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—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 19, 1974
Sara S. Stauffer
A Master of Arts and Crafts
Mrs. J. Stanley (Sara) Stauffer Sr., Drumore Township,
who is interested in all kinds of creative crafts, will show
several of her paintings at the Chester County Savings &
Loan Association, 124 S. Third St., Oxford, Pa. for the month
of March.
She has been a member of the Octoraro Art Association for
three years and each member takes a month to display a half
dozen or more of their pictures. She will show still life, land
scapes and collages in oil, watercolor, pastels, acrylics and
mixed media.
Mrs. Stauffer has attended some adult education classes at
Solanco High School where she took oil and water-color
painting. She also took some lessons from Mrs. Novelda
Ferguson of Quarryville.
Mrs. Stauffer has renewed recently her oldest craft,
quilting. Forty years ago her husband gave her a quilt to
applique, embroidery, then quilt. To her then, it wasn’t
especially exciting but, encouraged by her mother-in-law,
she maHe the quilt in a short time. She has used a beautiful
rose designed quilt until it is beginning to show wear. She
hasn’t made any quilts for years, but in the last year or so she
has taken quilting up again. She made a quilt last year that
went to Baltimore and one that went to Mount Joy. She has
patched a star design quilt and is ready to quilt it for someone
in Connecticut. She is also ready to quilt a cross stitch quilt
that will go to Georgia.
Mrs. Stauffer has always done a lot of sewing. She did all
the sewing for her two daughters when they were small. She
recently made a housecoat and sleepwear.
Mrs. Stauffer’s second craft learned was crocheting. She
made doilies, pillow case edges, collars, baby sets, children’s
dresses and doll clothing. She made and sold over 100
crocheted dressed dolls.
Mrs. Stauffer also knits. She has a knitted wool cape which
is nearly finished. One of her newest adventures in yam or
cord is macrame’. She made a metallic lame’ necklace, one
of all cord and one of cord and beads.
Another craft Mrs. Stauffer has done, and is still doing a lot
of, is painting tinware, tole. She is painting a set of 12 trays,
each with a different flower, and has many pieces around
their home.
A craft of similar nature is rosemaling, an inspired Nor
wegian folk art. The designs are of an unfolding nature. The
peasants copied this mode of painting from scroll work on
theater ceilings and similar places. Sara learned of this art
and later heard of a craft workshop week to be held at
Marquette, Michigan, four years ago. She immediately
phoned and enrolled and in no time flat she and her husband
were on a tenting trip there where she learned the craft. She
Mrs. Stauffer painted the tina box she is holding,
the rosemaling designs on the wooden plates and
the water-color painting on the wall. She made the
studied this art and painted five pieces while there. Since
then she has painted many wooden pieces and other articles
with these designs.
Another almost extinct art is making sugar boxes and tina
boxes. She is making one of each now. She made a sugar box
from veneer and is painting a design on a tina box that will
soon be completed with several coats of lacquer to protect it.
She also molds articles from wet newspapers, paints and
shellacs them. She has a very lovely fruit bowl that she made
in this manner.
Mrs. Stauffer took up making pottery in adult education
courses within the past ten years. She made some molded,
slab and free form pieces such as candle holders, eggs, vases
and an eagle. She also took a shop course in adult education.
She makes use of that by making cutting boards and of
course, paints a design on them.
Sara has done a number of crewel embroidery pieces such
as pillows, pictures and chair covers. She .did a clock and a
mirror which she sold, and has also done some needlepoint.
She enjoys buying solid old pieces of furniture at sales and
refinishing them. She persuaded her husband to put shelves
in a couple old wardrobes and to make her a cabinet. She
refinished them and uses them to store her crafts materials.
Mrs. Stauffer says “I take up little things that come along
egg decorating, lamp shade making, made'artificual flowers,
sbellcraft and made and sold decorated cream mints.” She
used to give demonstrations on making Christmas
decorations, lamp shade making and antiquing flowers but
they were difficult to transport so she gave that up. She has
used turkish towels to make pillows and handbags.
She says “I buy a lot of craft books and am interested only
in craft magazines.
She was on the Council for “Holiday For Wives” at the
Lancaster YWCA for two years. That’s where she learned to
paint tinware, took Creative Writing and Poise Through
Speech. - - '
In line with her interest in arts and crafts, Mrs. Stauffer
was on the sewing committee of the Solanco Fair for a few
&
slab pottery eagle. She also displays her bowling
trophies and her mother's engraved silver tea set.
She refinished the jelly cupboard*
Farm Feature Writer
Mrs.
Charles
McSparran
*, { A
Sara S. Stauffer made this heirloom type quilt with
appliqued pink roses and blue stripes and binding.
She also made the crewel pillows.
years then was on the handiwork committee about 20 years,
having been chairman about 10 years. She worked with the
fair ever since it started in 1950. Her Farm Women group had
a food stand at the fair until two years ago.
Mr. and Mrs. Stauffer belong to Schaefferstown Historical
Society in Lebanon County. This group has two weekend
shows a year. They have crafts at them such as quilting; they
have people there interested in herbs; quilt shows; decorated
eggs and a tinsmith. They have Pa. Dutch programs, a
German band and a Lebanon County cooking demonstration.
The society is having old buildings restored.
Mrs. Stauffer was bom in Reistville, Lebanon County, the
daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. John B. Southern, and
attended schools in Lebanon and Lancaster Counties. She
graduated from East Drumore and Quarryville High
Schools. Her father was a farmer and managed Ideal Dairy
in Lancaster before it and Sanitary Dairy merged into
Pensupreme. Ideal Dairy was privately owned at Cleona,
Lebanon County. Later her father farmed for himself.
Stanley (Stiff) was a son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Cyrus
Stauffer and was bora and raised on the farm where they
live. The farm, located on route 272 at Drumore Center
consists of 82 acres. He farmed it until four years ago when
they sold it to their son, Stanley Jr. (Butch). They always had
a dairy. When Stanley Sr. farmed it they kept about 30 cows
and Sara helped to milk four years. She used to help with
horses in the fields, later with tractors. She and Stiff used to
do custom baling, she drove the tractor. They kept about 100
Barred Rock laying hens. They always had a garden and still
do. Sara freezes most of the vegetables, and cans tomatoes
and peaches. Her daughter, Libby at home, makes preser
ves.
Stanley Sr. drivesa school bus for Lester Warfel. His run is
from Drumore and East Drumore Townships to the Solanco
Senior and Junior High Schools and Quarryville Elementary
School, also the activity bus. He takes care of the Chestnut
Level Church lawn and cemetery, and also helps Butch with
field work in the summer.
Stauffers have three children. They all attended Drumore
schools and graduated from Solanco High School. Frances
graduated from Albright College and received a Masters
degree from Penn State University. She also attended Drexel
Institute and Syracuse University. She taught school four
years in Lower Camden County, N. J. .and then at George
Reed Jr. High School and William Penn High School in New
Castle, Del. She is married to Samuel H. Reyburn and has a
two month old son. They live at Russellville in Chester
County. He is self employed, doing general repair work,
paints, timing pianos, and is assistant mpil carrier and
helps on farms.
Elizabeth Ann (Libby) Miller is employed by Com
monwealth Telephone Co. and. does office work at
QuanyviUe. She has three sons and lives at home. She is a
Scout leader.
Stanley Jr. has always lived and worked on the home farm.
He worked first for his parents, then on the halves and has
owned the farm four years. He has Increased the herd,
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