The Amish are well known for rustic living, horse and buggy travel, hand made crafts and quilting bees. For a culture trying to stay outside of the modern world, they have been surprisingly modern in their business building models. Handmade crafts and Amish quilts have become a big revenue stream for many Amish families.
The funny thing is, while people assume Amish quilts have been around forever, the Amish were actually very late to quilting. Long after their English neighbors began piecing quilts together, the Amish were still clinging to the German tradition of feather beds and coverlets. It wasn't until the mid to late 1800s that Amish quilts began to crop up.
Since the main tenet of Amish culture and beliefs is to keep away from the temptations of the modern world, the introduction of quilting was a bit too modern for them at first. So although it may seem as though things never change within Amish society, that is very untrue. Changes occur, just at a much slower rate than they do in the modern world.
As with many creations, Amish quilts began as plain, one color quilts. Though few Amish quilts show up before 1870, the earliest quilts used solid, dark colors such as black, brown or blue. Over the years however, the Amish quilt has begun to evolve.
Change happens very slowly in the Amish community (only with community approval) and the evolution of Amish quilts is no different. Eventually some basic piecing and additional colors began to crop up in the quilts. For example, one quilt may have a large, solid diamond in the middle of another color, with just a border around it. Even the new colors were still relatively dark and plain.
Quilts in the modern world quickly evolved to showcase all kinds of crazy and intricate patterns. Eventually, the Amish quilt also began to use some of the tamer patterns, such as Around the World and Nine Patch. Since the Amish do not participate in idle artistic hobbies such as drawing or painting, quilting is the perfect way for women to showcase their skill and creativity.
Another huge aspect of the Amish quilt was the quilting bees held to piece the quilts together. It was the perfect excuse for Amish women to be able to get together and catch up with each other. Once the household chores were done, the women would get together to work on projects together, which led to a large outpouring of merchandise and thus the beginning of the lucrative quilting business in the Amish world.
There is a definite difference between an Amish quilt and a factory made quilt. Each quilt is the distinct creation of its maker, and showcases creativity, stitching and other sewing talents. The Amish are now well know for their quilts and other crafts because of the fine workmanship and design.
The funny thing is, while people assume Amish quilts have been around forever, the Amish were actually very late to quilting. Long after their English neighbors began piecing quilts together, the Amish were still clinging to the German tradition of feather beds and coverlets. It wasn't until the mid to late 1800s that Amish quilts began to crop up.
Since the main tenet of Amish culture and beliefs is to keep away from the temptations of the modern world, the introduction of quilting was a bit too modern for them at first. So although it may seem as though things never change within Amish society, that is very untrue. Changes occur, just at a much slower rate than they do in the modern world.
As with many creations, Amish quilts began as plain, one color quilts. Though few Amish quilts show up before 1870, the earliest quilts used solid, dark colors such as black, brown or blue. Over the years however, the Amish quilt has begun to evolve.
Change happens very slowly in the Amish community (only with community approval) and the evolution of Amish quilts is no different. Eventually some basic piecing and additional colors began to crop up in the quilts. For example, one quilt may have a large, solid diamond in the middle of another color, with just a border around it. Even the new colors were still relatively dark and plain.
Quilts in the modern world quickly evolved to showcase all kinds of crazy and intricate patterns. Eventually, the Amish quilt also began to use some of the tamer patterns, such as Around the World and Nine Patch. Since the Amish do not participate in idle artistic hobbies such as drawing or painting, quilting is the perfect way for women to showcase their skill and creativity.
Another huge aspect of the Amish quilt was the quilting bees held to piece the quilts together. It was the perfect excuse for Amish women to be able to get together and catch up with each other. Once the household chores were done, the women would get together to work on projects together, which led to a large outpouring of merchandise and thus the beginning of the lucrative quilting business in the Amish world.
There is a definite difference between an Amish quilt and a factory made quilt. Each quilt is the distinct creation of its maker, and showcases creativity, stitching and other sewing talents. The Amish are now well know for their quilts and other crafts because of the fine workmanship and design.
About the Author:
About the author: Deborah Lichtie works as an marketing specialist and consultant for several sites such as Amish Quilt and often does freelance content writing for various other sites. Her passions include history and especially Amish culture, as well as different types of craft creation, including stamping, wood carving and quilting. In her spare time she sells amish quilts on her website and via ebay.
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