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"Cotton Candy Quilts" by Mary Mashuta 2001, C & T Publishing has the sub-title "Using Feed Sacks, Vintage and Reproduction Fabrics." She first explains the difference between these three terms. Feed sacks are, as you might expect, fabrics that actually contained chick feed, perhaps flour or sugar, in the 1930's and are therefore old and used. Vintage is the fabric that was sold by the yard, is old but never used. Reproduction is fabric made today to closely resemble the designs and colors of the period.
A full page from an old fabric book is wonderfully reproduced. Such books were sent to dealers to show a line of new fabrics. The designs and colors on the page are very close to the reproduction fabrics in our quilt stores today.
The author became interested in these fabrics from the 1930's in the 1980's and has been collecting all three types. The quilt patterns and the fabrics were used in the many colorful quilts found in the pages of "Cotton Candy Quilts", demonstrating ways the fabrics were originally used. (These are photos of actual quilts, none of that computer generated stuff!)
Projects with photos, yardage, templates, construction directions, give the reader opportunity to complete pieced block,and applique quilts, plus a pieced and quilted vest. A chapter is devoted to machine quilting with helpful hints on straight-line quilting.
If you love the prints of the '30's as I do, you will love this book. 112 pages
"Threads from the 30's"
"Threads from the 30's" compiled by Nancy J. Martin, 2000, That Patchwork Place, has the subtitle "Quilts Using Reproduction Fabrics." It begins with a short history of this fabric and then moves on to a very good section of "Quiltmaking Basics." A good overview of the basics includes rotary cutting, machine piecing, chain piecing, pressing, also making templates, applique methods, assembling a quilt top, straight or diagonal sets, how to piece the back if needed, machine quilting. All in all this is a very good basic primer.
The next section is devoted to "Quilters and their Quilts", 13 projects. Complete cutting directions and yardage are given with illustrations and gorgeous photos, again real quilts. Some of the quilters whose patterns are included are Carol Doak, Mimi Dietrich, Nancy Martin, plus others. 112 pages.
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