Teaching - Amish and Hand Quilting

I enjoy teaching, and sharing the enjoyment I get from quilting and making quilts.

On Thursday May 13th I went to Diss Quilting group with "Making an Amish Wallhanging". Its good to see people using colours that might be unfamiliar to them; also exciting to see the results - all so different. Good to see Cynthia and the other ladies.

My longtime interest in the Amish springs from the fact that Mother's family was Mennonite (although they left the church) and their name was Dalke. Great grandmother Maria Dalke and Great Grandfather Deitrich Dalke had an arranged marriage, but although they had several children it was not a happy one. When the youngest child left home Dietrich divorced his wife - not a pleasant thing in those days with no social support. Maria received no help from the Mennonites - luckily she had inherited a farm and was able to evict the tenant and scratch a living on the farm in Enid, Oklahoma. My grandmother Marie did speak Low German, but my mother Ruth never did (she was born just after the first world war when anti-german feeling was high). The creative streak definately stems from Marie who was a weaver with a large loom. Mother has quilted for a long time and went to university and took art and business studies. I am including one or two of my quilts made in the Amish style (which I do not sell after a bad experience).

On Tuesday the 18th I went to Bury St Edmunds - Harlequin Craft Centre - a recent endevour by Julia Sharpe. We covered Hand Quilting where I showed several styles of hand quilting including my way, the rocking stitch.

I include photos of two basket quilts and a sunshine and shadows quilt.