Visit Swiss Village Quilts and Crafts for beautiful and functional works of fabric art
By Jennifer Kneuss
Beautiful quilts are the signatures of Amish Country. Visitors ooh and ahh over the colors and exquisite, intricate details that go into each masterpiece of fabric and thread.
A prime location to find the best quilts available is at Swiss Village Quilts and Crafts, located in the charming village of Sugarcreek. Once inside the door of the shop, there resides a gorgeous offering of beautiful quilts, each carefully hand-crafted by a skilled artisan. Each quilt is ready for a new home, where its owners can appreciate their one-of-a-kind beauty. For those who prefer to create their own quilts, the array of top quality fabrics and patterns offers endless combinations.
Aden Hochstetler, owner of the shop, along with his wife, Anna, is obviously proud of the quality that Swiss Village Quilts and Crafts is known for.
“We use first quality fabric, because unless you have quality fabric, you won’t have a quality quilt,” he explained.
In describing the quilters who create the beautiful works of art right in the heart of Amish Country, Anna Hochstetler said, “all of our quilts get a buggy ride on the way to the store”, referring to the Amish women who diligently hand-work each piece for many hours.
“I would say most of our quilts take from 450 hours to 650 hours for the more complicated ones,” said Aden. “We really push quality. We have a lot of good quilters who do really good, fine quilting.”
Customers visiting the shop have many options. “There’s a lot of patterns,” said Aden. But he is especially proud of the shop’s featured quilt. “We have one quilt that we designed ourselves, called the Ohio Special. It’s a different style, with an oval in the middle, and lace on it. It’s our top of the line quilt that we sell in the store.”
When asked which quilt is the most complex, Aden is quick to respond. “I have one quilt that has really fine, even stitching - it has around 350,000 stitches in it. That one is called the Pineapple.”
Visitors, who come from all over the country as well as outside of the United States, enjoy choosing their own fabrics, often bringing in samples of wallpaper or fabric swatches that they want the quilt to coordinate with. The wide selection of fabric makes their task much easier. The hardest part may be making the final selection from all the options available. The quilts are then individually made, and the completed quilts can be shipped.
“We get a lot of people who may have seen something, and they call for the same thing,” said Aden. “We ship all over the U.S., and sometimes out of the country, too. We’ve shipped some things to Australia, Germany, and other places.”
The Hochstetlers are known for donating a quilt to the Ohio Haiti Auction each year. Although Anna quilts, Aden admits that he himself, while extremely knowledgeable about quilts, is not a quilter, with one exception. “One thing I did, for one of the Haiti auction quilts, I put one stitch in before they sold it,” he said, with a chuckle.
The store, which was started in 1982 and purchased by the Hochstetlers in 1994, carries, and makes, pillows, pillow covers, wall hangings, and tablecloths, and is popular with local quilters looking for supplies, as well as visitors who travel great distances to visit the store. Guests can also browse through the selection of Amish dolls, wooden toys, crafts, collectible farm toys, and a selection of unique P. Graham Dunn products.
Visit Swiss Village Quilts and Crafts in Sugarcreek, at 113 S. Broadway. Call 330-852-4855 for information or directions or to place an order. Store hours are Monday through Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
