You have been given the responsibility of researching the Amish culture.  By doing so, you will learn about the role that quilting played in their society and what its many patterns represent.  The sites that have been provided for you tell about the beliefs, daily activities and homes of the Amish.  Each site has a set of questions and points to focus on that will help you pick out important patterns for your patch and create your summary about the Amish way of life.

Amish Culture Q & A
http://www.amishcountry.org/amish.beliefs.faq/index.php

• What is Amish life guided by? Why do they choose to live this way?
• What is the center of Amish life? What occurs here?
• How are Amish children educated?

Amish Quilts: A Special Heritage
http://www.amishnews.com/featurearticles/quiltheritage.htm

• Read through this page about Amish quilting traditions, focusing on the characterisitics of quilts made in Lancaster, PA.
• What colors and patterns are most common in these quilts?

Quilting: An Amish Pastime
http://www.womenfolk.com/quilting_history/amish.htm

• Why is quilting such a treasured pastime for the Amish?
• What do patterns in the quilts reflect?

Old Order Amish
http://www.holycrosslivonia.org/amish/origin.htm

• Read through this page and briefly (but without leaving out important points) describe a day in the life of an Amish person.
• Click on 'Amish Religion' from this page
• Read through the beliefs and practices and record three from each list that you find important and might affect patterns when creating a quilt.
• Why have you chosen these patterns?

Amish Quilts From Lancaster County
http://206.204.3.133/dir_nii/nii_esprit.html

• This site contains images of quilts made by the Amish during the 1920s and 1930s.  Click on each image for a better view.
• Sketch two or three of your favorite images as a refernce for your later work.