This is a photo near and dear to my heart. For more than 60 years, the Maple Hill Quilters have been a part of the Maple Hill Community Congregational Church. Both of my grandmothers and my mother, Lucille (Corbin) Clark were active in the quilters for many, many years, as long as I’m able to remember. The quilters first started meeting in the old Methodist Church, used as a Fellowship Hall by the MHCCC, and then moved to the new Fellowship Hall in 1958, when it was completed. Shown in this picture are: Back Row – L-R: Mabel “Fred” (Miller) Clark, Mrs. Velma Schlotz (mother of Ruth (Mrs. Joe) Raine), and Mabel “Jim” (Jones) Clark. Front Row – L-R: Mrs. Myrtle (Young) Beach, Mrs. Wanda (Harpster) Adams, Mrs. Flora (Hartman) Barsch, Mrs. Bonnie (Thomas) Mitchell, and Miss Olive Clements. Over the decades, these ladies met once or twice each week to work on quilts for others. They would take the pieced quilt top, add cotton or later fiber batting, apply the bottom fabric and then quilt the three layers together using amazing skill. The quilting would be done in various patterns which were marked on the bottom fabric. The most common pattern may have been feather and plume.

The marked fabric was rolled up onto long poles which were layed into holders. The fabric would be advanced on the roller as the quilters worked from one edge of the quilt to the other.

Myrtle (Mrs. Harry) Beach quilted in her home until she was nearly 100 years old. Mrs. Bonnie (Thomas) Mitchell usually had a quilt in the frames all winter in one of her upstairs bedrooms. All of the others would be working on piecing quilt tops together or on embroidering quilt blocks which were then pieced together to make quilt tops. These ladies were always busy.

Since all of these ladies have now gone to their reward, I think I can tell a secret. When the quilts were finished, my Grandmother Mabel Clark, would take them home and carefully measure all of the quilting work. It was considered poor form to have less than 10 stitches per inch of quilting. If she found some one had done a piece with 12 or 13 or even 14 stitches per inch, she would rip the stitches out and replace them with the smaller ones. Sorry Gramdma—I know you will chide me for that someday 🙂

Now for the test: Does anyone know the name of the quilt pattern the ladies are holding up????