Pieces Of History Found in Antique On it is
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MICHELLE KUNJAPPU Hosted by the Red Rose Quilt-
Section Staff ers Guild of Lancaster County,
LANCASTER (Lancaster Co.) the event drew more than 225
For attendees of the recent people to the gym at Calvary
Quilt Show and Tell, “Building Church.
Memories Through The Years,” Visitors watched as exhibitors
it was evident that quilts mean took turns telling the stories of
much more than just a warm and their quilts. Susan Swan, for in
cozy covering for a bed. stance, described her “trip
For the quilters, the pieces of around the world” quilt, which
dresses, aprons, or father’s shirts was “made by my grandmother
that comprise the design make and her friends at quilting bees.”
the quilts worth far more than She said, “I have memories of
simple monetary value. being at the farm where the la-
Arlene Dougherty, Ephrata, made this cathedral win
dow pattern in 1975 and pieced together curtains to
match it. “Mom said she was quite sick of the pattern
once everything was done,” said her daughter, Mimi
Geiss, Downingtown, at right.
Joan Sweigert, Ephrata, displayed several quilts at the
event. Of special interest was the quilt that is made by
her mother, Mabel Fake, from feed sacks, her skirts, and
her children’s clothing. “I remember my mother, during
World War 11, doing a lot of handiwork while my father (a
medical doctor) was away,” said Sweigert. “He was gone
three years and she raised four girls.”
Lancaster FjM^mg
dies would gather on the second
floor I remember hearing them
laughing and talking” as they
worked,” she said.
Swan later found one of these
quilts, tom and tattered, and de
cided to ask Nancy Jane Ryder,
Leola, “to rescue” the quilt.
Ryder first snips the loose
threads and tattered pieces of
material, then appliques new,
closely-matching pieces onto the
top before quilting it. She is care
ful not to quilt the whole way
through so the back of the piece
looks the same.
The quilt rested on a bed in
Swan’s home until it returned for
its second repair after her daugh
ter’s 125-pound Mastiff “nested”
in it.
Ryder has replaced a total of
35 blocks. The quilt will someday
be passed on to Swan’s first
granddaughter, who was bom in
May.
Katherine Huddle, Lititz,
brought along her 2,500 patch
quilt, which has been featured in
quilting books and on a postcard
album.
Made in 1915 by Katherine
Hershey, her grandmother (who
made a quilt for each of her five
sons), the quilt features one large
patch made up of 25 smaller i
squares. Since there are 100 of
the bigger patches there is a total
of 2,500 smaller patches. Each
large patch is alike, however is
placed in a strategic pattern so
the quilt has a varied appearance.
Even though it is valuable for its
appearance, the quilt has also
been utilitarian.
“Mother used it and I used it,”
said Huddle.
Brenda Brown, Manheim, dis
played a quilt made by her great
great grandmother. Pieced to
gether with remnants of feed
sacks, dresses, aprons, towels into
small squares of two triangles
and tied with yam, the quilt was
rescued from her father who was
going to use it in the garage.
“My mother was very frugal,”
observed Norma Pad, Lititz. Be
sides making her children’s cloth
ing and her husband’s shirts,
Pad’s mother pieced together
quilts, one of which Pad dis
played at the show. Her mother
had put the top together in the
late 1920 s to early 1930 s and then
put it away without quilting it.
Pad, who can recognize pieces of
dresses and patches from her
mother’s aprons, got it out five
years ago and began finishing the
quilt with her own hand stitching
work. The double wedding ring
pattern took three years.
Joan Sweigert, Ephrata, dis
played several quilts at the event.
Of special interest was the quilt
that is made by her mother,
Mabel Fake, from feed sacks, her
own skirts, and her children’s
clothing. “I remember my moth
er, during World War 11, doing a
lot of handiwork while my father
(a medical doctor) was away,”
said Sweigert. “He was gone
three years and she raised four
girls.”
Sweigert recalls her mother
working underneath the chande
lier of the family’s dining room.
Quilting “kept my grandmother
busy,” said Sweigert. “I used to
think, ‘what are you doing that
for?’ Now I’m hooked.”
(Turn to Page 824)
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Joseyane Carro, Lancaster, purchased this quilt at an
auction. The piece “had been in a barn for decades and
smelled bad and was filthy,” she said. “The dry cleaners
wouldn’t take it.” Carro washed the quilt in her own
washing machine and plans to make pillows with the
quilt, which she believes was made in the early 19205.
The quilt has a many-layered history. When one top would
wear thin, it would be replaced with another, directly
overtop of the first. “I think there are about seven layers,”
said Carro.
Brenda Brown, Manheim, displayed a quilt made by her
great great grandmother. Pieced together with remnants
of feedsacks, dresses, aprons, towels into small squares
of two triangles and tied with yarn, the quilt was rescued
from her father who was going to use it in the garage.
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