Over two decades ago, a handmade quilt was started by an unknown resident of The Terrace at Phoebe Allentown. Today, the quilt has been solidified in Phoebe history thanks to two women who took on the task of finishing it.
Resident Fran Sletvold was positively puzzled when Debbie Yoder, a former employee and current volunteer at Phoebe Allentown, presented her with a quilt Yoder obtained from her place of worship: St. John’s Lutheran Church in Emmaus.
One of Yoder’s fellow congregation members had approached Yoder and told her she had found the quilt while cleaning her mother’s house. Curiously, the congregation member had also noticed a business card from a former manager of The Terrace, Marjorie Hamm, attached to the instruction page.
The two of them suspected that Hamm had sent the quilt to the church to be finalized through the congregation’s quilting society.
Yoder called Hamm to inquire about the quilt, who explained to Yoder that she hadn’t been the manager for over 20 years. This would mean the quilt had been in the church’s possession for over two decades. Hamm struggled to remember any further details about the quilt’s origins.
The mother of the individual who gave Yoder the quilt was also the leader of the church’s quilting society. Her passing led to her daughter’s discovery of the quilt. Noticing Hamm’s business card, the daughter reached out to Yoder.
The original creator’s likely connection to Phoebe extends beyond the business card, however. For example, Yoder’s husband won a quilt of eerily similar design and technique in a raffle that the Terrace had hosted over 20 years ago.
“It was very similar in how it looked,” explained Yoder. “So, I’m assuming [the current quilt] was perhaps a second one.”
It was also recently discovered that The Terrace’s storage room contained various quilting equipment, including a quilting frame. It’s the type of tool that someone would have used to hand-quilt something.
“It was dirty and [looked like it] had been there a long time,” says Sletvold in reference to the equipment. When she received the quilt for the first time, Sletvold noticed mistakes in the quilt’s construction. She theorizes that the original creator had asked the church’s quilting society for help to complete it. A fellow staff member recommended Terrace residents Sletvold and Jeanette Roth as the optimal people to finish the job.
Sletvold readjusted parts of the quilt that were sewn on crooked to look more symmetrical. She also noticed an ink blotch in the corner. To cover up the ink, Sletvold and Roth sewed a label on the front that pays homage to those who worked on the quilt: Terrace residents of past and present.
Roth was tasked with finishing two accompanying pillow shams. Her process involved cutting and adjusting the fabric to the sham.
The finished product is large enough to cover a queen-sized bed, and its impressive embroidery work is patched all along the piece. The quilt’s mysterious nature and longstanding history have made it somewhat of a Phoebe artifact.
Both Sletvold and Roth are experienced in quilting and making pieces of various sizes. They’ve made custom quilts for their families in the past, as well as teddy bears and pillows for those in hospice care.
Not wanting to keep the quilt all to themselves, Sletvold and Roth agreed to donate it to this year’s Phoebe Allentown Basket Social as one of the raffle items.
The identity of the original creator remains unknown to this day.
Phoebe would like to thank Debbie Yoder, Fran Sletvold, and Jeanette Roth for supporting and completing this project. The quilt is sew impressive and will surely turn heads at this year’s Basket Social on September 25 and 26.
To learn more about the Phoebe Allentown Basket Social, please visit https://phoebe.org/basketsocial/.
Written by Dominic Trabosci