Many quilters have no doubt heard the story of the "humble block" (aka humility block). For decades quilting folklore said that Amish quilters would purposefully include a mistake in their quilts because "only God could make something perfect."

As any quilter knows, it is oh so very easy to make a mistake when putting together a quilt, so this tale always seemed rather foolish to me. I confess, I'd begun to think that the Amish ladies might be just a tetch conceited about their work.

As it turns out, the tale of the humble block is a 20th century fabrication. I feel certain it was probably started by some pompous seamstress proudly showing her latest creation to her friends, only to have an error pointed out.

Source: Hart Cottage Quilts

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(And I reckon this is really the only reason I wrote this node.)

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