BY KIMBERLY HERR
STRASBURG It began as a
fun project. When completed, it
was a work of art, one that will be
on display at the State Farm
Women Convention in Harrisburg
this week.
“It was just one of those fun
things,” Margaret Lefever said of
the candlewick quilt she completed
for Lancaster County Farm
Women Society 22.
The story began when members
of Society 22 got together for a
craft day. The craft was can
dlewicking.
“Someone said, ‘This is fun let’s
all get together and make a quilt,'”
Margaret explained. Group
members liked the suggestion and
the project was underway.
Margaret, an avid quilter and
member of the Society, found a
McCall’s pattern that the women
decided to use for the candlewick
squares. But there were 28
members and only two patterns.
So, Margaret came to the rescue
by tracing additional patterns.
During the May meeting the
blocks of material were handed out
and each member was asked to
candlewick the pattern. Margaret
told the women that in order for
her to have the quilt done in time
for the Lancaster County Farm
Women’s Convention in Novem
ber, all the women had to have
their squares done by July.
Margaret explained that some of
the women liked to do one of the
steps in getting the squares done,
while others preferred another
task. So, friends in the Society got
together and helped each other out
with the tasks they did not like to
do.
When the squares were returned
to Margaret, they all had to be
blocked and stretched. And from
there Margaret, with the help of
her mother, Leah Probst, began to
mark the quilt. After it was
marked and she and her mother
began quilting the material,
Margaret decided she did not like
how it was marked.
With the infinite patience
necessary for quilters, Margaret
and her mother took tweezers and
pulled the delicate threads out.
From there, Margaret decided to
go free-hand. She washed the top of
the quilt to remove the markings
and then quilted by following the
design of the candlewicking.
In addition to quilting each of the
blocks, Margaret quilted a border
of hearts around the edge.
“It was my decision to put a
border around here,” Margaret
said. “A quilt is not finished until
you frame it with a border.”
Margaret said the ivory can
dlewick quilt was in the quilting
Farm Women Hold State Convention
HARRISBURG - Anthony
Campolo, St. Davids, will be the
featured speaker at the afternoon
session of the 65th annual con
vention of the Society of Farm
Women of Pennsylvania, held in
the Forum of the Education
Building, Harrisburg, Jan. 9.
Campolo is chairman of the
Department of Sociology and
Youth Minis:: ;es at Eastern
College, St. Davids. He has taught
at the University of Pennsylvania,
at Regent College of the University
of British Columbia, and is a Staley
Dlstinquished Scholar.
He is an ordained Baptist
minister who is president and
founder of the Evangelistic
Association for the Promotion of
Education. The organization is
involved in educational, medical,
and economic programs in various
Third World countries. He has
authored several books including
The Success Fantasy, The Power
Quilter Completes Project for Society 22
frame for about two weeks. But she
never counts exactly how many
hours it takes her to do one quilt.
“I don’t want to know how long it
took me,” Margaret laughed. “I
think it would scare me.”
Margaret did admit, however,
that this quilt took a little more
time than the patchwork or em
broidered quilts she usually
makes.
“It was a little more time con
suming than regular quilts,” she
said, explaining that her quilting
thread kept getting caught around
the knots in the candlewicking.
“I feel like this quilt is part of
me,” Margaret laughed.
But the quilt belongs to the entire
Society 22, and when it was
finished, members wandered what
they would do with it after it was
displayed at the convention.
Margaret explained that they
had some difficulty deciding on a
fair way to figure out who should
have the quilt. Then, one of the
members came up with the
suggestion to price the quilt and
have members interested in
buying it put their names on slips
of paper. A name will be drawn
from those who entered and that
person will buy the quilt.
Although Margaret is pleased
with the way the quilt looks, she is
accustomed to doing everything on
her own when she makes a quilt
and prefers the quilts in her house
to be done entirely by her.
But, although she has been
quilting for years, there is only one
of her quilts left in her house. All of
the others have been made for
nieces and nephews when they
marry or have babies. And one
special two-year-old grandson is
the proud owner of six of
Margaret’s handmade quilts.
“I have books of patterns
galore,” Maragaret said. “But I
like to change mine around. I don’t
like to copy.”
Margaret gets some of her
patterns from coloring books. She
recently made her grandson a quilt
for Christmas that featured Santa
Claus, Rudolph and Christmas
trees. Those patterns were taken
from a coloring book.
“It was just one of those things
you did,” Margaret said of
quilting. “After I quit work, I
really got into it (quilting).” She
said there are seven soon-to-be
quilts in her drawer right now,
waiting to be quilted.
Hanging at the bottom of the
stairs in Margaret’s, Strasburg R 2
home is this embroidered saying
which was given to her for
Christmas: “Blessed are the
quilters for they shall be called
piecemakers.”
Delusion and A Reasonable Faith.
Preceding Campolo at the
convention session beginning at 1
p.m. will be an organ recital on the
Forum Pipe Organ by Pat Sherfy,
Elizabethtown. The Milton Her
shey Glee Club of 30 boys under the
direction of Virgil Alexander will
present a concert of secular and
sacred music. The boys, all
students at the Milton Hershey
School, range in age from 15 to 18
and are in grades 9 through 12.
The morning session of the 65th
annual convention of the Society of
Farm Women of Pennsylvania will
be called to order by State
President, Mrs. D. Merle
Baughman at 10 a.m. in the Forum
of the Education Building in
Harrisburg. The Honorable
Penrose Hallowell, secretary of
Agriculture, will bring greetings to
the farm women representing
more than 4000 members of the
Society of Farm Women of Penn-
Of all the quilts that Margaret has made, only this butterfly and flower quilt remains in
her house. All others have been given as gifts.
Margaret Lefever completed a quilt that each member of Farm Women Society 22
contributed to. Above, Margaret is seen with the quilt.
sylvania. Greene County will
\t d( itr Mr ~
Anthony Campolo
t *
Bupp, vice president, will lead the
pledge of allegiance to the Flag of
the United States followed by
group singing “America the
Beautiful.”
Also at the morning session,
Lebanon County will conduct a
memorial service honoring all
state Farm Women who were
deceased in 1983. Ushers for the
convention are provided from
Franklin, Fulton, Lancaster,
Montgomery and York Counties.
Awards will be presented in five
categories including the presen
tation of a piece of Farm women
jewelry to all Farm women
reaching 90 years during 1983,
presented by the State President,
Mrs. Baughman.
The annual convention banquet
will be held Jan. 9 at 5:30 p.m. in
the Grand Ball Room of the Penn
Harris Motor Inn.
Mrs. Wilbur Erb, past state
president who recently returned
from a three year mission
assignment in Australia, will be
the guest speaker. Her topic will be
“Who Am I?” Mrs. Erb, formerly
of Harrisburg, now resides at
Morgantown, Rl.
Kathy Long, Lancaster, will be
guest soloist. Mrs. Naomi Bupp,
State First Vice President, will be
mistress of ceremonies.
The convention business session
will be held Jan. 10, in Room E,
State Farm Show Building,
Harrisburg, with registration at 9
a.m. A state treasurer and two
state directors will be elected. The
new officers will be installed by
Mrs. John N. Hess, Lancaster
County, a past state president.
On(Viidnitj|
Saturday, Jan. 7
Lancaster Society 6 meets for a
“Opening Doors" program by
Anna Geyer at the home of Mrs.
Bernard Thome.
Tuesday, Jan. 10
Lancaster Society 5 meets for an
“Auld Lang Syne Party” at
RuthGeesaman’s.