Search for cottage Industry ends wrtfi patcbwfc comforters
BY BARBARA MILLER
Staff Correspondent
FORKSVILLE - Jane Roe of
Sullivan County Is a woman at
home with a challenge, both
figuratively and literally. In her
quest for a small cottage industry
die tried several crafts before
discovering that people at craft
shows stopped most often to ad
mire her patchwork comforters.
When Jane’s husband, Burgess,
retired from the air force in 1977,
the Roes and daughters Joanna
and Linda settled on a 70-acre farm
in Sullivan County. Jane is a native
of the area, but Burgess found the
rural setting attractive.
For a number of years Jane has
been involved in the promotion of
crafts in several counties. She just
completed a term as president of
the Craftsmen of the Endless
Mountains and presently is a
member of the Williamsport
Chapter of the Pennsylvania Guild
of Craftsmen, Old Fashioned
Quilters of Sullivan County, the
Pennsylvania Quilt Guild, and
served as a volunteer to Elder
Jane models one of her popular strip pieced vests.
. Jane quit. cover in the Lone jeslgi iy
hand. This, she says, is an example .of lap quilting, so called
because this small frame is quite portable.
Guild, a nonprofit organization
established to promote the sale of
crafts by senior citizens.
Four years ago Jane took a
course in machine quilting and has
been meeting the challenge of
designing and making patchwork
comforters and vests at her home.
She sells her items at craft shows
and on consignment to local stores.
Jane started her patchwork
business because, “It 'was a
challenge to see if I could do it.”
She quickly adds that, “Making
money may be at the back of your
mind, but you can’t depend on
making a living for a few years.”
Jane sets aside a certain number
of hours each week to do pat
chwork. Sometimes, she admits,
her family stumbles through the
living room and dishes wait, but
she endeavors to keep those hours
inviolate.
Jane’s comforters are sewn
entirely by machine and tied off
with yard by hand. It is not
possible, she believes, to turn a
profit making handmade quilts.
Jane displays a chest of barnyard animals she made by strip-piecing sections of fabric.
Most people, she explains, aren’t
willing to pay the high price for
labor involved. "I can’t compete
with the Amish,” she adds. “They
don’t pay themselves for their
work.”
Jane distinguished between
handmade quilts and the machine
quilted comforters she makes. One
distinction she notes is that quilts
are completed by taking tiny
stitches by hand through the face
and back of the quilt to hold it
together. Whereas a comforter of
Jane’s is hand tied with yard to
keep it together. She says a
comforter usually has a loftier batt
than a handmade quilt.
With several quilting courses
and years of experience to her
credit, Jane is brimful of advice
for anyone interested in the craft.
A person who makes and sells
handcrafted items must wear
three hats, she says. “I’m a
designer, producer and
marketer.”
Designing her patchwork items,
according to Jane, takes much of
her time. “It may take me longer
to design my colors than to do the
manual work,” she observes.
Again stresses
the importance of goSsr and states
unequivocally that, “Coordinating
colors is the most important part of
patchwork.” She is adamant about
color choice, she says, because she
has seen so many people misuse
color.
Matching colors, Jane notes,
comes naturally to some people,
but it can and should be learned.
She illustrates by showing one of
her star design comforters worked
in pleasing brown and white tones.
The attractive comforter con
tained patches of solid colors,
stripes, two small prints, and two
large prints. She explained that the
scale should not be the same and
that comforters in shades of blue
and earth tones sold best. Jane’s
comforters are made from cotton
or cotton and polyester fabrics.
Jane strongly advises against
using remnants for patchwork
unless care is taken to purchase
additional fabric to match and
complement the existing
materials. Remnant pieces alone
seldom make pleasing color
combinations, she stresses.
Jane cited the case of one woman
who constructed a quilt splely from
remnants. The woman reported
that even after repeated dyings,
her handmade patchwork quilt
would not give up its clashing
tones.
The quilt designs that Jane finds
popular with customers are the
Ohio Star and the Log Cabin
Jane made this comforter in a star design with shades of
brown.
designs. Jane, who hhs taken a
course in pattern drafting, varies
existing designs and creates her
own patterns. A book that she say|
has helped her immensely with
this is “Patchwork Patterns” by
Jinny Beyer.
The next segment of patchwork
is the actual construction of the
comforters. This involves cutting
the blocks of material, which Jane
*lComcs{eai
c foies
says takes a considerable amount
of time. Instead of cardboard, Jane
cuts templates from a lightweight,
stiff sheet of plastic. This way, she
explains, she doesn’t have to worry
about their shape changing with
use as happens with cardboard.
In addition, she glues sandpaper
on the bottom of each template to
keep it in place while being used.
(Turn to Page B 4)