I thought this is interesting so I decided to share it. The old religious group Shakers not only made furniture but beautiful quilts. The one thing they did with each quilt was one block was done incorrect on purpose. It would either be in a different color, side ways or upside down, anything so that it was different from all the other blocks. Their belief was that only God could make something perfect not a human so that is why their quilts were not perfect. So if you ever see a vintage quilt and there is a mistake more then likely it was not a mistake it was done by a Shaker.

Hmmm. Perhaps my previous quilts with mistakes were the result of some Shaker blood hidden in the family tree? =)

I think I must be a Shaker!!! I've heard that about Amish quilts too!

See I fit right in :wink:

I must be a shaker too.....
see if you can find the mistake in my quilt , I call the block find waldo. Even my quilting teacher didn't catch it when I showed her my final top before i sandwhiched it!thttp://www.quiltingboard.com/posts/list/25196.page

Well I know I have Amish blood. My father was born Amish on an Amish farm in the colony and when he was a few months old my grandparents sold the farm and moved out west.

I remember though as a child when my father would get mad (which wasn't very often) he would start speaking in PA dutch.

Glad to have learned about the quilts, now I won't be hard on myself when they don't turn out perfect.

This is valuable information to
learn about quilts made with a
mistake. My Mother just gave me
a quilt she made, because she has
a mistake in it!! :D She is niether
Dutch or Amish. She just doesn't
like having a mistake in it.
YEAH for me!!
:D :D :D :D :D :D

I watched a special yesterday about Shaker villages. Trained guides/living historians in both villages said the same thing, Shaker quilts were done with a mistake on purpose. Could both living historians in 2 different states been given the wrong facts? Did they make a mistake with the information they had from old diaries and writings from the Shakers? Probably not. I know for a fact most living historians go beyond general information, they do their own research to make sure the facts they collected are correct. I believe these guides to be correct the mistake was done on purpose, but that is just my opinion.

There is deep Shaker heritage here in this part of New Hampshire and in my family. While I cannot speak for the Shaker or Amish quilt makers, the Persian rug makers, the Navajo blanket makers or indeed countless other artisans around the world about whom this idea has been suggested, I don't much care who you heard it from, it's a myth.

None of those groups, or any with the deep faith in a supreme being that they all share, are arrogant enough to believe that they have to put a mistake in their work INTENTIONALLY for it to be imperfect. To feel you have to put a purposeful flaw in your work, would be the very height of pride...something totally absent in Shaker life. You would have to think your work was perfect before the addition of the mistake.

My mother worked in the archives at Canterbury Shaker Village for years and never ran across any verification of intentional flaws in any of their work. It is so opposed to all of their beliefs that it is absurd. I stand with Loretta, it's a myth, pure and simple.