A Quilting Primer

My word processing program does not recognize the word “quiltmaker”. I think this belittles quiltmakers everywhere, so as I did with Hubba, I trained it to be a little more respectful of our talents. “Quiltmaker” is now added to my word processing program's dictionary, and hopefully we won't have that problem anymore.

My Number One lint peeve is people calling quilts blankets – the sound of it makes my hair curl. Since I already have curly hair, I wind up with a real case of the frizzies. Interesting... when I typed in “frizzies”, I discovered my word processing program doesn't recognize that word, either. Great -- quiltmakers are relegated to the same category as having the dang frizzies. Does that blow, or what?

My word processor has no problem at all with blanket. I mean no disrespect to blankets. We own a major Amana wool blanket, a treasured gift from The Barn and The Peg. In the early years of our marriage, they made a special trip to the Amana Colonies (www.amanacolonies.com) to purchase it for us. My parents shop for quality first, but getting a good price runs a very close second. They always kept a running list of needs, and when they found something on the needs list at a fabulous price, their feelings of good luck and cleverness only enhanced the joy of their reward.

You can't get much more Midwestern than having an Amana wool blanket. Made at the Amana Woolen Mill (www.amanawoolenmill.com), they are of superior quality in material, design, and construction. Ours is huge and warm, and if I didn't already sleep with a furnace (one of Hubba's countless talents), I would most likely use it on all of our Northeast Iowa winter nights. We have used it often, though. Our whole family could cuddle under it during impromptu film festivals in the family room.

The Amana Colonies are a good source of both blankets and quilts. Heritage Designs Needlework and Quilting Supplies is a great place to start. It's in Amana, which is also called Main Amana. The Amana Colonies include Amana, South Amana, East Amana, West Amana, Middle Amana, High Amana, and Homestead. Homestead didn't stand a chance when it came to naming the Amana Colonies – they were probably just glad to be included at all.

At Heritage Designs, quiltmakers may stop in to buy fabric, but once inside they get a bonus jolt of inspiration. The fabric choices there say, “See for yourself what you can do with me.” Even if you stopped in for something specific, you may wind up buying several yards of unique fabric or fat quarters. The other needlework supplies available there will take you out of blind fabric mode, and challenge you to do more with your abilities and possibilities. Places like Heritage Designs are the reason so many quilters have over-developed purchase justification skills.

Other places in the Amanas interest the fabric junkie, too. A trip to the Woolen Mill throws in an appreciation of wool and their weaving process. I own a knitting machine, and once attended a knitting machine conference in the Amana Colonies. Quilts are a focus of decorating at Fern Hill Gifts and Quilts in South Amana, where non-quilters have an opportunity to buy handmade quilts by Iowa quiltmakers. The Amanas is one of the few sources where the consumer can buy highly crafted quilts, made from start to finish by one quiltmaker, at bargain basement prices. Some of the quilts there, and at other handmade quilt retail locations, might have been made by a group of people, so I recommend you ask about the history and making of the handmade quilts you purchase if you're interested in a quilt made by one quiltmaker.

Amish Quilts, with both the “A” and the “Q” capitalized, denotes a quilting style dating back to the the Amish in the 1870's, the earliest we can be sure the Amish were quilting. They used very rudimentary styles, usually whole cloth quilts in brown, blue, or black, and they stitched designs on them. Eventually, they added more solid colored fabric to their pieces, in simple designs that create a simultaneous effect of regimented simplicity and free-flowing form.

Amish quilts, with only the “A” in Amish capitalized, applies to quilts made by Amish people. They aren't necessarily Amish Quilts, made of solid colored fabrics, but sometimes they are. Because of the assumption that the Amish do things the old-fashioned way, their handwork is greatly sought by non-threadies. A little more information may help the unmercerized to better understand what they are getting.

It has been said that just because you are Amish doesn't mean you can quilt worth a hoot. Many of the Amish-made quilts for sale are practice sessions for youngsters learning how to stitch (which is wonderful), or they are stitched together by groups of quilters, not by just one quiltmaker. Again, this is wonderful, and buyers should ask for this kind of information when purchasing a quilt. The buyer should also be aware that many Amish quiltmakers use fabric that is a cotton-polyester blend, rather than 100% cotton, and they frequently use polyester batting. These quilts are warm, and fabric with polyester in it doesn't fade as fast as 100% cotton, but polyester is plastic, and that affects the ability of the quilt to breathe when one sleeps under it. It can get a little uncomfortable sleeping under a piece of plastic.

Cotton-polyester blend fabric and polyester batting are less expensive to purchase than their 100% cotton counterparts. A quilter's eye can tell if there is polyester in the fabric or the batting, but there is also a test to determine the same. If you light a match and burn a raw edge of fabric, the cotton-polyester blends will melt, and the 100% fabric will leave an ash. Obviously, you can't do the burn test on quilts in a quilt shop, so it is best to ask for verification and/or a guarantee of the fabric contents if you want to avoid polyester.

As for stitching, I don't believe that tiny stitches alone are the mark of a fabulous quilter. I take tiny stitches because I like that look for its rarity and uniqueness in some of my quilts. Taking tiny stitches also requires very dense quilting, and quilts that employ tiny stitches also have lots of stitches in them. Not everyone chooses to take that amount of time on every quilt, and I will occasionally opt for using perle cotton and larger stitches. It is equally impressive when quilts have less stitching, the stitches are a bit larger, and the stitching is noticeably even. Even stitches are the mark of an experienced and skillful quilter, not merely tiny ones. Avid hand stitchers frequently make Amish Quilts, because the solid colored fabrics are an excellent canvas to demonstrate stitching skills, whether the stitches are small and even, or a little larger and even.

Let's journey back to the Amana Colonies. I know a woman here in Northeast Iowa who makes quilts to sell there. Believe me, buyers of her quilts are getting a deal. The hours and expertise involved in making them are barely reimbursed, which must limit how many quiltmakers of her caliber will sell their creations at the relatively low return on their investment of time, proficiency and materials. Most likely buyers look at the price of their Amana Woolen Mill blanket and consider the quilts' sticker prices are exorbitant in comparison. These quiltmakers have the same number of hours in a day as the rest of us, and if it takes 200 hours to make a quilt that brings $600, the quiltmaker earns $3 an hour. 200 hours is five forty-hour weeks of work. Divide $600 by five, and the quiltmaker earns $120 a week. That income drops considerably when you remove material costs, which can easily be $100-150 per queen-sized quilt. I've even heard quilt piecers say they paid a “pretty penny” to have their quilt tops hand stitched. If it takes 150 hours to hand stitch a quilt, and they pay the “pretty penny” of $200, the hourly rate is $1.33, or $53.20 for a forty-hour week. A hidden sacrifice for the quiltmaker is the time that could have been spent on his or her own designs.

The woman I know who sells her quilts in the Amanas has at least twenty-five years of quilting experience. She is a stylish blond with a trim figure, great posture, and a real eye for fabric combinations. She only uses the best of fabric, most often bought in our area quilt shops in order to support the local quilting economy. She employs all kinds of quilting techniques, including machine- and hand-appliqué, and she pieces slowly and accurately by machine. She hand stitches her quilts, and her work is precise and even. Self-critical, she will re-do things until she gets them right. To say it takes her 200 hours to make a queen-sized quilt is an understatement, not an exaggeration.

Amana wool blankets also use the best materials and the best construction methods. Let's estimate on the long side that it takes about forty-five minutes to make an entire blanket on the machine-looms they use to weave them, but we'll stretch the whole process out to four full hours per blanket in order to amortize the cost of the big loom. A queen-sized blanket of merino wool is $159.95. You do the math. Once the amortization schedule on the loom passes, the profits are even greater. We quiltmakers don't bother to amortize our quilting betweens.

Just when I think I have my distaste for hearing quilts called blankets under control, someone will look at a quilt and say something like, “That's pretty, but I have a real nice Hudson Bay blanket. Do you want to see it?” It starts all over again. My back stiffens, my peripheral vision darkens, and my hair begins to frizz. I don't mean to invite class warfare, but you'd hope what a quiltmaker does was appreciated by living, breathing people more than it is by a word processing program. In the same vein, insurance companies will only insure or reimburse against the cost of the materials, making a beautiful handmade quilt, made from start to finish by one quiltmaker, equal to a good blanket, like an Amana wool. I suppose if you bought a handmade quilt for $600 and kept the receipt, a homeowner's policy would reimburse for the purchase price, less depreciation. I'm afraid the one I made as a gift for The Barn and The Peg is probably only worth $100, or less, today. I'd get more for my Amana wool, without a doubt.

I encourage you to take a trip to the Amana Colonies and check out the Amana Woolen Mill. You'll love their blankets – they're the best money can buy. If you get to one of the shops that sells real handmade quilts by Iowa quiltmakers, ask about the people who made them. There is something more Midwestern than having an Amana wool blanket. A handmade Midwestern quilt is hard to top.

Copyright © October 2005 Kari E.O. Burns