Lebanon quilters stitch together community spirit for America250

The 250th anniversary quilt is more than a symbol celebrating the nation’s semiquincentennial birthday in 2026. 

The quilt, being crafted by members of the Lebanon Quilters Guild, is a celebration of Lebanon County’s community. It also celebrates a craft that was essential to clothing residents who fought for and founded the nation. 

Guild and 250th committee member Jan Morrissey said it’s important for Lebanon countians to have a hand in helping to sew the quilt. 

“America250 is a country community thing. We just don’t want to show something. We want the community to be involved in it and say that they added a stitch or two and were a part of the local history of America250, the semiquincentennial of Lebanon County,” Morrissey said. 

On the day LebTown visited the quilt while it was on display at the recently concluded Lebanon Area Fair, newly crowned Fair Queen Olivia Morrissey and Pennsylvania Fair Queen Ava Immel stopped by to add their stitches to it.

Read More: Passing the crown to the 2025 Lebanon Area Fair Queen, Alternate, and Princess

“I think it’s amazing. It’s celebrating 250 years,” said Olivia, no relation to Jan. “I’m a huge sewer. I’m not normally a quilter, but I really have a passion for sewing. I think it’s awesome that you’re really getting the community involved with it, too, and letting them have this opportunity to be a part of something so cool.”

Immel said it was interesting that a separate quilt is being crafted for the 2026 Pennsylvania Farm Show. That quilt was in York County on display during the week of that county’s fair and will be traveling around the state to other county fairs in the months of August and September, according to Immel. 

“I think this is terrific,” Immel said. “I think this is an amazing way to bring out your community and get everyone involved in this. And not only that, but it’s a good way to represent the 250th anniversary.”

Read More: Lebanon County 250th planners update commissioners on 2026 celebration

Bonnie Loy, chair of the Lebanon 250th anniversary committee, said several hundred Lebanon Area Fair attendees contributed to its construction during the week-long event. Guild members were at the booth each day of the fair between 3 and 9 p.m. to assist those who were willing to stitch it.

“Over 300 people placed stitches on the quilt,” Loy said. “Youngest was 5 years old, oldest was late 80s.”

The anniversary committee, in cooperation with the local quilters guild, plans to have the quilt at events leading up to the county’s celebration of the 250th anniversary next July 4. Only one event, Miss Morgan’s Milkweed Antique & Artisan Show show on the weekend of Oct. 3 and 4 at the expo center, is on the quilt’s public schedule. 

Residents are encouraged to visit lebanonpa250.com for the quilt’s touring schedule if additional dates are added and for other information concerning local plans for the countywide anniversary party in July 2026. 

“It just will be revolving around the county,” said Jan. “We will put notices about it on (the county’s) America250 Facebook page if the quilt will be somewhere else for people to stop by and put a few stitches in.”

Kitty Zackey, founder of the Lebanon County Quilters Guild, said the finished patriotic sampler quilt will be about 72″ by 100″. It falls into the sampler category because of the many different types of quilt blocks or squares in it. There are a total of 35 blocks that were contributed by some of the 120 members of the 41-year-old Lebanon Quilter Guild. 

Another deciding factor in making a quilt for the anniversary celebration is to celebrate a craft that is older than America itself.

“The Chinese used to make quilted garments to be worn underneath the mail. They would wear suits of armor and mail. The Europeans and the Chinese quilted things, so we got the idea of putting things together from them,” Zackey of South Lebanon Township said. “But Americans are known for their quilt-making. When the pioneer ladies came over and they didn’t have much and they didn’t have any stores, they would share fabrics and they would use scraps of old clothing.”

Those scraps of material were integral to the clothes colonialists wore in the 1700s.

“They put them (cloth scraps) together in their own patches and that has carried on and carried on. And there was a resurgence in it actually at the bicentennial in 1976,” added Zackey. “That’s about when I started quilting and there was one quilt book in the library at the time.

“We’ve all had people who showed old magazine articles or the back of a cereal box that was cut into the shape like here, so that you could cut around it and make patterns. Quilt-making has boomed and we have huge conventions nationwide and worldwide, conventions of quilt-making now.”

The patriotic sampler quilt is red, white and blue and contains references to symbols of early America, including the Liberty Bell and stars reminiscent of the nation’s flag. The quilt’s center square contains a piece of fabric from one of the anniversary committee’s T-shirts that was made to commemorate the celebration in 2026.

“That (center square) says celebrate ‘250 in the Valley’ with the years,” said Jan. “We took a T-shirt and just cut off the sleeves and everything. We wanted to incorporate something into it so it was not just a patriotic quilter, always lovely, but we wanted to have the purpose of it being the whole visit to the valley for America250.”

Zackey said the quilt, if it is sold at the July 4 celebration in 2026, could fetch a wide variety of bids. LebTown asked the general price for any given quilt sold at auction.

“A minimum of $500, as high as $5,000. Depending on the workmanship that’s in it and the desire for someone to have it,” said Zackey.

It’s hoped that a high bid is offered for this quilt if a decision is made to sell it. Loy said several individuals have expressed an interest in purchasing it.

“Many of us have our work in here, and we like to have that,” Zackey said. “But many are happy to just share it like this. Somebody who wants a particularly patriotic quilt and feels good about it, I hope they’ll pay more.”

Proceeds from the quilt sale would be used to help offset the cost of the countywide 2026 celebration, especially for events at the expo center that day, according to Morrissey. 

“We’re raising funds as we go. We certainly want to be helpful to the cost of the fireworks for next year here because the city always has been doing them,” Morrissey said. “We’re looking to have a little bit bigger fireworks next year, so proceeds will go towards the cost of that and just different things that are happening throughout the year.”

Courtney Vangeli of Lebanon city, who added six stitches to it, said she appreciates that it is a community quilt. 

“I think it’s beautiful and it’s a really nice collaboration and I like the idea that everybody from the community has the chance to make a few stitches,” she said.

For more information on the Lebanon Quilters Guild, visit their website.