My summer months always include a few good car shows along with Quilt shows for balance. When your spouse is an auto enthusiast and motorsport journalist it's inevitable. Usually it's the interiors of these restorations where I locate my preferred "nuts 'n bolts". Retro colors, textiles, and upholstery patterns are always entertaining and revealing about the era. To the auto hobbyist and serious restorer, these projects are akin to the quilting world with crossover elements.
Simple lines and this classic, retro color palette has evolved and survived many generations extending into home dec, fashion design, and various textile arts.
If you're too young to remember these textured plastic covers, enjoy them now. Think of miniature bubble wrap...Uncanny resemblance to what I teach in my Texture Magic classes?!
Stripes divert from the ordinary--always fun and bold. I recall during the 1960's my Dad occasionally brought home retired upholstery sample binders from his car dealership. Woohoo! I studied those books. The pages contained mostly smaller 2 X 2 swatches of upholstery, layered and stacked in various solid tones and coordinating metallics(!)--all precut with zig zag edges. And there were lots of textured choices in those plastic seat covers. Do you remember the little stars and bubbles?
How many names has this popular color been given? I can safely say it will never go out of style including the "quilted" :-) geometric design in the upholstery.
A black and white checkered hounds' tooth always gets my vote, whether it's adorned on a car seat, worn as clothing or as an accessory items. (Visit my past tutorial article on "Not-so-Plain-Jane" makeover bag project...
Focal Orange. Whether you love it or hate it in your quilting projects, it's guaranteed to grab attention.
When you're on holidays, visiting unfamiliar territory, there's always a common ground to be found. My recent article "Discovering Designs" in Cinderella's Column of The Summer issue of Canadian Quilter discusses more non-traditional design sources for your projects. Share your favorites below in the comments...
Cindy Scraba
Cinderella (CindysThreadworks.Com)
