Veri Interesting Article!

I found this post on Susan Fuquay's blog very informative:
Quilts are everywhere!
Posted: 25 Oct 2010 08:28 AM PDT
Tim Gunn was right — patchwork is back! (See my blog post for Oct. 11, 2010.) Now to those of us entrenched in the craft and industry — patchwork never went anywhere. But, also to those of us who have been in the industry a long time, we’ve seen ups and downs in patchwork’s popularity with the general masses in clothing, decorating and collecting.
I started quilting in 1980. In 1984, with some inspiration from Lissa Alexander (yes, of Moda!) and her sister Angie Tardy, I started what I guess you would now call a “line” of patchwork clothing patterns. I was intrigued by seminole patchwork and had four or six clothing patterns in my Indian Summer Seminole Patchwork Designs clothing pattern “business.” (Anyone out there have a copy — they must surely be collector’s items!)
Everyone had to start somewhere, but I laugh now — they were typed on a typewriter (using a vast amount of white out!), hand-drawn, copied in a copy shop and hand-colored with marker. As they sold in my one retail outlet — The Berry Patch in Fort Worth, Texas — which is where I worked, if I was around, I autographed each copy. Sounds almost as quaint and primitive as the horse and buggy — but people loved them! (Note: It was around this time the rotary cutter was developed. I also laugh as I remember saying “no, thank you,” to accurately cutting strips, I preferred to tear them with the grain. How quaint was this?)
Patchwork clothing — skirts, vests, jackets and embellishments gained and remained popular for years. When I started American Quilt Retailer in 1994, almost everyone at Quilt Market had a pieced garment or two, and there were many patchwork clothing pattern lines. I don’t know exactly when, but interest in any patchwork clothing except perhaps the most sophisticated and subtle began to fade. In recent years — patchwork vests? No, not the “in” thing.
Patchwork is officially making a comeback in decorating and, I’m suspecting soon, more and more, in fashion (as Tim said!).
Check out this link for Trendcentral sent to me by Georganne Bender of Kizer and Bender. The youthful, trendy French clothing brand A.P.C. is creating a limited edition of Amish-inspired quilts. Trendcentral said, “Given the unique patterns and one-of-a-kind feel of these works of art, we envision many walls in metropolitan apartments adorned with quilts in the near future.”
Martha Stewart has a new collection of patchwork quilts at Macy’s. Linda Lum DeBono posted this link for Anthropologie on her Facebook page. Anthropologie is offering the canvas “Sage Advice Tote” bag with patchwork applique and stitched embroidery for $198. (This is high fashion!)
The September issue of Woman’s Day magazine had an article (with cover headline) called “6 Charming Ways to Display a Quilt.” You can see this here online. Now talk about something straight from the 1980’s!
Not too surprisingly, the American Folk Art Museum has declared the next year the “Year of The Quilt” with the opening of “Quilts: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum.” It’s the museum’s “celebration of a glorious American art form.”
The Pottery Barn continues to have a nice selection of patchwork quilts in its bedding collection, especially the Museum Craft Collection, coordinated with the American Folk Art Museum. This fabulous sunburst quilt is a recreation of a quilt from 1835 made near Philadelphia. And the new Crate and Barrel catalog has some really clean-looking patchwork pillows in their new holiday collection. Check them out here!
So, I just googled “Patchwork clothing.” It’s out there and it’s not our grandmother’s patchwork clothing or even mine! It’s new and young!
Oh, what a nice place we are in! —Susan