B2—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 18,1983
BY JOYCE BUPP
Staff Correspondent
EAST BERLIN - Caution:
quilting may be hazardous to your
housekeeping.
At least that’s the warning
issued by veteran quilters who
turned out June 8 to take part in the
UJth’annual East Berlin Quilt show.
Quilting, they say, is more than
slightly addictive, and dedicated
stitchers would much rather pick
up a needle and thread than the
vacuum cleaner, _ dust cloth or
window washing supplies.
Moving force behind this highly
popular quilt show, held at the
East Berlin Elementary School, is
the East Berlin Senior Citizens, a
gung-ho organization of over 200
members.
Actually it was Florence Hull’s
brainchild to hold the first show,
back in 1857. The East Berlin
quilter figured that her
organization should do something
to help keep alive the tradition of
quilting that was so much a part of
the area’s rich rural heritage.
Through her efforts and en
couragement, the initial com
petition opened 16 years ago with
some 50 entries.
That number has increased
every year, according to this
year’s co-chairman, Bertha Hull, a
sister-in-law of the show's
originator. The colorful array of
over 100 quilt entries continues to
draw large crowds during it’s
short, six-hour run, and as high as
1500 spectators have signed the
register on a well-attended day.
In fact, while Bertha Hull busied
herself answering questions that
came flying from all directions,
her co-chairman, Charlotte
Kimmel arrived with a message
that assured the committee this
16th show was again a rousing
success. The judges, it seemed,
had suggested that perhaps the
show should be carried over to a
second day.
Because the school facilities are
ideal for the display, show date
must be scheduled just after
students leave for their annual
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Catharine Deitz, a member of the East Berlin Hookers, is
highly skilled at the craft of wool rug hooking. She dyes white
wool fabric then slices it into 1/32 inch strips with a special
cutter, and pulls loops of the slender strips through Scottish
burlap, using a crochet hook like tool.
Quilting can be habit-forming!
summer vacation. Space,
however, is becoming a problem as
entries have mushroomed, and
now line walls, drape across
bleachers and tables and still spill
onto the stage area of the
cafeteria-gym.
Having been involved with the
show for many years, the chair
men are quick to agree that quilt
styles have definitely changed,
both in colors and in patterns.
Darker colors, especially shades of
brown, are all the rage. Star-type
motifs also are current favorites,
as well as pristine white creations
decorated with intricate patterns
of thousands of tiny stitches.
Majority of the quilt show entries
originate from the talented hands
of local craftswomen, and the show
sees almost a complete "turnover’’
of brand-new entries each year.
One quilt, though, originated in
Germany, then was finished off
under the experienced fingers of
Bertha Hull.
Visitors come from quite a
distance, and it’s not unusual to
find addresses listed on the guest
register from as far away as
Michigan, with Maryland, Virginia
and West Virginia signatures
frequently dotting the sign-m book.
Quilt owners are permitted to
offer their creations for sale,
simply by attaching a card to the
quilt with the pnce. Prices seen at
the East Berlin show ranged from
about $l5O to well over $3OO,
depending on the overall size of the
quilt, and intricacy of the design.
All entries are judged, with four
awards given in each category of
quilting, applique, lap quilting,
antique quilts, patchwork, em
broidery and a best of show quilt
award. This year’s judges were
York County farm wife and
veteran quilter Ethel Gross, of
Manchester, Sue Bouslmaman, a
quilting instructor from Carlisle,
and Imogene Rommo, extension
home economist from Baltimore
County, Maryland.
One key plus for the show’s
popularity is the presence of
quilting demonstrators, who share
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technique tips, sell patterns and
completed quilted items, while
mixing their quilting conversation
with interesting and humorous
anecdotes about the time-honored
craft.
Mary Voiland is a bubbling,
enthusiastic quilting demonstrator
and instructor. She’s 86, but her
pep and involvement belie the
eight decades-plus. Her demon
strating outfit is a quilted skirt and
matching shawl of pieced-work in
shades of blue, and ornamenting
her white blouse she wears three of
her favorite buttons: “Hug a
senior cititzen today,” another that
announces, “I'm older and bet
ter,” and a “Seniors are super,”
one.
Mrs. Volland pieced together her
first scraps of calico, with her
mother’s encouragement and
assistance, when she was barely
16. It was on display at her quilting
table, carefully protected with a
plastic covering, providing a
colorful background for more
recent samples of her expertise
with needle and thread.
She recalled that her mother
paid about 25 cents per yard for the
cheery yellow calico fabric and its
contrast materials of bright red
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annual show. To the right is a patchwork type dating to the
1800 s, fashioned from elegant, satiny-type fabrics, then
outlined and accented with assorted stitchery patterns in
contrasting thread. Its delightful ‘crazy-quilt’ effect contrasts
with the more somber, conservative design of the woven
coverlet on the left, made in 1843.
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Between five and seven thousand individual pieces of fabric go into a large cathedral
window quilt, like this exquisite pale-yellow creation made by Amy Smith.
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‘Hands off’ is not a rule at the East Berlin quilt show, since
few visitors can resist the urge to closely examine the fine
stitching of the intricately patterned pieces. An estimated
1200 visitors from several states inched through the
kaleidoscope of color.
and more somber brown. After 70
years, the five-star motif coverlet
appears to be brand new, and the
colors still brillian.
Between her first quilt effort and
her quilt-productive retirement,
Mary Volland was employed for 30
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years with an area garment
manufacturer. She’s been teaching
quilting the past 20 years since her
retirement, but in 1972 switched
from the traditional frame quilting
to today’s more favored lap
quilting.
“It’s a lot more handy,” she
figures, adding that now she only
teaches this type of quilting that
can be picked up and taken along
to be worked nearly anywhere.
While there are small lap
quilting frames available, Mrsj
Volland definitely frowns on therr|
use.
“My students can use them at
home if they want to, but 1 don’t
allow them in class,” she ad
monishes.
While chatting with this veteran
quilter at her impressing display of
work, one visitor queried Mrs.
Volland on how she goes about
selecting colors and arranging
them in the intricately pieced
quilts.
"I lay my prints down, and if
they don’t talk back to me, 1 use
them,” she chuckled in ex
planation.
Seated near the display table,
concentrating on her tiny stitches
through a white cotton square with
a “sunbonnet” girl calico piece in
the center was Donna Grim, one of
Mary Volland’s students.
"I just love to quilt,” she con- .
fided, joking that it
housework any day.
Mrs. Grim, who began sewing
simple projects at the age of 5, has
completed about ten quilts. None of
them, she laments, has been for
her own use, and all were com
pleted for other quilt-lovers.
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