Wagmiller, Jeff

NAME: Jeff Wagmiller

Biography:

A Blanket Statement About Love Quilt-makers Are Helping The World Remember Aids Victims

May 24, 1988|By MARY FLANNERY, Daily News Staff Writer

Over the occasional whirring of a sewing machine, a group of men examine bolts of cloth that are spread out on long folding tables at the First Unitarian Church in Center City.

From the cloth will come large, personalized quilt panels, each one inscribed with the name of someone who has died of AIDS. The men designing and sewing the quilts scarcely could sew a button on a shirt when they began, but they are willing learners because of the purpose of the Delaware Valley Quilt Project.

About 100 of these panels will be displayed at the University of the Arts, June 13-16, and ceremonies will recall all those who have died of AIDS in the area. As of May 2, the number stood at 798.

"A quilt is like a tombstone in a cemetery. It's eternal," said Jeff Wagmiller, 25. "For me, it's a way to show that my lover is still in my heart.

"What makes the difference between AIDS and other fatal illnesses is the way people think it's shameful if you die of AIDS. A lot of gay people have two families - their real family and their gay friends. Often, the real family shut out the gay friends from the death. So this is a way for the other family to memorialize the person whom they lost."

One blue denim panel near completion was inscribed with the deceased person's name and the phrase "Forever in Blue Jeans," since that's how his friends remember him. Another featured a G-clef and an academic hood, for a music professor.

After the display at University of the Arts, the Philadelphia quilts will be sent to the national Names Quilt Project, a collection of more than 14,000 panels that is currently on tour.

Philadelphia was originally a scheduled stop for the tour, but local organizers reluctantly decided to scrap plans for the display, because it required $35,000 in donations and at least 300 volunteers - a goal they felt they could not meet. Also, the assigned July 1-4 dates would coincide with a possible municipal strike.

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