The earliest Amish quiltmakers in Pennsylvania eschewed colors, fabrics, and pieced patterns that might be construed as fashionable—and hence both prideful and ephemeral. Instead they favored an atemporal, "other" approach to quiltmaking, devising large-scale, purely geometric designs using color-saturated woolens to produce quilts that were at once innovative and timeless. As the Amish community migrated into the Midwest, many of these self-imposed restrictions were relaxed, and their quilts reflected a closer analog to current trends. By the time this quilt was made, even Amish quiltmakers in Pennsylvania had relented to the extent that their quilts sometimes incorporated smaller pieces and current patterns, such as Double Wedding Ring. This example, however, is still distinctively Amish in the choice of jewel-like colors on a black background, as opposed to the light pastel cottons in vogue at the time.

Stacy C. Hollander, "Double Wedding Ring Quilt," exhibition label for ALSO ON VIEW: Selections from the Collection. Stacy C. Hollander, curator. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2014.