Quilts and the art of quilt making is a long standing tradition in the Oley Valley community. Quilts were made not only to keep warm during our cold Pennsylvania winters, but were also made as poignant and pratical gifts to commemorate special events. Family members would often get together in quilitng "bees" to make memor or "album" quilts for a new bride or as an anniversary gift. Church sewing circles often made (and still make today) quilts for various reasons including fund raisers for their church or other charity, and as commemorative gifts to retiring or relocating clergy.

To involve folks who wanted to contribute to making a quilt but could not sew, very often one could donate money to churches or other causes and buy a "signature space" on a quilt. The signatures were penned in ink onto patches of cloth, and the patches were sewn into the quilt as part of the design. Many examples of these signature quilts remain in the Oley Valley and have become valuable historic documents of earlier times.

For the past year, Gail Kessler has been using the signed patches from last year's fair and creating the 60th anniversary quilt. The 60th anniversary quilt will be auctioned at the close of the fair, Saturday evening. Proceeds will go to the Fair Association.

*Gail Kessler is a resident of the Oley Valley and a descendant of the Wiest family of Oley. She is a avid quilter and is also a fabric designer and marketing Director for Andover Fabrics in New York. Gail also owns Ladyfingers Sewing Studio, a fabric and quilting supply store in Oley.