At first glance, Amish quilts may appear curiously similar to works by the great abstract artists of the twentieth century. With their vibrant colors and bold geometric forms, the handcrafted designs seem reminiscent of paintings by Joseph Albers, Mark Rothko, and Frank Stella, among others. This visual coincidence invites a deeper appreciation of the quilts and the communities in which they were created. Closer examination reveals that the principles of the Amish faith--simplicity, humility, discipline, and community--are masterfully stitched into each design. Colorful and dynamic, the remarkable quilts radiate the harmony and dignity of Amish life while providing a window onto the history of American art and textile traditions.Published in conjunction with the exhibition organized by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Amish Abstractions: Quilts from the Collection of Faith and Stephen Brown explores the origins, techniques, and context of these visual masterpieces. Mor

Amish Abstractions: Quilts from the Collection of Faith and Stephen Brown

Arts & Photography

Shaw, Robert

Smucker, Janneken

Decorative Arts & Design

Pomegranate

The definitive study on the history, meaning, art, and commerce of Amish quilts.
Second Place Winner of the Design and Effectiveness Award of the Washington Publishers
Quilts have become a cherished symbol of Amish craftsmanship and the beauty of the simple life. Country stores in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and other tourist regions display row after row of handcrafted quilts. In luxury homes, office buildings, and museums, the quilts have been preserved and displayed as priceless artifacts. They are even pictured on collectible stamps. Amish Quilts explores how these objects evolved from practical bed linens into contemporary art.
In this in-depth study, illustrated with more than 100 stunning color photographs, Janneken Smucker discusses what makes an Amish quilt Amish. She examines the value of quilts to those who have made, bought, sold, exhibited, and preserved them and how that value changes as a quilt travels from Amish hands to marketplace to consumers. A fifth-generation Mennonite quiltmaker herself, Smucker traces the history of Amish quilts from their use in the late nineteenth century to their sale in the lucrative business practices of today. Through her own observations as well as oral histories, newspaper accounts, ephemera, and other archival sources, she seeks to understand how the term "Amish" became a style and what it means to both quiltmakers and consumers. She also looks at how quilts influence fashion and raises issues of authenticity of quilts in the marketplace.
Whether considered as art, craft, or commodity, Amish quilts reflect the intersections of consumerism and connoisseurship, religion and commerce, nostalgia and aesthetics. By thoroughly examining all of these aspects, Amish Quilts is an essential resource for anyone interested in the history of these beautiful works.

Amish Quilts: Crafting an American Icon (Young Center Books in Anabaptist and Pietist Studies)

Johns Hopkins University Press

A rare collection of 90 antique Amish quilts for children is show-cased in this brilliantly colorful volume. Few antique Amish crib quilts remain because they were put to hard use in large families which typically averaged seven children. But Sara Miller of Kalona, Iowa, herself a member of the Old Order Amish, began building a collection of lovely antique crib quilts which she learned about as the proprietor of a fabric and quilt shop. Thus began an unusual odyssey -- Sara, who once disparaged the quilting tradition of her heritage, thinking it dull and drab, began to see its graphic beauty when outsiders became intent on owning Amish quilts. The richly colorful quilts featured here come from Amish communities through the Midwestern United States. In addition to 90 full-color plates of the exquisite quilts is interpretive commentary and documentation, plus three essays elaborating on the significance of the collection. Author Janneken Smucker descends from a line of quilters in the Amish-Mennonite community of Goshen, IN; Dr. Patricia Cox Crews is Director of the International Quilt Study Center in Lincoln, NE; Dr. Linda Welters is Professor of Textiles at the University of Rhode Island. Amish Crib Quilts from the Midwest: The Sara Miller Collection is an unusual feast visually. The analyses that accompany the boldly beautiful images contribute scholarship to this intersection of art and the life of the Amish.

Amish Crib Quilts from the Midwest: The Sara Millier Collection

Biographies & Memoirs

Historical

Good Books

A New Deal for Quilts

History & Criticism

International Quilt Museum

Pattern and Paradox reveals the astonishing creativity, design innovation, and skill of Amish women from communities across the United States, through fifty premier quilts made between 1880 and 1940. Pattern and Paradox: The Quilts of Amish Women&nbsp;is an inspirational,&nbsp;lavishly illustrated book which&nbsp;will appeal to quilt enthusiasts, quilters and crafters, scholars and art lovers alike, with photography detailing fronts, backs and stitching of fifty breath-taking&nbsp;quilts from&nbsp;the Faith and Stephen Brown collection of Amish Quilts at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Assembled over the span of five decades, these extraordinary examples expand our understanding of the distinctive aesthetics that Amish women shaped within and for their communities, and situate Amish quilts within the larger scope of quilts in America as well as within the American art story. In the main essay, Janneken Smucker--professor, historian and scholar of Amish quilts and culture--explains what unites and distinguishes the Amish and their arts and describes the sometimes fine line between personal artistry and communal practice. Her insightful text illuminates the ways in which Amish quilt patterns overlap and diverge from community to community. Through a series of discursive entries, Smucker considers "visual clues" for reading and interpreting Amish quilts, which are often more complex and curious than they might first appear.

Pattern and Paradox: The Quilts of Amish Women

Collections, Catalogs & Exhibitions

GILES

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Smucker, Janneken. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Smucker, Janneken