In the shop this week Mel and I were talking about fabric design. (Yes, we’re 100% geeks at Hometown and love to talk about fabrics when we’re not talking about quilts)! I was reminiscing with her about 2 research trips I went on, whilst working as a product developer for IKEA. We were developing new collections of country style products, Alvine and we were looking for design inspiration. With my colleagues, Carita and Annika, each time we visited the Musee de l’Impression sur Etoffes in Mulhouse, which has an incredible archive of fabric designs from manufacturers all over France.
Tiny swatches of loveliness
For a couple of days, we looked through leather-bound book after book of tiny swatches. We were searching for patterns that could be developed into a wide range of products - bedlinen, curtains, cushions and table linen. The pattern books that were selected for us by the archivist dated from the late 1700s - 1800s . Yet the timeless appeal of some designs and the colouring of the hand painted swatches, many smaller than a Post-it note, was astonishing. Some looked like Art Deco designs, or maybe it was that Art Deco designers had looked back for ideas. Others were definitely reminiscent of Regency and Victorian dress fabrics, but with a little reworking, could definitely work for a 21st century audience.
With every pattern, we were thinking about how they could work on the final products, in this case a burn-out (devoree) sheer curtain panel
Even the book plates were a work of art (plus I love the location Rue Poisonniere or ‘Fishmonger Road’)
Back in Sweden, once we’d made our final selection of designs, the chosen patterns were licensed by the Museum for IKEA to use. Products were further developed with a designer in Denmark and manufacturers far and wide, using these tiny treasures as inspiration. The designs were redrawn to fit with modern manufacturing methods (pattern repeats and numbers of print colours, for example). Others, incredibly were used practically unchanged. The resulting collections were sold globally, proving that we all like flowers and floral patterns whether we are in New England or old England, Stockholm or Seoul. I still have an embroidered cushion which was developed from an 18th century design and regularly use bedlinen from the collection.
My Alvine stitched cushion is still a favourite
Maybe this is why I’m drawn to quilt fabric collections designed by Laundry Basket Quilts, French General and Dutch Heritage. Their designs have a timeless quality, ideal for stitching into a quilt that will last. I’m sure some of the patterns will have been developed by the designers using similar truffle hunting techniques of ancient sample books and favourite fabric scraps that they have collected. So next time you look the latest quilt collection with a stunning floral, interesting geometric pattern or useful coordinating ditsy print, its origins may be older than you think!
Green Thumb by Laundry Basket Quilts proves the timeless appeal of large florals and ditsy coordinating prints