>>>>

Sunday, September 12, 2010

How Long is Too Long?!

I admit it.

I have favorite prints that have stayed favorites and have never gone "out of style or date" with me.

This is one of them:



I think I had this print in every color way it ever came in. I'm drawn to two-color prints, blue on white, white on blue, white on red, red on white, etc. Simple, classic, not too fussy.

This one has a viney thing....love viney things! And I love stripes, and in the day, this was about as close as you could get to a print that looked like an old time shirting when old time shirtings were not being reprinted yet. Back in 1992, if you wanted to make a quilt that looked vintage, this was the kind of things we looked for. Things didn't come in lines or as collections, you browsed the shelf as if the store were a treasure hunt in itself and you did all the work to collect the fabrics that would go together to become the quilt of your dreams. Nothing was pre-cut and kitted in pre-matched bundles. And I loved the thrill of the hunt!

So why has this piece of yardage come out of the closet today? I'm looking for something big enough to back the magazine quilt project...and I think this will do the job! And even better than using this for the backing, is the trimmings I'm going to get afterward to add back into the strip/string bins. It's a GREAT old print, and will look great in scrap quilts to come. It's a classic!

I know I've got enough for the length, if I don't have enough for the width, I'll add a pieced something in between to make it wide enough, but this fabric will have found a home. Heck, it's only waited 18 years to go into a quilt!

What was going on in my life in 1992? My boys were 2 and 8. Oh, I miss those days! And sometimes not! in 1992 we bought our first house in Payette, Idaho. I was publishing my doll/animal patterns and making dolls for gift shops. That is why I probably had a whole bolt of this old print, the stripes made for great bunny bloomers and little bear aprons. Around that time is when I first vended at Quilt Market in Houston, and was picked up by the Butterick company with my patterns. It was a whole new exciting world, back in 1992. I was 30. I thought I was middle aged...LOL!! How could that be? As I'm barely considering myself middle aged 18 years later?

This project has had me going back in time.....I've pulled blues and neutrals just by color, not by print, and I have fabrics in it that date back from the 70s, 80s, 90s, and today in it. What a fun walk down memory lane. I can see the quilt appraisers of the future having a hard time dating this one! It's gotta be dated by the newest fabric in it, right? Good luck! *hehe* I just might have to leave that wide selvage visible somewhere...it's an icon!



And through it all, I've had great company...



But it's awfully hard to attach borders when Oscar is asleep in the center of the quilt top on the floor!

14 comments:

  1. Oh no never too old......I used fabric from the 70's in my "Jared takes a wife" quilt and it is just perfect in there.
    I hope to live long enough to use up all my fabrics :0).

    Happy Sewing Bonnie......I'm looking forward to the November mystery quilt.

    ReplyDelete
  2. *LOL* I used the same blue and white "viney" fabric as shown in your post as part of a pieced backing for a blue & yellow Simply Strippy quilt a couple of years back. I don't know how many of my quilts that fabric has ended up in! And why did I buy so much of it in the first place--who knows? It's nice to know someone else enjoys those old fabrics as much as I do. We are always being told to buy these new fabrics, with brand new collections coming out all the time. But I still like my Oldies-but-Goodies.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Bonnie ~ Quilt appraisers in the future won't have any trouble if you use the Selvage on your LABEL somehow and write the actual date with your name and where you live at the time of the making of the quilt.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm glad I'm not the only one with "old" fabric in my stash. I'm making a quilt with all of my Valentine fabric plus pinks and reds from the stash. I too, did craft shows and had fabric with country hearts that I'm using to fill in on this "new" quilt. I don't think a fabric ever get too old as long as it looks good with what you're working on now.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I have fabrics from the 80's, some day they will be in style again, lol.

    Debbie

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous3:29 PM EDT

    I was 30. I thought I was middle aged...LOL!! How could that be? As I'm barely considering myself middle aged 18 years later?

    And you still have 18 years at least of middle age..... :-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. I just bought some Moda with the selvage saying the name of the designer and the year 1997. I sure don't think the fabric store had this bolt hiding for 13 years. I thought maybe it is the year the designer came up with the color. I'm now curious now, have to do some research. By the way love the colors so far.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I've been using a good amount of 80s and 90s fabrics lately too and also waltzing down memory lane. I almost hate to see the last little tidbit get sewn up into a quilt.

    I just received 2 bags of fabric pieces from someone who did clothes sewing and there are some real golden oldies in there from back in the day when calicos first became "quilting" fabrics. But, they should work up fine in scrap quilts.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I keep trying to look at the quilt that Oscar is hidding....just a peek...ARGGGGG!!!!!!!
    Guess I could make 800+ half square triangles in my own color choice and wait with baited breath for the newest book! HA!
    XOXOX Subee

    ReplyDelete
  10. I have tons of old fabric and prints that I go back to time and time again. I love your viney things. It is the great thing about quilting, the stories that come from our love of fabric, family and friends.

    I think the suggestion for the label with the salvage is a great one.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I'm with Subee trying to figure out what size those half square triangles are so that I can work ahead and have my 800+ half square triangles ready! These little snippet pictures are making me WAY too curious! So F-U-N!

    Lucy (in IN)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Were we just 30 in 1992??? That doesn't seem like 18 years ago...just like yesterday. Maybe that is why we still like prints like that one, we don't think of them as "old". LOL....Okay I know we have lots of connections, but I didn't know you lived in Payette! Holy Cow, that is where my parents are from and I spent soooo much time out there growing up and until 1994 when Grandma passed away, she was the last person out there....I still try to make an annual trip out to the cemetary, but now that we are 20 hours away, that doesn't always happen, but ALWAYS a trip to AW when you are in town! Thanks for sharing Bonnie I love love love your quilts and your insights!
    hugs

    PS. I had a 3, 7, 9 and 11 year old. I understand missing those days, but oh sometimes not! Once a mom always a mom!

    ReplyDelete
  13. so glad you're getting a chance to sew and spend time with sweetie pie Oscar!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Ok, where can we see these Bunnies you used to design and make??

    ReplyDelete

If you are commenting as "anonymous" please leave your name at the end of your comment.

Did you know that ad space on this blog provides for all of the free patterns and free mysteries and challenges at no cost to you? Without ads, this blog would not be possible.

Thank you for understanding the many hours that go into this blog 6 days a week, 52 weeks a year. :)