We use the term “Hand-made Quilt” here to mean: that the quilt is special, usually it is one of a kind (sometimes a quilter will make 2 or 3 of the same design with the same fabrics); that the quilt patchwork is cut by hand and then usually sewn together on a simple non-electric sewing machine; and that the quilting stitches are all sewn by hand. The method and tools used by our Amish and Mennonite quilters are essentially the same their great grandmothers used in 1900. About hundreds of hours of effort goes into such a handmade quilt. Most quilters make only two per year.
Because they are not mass produced, Hand-made quilts vary greatly in quality, complexity and price.
Manufactured copies of Amish quilts are widely offered for sale. These quilts differ from the quilts offered here in that, they are much less expensive, and that they are not in any sense unique. In some cases, these manufactured quilts, have their patchwork design printed on the fabric rather than the patchwork being cut and then pieced together, and the quilting is done by machine, rather than by hand. In other cases, these “copy” quilts simply suffer from low quality stitching.