Moldy Oldies or History?

I don't know why, but I've never really liked stuff that's old but not too old. Especially now, since I'm also old but not too old. Mid-century modern? Nope, been there when it was NEW, and it's just not that exciting now. Harvest gold? Avocado green? Burnt orange? Gag. Early rock and roll? 80s hair bands? Nope. Liked it all when it was new, but now it's old and tired.

HISTORY, though--well, that's cool! Stuff that's older than me. Antiques. I admire quite a lot of them! And modern things that are based on history? Excellent. Stuff like civil war repro fabrics, archaeology, historic documentaries, Steam Punk--all quite nice, as far as I'm concerned.

I mentioned the other day that working with this Freebird line by Momo was a bit out of my comfort zone, but when I said that, I couldn't have explained why. I just knew the fabrics were different from the type that normally appealed to me. I finally "got" it though--this line is sort of retro 50s/60s. Which, of course, puts it in the moldy oldie category!

As with most things, I guess there are exceptions to the rule. Although I don't usually enjoy working with modern reproduction fabrics (i.e., 30s fabrics and newer), there's something about Momo's designs that draws me, and I really had some fun working with Freebird on the Schnibbles Four Corners pattern. Here's how it turned out:

Originally, I thought I wanted plain sashing between the blocks, but in the end, I opted to use Sharyn Craig's Twist and Turn "sashing," alternating between red and white. Once I used that treatment on the blocks, I kept wanting to add plain sashing as well, but everything I "auditioned" just seemed to detract from the blocks, so I finally gave up. I made one last attempt to add a small, plain inner border, but that also seemed to detract from the blocks, so in the end, I added the pieced border and called it done.

As I was working on this, I thought I'd like to embellish the quilt with rick rack, but now I'm not sure where I'd put it, so maybe not. I suppose I could use baby rick rack to outline the blocks, but I have a feeling the quilt is so busy, it would just be a waste of rick rack. Or it might be fun to get some large buttons to match one of the brighter colors and place them at the intersections of the blocks--where the red and white pieces come together. I like that idea!

One of the things I want to talk to my students about in Saturday's Schnibbles class is how they can make simple changes to patterns and settings to end up with a quilt that's just a bit different from all the others, and that includes ways to embellish quilts. If you've been following the Year of Schnibbles parades each month, you've probably seen many examples of quilters doing just that. If you have any other embellishment suggestions for this Four Corners quilt, please leave me a comment--I'd love more ideas to discuss with my students.

It seems to me that many of our younger quilters are drawn to Momo and other new designers whose lines are reminiscent of the 50s, 60s, and 70s, but maybe that's just my imagination. Of the "categories" of fabrics on the market now, which appeal to you most and what's your general age bracket?

Up until the past few years (which would put me in my 40s), my favorite fabrics have been Thimbleberries, 1800s reproductions, and homespun/country/primitives, but in the last couple of years (which would put me now into my 50s), I've grown slightly tired of the darker colors and have been more attracted to the brighter fabrics, like those designed by Quilt Soup, Mary Engelbreit, and Sweetwater--I don't know what category to put those in but I suspect you know what I mean. So how about you? What gets your creative juices flowing?