By Janet Esch

Margo Cramer was featured in the October Edition of the Society Sampler

"I am a very impatient person until I begin sewing. Then I can spend hours on the smallest detail." And Margo Cramer's work reflects her statement. Her quilting is filled with the most marvelous details.

Margo's first memory of handling a needle is being taught with her brother by her grandmother on the back porch in Baltimore. Her brother stitched his piece to his pants, but Margo's skill was already evident. She made a straight, fine seam and has been hooked on needlework every since. She could not sit still--"I have to have something in my hands"--and this has been the answer. Very early Margo learned to crochet and knit; she made clothes for her dolls and embroidered dresser scarves. Margo's mother did not sew; she was too busy and had no interest, but her grandmother presented the challenges. "Of course," Margo says, "No one wanted to wear ‘home-made' clothes; ready-made meant that you had more money." So Margo stayed with needlework. She soon began to design her own needlepoint--first an evening bag to match a suit. She found it was dull and confining to follow a patter. "It's like starting with a recipe but following and developing your own tastes."

In 1992, after suffering severe irritation in her wrist and hand from doing needlepoint, Margo followed a co-worker's suggestion and began to quilt--a pillow using Ohio Star design. Her comfort with the needle led her quickly into many kinds of quilting. She took Mimi Dietrich's class of Baltimore Album and soon found herself again reaching out to design her own work. On her Baltimore Album quilt, she used silk ribbon, beads, stencil, paint and colored ink to enhance the detail of flowers.

You will not find Margo's home filled with quilts. She is very generous with her work. Most are gifts for her family and friends. She makes table runners and baby quilts, wall hangings and lap quilts. She hand quilts all her work.

Margo has been very active in quilt guilds. She is currently the secretary for BAS and heads the "American Beauty" raffle that will take place on December 14, 2005, for BAS. She has worked on 3 raffle quilts for Faithful Circle Guild. For the 2nd raffle quilt, she designed the border from Chinese Opera Costume Embroidery and adapted the design of "Burgoyne's Rose Garden" for the quilt, as well as helping to make up 93 kits. She also took all the members' blocks and stitched them together--a most difficult task since for most quilters that ¼ inch seam allowance can be generous or skimpy. Right now she is working hard on selling raffle tickets for Faithful Circle's quilt that was shown this month at the PA National Quilt Extravaganza.

Margo's biggest project has been the Lovely Lane Museum quilt show. She, with 4 other members of BAS, traced 25 blocks for quilts that will be sold in the silent auction in November from 4 of the antique quilts, found fabrics and made up 50 kits for the blocks. She, of course, chose one of the most complicated blocks to quilt for the auction.

She has been totally involved with all details of printing, bagging, delivering and doing those other small, but time-consuming, details that are necessary to make a project successful. Marylou McDonald, chairperson of the Lovely Lane project, says, "Margo has been there for everything. She is skillful and knowledgeable of everything." Margo will be in charge of the silent auction itself on November 3-5, 2005.

One of many example of the house and tree fabric that Margo used to create flower gardens and sky.

Parrot quilt

Margo's creativity continues. For example she is fading a blue piece of fabric "just to see if she can get some special effects" for another project. I suspect it will be "special." Margo's devotion to BAS, plus the artistic genius and precision of her hand work is certainly a model to all of us.