The iconic Amish quilt style features saturated jewel toned colors, often on a dark background. This quilt defies that stereotype. And it is not an anomaly. In many Amish settlements, quilters made blue and white quilts sometimes referring to them as “everyday quilts” or “summer quilts.” While Amish quilts resembling modern art became status symbols among collectors and curators beginning in the late 1960s and 1970s, pickers buying quilts directly from Amish homes typically ignored quilts like this. One dealer noted: “It is difficult as a dealer to sell to someone and convince them that this is indeed an Amish quilt.” A curator commented about another quilt: “Too much white—has non-Amish feel.”

Pattern: 
Sailboat
Maker: 
Maker unknown
Circa
1930
1950
Possibly made in
Middlefield
Ohio
United States
87
78.5
IQM, Ardis and Robert James Collection
1997.007.0090