Episode 405 November 2012

Quilt Out Loud! Episode Notes

November 2012 Episode

Designing reproduction fabric with Bobbe Bevin

Week 1

Jodie and Mark open the show from The Finishing Stitch in Littlestown, Pennsylvania. They talk about the trends in quilting today and the interest in modern quilting. But, they conclude that reproduction fabrics and traditional designs will always bump the modern in popularity. Mark shows the scrappy quilt he designed for the Jan/Feb 2013 issue of Love of Quilting magazine featuring blue, cream and white reproduction fabrics from Andover Fabrics.

Jodie visits with Bobbe Benvin who has combined her love of history and quilting to find her niche in the world of antique quilts. What quilting designs were appropriate for that time period? She saw a need, had the expertise and filled the need by writing two books of historic quilting designs.

Week 2

Jodie continues her conversation with Bobbe Benvin. Bobbe was inspired by the quilt treasures of the York County Heritage Trust in Pennsylvania to collect antique quilts of the pre-Civil War era, most in the 1840’s time period. None of her antique quilts are in pristine condition but are collected for what the quilting designs or the fabrics can tell her. In this segment Bobbe shows the original quilts and the reproduction fabrics she designed from them for P & B Textiles. Sometimes it becomes a real puzzle photocopying small pieces of the fabric and putting them together to assemble the design. These reproduction fabrics give us an opportunity to connect with our history.

  • York County Historical Trust – the Trust utilizes collections, historic sites and museums to help tell the American story – yorkheritage.org
  • Bobbe Benvin’s books Antique Quilting Designs and More Antique Quilting Designs are available at Amazon – amazon.com
  • P & B Textiles are available at your local quilt shop – pbtex.com

Week 3

In this segment Bobbe Benvin and Jodie continue their conversation on the inspirations for designing reproduction fabrics. Bobbe shows a beautiful vintage fabric of an eagle and wreath design and the more usable fabric designed from it for today’s quilts. Bobbe has designed reproduction fabric lines for Blue Hill Fabrics and P & B Textiles. Her fifth collection, Early Finery, was based on individual vintage quilt blocks she collected.

Jodie and Mark end the show with their book review of Home Sweet Quilt by Jill Lily and show two of the fresh and modern quilts from the book. Their hint? Take a chance and put your spin on the patterns.