Old grain bin yields treasure

Loretta George/Tribune photos Anna Rose, left, holds the quilt she completed for Karen Saker, right. Saker discovered 19 quilt blocks in an old grain bin in Allen County. The blocks were of women, none of whom are living now, who Saker knew from working in the Uniontown community as postmistress.

A find in an old grain bin turned out to be a treasure for Karen Saker.

Saker is the long-serving postmistress in Uniontown but lives in eastern Allen County.

Saker was visiting her sister-in-law Sherry Elmenhorst in LaHarpe. Elmenhorst's friend, Lori Stephens, had purchased property near the Allen-Bourbon county line and found many old dishes and materials in a grain bin on the property.

Loretta George/Tribune photo This is the 20th quilt block Anna Rose made to complete the circa 1940's quilt blocks into a quilt, following Karen Saker's discovery. Twenty quilt blocks were needed to complete the quilt, and only 19 were found. One of the found quilt blocks was of Rose's mother, Alma Warren.

"Lori told Sherri 'Ff you want anything in this old bin, help yourself.' Old quilt blocks were in the mix," Saker said.

While looking at the quilt blocks featuring embroidered names with her sister-in-law, Saker realized she knew some of the names on the blocks as being from the Uniontown area.

"It was exciting to see some of the names," Saker said.

She had known some of the ladies' names in her years as postmistress in the small town in western Bourbon County.

The quilt blocks were not protected by a box or bag, and were in remarkably good shape, which surprised Saker. Other materials nearby had been chewed by mice.

Her sister gave her the quilt blocks, along with other found quilting material, after putting them through the washer.

Discovering the origin of the quilt blocks

Saker brought the quilt blocks for showing her friends in Uniontown.

"I brought them here to show them to the ladies and they knew practically everybody on the quilt blocks," she said.

As ladies would come into the post office, Saker would show them the quilt blocks. Saker often would go next door to Mary Kay's Place, an antique shop where Saker lunches, and show the quilt to townspeople who came in.

By piecing the together the names, it was discovered the quilt blocks were part of an unfinished "friendship" quilt project started in the late 40s or 50s by women who lived in the Petersburg area south of Uniontown. The area women would gather to quilt and share stories of their families and communities, while working on a quilt together. Each would embroider their name on a block of the quilt, then design a quilt using the blocks. Sometimes the dates the blocks were completed were included -- but not in this case. The date for the quilt blocks was deduced by Anna Rose, whose mother Alma Warren's name was on a block.

Names on the blocks and date

Women whose names are on these found quilt blocks are Mary Luker, Lillie Johnson, Addie Typer, Olive Anderson, Gladys Hite, Lois Chambers, Edith Joiner, Goldia B. Wells, Faye Brown, Naomi Ludlum, Florence Kegerreis, Iva Harper, Marjorie Hunziker, Doris Davidson, Lilllie E. Baker, Lena Kegerreis, Ruth Swank, Mary Weyant and Alma Warren. None of these women are living now. There were several mother-daughter relationships reflected in the quilt blocks, Saker learned. Lena Kegerreis was mother to Florence Kegerreis and Doris Davidson; Mary Weyant was Goldia Well's mother; Lillie Johnson was Marjorie Hunziker's mother, according to Saker.

A new quilt is made from the blocks

There were only 19 blocks with names embroidered on them. It takes 20 blocks to make a quilt for these size quilt blocks.

Saker decided to have the blocks made into a quilt and asked Rose, a well-known quilter in Uniontown, to make it for her.

For the 20th quilt block needed to complete the quilt, Rose embroidered her name on a block of material and quilted it near her mother, Alma Warren's block. She used the found material that Saker had received from her sister-in-law to complete the areas around the quilt blocks.

Anna Rose hand quilts the blocks

Rose quilts entirely by hand. There is always a quilting apparatus set up in her living room as she tackles one project, then another.

"When we were kids we cut out quilts by coal oil lamps," Rose said. But Rose didn't quilt much until moving to town in 1991, she said.

"I lived on a farm and had other things to do," Rose said. "I never had a place to put up a quilt," until moving to town".

The hand quilting only took Rose about two weeks, she said.

"It was square blocks set in a diagonal...with one of Mom's quilting templates," Rose said.

Saker requested Rose put her name on the quilt as the artist, and Rose complied with a label on the back with permanent ink.

Saker adds to her collection

Saker said she will add this treasure to other quilts she has collected.

"I use them more for decoration. I won't use it everyday, I trade them out," she said.