Like non-Amish quiltmakers, groups of Amish women added their initials and names to quilts as a means of symbolically linking together members of a community in an enduring practice known as the Friendship Quilt. This adaptation of a non-Amish quiltmaking practice was particularly well-suited to the Amish faith’s emphasis on elevating the community above the individual. These quilts typically served as gifts, solidifying relationships stretching beyond immediate family. This is one of the earliest known dated Amish-made Friendship Quilts, and  exhibits the Victorian aesthetic of the late nineteenth century, including its embroidery motifs and sentimental messages like “Remember Me” and “Forget Me Not.” Attributed to a group of Amish girls in Topeka, Indiana, the quilt’s Fan pattern was popular at this time both in America as a whole, and particularly among Amish quiltmakers in northern Indiana.