Thanks for your post. It was also really interesting to read about machine quilting after the Civil War.
My Grandmother and Mother both told me about the Amish and "Humilty blocks" when I was young. Even as a youth, I can remember thinking that it was a rather UN-humble thing to think you had to purposefully add imperfection to a quilt. Heck, so far my quilts have almost entirely been an exercise in humility. ;)