"Beutezug"* at PIQF
*Beutezug, German expression when
pirates venture out and capture and steal valuables....
This year and because it is so close by
I spent two days at PIQF (Pacific International Quilt Festival at the
Santa Clara Convention Center). I even signed up for a class, which I
had not done for the last couple years.
As usual for me I didn't really take
pictures, but walked through the exposition area admiring all a
creative, detailed work. Many quilts were heavily quilted with
smallish motives all over. Which went well with the class I took,
"Meet me at the Bar" given by Pat Delaney. I will have to
make many more quilts to become a better quilter... The class went
from 9 to 4 with an hour lunch break and I guess many more days spent
that way will get me there eventually....
But classes and exhibited quilts are
just one part. I always look forward seeing all the great
merchandise. Just amazing, especially the treads and unusual fabrics.
For about two to three years I always
stopped at one booth, where they sell beautiful Indigo fabric. This
fabric is made with old Manchester, England equipment. Now though it
is produced in South Africa. The fabric requires special treatment
before using. You have zig-zag or serge it and then machine wash it.
The first time I saw it I was very skeptical. This fabric is stiff
like a piece of paper and looks not much like the cotton quilters
like to use. But once you wash it, it is beautiful and very easy to
work with. (Cotton in the Cabin, Spencerville Indiana)
http://www.cottoninthecabin.com/index.html
Our
fabric was originally produced in Manchester England. After over 100
years of production the company closed down the indigo lines and the
factory and technology was sold to the company in South Africa where
production continues using the same technology. The fabric is only 36
inches wide as the company uses many of the original copper plates
from England.
As
you will notice the fabric is very stiff when purchased. This is the
result demand by the sewers in South Africa. When the fabric was
first sent from England to South Africa, it took up to 3 months to
make the trip. Fabric was always put in the bottom of the hold and
everything else was stacked on top of it. Being in the salt air for
three months, the time to make the trip, made the fabric stiff. When
Steam ships came into being, the trip was much quicker and the fabric
arrived much softer. The sewers refused to use it as they thought
that the manufacturers were trying to foist off inferior goods on
them. As a result, starch has been added to the fabric for the last
100 years. This starch washes out with the first washing leaving a
soft and pleasant fabric to work with.
This year I had a special reason to
step by the booth. It took me a couple years but I had finished
hand-piecing a six-pointed star quilt using those fabrics and wanted
the seller to see it. She was very pleased and gave me one of the
pieces of fabric as a gift.
The other place I bought fabric from
was Pinwheels. They specialize in Japanese fabrics and also carry
another really tempting fabric line, called Oakshott. These fabrics
are shot cottons, but the colors - truly amazing. They look like
silk. They look like what would be used as a silk apron in a Bernese
Sunday costume. Shot and wrap are different colors, which makes that
they shimmer.
The only thing I didn't like was that
these fabrics fray! I first washed the reds and then I got wise and
zigzagged the blue fabrics and I am much happier with how they turned
out. I would definitely wash them before using in a quilt. If
something frays that much, it also shrinks and I wouldn't want that
in my quilt.
