November 18, 2017
We got up before dawn, and drove to southern Maryland for an annual Amish Quilt Auction. We were advised to be early to get a good seat, which we did. The Amish community in southern Maryland is part of less than a dozen "Old Order Amish" communities in the United States. They speak a German dialect, along with the young speaking English. They live very conservatively, no electricity, cars, or phones. They sew all of their clothing. They do not have churches as they worship in their homes. They make Amish quilts for their own use, and "English" quilts for sale. Their dry goods store has a shelves with materials for Amish quilts, very plain fabrics, and shelves with fabrics for "English" quilts. They do not piece their Amish quilts, but they do embroider them. With "English" quilts, they can do whatever they want to make them more valuable for sale. They have treadle sewing machines, which they can use to piece, but all embroidery is done by hand. They do not make log cabin, wedding ring, mariner's compass, or any other famous quilt name for themselves, only for the "English." They did not advertise the auction, but the Southern Maryland tourism lists it on their calendar. So it's pretty much word of mouth.
We got up before dawn, and drove to southern Maryland for an annual Amish Quilt Auction. We were advised to be early to get a good seat, which we did. The Amish community in southern Maryland is part of less than a dozen "Old Order Amish" communities in the United States. They speak a German dialect, along with the young speaking English. They live very conservatively, no electricity, cars, or phones. They sew all of their clothing. They do not have churches as they worship in their homes. They make Amish quilts for their own use, and "English" quilts for sale. Their dry goods store has a shelves with materials for Amish quilts, very plain fabrics, and shelves with fabrics for "English" quilts. They do not piece their Amish quilts, but they do embroider them. With "English" quilts, they can do whatever they want to make them more valuable for sale. They have treadle sewing machines, which they can use to piece, but all embroidery is done by hand. They do not make log cabin, wedding ring, mariner's compass, or any other famous quilt name for themselves, only for the "English." They did not advertise the auction, but the Southern Maryland tourism lists it on their calendar. So it's pretty much word of mouth.
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The auctioneers were from an Amish community in Pennsylvania.
They had a sound system, probably hooked up to a generator which is allowed
for certain occasions, especially if trying to sell products. For example, at their
farmer's market they have refrigerators, which is required by law. The wreaths
on the front were auctioned off, as were wooden products made by younger men.
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The quilters are bringing their quilts in to be numbered and hung up
on the lines behind the sign-up table. Everyone, including children,
had hats, scarves, or white caps. The only color the women wore was their
skirts, so you can see the color from the back, the front being covered by
black aprons. It was chilly, so all had jackets on. The men had colored shirts.
I could tell made very well, very nice looking. There were no zippers.
The pants and jackets all had buttons. Most of the men had beards.
They also sold breakfast sandwiches (yummy),chicken tenders (amazing, nothing like McD's) breads, cookies, and pies. |
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We had a sheet of paper with 69 quilts listed by name of quilt pattern,
size, and quilter. So, we could go look through the lines and mark the ones
we liked. Several of the quilters are very well known among quilting experts.
I did not take a picture of every quilt, nor of the Amish people.
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