Joy Johnson to create the 50th Anniversary Quilt

Joy Johnson, Amish Acres master quilter for the last forty years, became disabled while working in Amish Acres kitchen when a tumor pinched her spine. Now with her handy crutches and equipped car, she drives to the gross Daadi house each day during the season and stitches quilts from morning till late afternoon.

Now in her eighth decade, she has made 591 quilts and will spend this summer creating the 50th anniversary Arts & Crafts Festival quilt, pouring approximately 758 hours into this creation using 800 yards of thread. She has met untold thousands of visitors from all over the world and has them return with the next generation. To commemorate this milestone anniversary, Joy and I collaborated to design this Distelfink Quilt using my son-in-law Jeff Stillson's design.

The Distelfink represents happiness and good fortune in the Pennsylvania Dutch culture, a fitting symbol for this event. Joy will move her quilting into the one room school during the festival. Amish Acres and Festival visitors (including artists) can register to win the quilt valued at over $1,000 which will be given away New Year's Eve during the farm's celebration.