Art of Quilting' at Neversink Valley Museum
Deerpark Norma Schadt will speak about “The Art of Quilting” at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 27, at the D&H Canal Park Visitor’s Center, 58 Hoag Rd. (just off Route 209) in Cuddebackville. Admission is free, but donations will be accepted. The event is being sponsored by the Neversink Valley Area Museum. Schadt is the Deerpark town historian and a quilter in her own right. She learned how to quilt 25 years ago by making a hand-pieced sampler. The first quilt took 13 years to complete. In 1997, a group of women from Deerpark designed and made a quilt for the town’s bicentennial, which depicted the homes of the original settlers and the four seasons of the year. This project lead to the formation of the Schoolhouse Stitchers, a group of women who wanted to learn how to hand quilt. The first project was a pieced sampler, starting with simple squares and progressing to more difficult squares. “Although each quilter made the same quilt squares, the final quilts look very different because of color and placement,” Schadt said. “This is the art of quilting. No two quilts are ever alike.” From this project the Stitchers designed the Schoolhouse Quilt, which depicts 13 one-room schools located in the Town of Deerpark. Some of the schools are still in use either as homes or restored schoolhouses. This quilt is on display at the 1863 Schoolhouse. Presently, the Stitchers are in the process of producing a quilt reflecting an historic timeline created by Susan Miiller. Each square depicts a different time period in the history of the town, starting with the geological era, when Deerpark was under water. Some of these squares will be part of the Aug. 27 program along with the process of creating this kind of work. Schadt studied fashion design at Centenary College in Hackettstown, N.J. “However, I never went into the field,” she said. “Instead I became a teacher, which is my first love. I continue teaching no matter what I am doing at the moment. It’s in the blood.” The Schoolhouse Stichers group meets every Tuesday from 1 to 3 p.m. at the 1863 Schoolhouse, located at 25 Grange Road, Huguenot. For information about the Neversink Valley Area Museum and its programs, call 754-8870 or visit www.neversinkmuseum.org.