To the Perkiomen Valley

Johannes Evangelist, 27 December 2025

As 2025 winds down, I’m thinking ahead to some craft challenges that I’d like to do in the new year. A few months ago, I finally bought a good sewing machine — nothing professional or super fancy. I use a sewing machine a lot for finishing on my handwovens, but I am by no means an expert at it. So, looking ahead, working with the sewing machine is something that I’m hoping to get better at. And then just this week, I pulled my copy of Lest I Shall be Forgotten: Anecdotes and Traditions of Quilts by the inimitable Nancy and Abe Roan.

The book is a write-up of the Goschenhoppen Quilt Roundup that occurred 1990–1992. The Roundup featured pre-1950s quilts from the Goschenhoppen region, a small folk region in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Cutting through this region is the Perkiomen Creek. It’s a place that I’ve always enjoyed. Maybe once or twice a year, when my parents didn’t work on a Monday, we all loaded into the car to pick through the flea market goodies at the Perkiomenville Sale.

I was fascinated by a few pages about the Perkiomen Valley quilt pattern. It’s a scrap quilt made of 9-patch blocks with three half square triangles diagonally down the middle, creating a dark and a light side to the block. Traditionally, the blocks were arranged to symbolize the hills and valleys of the Perkiomen region. Here’s one housed at the Schwenkfelder Library and Heritage Center.

Now, I know next to nothing about quilting. I’ve always been fascinated by it, though. Last year, during a particularly difficult time for me, I needed to get out of my head and do something with my hands. I decided to hand stitch and quilt a simple wall hanging. I ordered some vintage flour sack material that had been pre-cut into 5 inch squares. I hand pieced them and then hand quilted in a simple diagonal grid system. It was a great way to busy my hands without my mind racing and a great way to do some mindful handstitching.

My first attempt at quilting, 2024

It’s far from perfect, but it gave me the necessary start to understand the basics of quilting. With my new machine, I’m going to try a larger project and have now settled on attempting the Perkiomen Valley. Stay tuned as a I keep you updated with my progress!