By Sherry Larson
The art of quilting has been around for thousands of years. The average time to make a quilt is between 8 and 60 hours (reddit.com). Unless, of course, the quilt is a distinct and overwhelming project which can take 50 years but be ready in time for America’s 250th birthday.
The late George and Martha Rhonemus and their daughter, Priscilla Rhonemus Gresser, had an idea for a project for the Adams County Bicentennial Event held at the Fairgrounds in 1976. The Rhonemus family is well known in the community, especially for farming and their involvement in 4-H. Priscilla is in her 41st year of advising. George and Martha served as advisors for 33 and 40 years, respectively.
They set up shop at the event and collected attendees’ signatures on fabric in various sizes with the idea of constructing a signature quilt. Originally, Priscilla planned on embroidering all the names. When she saw how many shapes and sizes there were, she decided the task was overly ambitious.
She completed the central Bicentennial Star in August of 1976 but didn’t work on the rest of the project for the next 50 years. Priscilla shares that the fabric pieces moved to different homes over the next several years but ended up in the attic of her farmhouse in Orrville, Ohio, for the past 39 years. She would revisit them from time to time when searching for other stored fabric, but they stayed tucked away in storage.
A few years ago, she decided to set a goal to have the quilt sewn and ready for America’s 250th birthday celebration. With the help of her sister-in-law, Vicki Rhonemus, they laid out the fabric and configured the Bicentennial quilt. Vicki said, “There were different pieces of material, and the signatures went every which way.” Once the pattern was designed, the quilt went back to the attic.
In January 2026, Priscilla retrieved the unfinished quilt, planning to have it ready and returned to Adams County by Memorial Day. She hoped the quilt would be displayed and that folks would enjoy seeing those who had signed during the Bicentennial event. She attempted to make a list of all the names, which numbered 700+, but some were difficult to decipher.
Priscilla wanted to preserve the integrity of the signatures and their random placements, so she decided to use an embroidery machine and stitching to sew the quilt together rather than a quilting machine. The batting, backing, and Adams County piece are made from new fabric, but the remainder of the fabric is the original pieces from 1976.
The final stitch was completed on May 20, 2026 – a stitch “just” in time. Vicki said, “Priscilla felt it was too valuable a part of history to do nothing – that’s why she wanted to see that it got finished.”
The quilt will be on display at the 2026 Adams County Fair in the 4-H/FFA Building. Stop by and search the signatures – maybe you’ll find the name of someone you know who signed a piece of fabric to celebrate America 50 years ago.