Welcome to Vintage Colour Inspiration Tuesday – Looking backwards to inspire us forwards!

In not too many days it will be Easter (!) and then April (!!!!). So while I am still finishing up some experiments with my new-to-me March technique of turned appliqué, I am also starting to muse over next month’s Island Batik challenge. Which is to make a quilt larger than 36″ square, inspired in some way by a vintage quilt or quilt block.

I have looked in a few different places for a vintage quilt idea. So far I haven’t been inspired, but I have had fun looking…… Actually that’s not the whole truth…. I have been inspired. In particular by a quilt I found in a book about Australia’s quilt heritage. But I can’t make that quilt for April because it is perfect for my Island Batik surprise fabrics. (If you have no idea what I am talking about when I say “surprise fabrics”, you can catch up here.) And since I can’t show you those fabrics in April, I need to find another idea.

In the meantime however, I want to show you one inspiration source I have enjoyed so far.

The Strawberry Thief and other textiles……

Remember I went to my local art gallery with my daughter just over a week ago? Well, our art gallery has a room dedicated to decorative artifacts produced in the 1800s by a London company called Morris & Co. Morris &  Co manufactured fabric, embroideries, furniture, wall paper, stained glass windows and many other ornamental items. Some of the works collected here in the South Australian Art Gallery are designed by William Morris himself, others by his peers and employees. My favourites from the display include:

• a curtain fabric design called the Strawberry Thief. I really like the colours in this print.

 

• another upholstery fabric of rabbits in red and white. Cute!

• and a piece of grill from the door of the London Houses of Parliament c1845. 

Wouldn’t this grill make a wonderful quilting design?

William Morris has inspired many quilters

William Morris didn’t actually make quilts, but his vintage designs have long made it into the quilting arena. As you may know, several fabric houses have released William Morris-inspired fabric lines.

And here in Adelaide we are lucky enough to lay claim to a very talented quilter, Michele Hill, who has made a lot of her reputation creating William Morris-inspired appliquéd quilts and fabric lines. Looking up her blog today, I found she is currently on a quilting tour on Norfolk Island. Norfolk Island is where Paul and I honeymooned and it is our wedding anniversary this week! What memories her photos bring back. The Norfolk Island St Barnabas chapel has a William Morris stained glass rose window. Seventeen years ago, almost to the day, I admired that window in the flesh. At the time I didn’t know who William Morris was and I wasn’t a quilter. How I would love to go back and look at that chapel again with today’s eyes!

But for now I will have to be content with admiring the colours and forms in William Morris’ Strawberry Thief and other designs. And continue looking for vintage quilt inspiration for April.

Tell me – do you like vintage quilts and decor? Have you ever made a quilt inspired by a vintage pattern? Any suggestions you’d like to share?  I’m still open to ideas for April……

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