Q3403

American Treasures - Amish Quilts

Sunshine and Shadow Pattern

Cover Announcement 

Amish women and young girls work on a colorful quilt in this hand painted cachet. It is my final First Day Cover in this mini-set of four that captures various scenes from the daily life of our industrious Amish citizens. Each of the stamps in this set illustrated pieced-wool quilts made in the first half of the 20th Century. Patterns include Diamond-in-the-Square; Lone-Star; Sunshine and Shadow; and Double-Nine-Patch. The actual quilts from which the new stamps were fashioned after are curated in a museum at the Quilt Complex in Albion California.

Of interest to Collins collectors is that my very first cachet (now valued at five to six hundred dollars) was for the Quilts in the American Folk Art Stamp Series. That block was issued on March 8, 1978 and began my endeavor as a cachetmaker. That memorable adventure is the first narrative in my 340-page book which was publishedin 1997, marking my first twenty years of producing First Day Covers.

"Quilts communicate some of the wholeness of life. They have become treasures, not only for the beauty of their design but also for the values of faith, solidarity, and commitment that they symbolize in a world that too often seems fragmented and too busy to care" wrote authors Rachel and Ken Pellman in their 1990 A Treasury of Amish Quilts. It was the "wholeness of life" that I wanted collectors to experience in a fashion but not only pertains to the Amish but also portrays good old-fashioned Americana. The children at school and in the buggy, and the young farmer and quilters bring the youthful spirit that is America to this set.

I'm pleased to present the fourth and final cover in this mini-set - Amish Quilters. Collins #Q3403 - $12.25.