Going to Guild - Amish Quilts with June Campbell

As promised, a glimpse of the fabulous June Campbell program from our August Guild meeting.

June is a guild member, and I would call her an expert on Amish quilts. She was raised in a Mennonite family and has many friends in the Amish community, with whom she quilts and learns.

June brought a trunk show of her own quilts to show that were absolutely breathtaking, which demonstrated an entire history of this facet of the quilting arts. First she and Sharon played dress up to show us where the fabrics came from. June explained about fabrics and colors that are acceptable to use in quilts.
Make sure you cover up! Especially that "Group Therapy" tee-shirt!
Don't forget your bonnet. Every proper Amish woman needs her bonnet.
June explained that one of the few allowed decorations is this subtle but beautiful bow on the back of the bonnet.
Then June proceeded to pull out quilt after quilt after quilt as she went through the history of the Amish and their quilts.

This is what most of us think of when we talk about Amish quilts. Simple patterns, solid colors. The quilting is the real art here. June gets 12 stitches to the inch. These pictures don't do it justice!
Later it became more acceptable to include applique of natural things, like flowers and birds. This quilt obviously doesn't follow all of the rules of a true Amish quilt, since some of the fabrics are prints, but it is an Amish pattern. That really surprised me. Some of the appliqued quilts June brought were beyond anything I have ever seen, but she told us to come see them touch them, look at them because she uses them all in her everyday life.
And this is June's interpretation of the future of Amish quilting, although who knows?
These are just a very few pictures of the dozens of pictures I took. I had never really learned much about the Amish quilts, but this insider's lesson was incredible.

Thanks so much, June! We are so lucky to have you right here in our guild.