822-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 6, 1993
Coverlets Weave
History With Beauty
BETH MILLER
Adams Co. Correspondent
LITTLESTOWN (Adams Co.)
—For more than 10 years, weaver
Peg Meams has been working
with yam and history at the looms
in the studio of her old farm
house.
At the same time she is making
coverlets and napkins and runners,
Meams is thinking about the peo
ple who made those same trea
sures long before she was bom.
“It is a great curiosity to me,”
she said of her craft. “It helps you
think back and personalize
things.”
Meams said she began weaving
in 1980, after retiring from a
career working for extension ser
vices in New Jersey and
Maryland.
One of her looms was given to
her when she retired from the
extension service, she said.
Meams said she weaves three to
four hours every day in the studio
at the back of her house, which
dates from the time of the Civil
War.
She said she makes about 10
full-sized coverlets a year, as well
as napkins, placemats, towels, pil
low tops, stoles and scarves, lap
robes, and tablecloths.
Meams said she had been inter
ested in weaving for a long time,
at least since her college days, but
never pursued her interest until
she retired.
Some of the proudest moments
in her weaving career have been at
the South Mountain Fair, she said.
Her prizes there include twice
achieving the Best of Show award
for a twin bed coverlet and a king
size coverlet.
Menms said she u ff cs cotton
warp and wool weft in her works,
and weaves in colors from moss
green to baby pink to all types and
shades of blue.
She markets her items from her
home, where people can see her
selections and works in progress
on her two looms and order what-
ys.some. favorite coverlet patterns,
Cats Paws and Snails Trails; Whig Rose, and Catalpa Flower.
i
Peg Meams practices weaving in the studio of her Civil
War era home.
ever catches their eyes.
Recently, Meams said, she has
gotten more involved in the stories
behind the names of the weaving
patterns she works with.
Some of the patterns.look like
their names, but the majority do
not, she said.
She said many patterns were
named for„historical or Biblical
events. For example, she said,
there is “Lee’s Surrender,” “The
Star of Bethlehem” and the “Mal
tese Cross.”
One very old pattern that is still
very popular is the “Whig Rose,”
Meams said. That one is named
'*VvV
after a political party that was
popular in the early years of the
country, bu} has since
disappeared.
She said some patterns have
flowery or leafy names, like
“Wandering Vine,” or “Catalpa
Flower.”
Many others have sentimental
meanings, like “Love Knot” or
“Soldier’s Return,” she added.
Still others have names of states in
them, such as “Kentucky Snow
ball” and “Virginia Snowball,”
she said.
A lot of other patterns have the
words “beauty” and “fancy” in
them, Meams said.
Meams said many of the pat
terns have several names. For
instance, the pattern “Cat’s Paw”
is also called “Wandering Vine”
and “Rattlesnake,” she said.
In the old days, weaving pat
terns were like recipes and were
handed down from generation to
generation, from family to family,
and shared between friends, she
said.
The patterns travelled across
the country as settlers headed west
and their names changed in the
process, she said.
The journey sometimes caused
slight variations in their designs
also, Meams said.
She said of the patterns she has
investigated date back before the
Civil War. That is when people
had to weave out of necessity, she
said.
Cotton and wool were used by
weavers back then because the
cotton thread was manufactured
and most farms had sheep to pro
vide the wool, Merans said. .
In the 1700 s and 1800 s both
men and women were weavers,
she said. They had to weave out of
necessity, she said, but out of
necessity they came up with beau
tiful patterns to add some beauty
to their homes, Mcarns said.
So, it seems that Meams is fol
lowing tradition by making works
that arc just as beautiful to deco
rate modern homes.
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See your nearest
l\E\A/ HOLLAR
Dealer for Dependable
Equipment and
Dependable Service:
PENNSYLVANIA
Annvllle, PA
BHM Farm
Equipment, Inc.
RDI, Rte. 934
717-867-2211
Carlisle, PA
R&W Equipment Co.
35 East Willow Street
717-243-2686
Davldsburg, PA
George N. Gross, Inc.
R.D. 2, Dover, PA
717-292-1673
Elizabethtown, PA
Messick Farm
Equipment, Inc.
Rt. 283 - Rheem's Exit
717-367-1319
Gettysburg, PA
Yingling Implements,
Inc.
3291 Taneytown Rd.
717-359-4848
Halifax, PA
Sweigard Bros.
R.D. 3, Box 13
717-896-3414
Honey Brook, PA
Dependable Motor Co.
East Main Street
215-273-3131
215-273-3737
Honey Grove, PA
Norman D. Clark
& Son, Inc.
Honey Grove, PA
717-734-3682
Loysville, PA
717-789-3117
MARYLAND
Frederick, MD
Ceresville
Ford New Holland, Inc.
Rt. 26 East
301-662-4197
Outside MD,
800-331-9122
NEW JERSEY
Bridgeton, N.J.
Leslie G. Fogg, Inc.
Canton & Stow Creek
Landing Rd. -
609-451-2727
609-935-5145
Woodstown, NJ
Owen Supply Co.
Broad Street &
East Avenue
609-769-0308
Hughesville, PA
Farnsworth Farm
Supplies, Inc.
103 Cemetery Street
717-584-2106
New Holland, PA
A.B.C. Groff, Inc.
110 South Railroad
717-354-4191
Oley, PA
C.J. Wonsidler Bros.
R.D. 2
215-987-6257
Pitman, PA
Schrefller Equipment
Pitman, PA
717-1548-1120
Quakertown, PA
C.J. Wonsidler Bros.
R.D. 1
215-536-1935
Tamaqua, PA
Charles S. Snyder, Inc.
R.D. 3
717-386-5945
West Grove, PA
S.G. Lewis & Son, Inc.
R.D. 2, Box 66
215-869-2214
Washington. NJ
Smith Tractor &
Equip., Inc.
15 Hillcrest Ave.
201-689-7900