HOW TO GO:
What: Aullwood’s 25th Amish Quilt Exhibit and Auction
Where: Aullwood’s Marie S. Aull Education Center, 1000 Aullwood Road, located 2½ miles west of the Dayton International Airport in Butler Twp.
When: The Amish Quilt Exhibit may be viewed from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Saturday and from 1-5 p.m. Sunday. The auction will begin at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 12 with doors and numbers being given out at noon. Those purchasing quilts must have ID and quilts can be purchased with cash, check or credit card. Food will be available for purchase.
Admission: Admission to the exhibit is $5/adult; $3/child. The auction is free of charge and open to the public.
Funds raised: Support Aullwood’s field trips and programs for economically disadvantaged children
To view all the quilts that are being auctioned:
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For more information, visit Aullwood’s website www.aullwood.org
HOW AN AMISH QUILT IS CREATED:
Quilts are made in three parts: the quilt top is composed of pieces of fabric that have been sewn together to create a pattern, often inspired by nature.
Once the quilt top is pieced, the quilters mark on the fabric where they will quilt their designs, a process that may take days. Next the quilters make a quilt sandwich, placing the quilt top next to the batting which provides warmth and form, then adding fabric for the back.
Next these three layers are stretched on a quilting stand, and the quilters begin hand-quilting the three layers together with needle and thread.
“This process is very time consuming and some of the quilts have 400 yards of quilting, that’s four football fields of thread,” said Aullwood executive director Charity Krueger. “Often you can count 12 stitches in an inch of quilting!”
SOURCE: Charity Krueger, Aullwood Audubon Center
VIDEO: To visit with Aullwood’s Charity Krueger and see a sample of the Amith quilts, see MyDaytonDailyNews.com
For the past 25 years, our community has been treated to an annual fall exhibit of beautiful Amish quilts at the Aullwood Audubon Center and Farm.
This year’s selection — with subject matter ranging from stars and log cabins to hearts and flowers and cats— is currently on display at Aullwood’s Marie S. Aull Education Center and will be sold at the annual Center’s Amish Quilt Auction on the afternoon of Sunday, Oct. 12.
“We also have some quilts that the Amish might place on their own beds with designs that go back for generations,” explains Aullwood’s executive director Charity Krueger, who first proposed a quilt auction fund-raiser. “These traditional patterns include the double wedding ring, which has interlocking rings, and a Lone Star design made with diamond shapes to form a star.”
This is your last chance to see and buy these lovely creations: Aullwood has announced that this will be the final Amish quilt fund-raiser: one of the primary quilters has passed away and the other families who’ve quilted for Aullwood over the years have decided to retire. Krueger also plans to retire next year.
How it began
The story begins more than 25 years ago when Krueger discovered a conservative Amish community in New York and became friendly with two of the families.
“It was serendipitous that at this same time the Aullwood’s Friends of Aullwood board was searching for a unique special event to raise funds that would enable children from low-income families to experience Aullwood’s outdoor magic on field trips,” explained Krueger.
That first Amish Quilt Auction in 1990 raised $10,000. Since that time, the auction — along with the annual Autumn Affair Gala — has raised $1.4 million for the Center’s projects.
The early years
Krueger remembers the day when she first asked one of her new Amish friends — Marie Shetler — if she’d be willing to create quilts for the auction. Shetler was just about to refuse when her 14-year-old daughter, Emma, encouraged her to accept the invitation. The quilts have been arriving ever since and today Emma herself is a mother of six.
“These quilts are all pieces of art and are very complex to piece,” explained Krueger, adding that Marie’s husband, Ben, is the engineer who cuts the tiny fabric pieces. Then his wife sews the pieces of fabric together on a treadle sewing machine.
“In fact, that is why they are retiring from the quilt-making, since Marie’s legs hurt when she pushes the peddles,” Krueger said.
On display this year
The current exhibit includes 118 quilts and wall hangings that Krueger selected a year in advance of the auction. The majority of the quilts were made by the Shetlers and Ada and John Yoder. Sadly, John Yoder has recently passed away.
Other quilts in the exhibit come from Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and New York.
This year’s quilts include a “Mystic Nites” quilt composed of over 9,000 pieces of fabric that took three weeks to piece. The “Third Weekend in October” quilt — an array of fall leaves — is composed of 2,470 pieces of fabric and took 10 days for two people to piece the quilt top.
Krueger said there’s even a quilt this year for Ohio State University fans: it’s a “Diamond Chain Star Quilt” that’s brick red, gray and black and includes 2,502 pieces of fabric and 320 yards of quilting.
Hand-woven rugs, place-mats, baskets, quilted pillows, wooden toys and a variety of hardwood furniture also will be auctioned. Wall hangings and quilts typically range in price from $200 to more than $3,000. There are also items available for less than $100.
Englewood mayor Pat Burnside picked up one of those less-expensive items last year when she bid on a quilted bear to add to her bear collection.
She also has volunteered at the auction in recent years: taking down and folding the quilts on auction day and getting them ready for the auctioneer.
“My grandma and great-aunts and my dad all quilted,” she said, “so I know and appreciate all the work that goes into these quilts.”
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