Mennonite Quilt

Close-up of hand quilting.  You should be able to click on it to make it larger.  Read further for the story.

Recently my husband John and I went on vacation.  We went to Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Amish Country and New York City and Brooklyn.  I blogged about our trip everyday on our vacation blog.

Prior to our trip I had hoped to purchase a quilt while we were in the Amish Country.  One day while in Philadelphia we rented a car and drove to Intercourse, PA at the recommendation of my friend Linda.  She recommended that we visit The Old Country Store as well as Zooks. 

Here I am out side right before we went inside. 

They had many, many quilts as well as fabric for sale.  They had everything from traditional Amish quilts to beautiful appliqué quilts. 

My first time through I was overwhelmed and nothing jumped out at me.  After visiting a few other stores we went back and this time I found exactly what I was looking for (although I didn’t start out knowing what I was looking for). 

Finally, peeking out from one of the many quilt racks was this, a beautiful Wedding Ring quilt.  And, needless to say it had my name written all over it. 

One of the things I often say when someone asks if I made something is, “No, but I could have”.  Well I guess I could have made this quilt, but I sure as heck couldn’t have done all the hand quilting on it.  It is just wonderful.  Here’s another close look at the quilting.

My plan was to make pillow shams using the background fabric which is a Moda Marble.  I found the fabric and made the shams.

They look OK, I actually like the way they fit and how they turned out………but when I put them on the bed they just didn’t work at all.  Oh well, I put them on the guest bed behind the shams that belong in that room so they’re kind of hidden. 

Since the Wedding Ring quilt is so large, I’m actually able to put it on the bed the old fashioned way with the pillows tucked under at the top.  I haven’t done that in a very long time but I think in this case it works. 

Here’s one more picture from a different angle.

The quilt is was actually made by a Mennonite women.  I’m sure she made it just for me.  I’m a lucky girl!

Enjoy!