Local quilts help support Fairmount's Sharing Fund

In 1990, Fairmount held its first auction and chicken barbecue. From the beginning, handmade quilts, made by area sewists, have been a part of the event. "In the first year, a quilt was donated, which was what started the auction," reported Swailes. "Then in the next couple of years, people would donate completed quilts (to be sold)."

According to Swailes, about four or five years after the first auction, the initial Quilting Days was held. Quilting Days brings together stitchers who live in the area surrounding Fairmount, which is located on a plateau in Ephrata high above the surrounding farm fields, to stitch beautiful quilts, which are later sold to benefit the organization's Sharing Fund.

This year, Quilting Days took place in Fairmount's Farm Crest Community Room, 1100 Farm Crest Drive, Ephrata, on Feb. 17, 20, and 21, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. More than 200 quilters gathered over the three days. During that time, they stitched quilt tops on up to a dozen racks. A total of 10 quilts were completed, with another four nearly completed. "The unfinished quilts will be set up in a quilting area for Fairmount residents to complete," explained Carol Swailes, Fairmount public relations coordinator and a quilter herself. "(Residents) will probably (be working on one quilt at a time) most of the time between now and auction day."  

All the finished quilts will be sold at the 2024 auction and chicken barbecue, which will be held on Saturday, Sept. 14, at New Covenant Mennonite Fellowship, 529 E. Farmersville Road, New Holland.

Quilting Days brings local residents together in community, and the bright shades of the quilts and the soft voices of the women chatting as they work provide an interlude during the cold and often dark days of February. Quilting Days attracts many Fairmount residents and local families. Swailes noted that groups of sisters were gathered at some quilt racks.

When Swailes visited the gathering on Feb. 21, she noted that this year's quilt tops are especially colorful. She recalled that black and gold were predominant colors last year. "This year there isn't a decisive color scheme," noted Swailes. Indeed, for 2024, a variety of hues, including pink and green, light blue, and cranberry and white were present. "I think what makes a really great quilt is contrast (in the colors)," said Swailes, pointing out a quilt that used black pieces to frame brightly hued squares.

As she walked between the rows of sewists, Swailes pointed out the small plastic containers sitting on top of the material. "When you quilt, you keep a little plastic cup on the quilt all the time to keep extra threads in," said Swailes, who observed the many quilt patterns and talked to the stitchers about their work. Often a pattern goes by more than one moniker or combines the names of a few different patterns. One group called the quilt the members were stitching an Irish Chain Postage Stamp, but then noted that the real name was Rainbow Around the World. One black, white, aqua, and teal quilt pattern was called Kaleidoscope, and a cranberry, black, and white quilt done in applique and emblazoned with the words "I Am the Rose of Sharon, the Lily of the Valley" was called Log Cabin Star. "There's one over here that I find interesting because it's kind of whimsical," noted Swailes, pointing out a double wedding ring patterned quilt done in black, tan, white, and cream. Another quilt sported a pattern called Boston Commons.

Fairmount's Sharing Fund, which aids residents who have exhausted their finances, has an annual budget of $2.8 million. Fairmount, a nonprofit retirement community founded in 1968, is located on two adjoining campuses in Ephrata. Readers who would like to know more about the organization may visit https://fairmounthomes.org.