This article was written by Libby Browne.
Have you noticed that we have new kneelers at the communion rail? Nancy Fago and Elaine Markezin noticed not long ago that the old ones, especially the central one which gets moved around a lot, were almost in tatters and needed to be replaced. It was not possible to repair them, and reconstructing them with the original design would be a prohibitive cost. Nancy found out from Marcia Rogers the following:
The covers were made for the 200th anniversary of St. Peter’s in 1961. Mrs. J. Lodge Nicholson created the needlework design for the kneelers, the altar chairs and prie-dieu to the left of the altar. Mrs. Lodge along with Mrs. Frank (Mary) Seymour and Mrs. (Sybil) D. J. Vaughan completed the covers. Others in the congregation did lesser projects such as the background for the door stops with the steeple design in the center, which were sold as fund raisers. The Steeple design was created by Mrs. Nicholson.
Because of excessive wear the kneeler cushions were replaced with plain cushions made by Liz McIlvaine, a former St. Peter’s parishioner who has her own textile design studio in the city. The fabric is made by Absecon and the color is Shire Red Rose. They were installed in May.
The original covers will be stored in the archives, but in case you hadn’t noticed them before you can still see the lovely designs on the altar chairs, the prie-dieu and the reading desk cushion. Thank you, ladies, past and present, for all your hard work for St. Peter’s.