Amish Quilt Designs
The Quilt Design Royalty? Lone Star, Double Wedding Ring, Log Cabin, Nine Patch, Ocean Wave. Newer entries into the quilt world? Spinning Star, Country Love, Light in the Valley ©. Shop on, to your heart's content! There's just something about a quilt...
The Amish Shadow is very rare here in Pennsylvania; it's almost unknown entirely. While we're unsure of its origins, it does appear to be slightly more popular in the Midwest. It is also known as Roman Stripe. It's created by making two halves of a block and placing them on the bias. One half is almost always black, or at least a solid fabric. The other half is typified by bright or vivid ribbons of color. Frequently these strips are also solid color that contrasts nicely with the black. However, sometimes fabric can be used.
The Bachelor's Puzzle is very rare; it comes in two styles, and this sinewy one is almost unknown entirely. While we're unsure of its origins, it seems to appear in the Midwest in the 1920's or 30's.
It is unknown whether the original Bargello needlework that inspired this design originates from Italy or Hungary...but either way, it's sophistication...by way of the 1700's.
The Basket design first came into use sometime around 1790. Quilters like to use it because they can cut small pieces from their scraps and still have a beautiful piece of work. This is truly one of the most traditional Amish quilt designs.
The Bear's Paw is another classic design, another of the block style. While no one is certain when it was first created, it has been in use since at least the 1890's.
The Boston Commons quilt design was inspired by the Amish Sunshine & Shadow and English Trip Around the World designs. Instead of taking contrasting bands of color in block form and putting it into a diamond figure, this instead presents it in an elogated rectangular fashion.
The Bow Tie design is very rare; it is known to be in use by 1898, but perhaps may have been in use as early as 1875. Early examples came from areas as diverse as Nebraska and possibly Connecticut.
Like many of its siblings, the Broken Star is a variation of the Lone Star design. In this case, a lone star is placed inside of a curved set of similar diamond shape blocks that encircle it and form half-stars. This is a very popular quilt design in Pennsylvania.
The Center Diamond is one of the oldest and most beloved of all Amish quilts. It is even the inspiration for the Almost Amish logo! The piecing is geometric and bold, yet sparse. Yet this plain framework sets the stage for a riot of very detailed quilting. A masterpiece.
Crocus Star is an extremely rare design- so rare, in fact, that we've tried to trace its origins without success. One thing we do know- it features a striking geometric design.
We haven't had any success in tracking the history of this quilt. Use of the star motif to in quilt-making dates back to the mid-seventeenth century, at least. This particular use of the star takes the Broken Star variation and takes it a step further. Instead of taking the blank spaces and quilting a design inside of them, more diamonds or half-diamonds are created. It makes a great play of dark and light colors!
First introduced around the 1890's, the Double Wedding is as popular today! Great as a wedding gift...or for yourself.