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Stitch In Time Saves Life

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By SEAN C. LEDIG, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 3, 2007

Additional Photos

CARROLLWOOD - Quilting is more than just a hobby or a second career for Peggy Wattenbarger.

It just may have helped restore her health following a severe stroke more than 10 years ago.

'The doctors expected me to die,' Wattenbarger said. 'But I started quilting and didn't die.'

Quilting gave her something to do during her convalescence, Wattenbarger said.

'I could still quilt,' she said. 'After all, I could do that sitting in bed. I believe that was what brought my brain back.'

Wattenbarger started quilting after taking a class in 1975. She even started one masterpiece quilt at the time. However, as much as she loved it, quilting took a back seat to working, going to college and raising her children.

But she promised herself that she would return to it.

'I always said when I retire, I'm going to do it full time,' said Wattenbarger, who has worked as a mathematician and surveyor for various federal agencies.

Today, her quilts are works of art that can fetch thousands of dollars. She has shown them at arts-and-crafts shows throughout the area and won many awards for her work, including: the Mainsail Arts Festival Award of Merit in 1997 and 1998; the Temple Terrace Arts Festival 1997 Award of Merit; a Dunedin Art Harvest Award of Merit; and second place at the Quilters Workshop of Tampa Bay.

Quilting has become such a big part of her life that Wattenbarger added onto her Carrollwood Village home to accommodate her projects.

'I try to treat it as full-time job,' Wattenbarger said. 'I work at it about eight hours a day. I'm still trying to organize and get things to where they should be.'

Stacks of cloth swatches, organized by color, line the hallway to her workroom. Inside, she has several projects hanging from the walls around her cutting table and sewing machine.

'I usually have six pieces working at a time,' Wattenbarger said. 'That way, if I get tired of one, I could work on something else.'

One quilt in progress features a wide range of tropical sea life, including manatees, dolphins and tropical fish. The sea creatures surround a center panel with several large lionfish.

Another quilt in production is based on a photograph of a conch shell on a pile of river rocks. Even though it is in its early stages, Wattenbarger has tried to match the colors of the shell and the rocks.

Next to the river rocks and conch shell is a humorous and, for Wattenbarger, appropriate look at quilting. It features a woman working at a sewing table, furiously working on a quilt, under the caption 'Therapy in session.'

Wattenbarger's projects come in all sizes, from only a couple of feet in length and width to her current king-size masterpiece. At 108-by-102 inches, 'Big Swede' is a nod to her Nordic heritage.

'Big Swede is probably the biggest one I've done,' Wattenbarger said. 'I got involved with the blue and yellow, which are the colors of the Swedish flag, and I'm half Scandinavian.'

While it hasn't always been easy accompanying his wife to craft shows, Frank Wattenbarger said he is proud of her.

'I am amazed at how creative she is,' he said.

Vicki Cuccia, chairwoman of the program committee for the Friends of the Carrollwood Cultural Center, praised Wattenbarger's work ethic. Cuccia said Wattenbarger came in to hang a recent display of her works at the center's annex only days before undergoing spinal surgery.

'She was facing surgery, but she came in on a Thursday morning, and she and her husband filled the room with life and color,' Cuccia said. 'I thought it was absolutely beautiful.'

As someone who collects quilts, Cuccia said she always has been impressed by Wattenbarger's products.

'There is life and joy and color and excitement in her work,' Cuccia said. 'I used to go to Vermont and to the Pennsylvania Dutch Country to buy quilts, and they're beautiful. But they are very mundane compared to hers.'

Reporter Sean C. Ledig can be reached at (813) 865-1507 or sledig@tampatrib.com.

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