The roots of quilt techniques is deep! And not new!

That's one way to stop fights when the Christmas catalogs came in—get one for everyone in the family! That was the BEST time of the year, but alas, I had to share between two brothers and Mom. My gosh -we bought Christmas candy, and well, I don't remember all that we coveted. I grew up in a very small community, and that catalog was my ticket to the world! There was no such thing as looking at store window displays. There was no toy store nearby - shopping by catalog was all we had! We did have an Eaton's in town, about 30 miles away; we did get to go there and look at things in wonder! 

I am prepping for some demos for this weekend at Stache Fabrics in London, Ontario. Inadvertently, I opened Pandora's box. I'll explain more tomorrow. Oh my god -- this stuff has to go!!!

Here are the covers of the other magazines I'm looking at. I'm showing them because some of you may recognize them! As if!!!! But it's fun to see the cover quilts. I forgot to mention that you are welcome to come along with me on this journey!!! Get out any Quiltmaker magazines you have and start processing them!

Early spring 90 - $3.95

January/ February 94 - Number 35 $3.95

July/August 94 - Number 38 $3.95

And sometime in the early 90s the magazine went from semi-annually to four times a year to bi-monthly. And as I mentioned earlier, it's back to four times a year. 

Remember bumper pads for baby cribs? That's a thing of the past!!

Bumper pads - a thing of the past

I found this very strange in a US-based magazine - a conversion chart for yards and meters! This is a very confusing thing since much of the world uses metric, but all our rulers and most of the patterns are in yards. We are very bilingual when it comes to shopping and using fabric! I was just surprised that's all. Actually, this was listed on a shop insert in the magazine - more on that shop another day, and this was to help ALL customers know what they were buying!

Conversion chart for yards and meters back in the 90s

In the 90s, they also started including other non-quilt projects in the magazines. My Mom got hooked on those and, well, sadly, some of them had to go. 

Covered album covers

And how about this kitchen set for the BBQer in your life! 

Kitchen set

The pattern pages became more colorful in the 90s and more similar to what we see today. 

Nice pictures and WORDS!!!

And the instructions were much more comprehensive than in earlier issues. 

Comprehensive colored instructions to assemble a quilt

But what surprised me is that many of these patterns were not for the faint of heart, especially in the earlier magazines. Look at this one. Seriously? That would have taken forever, and would likely have had to be done by hand. 

I think I'll pass

And look at those instructions. What instructions? So never say pattern instructions are bad today—at least you get more than just the templates and a diagram!

The templates AND the instructions

Speaking of diagrams, here are a couple. 

Diagram and instructions!!!

I swear that every pattern in the early days had some form of wonky piecing - whether that was curved piecing, Y seams, or partial seams. 

Diagram for partial seams

At least, they did have instructions on those Y-seams, which they called Set-In Patches. 

How to sew Set-In Patches from Early Spring 1990

And how techniques have changed - the blocks haven't changed, but the techniques have. 

This is a wonky block. In the past, you had a template, cut out each shape, and sewed it together. God forbid that you wasted any fabric. Today? Sew on a wider-than-you-need strip, and once that round is made, take your ruler, rotate slightly, and cut the block wonky! Fast, but more wasteful. 

Assembly for a wonky block

And when I saw this picture, I almost died laughing. 

Template for a long cabin block

It's hard to see in the picture, but the pattern is for a log cabin block. To save space, they have stacked the log templates on top of each other! That picture reminds me of a very famous quilt maker who designed rulers and templates for every pattern imaginable. And she had a log cabin ruler that looked just like that diagram. You cut your pieces starting with the longest, move the ruler to the next length and cut, and so on until you've cut them all! One ruler - easy peasy!

Here's a picture of the log cabin quilt. The logs are NOT all the same width! But it's very cool. 

The log cabin quilt

Let's not forget the Quiltermaker's market. This was where people bought/swapped/traded or whatever. Imagine doing that today by snail mail!!! I spotted the Market page in the 1994 issue. 

The Quiltmaker's Market page

They had also started the reader's page. I think this one came from a fall /winter 94 magazine. I haven't shared the cover of that one yet. 

The reader's page

And of course, you can't forget the tips submitted by readers. This is how the rotary mats came about -- read this tip!!! OH MY GOSH ---- this is amazing! 

Reader's tip for rotating mats

Finally, some FAST quilts to make. 

The promise of speedy piecing

And this is when they introduced strip piecing. And notice the rotary cutter? I have way more to tell you about that tomorrow!!

Instructions for strip piecing

More instructions on strip piecing. 

More instructions for strip piecing

I did find one mistake, but this could have been the situation at the time. It's related to appliqué. Thappliqué that the satin stitch is a compact zigzag, and I believed that for years. I didn't know any difference - I got my education from these magazines. However, a satin stitch is NOT a zigzag. Its stitch path is different. I will elaborate one day. That's why if you have a built-in satin stitch on your machine - USE it - it's much better than the zigzag for finishing off raw edge appliqué. 

A sappliquén stitch is NOT a compact zigzag.

But I love that they were encouraging quilters to experiment. Somewhere along the way, we have forgotten how important that is. I am shocked at how many people are looking for the FAST way to do anything - ask a question instead of looking it up; they want step-by-step instructions to learn a complicated technique, instead of starting with the basics and building! 

You need to play to learn! 

But excellent instructions for stitching appliqué with a turned-under edge. And you know what? That hasn't changed, and probably never will! This is how to use the blind hem for appliqué. 

Use a blind-hem stitch for appliqué

Aappliquéused the starch method way back in the 90s. I love the starch method for turned-under edges. Again - a technique that has not changed and will not change. Maybe some of the tools we use change - like thin applicators on the glue bottles and smaller, non-steam irons. 

Instructions for Starch and press appliqué

Iappliquéeading the readers' comments. This was in a 1994 magazine. Imagine what this woman (a quilter for 45 years) would think if she saw all the changes today. She talks about all the areas to explore fabrics, etc. She would be in her glory today!

Oh my -- how the world would change for this lady if she were still alive today

Another reader comment, and this means that the world of machine quilting was starting to happen. She stitched in the ditch with her machine! This brings back good and bad memories. In the day when we started to machine quilt, the only thing we knew was stitch-in-the-ditch with the walking foot, OR stippling in free motion. Both are extremely hard to do well. Thankfully, there are so many other types of quilting that one can do! 

Machine quilting is making a debut in 1994

I know machine quilting has been around for many, many years before 1994, but people were coming out of the closet, and it was becoming "acceptable." The hand quilters were not happy and did not consider these machine-quilted quilts to be real quilts!! 

And what about this comment regarding computers and quilting? This was back in 1994. 

Even back in 1994, quilters used their computers to connect and SWAP fabrics!

I started quilting in 1998, and I remember the dial-up modem so I could check the chat in a Yahoo group I belonged to!!!! 

I love how we coveted our stash back then. Well, this is a play on words, so to speak! They are actually talking about the VALUE of fabric, not how we value our fabric!

The value of fabrics

And the last picture for today is all about NOT rushing to finish. 

That's so important. You don't want wavy borders because you didn't measure. YES --- we can tell!!! And you need to be careful how you sew that binding on so it's not wonky as well!! Quilting is a hobby, not a race! Be sure to enjoy the journey!!!!

And that's a wrap for today. I still have more to share tomorrow and likely the day after, and then I can go back to browsing through more magazines. 

I've been off doing other things, which I hope to have time to share tomorrow as well. 

On that note, it's going to be a busy day—of course it is; every day in my world is a busy day. By busy, I mean I have things to do. I won't be sitting around eating bonbons! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

Who created the first fabric pre-cuts?

Some of you have been busy bees - even with knee and other surgeries!! It's great to get things done, and Torry seems to be accomplishing a lot in small leaps and bounds! All progress is progress!!!! We must celebrate the small steps as well as the big ones!!  

I'm having so much fun going through these magazines that I want to make sure I document all the cool stuff I spotted. Once I get past the next couple of issues (pre-2000), I'm sure I won't need to document so much because it's all "recent" at that point. 

As you can imagine, there were ads, and I bet that most of the products available were in those ads. So I thought I'd share some ads with you. 

Back in the day, Fairfield was a big batting supplier, and I remember my friend at the time who helped me when I first started was a staunch user of Cotton Classic. I think she made everything using that batting. Later, when I saw other battings, I wasn't such a fan - I found it quite limp compared to the stuff with polyester in it. Fairfield is still going strong, and you can check out their website. 

An ad for Fairfield batting (1987)

Hobbs batting was around at the time, too. But from the ad, I only see poly-down, not their poly/cotton blend. 

An ad for Hobbs batting (1987)

OMG—I just read the blurb, and you are not going to believe this. If you wanted a sample, you could send a SASE to them in Texas. The batting was made with Celanese Fortrel Loft-guard. Who knew!!!! To me, Fortrel was what other people call crimpoline!!!!

In January/February of 94, I spotted an ad (another first!) by Hobbs announcing their 100% wool batting. And look who is in the ad - Harriet Hargrave!! I believe she was the one who pushed the quilt world, kicking and screaming, I'm sure, to machine quilting. She was a master at machine quilting. 

Harriet Hargrave - a master machine quilter

I mentioned the other day that Quiltmaker was part of the Quilter's Newsletter family, and I have more to tell you about that story another day. But they advertised their magazine in Quiltmaker. Of course they did—they reached different audiences. Quiltmaker focused on patterns, while Quilter's Newsletter had articles of interest as well as patterns. It will take forever to go through those. 

An ad for Quilter's Newsletter magazine

Back in the 90s, quilters were using projectors to enlarge patterns and pictures. Many quilters designed small patterns and enlarged them. This was very common in art quilts, but in the photo, it looks like the lady is enlarging a pieced block!!!

The use of projectors (1987)

Keepsake Quilting was around and advertising swatches!!! Yep --- you could get up to five hundred 2" swatches plus their catalog, and who doesn't love scrap quilts!!! You could get 350 calico and small print swatches for $4.00. Who doesn't remember getting the Keepsake Catalog in the later years and browsing it like you were a kid and had just received the Eaton's Wish Book? My catalog was earmarked with so many things I wanted. BOTH the Eaton's Wish Book and the Keepsake Quilting Catalog!

An ad from Keepsake Quilting (1987)

Or you could buy a wide assortment of fabrics in larger squares. This picture is from a 1987 issue! There were no "pre-cuts" back then. WAIT—these are the precursors to pre-cuts as we know them. This was a pack of 5" squares that were die-cut. That sounds like a pre-cut to me!!! A quilt store was selling these. More on that another day. You got 286 5" squares (two each of 143 fabrics) all for the grand price of $28.00 US (ppd). I think that last means that the postage was included? 

A pack of 286 5" squares for sale - $28.00 USD

And then they had these "cute" ways of displaying fabric swatches. Imagine the person who was tasked with making ice cream cones from fabric swatches, but it does show off the gradations nicely! Yep—quilters and marketing people were clever even back in 1987. NO AI to generate that photo!

Ice cream cones to display fabric gradations

You could buy tote bags because you can never have enough tote bags or other craft kits. 

Tote bags and craft kits available for sale

And let's not forget about the books! I know that the earlier quilt pattern books did NOT have pretty pictures and the instructions may be a bit sketchy, but the ideas? Way more creative and flexible than patterns today. Give me an old quilt book any day over a modern one!! I happen to have most of the books in that top row!! I had to scrounge to find that scrap book on the far left, but I'll tell you the story of that another day. 

Highly coveted quilt books (at least by me!)

Who didn't get signed up for these craft book clubs? OK - Maybe Elle didn't! But I'm sure at one point, all of us belonged to one of those clubs. And what has happened to most of those books? They are gone! While I said that I liked the older books, most of the stuff in the craft series was different. More crafty than quilting. 

Did anyone sign up for the craft book clubs?

Don't forget the magazines were peppered with ads for hand quilting frames. I bet most of them were designed by some quilter's husband, and he built them. There were many brands. 

Hand quilting frames

How about a hanger for your quilt? I used to have one of these (of course I did!) - you didn't need to put a sleeve on the quilt. I got rid of it a number of years ago, and I believe it went to someone's cottage. 

Quilt hanger made from wood

And let's not forget the binders you could get with the magazine name on the front. It was for storing magazines. I never stored magazines in these binders. 

Binders to store your countless magazines

And the quilt calendars. These used to have beautiful quilt pictures in them, and Quilter's Newsletter published them. 

Quilt calendars

OK—here's how far we have come in the world of sewing machines. This ad is from 1994, when Janome didn't exist - it was called New Home at the time. I wonder if that's why some people say Janome (rhymes with HOME)? I call it Janome with a long e at the end. WAIT -- that is supposedly a computerized EMBROIDERY machine. Seriously? How big was the hoop? 

Look how large that throat space is? 

I love that they encouraged flexibility in the pattern sizes. You can vary the patterns by adding or subtracting rows or varying the borders, and they offered multiple color combinations so people didn't make the exact picture in the quilt. We were encouraged to think outside the box!! Not so much today, as there is one size and no mention of getting creative with the pattern. 

Instructions to get creative with the pattern size and color!

Although many patterns back then were quite repetitive, it was easy to change the width of the sashing and borders and play with the blocks in each row to make it bigger or smaller. But still—they encouraged people to make the quilts their own!

An example of a quilt pattern from 1987

They used a spool symbol to show how easy or hard the pattern was. I'll go into this a bit more, hopefully tomorrow. This symbol system is still used today. Different time, different symbols, but a good way to indicate the complexity of the pattern. 

A symbol system to show the degree of difficulty

Wow --- this is fascinating stuff. I know—it's only me who is fascinated, but I think learning that nothing is new today is a great lesson. For instance, the pre-cuts. One fabric company spearheaded the pre-cut movement (their clever marketing department), and now we have pre-cuts in all sizes, shapes, and fabric counts. Many companies have followed suit, but because those pre-cut names were copyrighted, other companies had to scramble to find something equally catchy! 

On that note, I've already been to the gym and worked out on my own. My upper arms are going to be jelly later today! I also came up with a clever assignment for my machine embroidery group while I was pumping iron, and I need to send it to them today. I swear if people STOPPED scrolling, they would have time to think up creative stuff and would actually get stuff done. I am shocked at how many women (it's mostly women) were on their phones today as they walked to the gym, to the locker room, around the workout floor, and then back in the locker room. It's insane!!!!

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!