Amana community women have been quilting for decades .. Today the " church ladies" still gather and quilt by hand. Traditional Amana quilts are made with solid colored polished cotton.A new bride would have two summer quilts of lighter fabric and two winter quilts of heavier fabric. Calico fabric was also used then and now. The fabric is stretched and pinned onto a handmade wooden frame and stand. Small, precise running stitches and perle cotton threads create the geometric and floral patterns drawn on the fabric with soft white chalk. Popular patterns were the Schlangen Kranz (serpent), Karo (diamond), Spiegel (mirror center),and Pfeife (pipes).The quilting bee was a day long, social event for the women with pride taken for the smallest stitches on the quilt. After removing the quilt from frame it is "stoffiered" (finished with blind stitches on all sides), shaken out and given to a new bride, baby or someone to enjoy in cold of winter.
No comments:
Post a Comment