Glorious Gingham

Tomorrow we are finally past the quarantine point of Brad's whooping cough.  I for one will be glad, having to mask in my own house and constantly sterilize whatever he's been near is not my way of spending a holiday weekend, much less our anniversary on Tuesday.

One of the places that I could safely unmask was in the attic sewing room.  I reviewed projects (too numerous to relay) and some of my fabric.  And then I got to thinking about this vintage piece of gingham:

The fabric is sturdier than the gingham I worked with in the 80s.  The 80s gingham frayed and was obnoxious to work with; I'm fairly certain it had polyester in it.

Doll quilt made of red gingham for sale on Ruby Lane here.

Years ago,  one of the members of our Quilt Study Group brought in a quilt that I obsessed about all weekend.  I think the background was a bleached muslin but the pattern was comprised of red and white gingham, particularly the flower (I think it was a flower but was it a star?).  The pattern might have been similar to this old lily quilt pattern:

Or this Carolina Lily pattern that I found online:

I did reach out to a few people in the group that I thought might have brought it to the meeting.  Sue P.  said the quilt wasn't hers but she had this amazing gingham quilt:

Lorraine also said it wasn't her quilt either.  Who's ever quilt it was it was--it was memorable.  I wish I had a photograph for inspiration (hint, hint).

Gingham is a beloved fabric for many of us.  I even found this poem in a 1960 Canadian article:

The writer concluded the article by writing:  "So gingham is more than just a piece of cloth to me.  It sings of old-fashioned kitchens and of long ago, when the future of the prairies was pieced together with the work-gnarled fingers and painstaking care.  

The results were good, for like grandmother's gingham quilts, the fabric was of the best, and the stitches were made strong with love and faith and courage."

Amy Smart is a current designer who is attached to gingham too.  She wrote an extensive article in 2016 on why she wanted to design gingham fabric.  You can read the blog post here.

Gingham has a long and varied history in our quilts.  These days I see an awful lot of buffalo check quilts.

Do you have any gingham memories?

Tomorrow is Flower Friday and if you have anything to submit, please email me at allentownquilter@gmail.com.

Have a safe and happy day!