When applying your quilt to the
frame, you pin the backing to the
denim on the board, then add the
fiber fill, then pin the top (the
marked piece) to the backing.
Now you can begin work.
The quilting itself is done with
short even running stitches.
Mrs. Hess suggests that a good
way to get started and to practice
the necessary steps is to quilt
around flowers on a sheet, and
add a solid color sheet for the
backing. Or, she says, you could
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