Double Knit Quilts That Never Die

 Continuing on from yesterday's post

 with a few 

Double Knit Quilts

being shown from the collection of

Gail Van Horsen

at the Art of Quilting show

at the Gilbert Museum is

Star Dahlia

C. 1970's

 Gail wrote

"I have to imagine that this huge quilt 

was made from scraps of 

double knit pantsuits."

 Kind of gives a new meaning

to Scrap Quilts, doesn't it?

 In reading some of the information 

provided by the show,

I learned that 

polyester Double knits

are considered the 

"Iron Fabric of the 1970's"

Meaning this fabric will

 "never fade

and 

never die".

I shudder to think that eons from now when

our cotton fabric quilts have crumbled to dust,

and the double knits remain,

historians just might assume

this is what quilting was all about?

 Even though Gail admits that

Double Knits provide kind of a love/ hate response,

they are a part of our history

and worthy of documentation.

 I have to admit

that I like some of the colors and patterns.

It just must be a texture thing for me,

which follows the same issue

of why some of us would not 

try certain foods as we were growing up.

 Gail provides a more positive approach.

She wrote 

"The Star Dahlia can be tricky at best,

but when made from stretchy knits---

what an accomplishment it is!"

 Hand Pieced and Hand Quilted

 One Patch Coverlet

completed C. 1970's

 "2.5-inch squares, all hand sewn, 

with hand embroidery over every seam."

Which prompted me to ponder 

where the maker 

might have found 

so many varieties of Double Knits?

Future Historians just might

assume we all 

wore Leisure Suits, too.