Mom made quilts for the family, for the boys and the girls when they got married. There were eleven of us. I think maybe the boys got one quilt and the girls got two. Mom s sister pieced the tops together, and then she had a quilting bee with her sisters or aunts or cousins to finish the quilt. At a quilting bee you can almost do a quilt in a day, rather than the three to four weeks working alone.
Most people have no idea how much time it takes to make a quilt, to do each stitch by hand.
More people are trying to make their own quilts now, and they re finding it harder than they thought it was. The Amish nowadays use the traditional colors less, and use prints more. I hope to make three quilts for my daughter and two for each of my three boys when they get married. Grandmother has also been giving quilts to her grandchildren when they turn 15 or 16. I remember one year there was a man who seemed to have gone to every house buying quilts.