Amish Bars Quilt

Many traditionally made Amish quilts combine simple and bold geometric shapes with abundant hand quilting to create utilitarian blankets for the home and the hired hands. Two other traditional features of an Amish quilt are the extensive use of black broadcloth combined with bright jewel colors using scraps leftover from constructing dresses and shirts. One of the delights of traveling in Amish country is seeing the colorful lines of washing strung out to dry, alternating black with splashes of color billowing in the breeze.

The Amish Bars quilt from the Quilts4U Traditional Quilts Collection is a modern interpretation of this design which has been said to depict the long rows of crops growing on Amish farms. This quilt is constructed entirely of cotton fabric purchased from Cherrywood Fabrics, a business which is famous for its hand dyed fabrics with a sueded stone washed look. This effect happens when the fabric in the dye baths is deliberately stirred less than normal, resulting in uneven yet attractive dye penetration of the fabric. The colors selected for the quilt reflect the traditional sober colors often used by both Amish and Mennonite quilters. Instead of black cotton, the quilt maker chose a charcoal tone.

In the traditional Amish style, this quilt features beautiful hand quilting along all the straight lines of the quilt. The choice of acrylic yarn for this style of quilting again reflects the traditional use of what early quilters may have had on hand. Very often, access to sewing products and notions did not exist for homesteaders in remote areas, or for pioneers on the road to new horizons. Many homeowners did keep sheep, and spinning was a vital part of early American subsistence.

Country Style Quilt

Quilts4U has named one of the quilts in the Quilts4U Traditional Quilt Collection the Country Style quilt because there are countless pattern names with the same general appearance. We chose Country Style because for several reasons. The pattern is basic and would have been chosen by many quilt makers for its suitability for a beginner quilt maker, for its unpretentious simplicity and its adaptability to the scrap bag every quilter cherished.

Quilts4U version of this homey quilt started with a collection of whimsical and countryish printed fabrics from Country Treasures in Vermont. Very fine quality muslin was chosen to set off the prints, again for its off white rustic appearance and also because using muslin is traditional in quilt making. The solid shade fabrics were all purchased from the Cherrywood Fabric Collection of fine hand dyed cotton fabric.

This generic type of pattern was very often selected to make a utilitarian quilt, a quilt that would receive heavy usage over the years. Throughout the early centuries of quilt making in America muslin was often more readily available and usually at a lower cost. In fact, recycling muslin feed bags into quilt tops and backings was at certain times of scarcity almost a universal practice. Sometimes there was lettering or a print on the feedbag, specifically as an inducement by feed manufacturers. This marketing idea was that farmers might buy a particular brand of feed so that the quilters in the household would be happy too.

What makes Quilts4U's Country Quilt outstanding and a little bit modern as well is the superbly executed hand quilting in various sized circles.

Spools Quilt

The Spools quilt in the Quilts4U Traditional Quilt Collection is one pattern name which aptly describes the dominant motif for the quilt. Traditionally, the entire quilt top was formed by multiple squares of spools. Our quilt also began in this format but it quickly became evident that the look was plainly quite boring. So the hunt was on to find a more restful design layout. Our quilt maker designed a unique and beautiful template for the hand quilting, that of finely quilted tulips resting against a trellis formed with parallel lines of quilting. The cross hatch quilting motif is a great tradition and there is at least one very interesting reason for that popularity. Quilting on the diagonal line of the fabric weave is easier and faster, and it produces a pleasing pillow effect due to the gentle diagonal tension of the the quilting thread on the fabric's warp and weft, (the actual weaving terms for the lengthwise and cross wise grain lines.) Hand quilted by Cynthia Bennett of Dallas Texas.

Quilts4U's version of the Spools pattern was created with new white cotton broadcloth which is traditional for wedding quilts. Very often a wedding quilt was tucked away in a trunk after the wedding to be preserved as a treasured keepsake of one of life's transitions. Typically, wedding quilts were a showcase for the quilt maker's talents for design, construction and especially outstanding hand quilting. Such a quilt might be started very many months even years before the actual wedding date. The quilt makers often knew in advance that their wedding quilt offering might rarely be used except "for show" on special occasions when guests and family members would gather, such as Thanksgiving, a wedding or funeral. The backing of our Spools quilt is 100% cotton and the batting filler is cotton as well. The cotton fabrics making up the spools came from a very traditional source, the bag of scraps every quilt maker collects. Some were purchased from quilting products supplier Geoffrey Gutcheon.