Why Buy Handmade Quilts?
Yes, you can buy quilts in many of the larger retail stores, but most of these quilts will not be the same quality that you will find in a truly authentic Amish handmade quilt. The time and love that goes into producing an Amish crafted quilt is hard to put a price on. These quilts will last for many years and most likely will be passed down from one generation to the next.
The Best Place To Buy Handmade Quilts Online Award Winner
When you’re looking to buy handmade quilts, there are literally hundreds of websites you can choose from online. Guide For Buying looked at many of the websites where you can buy handmade quilts and after careful consideration, choose Amish Country Quilts as the best place to buy handmade quilts online.
History Of Amish Country Quilts
Amish Country Quilts has a long and storied past. It was originally started by John and Arlene Volk in January of 2000 as a way for people living outside of Lancaster, PA to purchase handmade quilts directly from Amish country.
Over the years, as the business grew, Amish Country Quilts nurtured close relationships with a large group of the best Amish quilters in the world.
After 14 years of running Amish Country Quilts, John & Arlene decided to step back and made the website more of a marketplace where a select group of quilt makers could offer their quilts for sale.
Then, in May of 2017, John & Arlene passed the torch to Doug and Shiree Stuart who purchased Amish Country Quilts.
Since that time Doug and Shiree have been dedicated to keeping the same high quality quilts that Amish Country Quilts was famous for.
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An Interview With Amish Country Quilts Owners Doug and Shiree Stuart
What made you buy Amish Country Quilts from the original owners?
Shiree is part of a business family that has as one of its goals to preserve businesses of craft, quilting being one of them. Shiree’s mother is a renowned quilter who sells on Amish Country Quilts, so when the opportunity to continue the business from the previous owner, who wanted to retire from the business of running a website, it was a natural fit for us due to Doug’s knowledge and experience with website design and management.
Since you took over, what have you done to help Amish Country Quilts become even better?
Since owning the business, my primary focus has been to learn the current business operations so we can make scalable improvements and increase the experience for both buyers and the quilters who sell on the site. As with all things, even websites need to be updated. We have plans to launch an all-new website in 2019 which will make the experience for everyone more efficient while retaining the many qualities that make this site already successful.
What makes Amish Country Quilts different than other quilt sellers?
There are three things that come to mind:
Photography: There are many beautiful quilts to buy online, but you might not be able to tell the quality through a picture. Quilts need to be touched and felt and inspected closely, but buying online cannot provide that. What the previous owner accomplished were high photographic standards so that buyers will know they are certain of the quality. From getting close-up photography of the stitches-per-inch to having over a handful of photos per quilt, individuals can be confident they will be proud owners of these quilts when they order securely online.
Multiple Sellers: Some sites sell quilts by one or two Amish quilters. Amish Country Quilts has multiple quilters with over 35 years of experience in the business, many of them working with quilts on a full-time basis. Collectively, there’s over 100 years in the quilt-making business!
Customization: Several of our quilters will make custom versions of quilts, whether with different fabrics or a different size. It’s a specialty service that not all sites could even entertain. Customers often call the quilt maker directly to talk with them about what they need. It’s a great service!
How many different quilts do you carry?
Thousands of quilts of various sizes, colors, patterns, and fabrics. We’ve heard people say they’ve browsed our website for hours looking at all our inventory.
Can tell us a bit about the process to make a quilt? How long does it take to make a standard quilt?
(Got this from one of my quilters) 100% cotton quilters grade cotton — usually need approximately 10 yards for the top of the quilt. It will be either pieced by a machine – sometimes a treadle, or will be appliqued by hand. The top will then be marked for quilting designs using quitters stencils. The Quilter will use a large long frame in her farmhouse and stretch the quilt back and pin it onto the large frame. Then she will add a batting layer and finally the top of the quilt. Then she stitches together by hand the three layers of he quilt. Hundreds of yards are used in the completion of the quilt. Basically is just like a sandwich — two bread layers of bread (fabric for top and backing) with “meat” in the middle (batting)
What is your best selling quilt?
We have a few that are very popular, but it would be tough to say what is THE best-selling quilt. Lancaster Treasure, Log Cabin, Irish Chain, Double Wedding Ring
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