814-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 7,1986 Oversized Quih Will Be Centerpiece For Lycoming College Play BY BARBARA MILLER Lycoming County Correspondent WILLIAMSPORT - For sale: One Bunyan-sized 16-by-16-feet legacy quilt composed of tradition patches each measuring 4 feet square. Presently, the quilt is being used as a backdrop for the play, “Quilters,” at the Arena Summer Theatre, Lycoming College, Williamsport. It will be available after play dates, June 12 through 15 and 19 through 22. Thinking big has become second nature to three Williamsport quilters, Gloria Gray, Pegge Emery and Marion Vogler. In April Dr. Robert Falk, director of the musical play “Quilters” contacted Gloria Gray, proprietor of Williamsport Dry Goods, William Street, Williamsport, to ask if she would assume the huge task of sewing the quilt and a number of patches to be used as props in the play. Gray and her two employees, Emery and Vogler, began work on the quilt immediately. By working on and off Gray estimated it would take the remaining two months before the play to complete the quilt and patches. The women are actually making the equivalent of two large quilts, Emery says, because they must make 17 additional patches to be used singly as props' throughout the play. All time, labor and materials are being donated by Williamsport Dry Goods, Gray said. “Figuring out how to make them (the patches) so big was the main problem,” observes Emery, who teaches classes in quilting at the store. Emery says the quilt is made of very old tradition block, some of which have been redesigned. The quilt, Falk said is the focal point of the play. “The play has a cast of seven women who protray Sarah MacKendry Bonham and her six daughters,” says Falk. “It tells stories of life on the frontier moving westward through the blocks of a quilt. The blocks of the quilt become the scenes in a musical.” Elaborating further about the play, Falk explains, “The ac tresses transform themselves into different characters as needed at times they play men or animals.” For example, Falk notes, they take the parts of a . lay director Dr. jbert .a. jgge iery ai Gloria Gray of v jamsport y Goods Co., display the SVa-foot patches that will be made into a 16-foot quilt. The quilt will be used as a backdrop for the play "Quilts" playing at the Arena Summer Theatre, Lycoming College, Williamsport, this month. The patches, left to right starting at the top, are, Row I; Log Cabin, Rocky Road to Kansas, Secret Drawer and Windmill. Row 2: Tree of Life, Robbin Peter to Pay Paul, Double Wedding Ring, and Country Crossroads. Row 3: Lone Star, Baby's Blocks, Shadow Block, and Four Doves in the Window. Row 4: Not yet complete but will include Crosses and Losses, Butterfly, Schoolhouse and Rebel Patch. Marion Vogler marks a Crosses and Losses Patch on fabric. father, preacher, sow, and a calf. “The blocks of the quilt,” Falk continues, “are standard tradition blocks known to all quitters and they all have names such as Windmill, Rocky Road to Kansas, Lone Star, Double Wedding Rings, and Four Doves. They really go through the basic cycles of life such as birth, schoolhouse, wed ding, the ups and downs of families such as death, tornado, and a prairie fire. These are all enacted on stage. “The music has a country and folk favor,” Falk reports, “in tertwined with familiar church and spiritual music.” The seven women sing a four-part harmony in a very close musical range, he adds, and a variety of musical instruments such as harp, Irish drum, and freaka, will be used. “Quitters,” written and com posed by Molly Newman and Barbara Damashek, has appeared at the Denver Center for Per forming Arts, Denver, the J.F.K. Center, Washington, D.C., and in New York City for a brief period. Peggy Emery says she enjoys the challenge of sewing new quilting patches. She has been quilting for three years and Gray has been quilting for two years. After her youngest child left home, Gray says, she made a decision three and a half years ago to open a sewing shop. Although she originally shared a building with other businesses in a down town establishment, she notes happily that business has im proved greatly since she moved to a building of her own. And how does Gray feel about participating in making what is probably the largest quilt in Pennsylvania? “I think it’s so much fun. I think the overall effect will be striking when it’s done. I’m proud to be working on it,” she exclaims. It’s a foregone conclusion that Gray, Emergy, and Vogler along with many area quitters already have purchased tickets for the upcoming play. But one wonders how much attention they’ll give the play when that marvelous quilt hangs in the background. See your nearest I\EW HOLLAf\D Dealer for Dependable Equipment and Dependable Service: Annville, PA BHM Farm Equipment, Inc R D 1 717-867 2211 Beavertown, PA B&R Farm Equipment, Inc RD 1, 80x217A 717-658 7024 Belleville, PA Ivan J Zook Farm Equipment Belleville, Pa 717-935-2948 Canton, PA Hess Farm Equipment 717-673 5143 Carlisle, PA PaulShovers Inc 35 East Willow Street 717 243 2686 Chambersburg, PA Clugston Implement Inc RD 1 717 263 4103 Davidsburg, PA George N Gross, Inc R D 2, Dover, PA 717-292 1673 Elizabethtown, PA Messick Farm Equipment, Inc Rt 283 Rheem’sExit 717-367 1319 Everett, PA C Paul Ford & Son RD 1 814 652-2051 Gettysburg, PA Yinglmg Implements RD 9 717-359-4848 Greencastle, PA Meyers Implement’s Inc 400 N Antrim Way PO Box 97 717 597-2176 Halifax, PA Sweigard Bros R D 3, Box 13 717-896-3414 Hamburg, PA Shartlesville Farm Service RD 1, Box 1392 215-488-1025 Hanover, PA Sheets Brothers Inc 1061 Carlisle St Hanover PA 17331 717 632 3660 Honey Brook, PA Dependable Motor Co East Main Street 215 273 3131 215 273 3737 Honey Grove, PA Norman D Clark 8 Son Inc Honey Grove PA 717 734 3682 Hughesville, PA Farnsworth Farr’ Supplies Inc 103 Cemetery Street 717 584 2106 Lancaster, PA L H Brubaker Inc 350 Strasburg Pike 717 397 5179 Lebanon, PA Keller Bros Tractor Co RD 7 Box 405 717 949 6501 Lititz. PA Roy A Brubaker 700 Woodcrest A v 717 626 7766 Loysville, PA Paul Shovers, Inc Loysville, PA 717-789-3117 Lynnport, PA Kermit K Kistler Inc Lynnport, PA 215-298-2011 Martinsburg, PA Forshey's, Inc HOForshey St 814-793 3791 Mill Hall. PA Paul A Dotterer RD 1 717 726 3471 New Holland, PA ABC Groff Inc 110 South Railroad 717 354 4191 New Park, PA M&R Equipment Inc PO Box 16 717 993 2511 Oley, PA C J Wonsidler Bros R D 2 215-987 6257 Pitman, PA Marlin W Schreftler Pitman, PA 717 648 1120 Quakertown, PA C J Wonsidler Bros RD 1 215 536 1935 Quarryville, PA C E Wiley & Son, Inc 101 South Lime Street 717 786 2895 Ringtown, PA Rmgtown Farm Equipment Ringtown PA 717-889 3184 Tamaqua, PA Charles S Snyder Inc R D 3 717 386 5954 West Chester, PA M S Yearsley & Son 114 116 East Market Street 215 696 2990 West Grove, PA SG Lewis & Son Inc R D 2 Box 66 215 869 2214 Churchville, MD Walter G Coale Inc 2849 53 Churchville Rd 301 734 7722 Frederick, MD New Holland Inc Rt 26 East 301 562 4197 Outside MD 800 331 9122 Westminster. MD New Holland Inc 1201 New Windsor Rd 301 857 0711 Outside MD 800 331 9122 Washington, NJ Frank Rymon 8 Sons 201 689 1464 Woodstown, NJ Owen Supply Co Broad Street 8 East Avenue 609-769 0308
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