Flashback Friday: Paisleys & Madder Orange

Today we're kicking off a fun new series: Flashback Friday, hosted by Moda Designer and quilt historian Barbara Brackman! Join us every other Friday for Barbara's selection of gorgeous new prints and collections inspired by all-things vintage and interesting tidbits of fabric history!

Beckwith by Kathy Hall for Andover:
Paisleys & Madder Orange
No Civil War era repro quilt is co mplete without a few paisleys. Add to your must-have stash with Kathy Hall's new Beckwith, offering prints echoing the 19th-century craze.

Fashionable woman dating back to around 1850.

That stylized botanical form we might call a paisley shape is borrowed from India's imagery. The technical name: Boteh from the Hindi word for flower. Paisley refers to an industrial town in Scotland where factory-woven copies of paisley shawls created an affordable fashion fad.
Antique quilt block with a paisley-style print in madder-dyed
shades of orange, red, and dark brown. Circa year 1870.

Inexpensive cotton prints brought a bit of eastern design to western bedding. During the 1860s and '70s, paisleys in madder-style colors (warm, reddish-browns) were particularly fashionable for ladies' robes and quilts for the up-to-date boudoir.

 The Beckwith collection includes several prints to add that authentic, cinnamon orange that was found in old, natural dyes, to your vintage-inspired project!
 
What do you think of the paisley and madder orange vintage trend? Do you have a pattern in mind that you'd love to plug these fabrics into?

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